Several weeks ago I attended a Jehovah's Witness funeral. It was for my (former) best friend's mother.
I posted that account and of how surprised I was to meet old friends, "brothers" and "sisters" from my active JW days of old.
They treated me spontaneously with affection.
I got the following letter the other day from Pamela. She was the wife of another friend of mine. They had a wild and weird JW marriage, to say the least.(In 1977) The two of them and their 5 children showed up wanting to live with my JW wife and I after we had moved from Texas to Redondo Beach, California. I had previously told them we definitely could NOT accomodate them because we had 3 children of our own in a 2 bedroom apartment!! That's another story, however. (A horror story!)
I sent Pamela an e-mail after meeting her and her new husband, Paddy, and exchanging e-mail information.
The following is an excerpt from the e-mail she sent back. I think it is rather interesting. Maybe you will too.
Well, howdy there.
I'm finally checking email first time this week and I can't believe it's been two weeks since Jenny's funeral already and I haven't written yet. These impromptu reunions are a simple fact of life.
Like you, I was happy to get to see so many of the friends of yore, and quite pleased that I could still recognize most of them. You have barely changed in appearance at all. I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I saw some years back. "I feel so much better since I gave up hope!" Guess it works for you. I, on the other hand, feel so much better since I figured out exactly what to place my hope in. If I did not believe in a creator who loves mankind, I would have a very hard time finding any reason at all to get up in the morning, let alone to exert myself in trying to make anything better in life. Aside from the premise of Paschal's wager, there is just too much science and logic supporting not only a belief in a creator, but supporting the Bible's truthfulness. And face it, dear. There is no other group on the planet doing what the Watchtower organization is doing. Since I believe the Bible, I stick with them.
After being disfellowshipped for 3 1/2 years, it is very clear in my heart and mind that the reason I go to the Kingdom Hall and associate with the folks there is not because of the folks there, but because of Jehovah. It might seem like an odd concept but I want to see justice done toward him. Like any human artist, he deserves the credit for what he has done and he deserves the loyalty of any who claim to love truth. I figure if he can put up with my insistent stupidity and laziness, then I most likely can put up with the louts at the KH, including those living 'double lives'. After all, I have certain areas where I don't exactly toe the line either. I just have learned to adjust my expectations of others to be in the ballpark of the 'average' understanding, instead of expecting others to be like me. After all, I'm exceptional, right! If they were all like me then I'd only be average. Unthinkable.
Paddy was from the Church of England as a lad, but walked away at about 18-19 because of the lack of love and logic. When we met I told him right away that I'm a JW so he says, "So, tell me about Jehovah's Witnesses." I did and he saw the logic right away. (Being an engineer, logic is his domain.) He was baptized two years later. He hangs in there, even tho the brothers really, really want him to shave his beard. He won't so they have dropped the subject. But he really seems to enjoy the field ministry and the congregation Bible study program. We're in the Revelation Climax book again. First time for him and he's seeing it come true on the news.
Do you believe any of the Bible now? Do you have a religious affiliation? The tone of your letter is quite bitter sounding. Interesting that you would describe John and Carol as almost bitter. I see great discouragement and sadness in them. Some anger, certainly, but not as far as bitterness. I told Carol I'm convinced that the reason I have one child still hanging on to the Truth is because Scooter and I were such undeniably bad parents that she just flat disowned us and made her own way. John and Carol were working at doing so much of what was supposed to be done that I'm sure they expected a better result. But then, Jehovah did nothing wrong to cause Adam to disobey. Each is responsible for their own choices. We keep peeking through the blinds saying "I think they've finally arrived!", only to be disappointed again. Some folks can recover from disappointment and some can't. I prefer to believe what the evidence indicates over believing that this maelstrom of a world is the best we can hope for.