Hi everyone
Well, I went along to the memorial with Mrs Cedars. It was my first since my "awakening" just less than a year ago. Apparently I made a lot of people happy by being there (even if it was only building up false hopes), the most important of which were my family. I'm looking forward to the time coming when I can make the total switch to no longer attending, but for now it seems a small price to pay to keep my family believing my soul isn't in immediate peril (which, of course, it isn't anyway).
It all went according to plan. We arrived just before the proceedings began, and left right after the final "amen", so no time for any love-bombing thank you very much. Just the odd handshake on my way to and from the exit. Things were made considerably easier by the fact that the elders had appointed arguably the least sociable of all brothers in our hall for the "meet and greet" role on the front door. I slid past him effortlessly with him barely noticing (careful not to wake him up). There weren't even any brothers wearing flourescent tabards to contend with while parking.
At one point I nearly embarrassed my wife and burst into unbridled laughter. This moment came during the ceremony when I first noticed the memorial taker's complete ineptitude and absent-mindedness when it came to passing the emblems. I was wondering if anyone experienced anything similar?
Apparently, even though he had given the emblem (either the bread or the wine) to the memorial attendants, and received the same to put back on the table at the front, he evidently felt that this did not sufficiently constitute "passing" the emblems, and therefore needed to give the emblem back again before receiving it a final time and placing it back down on the table. I nearly laughed out loud when I saw it, but managed to contain my decorum. The whole thing evoked memories of memorials of years gone by where the talk-giver actually seats himself on the front row to receive each of the emblems before getting back up on his feet to continue with his talk. Absolute certifiable madness.
Is it me, or does this betray a complete lack of common sense and sound judgment on the part of these guys? They are obviously so overcome by paranoia and the importance of their "privilege" that they believe Jehovah is there watching their every move and putting a big black cross next to their names if they don't handle the emblems in a certain way. It doesn't take a genius to realise that they have "passed" the emblems simply by touching them, or by being a link in the chain that passes them along to others. The over-the-top idiotic approach only makes them look like nut-jobs to any interested ones, who must think the whole celebration centres around some kind of masonic ritual. At best, it's eccentric behavior - at worst, it's a tragic (and very public) dance of the confused and bewildered.
Anyway, I would be curious to know whether any others out there witnessed such bizarre and frankly ludicrous behavior? One also wonders why the Society doesn't state more clearly in its directions to elders that simply handling the emblems at all is sufficient?
Cedars