Happy Family Day--go find someone to hug, if you can't find your family. We are going to play a game, no homeschool, eat junk food, all that good stuff. In this matter, we don't mind being "part of the world", because God made families way back in Genesis...so I know it isn't a pagan thing.
Happy Family Day to Canadians!
by fjtoth 20 Replies latest social family
-
-
truthsearcher
Frank, by the way, that was a pretty freaky thing you did with the first post.
-
mouthy
Feel like hugging me FranK????? Your only a few years younger
-
Finally-Free
The JWs will probably make it a "special service day" because, as we all know, the congregation is your real family.
W
-
tall penguin
Well, I just had my jw parents over for lunch and they didn't have a problem with it being family day. I'd like to think the wts won't mess this one up too.
tall penguin -
Connaughty
The sad thing about this day is knowing that the Ontario Bethel workers don't have it off. Let us have one minute of silence for them................................................................................................................................Thank-you. Now continue on.
-
The Oracle
ah yes....the Ontario Bethel workers....
Frank - your legacy lives on at the bethel in Canada I believe.
May I salute you, for having the courage to leave as you did, and for your attempts to help others to see the real truth behind the organization!
You are brave and decent man! I hope all is well with you!
The Oracle
-
mouthy
Well, I just had my jw parents over for lunch and they didn't have a problem with it being family day. I'd like to think the wts won't mess this one up too.
tall penguin Oh I was so pleased to read that.... Maybe they will let the "sheep" have that day off -
Hope4Others
Seems silly to call it "Family Day" A lot of people work so they really are not with their families today.
But its nice to have another long weekend!
Hope4Others
-
fjtoth
Truthsearcher:
Yes, families are God's idea and invention, going back to Genesis. The very first command God gave to humans was to have families -- lots of them: "God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28)
And yes, I sure did "a pretty freaky thing," and I can't figure out how it happened. Hopefully the moderators can fix it.
Mouthy:
Today I happened to be a little too far from your neighbourhood or I'd follow Truthsearchers advice and go find you for a hug. At our ages, we could get a good rumour going if others happened to be around!
Finally-Free:
The congregation was indeed my "real" family (or a shoddy replica of one). Bethel and the congregation kept me so busy all those years that I hardly had time to read a newspaper let alone keep in touch with my actual family living some distance away. And then when I did make contact with my parents, the complaint was always the same: "When are you coming home for a visit?" I regret very much that my active life as a JW virtually required that I have only a casual relationship with my parents and siblings, as well as my aunts, uncles and cousins. The avoidance of holidays and celebrations increased the distance between them and me as family. Millions of families, related to Bethelites and not related, have had that kind of relationship foisted upon them by the WT Society. Very sad.
Tall Penguin:
Of course, this is a brand new holiday, and it quietly crept up upon many Ontarians. I say, give it time and the WT Society will find some way to give it the usual branding of "worldly" and "unchristian." According to "Awake!" magazine, observing even Thanksgiving Day can be a source of "stumbling" others. (11/22/76, pages 12, 13)
Connaughty:
When I was at the Ontario Bethel, I loved it when there were holidays. (1) I wasn't expected to be out in field service since my work at Bethel "took precedence," as they'd say. Whenever I did get a day off -- really off, without my congregation knowing about it -- I tried to catch up on some sleep or work on an upcoming talk or demonstration I was assigned. (2) I was a tour guide, and it was great meeting people from many places, including other countries, and showing them around the home, office and factory for about an hour or two per group.
The Oracle:
Thanks. Yes, it did take a lot of courage to leave. Up until the day I was thoroughly convinced that the Society is not "God's organization," I was one of those superstitious ones who felt that maybe, just maybe, I'm about to make the biggest mistake of my life. If my decision was a wrong one, God would undoubtedly be displeased, and I could only expect his wrath and the ultimate outcome of everlasting destruction at Armageddon! Up until that day I still had an unhealthy dread that Jehovah would reveal my misgivings and suspicions to the elders or the branch committee, and I feared to cast my eyes in the direction of so-called "apostate literature," even to look at a book cover. That disturbed and unwholesome disposition went on for about 15 years of doubts and questions in my mind, thoughts I wouldn't dare share with even my best friends in the organization.
Two things held me bound and enslaved to the Society: (1) The belief that God "must" have an organization somewhere on earth and (2) the Society's teaching on blood. I will always celebrate the day when a former JW influenced me with scripture and reason to see the fallacy in those two ridiculous notions.
I appreciate the good work you are doing "on the inside" of trying to open the eyes of others.
Hope4Others:
So far, four provinces have instituted the holiday, and I think it will become nationwide within a few years, something to correspond with the USA's Presidents Day.