by Frenchy 25 Replies latest jw friends
Thanks for the response, Bang but I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying.
they delighted in poverty and working with the poor, about a thousand years ago
What are you talking about here? Who are 'they'?
I don't understand this either: "I haven't been there, but you just know, you know."
And finally, "I'm not sure what else to say - He's meek and not haughty, and far more than the WT society would have you believe." Who are you talking about here?
Hi Frenchy.
I don't know that I am "hanging on" anymore. I am just kind of hanging out, trying to enjoy life as I see it now. I appreciate your words about a sighted person not wishing to be blind. That hit home with me. No, I do not wish to be blind physically or religiously. I am who I am, oops! Didn't God say that? Or was that Popeye the sailor? <grin>
Had lunch with my youngest son today and he prayed before eating. He then looked at me and said, "I don't even know why I am doing this." He started back to the Kingdom Hall four months before I did. A friend of his died and he needed he comfort of religion to make sense of it. Now we talk about what is out there and if we can ever believe in any religion. So we both continue our search but not like our lives depend on it. He also said, "If worshiping God means living like a JW, I don't want it. God would not want people to be so bogged down and unhappy." I agree.
Thanks for your input.
Judith
Frenchy,
The person that came from delighted in poverty and working with the poor, as did the others he was with, a long time back.
<< I haven't been there, but you just know, you know >>
I mean I haven't been to a kingdom hall, but it's not necessary to know that they don't teach that way.
<< He's meek and not haughty, and far more than the WT society would have you believe. >>
The Lord of course.
Bang
Hello,Judith:
Thanks again for your thoughts. I wish you and your family the best on your journey. You seem to be a very nice person.
Bang:
Thank you too for your reply. I'm not sure what you are trying to tell me. I do believe in God and Jesus and I know that the WTBS is not what it pretends to be. Perhaps I had not made that clear.
Just a brief comment to you, if I may. You say that you have never been in a hall and that "it's not necessary to know that they don't teach that way." Not having been a witness, there is no way you could possibly know all that it entails. As I mentioned before, I appreciate your comments, but you should understand that in dealing with people who are or were witnesses, is something that an 'outsider' can never truly relate to.
The JW experience (40 years, hey I'm a slow learner!)added quite a dimension to my life once it became PART of my life instead of ENTIRELY my life. One of the 'interesting' Scriptures that has always intrigued me is Hebrews 5:8. It's one of the major points that finally led to my dismissing the Society's version of what this (EVERYTHING!) is all about. Young's Literal Translation renders it this way: "through being a Son,(Speaking of Jesus) did learn by the things which he suffered—the obedience," The NWT translates this way: "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered;" Other translations read similarly.
Jesus' words elsewhere tell us that he was with the Father in heaven before he came down. He also tells us of the very close association he enjoys with the Father. Although we are all the progeny of God, Jesus appears to hold a unique position in that respect, "the only begotten son". We can only imagine the things Jesus knows and the power that he wields. Scripture indicates that God holds few things back from him. YET...yet, there was something that Jesus needed that the Father evidently could not just give him. --Obedience. The Scriptures tell us that he learned it through sufferings. I find that extremely significant. Jesus could never know what being human was until he went through it himself. No amount of insight or observation on his part could ever give him that.
It's the same thing with being a JW. No about of observation will ever give you the insight of what it truly means to belong to this Society. You can only learn that but ...the sufferings of being in it and then leaving.
Frenchy,
Not having been a witness I don't know all that it entails, certainly - but I have heard things they tell and it's on that basis that I know that they do not have, generate or provide teachings such as I posted above, otherwise the whole organisation would have been different by now. It's true I don't know that suffering. I read about the suffering and so I'm here, trying to dispel the myth and encourage those who have left.
I suppose what I'm trying to tell you is don't be sad.
"For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ"
Bang
Thank you, Bang, I appreciate what you're doing.
