With a full-time job, his responsibilities as a Servant, endless door-to-door work, a young family and a house to renovate, father’s nervous energy found an outlet in his constant movement. He only seemed to sit down to eat or study one of the many Watchtower publications that now filled a whole bookcase.
‘Do you have to do that? Why don’t you sit down, you’ll wear the carpet out,’ mother complained, as he paced up and down the small room.
This was no ordinary carpet. One of the brothers at our Kingdom Hall owned a carpet shop and had sold it to father at cost price. It was a good quality, green, orange, brown and cream patterned carpet which, if looked at for long enough, was capable of inducing trance.
‘Oh! I won’t wear this carpet out. It will last us until Armageddon,’ father assured us. A rare smile flashed across his face.
‘When is Armageddon coming?’ I asked.
He looked at me intensely before replying, as this was a serious matter. ‘Any day now! Armageddon is just around the corner. But you must stop being impatient. Jehovah will bring these things about in his own time. He is a merciful God and the longer he waits, the more people will be saved.’
Our Armageddon carpet seemed almost magical and as I stared into its mind-altering pattern, I found myself in the new world surrounded by lions and elephants. The sun shone brightly and my parents looked relaxed and happy. I had a book with drawings of what it would be like in Paradise and I was able to add colour and sound in my mind.
Soon everything would be well and we would never have to knock on doors in the cold and wet or sit through boring meetings. I could spend forever with the brothers and sisters from the Kingdom Hall. What more could a boy want from life?