Jack is a man in demand. He is often busy with functions and events on a Saturday evening.
I am usually busy during the day time on a Saturday. But in the evening, rather than heading out with friends, I have found I am eager to be home.
I can hardly contain my excitement that Jack will be coming over. I usually have a quick tidy up, have a shower and a rest and keep checking my phone in case he thinks he can get here sooner rather than later. But it is almost always after midnight that he arrives.
I wish I could give him spare keys. But I would have to get permission from my landlords to have a keys cut for him. I don’t think they would be keen. And in all honesty, I don’t think I trust him. When we lived together, he would be frequently be grumbling that he had lost his keys – although I don’t think he ever really lost them, he just didn’t know where he had put them down.
Meantime, I am wide awake waiting, so thrilled that he is going to come to me. I waited over four years for Jack. Surely I can wait another hour or so without losing heart.
While I have had a horrible cold/chest infection type thing…I have discovered the delicious habit of daytime napping. It’s such a hard habit to break now! I have long days at work though so I won’t be able to have an afternoon snooze. Then a weekend ahead with Jack 🙂
We are all unique. We have all seen things through our own eyes, heard things through our own ears, and they have helped us form opinions, ideals and values. We have an individual outlook. Our heart or inner person is made up of our thoughts and feelings and reasonings. In fact, each week when bloggers answer Melanie’s SHARE-YOUR-WORLD questions, it’s interesting to see each of us reveal the secret person of the heart.
It can be challenging at times not to be ruled over by our own heart. In fact some people say “you should listen to your heart”. It can take effort and humility to recognise that often our own hearts are not to be trusted. They may veer us off onto a path that leads nowhere, or into quicksand.
It is absolutely fine that we have our own natural (or learnt) inclinations. We may be inclined to think, feel, view things a certain way. But it is beneficial to seek the views of others who have proved wise by their lifecourse. It is to our advantage to listen humbly to others who present clear reasoning and evidence.
Oh I know this one. It’s a bit of a trick question isn’t it? There’s a lot of ancient Greek philosophy that you have to reject for the scriptures to read clearly. A lot of modern Christian denominations still try to interpret the scriptures through those ancient Greek teachings which result in what can seem very confusing and contradictory.
Suppose one of your workmate is absent from work due to illness or an accident. While your colleague is away, other members of the team speak badly about them. They insinuate bad motives to the person who is absent, they recollect all of the mistakes that person has made, and assert that they are a neglectful, sloppy, and don’t contribute to the team. Then it gets even more personal. Someone accuses the absent member of staff of stealing from the petty cash, flirting with the boss and bullying junior members of staff. Maybe some of that information is true, maybe it is false. The person is absent, so they cannot defend themselves or clear up any accusations.
Those who have died, they are absent at the moment. They are asleep. Our Creator remembers every intricate detail about them and is keeping them safe in His memory. Those who have died are not breathing at the moment, they are not conscious of anything at all. But that state is not permanent. Our Creator has promised that He will resurrect humans who have suffered the consequences of Adam’s rebellion.
Thanks to our Creator, death (as a consequence of our inheritance from Adam) is only a temporary state. Those who have died will soon be back with us, strong and healthy again. While it may be true that they made mistakes and did things that were wrong while they were alive, they died. Some in fact may have made very serious mistakes. But they wake up with a clean slate. A second chance to make better decisions under a truly just and fair rulership. A chance to live a better life. Of course they will have to choose to do good in order to thrive in the future, for under God’s Kingdom, only those who want to do good are going to flourish.
I am going to stay out of politics…but let’s put some rose tinted spectacles on and presume that some politicians are genuinely motivated. The truth is that even if there was an imperfect human ruler who seemed sincere, who seemed to care, who wanted to bring changes – they simply do not have the power.
This world is infested with problems and issues – complicated issues that take up countless hours and hours in judicial rulings and political debates. When issues are thrown out to democratic votes or referendums – even more division and anger can result. Currently we live in a fragile unstable political climate with some minority governments struggling to get anything done. But that is no surprise. That is exactly how three thousand years ago the scriptures described human rulerships just before they are gone for good. How human rulership will end is also described in the scriptures.
Back at the beginning of human history, the goodness of our Creator’s rulership was questioned. Note that the challenge to our Creator’s rulership was not whether He had the power to rule, but the righteousness of His rule. So, when human governments end, it’s not just going to be a matter of our Creator “flexing his muscles”. He will act because of the serious act of injustice that human rulers will try to commit. He will act because it will be right and just and loving to. There will be no question over the legality of His actions.
After wisely allowing the issue of whether humans could rule themselves to be answered, our Creator’s original purpose would be fulfilled, by means of His own government, with His own son as the appointed King of God’s Kingdom. That government will undo all of the damage and allow all to heal. Billions have prayed in harmony with the model prayer that Jesus taught:
Well…right now, I am feeling very grateful to the many courageous men and women like William Tyndale. Men and women who risked their lives and worked so hard to make it possible for you and I to pick up the scriptures and read them for ourselves in our mother tongue. Men like him were viciously opposed, particularly by powerful clergy. Why? Because if people could read the scriptures in their own language, they would see that the clergy were not teaching God’s Word at all.
Times are changing rapidly. Soon all of mankind will face an issue far more important than any general election. There will be a lot of manifestos and political propaganda floating around. You will hear politicians making a lot of promises which you likely realize are empty. Contrast that with the manifesto for God’s Kingdom. Read the scriptures objectively and find out how our Creator views this earth and all of it’s creatures. Learn what He will do to solve the problems that human rulers will never be able to.
I find it hard when supervisors or managers in my paid jobs think they can harass me by making multiple phone calls and leaving several messages on my phone, asking me to come into work to cover somebody else’s shift at short notice. On my days away from paid work, I am doing unpaid work as a volunteer for charities (or else I am away visiting my family (over 200 miles away) or perhaps with Jack). I sometimes come back to my nest after a few days away to find my answering machine is full of messages. What is the matter with them? I have agreed to work certain hours, and I will do them. I can’t spare any other time for the mundane task of making money. I only do the paid work I need to cover my rent and buy groceries. I am too busy with more important things. But it is really hard to get that across to the supervisors at my paid jobs.
I am trying to be really careful about what I eat at the moment and also I am out walking a lot. I want to slim a little, not a lot, just a little. It’s not because I am unhappy about my body. It’s because next year I am going to start attending events with Jack publicly. The first will be in January. There will be cameras. Cameras do me no favours at all! I don’t mind posing for photographers, but I really hate seeing photographs of myself. It’s something I am dreading. I love Jack though, and I want to be with him. So I am going to try to give myself that boost of confidence so that I look pretty for the pictures of him with me tagging along. I will be getting all dressed up so that Jack is proud to have me by his side.
I am not sure what some of this question means? MCU/DC movie? Perhaps I am a bit out of touch.
So ever since then, whatever I learn of history, I am curious to know the living and working conditions of people. I especially compare those with wealth compared to those without. There is a lot of “showing off” in history. A lot of self-glory and boasting about accomplishments and greatness. But when you look at the abuse, the degradation and dire poverty of so many people, I find myself seeing those boasting elite, powerful rulers or upper classes as despicable.
Well…I think that when I was around five years old, I first dealt with my first big ordeal. Some very close friends of ours were in a tragic accident. Icy roads, a lorry pulverised their car. It was a shock to everyone. I was only five, but I decided it was about time I started to read the scriptures. I was so moved by what I read about our Creator’s power to undo death and raise people back to life on earth.
I have had some challenges to deal with, I had eighteen months of illness around eleven years twelve years ago. I had four surgical operations and had a very unpleasant time with postoperative infections. My immune system seemed to be completely thrashed for some time and I had so little energy. What I found tough was that it seemed as if I would never be able to achieve my long-term goal of qualifying to be an international volunteer. But amazingly, I did!
Of course that led me to make a foolish decision. I was on my own late at night in a park in London (because I felt I couldn’t face going home) when I was the victim of a serious crime. A security guard found me unconscious the next morning. I was hidden in bushes and badly beaten up. When I woke up I was in an ambulance speeding to a nearby hospital. I was told that it is possible my attacker left me thinking I was dead. So…yes, that was a challenge.
But the good news is…I have enjoyed a rich and wonderful life, which has helped the challenges fade to the back of my mind. Recently, the man who made me the interest of all those people who were unkind about me online…well, he has made contact with me, made peace with me, and turns out to have been in love with me for years. Which is pretty awesome. What is equally as awesome, is that I have always admired him and wanted to be on friendly terms with him. I am currently in the beautiful and intoxicating process of falling more deeply in love with him everyday.
Life is extraordinary at times! I feel that I am going through one of the most remarkable phases of my life right now. But I am a realist. Challenges can come at anytime. Not everyday is sunny and bright. Cold cruel winds can start to blow, leaving us struggling to keep our embers burning within. Sickness, accidents, the turbulence among mankind in general – any of these can arise. If you are not prepared for challenges, you may suffer more.
Caramel 