Honest, kind acts we performed when we were JWs--how does it feel now?

by Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit

  I just read Scully's thread about returning money from the ATM. It reminded me of how common it is for Hohos to do a kindness, or to return found items, then explain that 'the reason I'm so honest is that I'm a JW and we're honest people, blah blah'. This was always disturbing to me, as though we had to draw attention to the fantasy that we were different from others and it felt like we had lost our humanity--I now realize how true that is. Surprisingly, once a DO said at an assembly, that when we do these right things, we should not announce to the recipient that it's because we're Hohos, we're doing them because it's just right to do a kind or truthful act to another person.

  "Worldly" people had been doing 'the right thing' all along!! When I have had situations like this, it makes me feel good about myself, not about the collective.
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  XU

  Whenever I did the right thing it was because J to the izo was watching me and judging me. When I read Scully's post, I was thinking about what I told my husband last night about this one time I got a dime back from the corner store and I told my mom and she asked me what did I think Jehovah would want me to do. I had to walk my ass back there feeling like a thief. A lot of times when I did nice things, I would still try and figure out if it was the "best" thing I should've could've done. I was hoping I could keep up with the red (-)s in the book of life under 'Future XU'.
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  merfi

  Along those same lines, I always felt like I HAD to do the "kind, honest" etc thing to "bring honor to Jehovah's name" as I was a known JW and it was a reflection on the JW collective. And if *I* was so wonderful, kind, honest etc then it showed how wonderful everyone else was and therefore THE religion to be in.
  
  *gack*
  
  I now do nice things cuz I like to. I like making people smile, laugh, feel loved and content without any silly ulterior motives.
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  sass_my_frass

  How about the converse, that if there was no way to publicise the 'good deed', it wasn't worth doing?
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  Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit

  Sass, good catch! How sickeningly true.
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  Undecided

  My brother got a call a while back and someone had found his wallet down town. It had money in it and all of it was returned, he bought this guy lunch for his good deed. There are good people all around.

  Ken P.
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  fullofdoubtnow

  I have always done the right thing, both before, during and after my time as a jw, but tended to draw attention to it more when I was a jw, as it was regarded as giving a "good witness", and thus bringing praise to jah.
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  choosing life

  That DO must have been different. I don't know how many times I heard how good JWs were because of incidents like these. They published them far and wide. Especially at assemblies.

  Most people I know are honest enough to return money and valuables. I take much more delight in it now, because I am not forced to, but choose to. Really, I would have chosen to all along, but the glory always made me feel hypocritical.

  What was that Jesus said about "not letting your right hand know what your left is doing"?