Missing meetings due to the weather, and then attending meetings is making me Bipolar I think.

by miseryloveselders 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  nearlyfree

  I havent been to a meeting now for about 6 months and just at the thought of going to one starts stressing me out. The last time

  i went to a meeting i got so stressed just from getting ready, that by the time I got there i was a mess, and only lasted for the

  first half. As soon as i left, i felt so much better. I have decided to go to the Memorial, so as not to

  raise any red flags with the elders - and even though its a month away, i'm already feeling totaly stressed about it. ( i think i will have to drink a lot of red wine before i go!! )

  Going to the meetings is definately bad for my physical and mental health..... I have never felt so happy about my life, since i stopped going.
• 

  WTWizard

  One thing I always hated is when they predict a storm, and it doesn't show up. I would watch the Weather Channel on Saturday night or Tuesday morning, and they would predict a foot or more of snow by the time a boasting session comes. Then, the snow would hold off--and hold off--and hold off. It became obvious that Jehovah was forcing the storm to hold off just so I would be forced to attend the boasting session. And, sure enough, by the time the boasting session arrives, we have a grand total of a dusting of snow. Then, the storm hits--all two or three inches of snow rain.

  Or, what really pxxxed me off would be when there would be nearly a foot of snow, and those dingbats would still refuse to cancel the boasting session. I would be expecting the phone call, and instead they would show up to pick me up for the boasting session (that was when I was living about 5 miles away--before I moved to within 0.9 miles of the Kingdumb Hell). I just felt like picking up their car and dropping it off in Ellsworth, Maine--so they could be forced to drive more than 500 miles to pick me up (or go and get about 15 feet of snow, or hope the dingbat that killed the cancellation would get stuck in the snow or hit a tree. They did their utmost to prevent a foot of snow from translating to a cancelled boasting session.
• 

  wheelwithinwheel

  Misery you say “the other half I do have some emotional investments with. It would hurt me, to hurt them.” I understand where you’re coming from. I have an elder friend who went through a bout of cancer and “the percentage” he cared about, helped him a great deal. Although he has WT issues, he now feels he owes too much to “the percentage” to let these people down. So it looks like he’s feels he needs to go through the motions and will force himself to do so for the rest of his life, which could be a long time. Before he was a real company man, but due to his issues, his “attitude” has naturally changed. He has been disciplined quite severely by the G.B.’s reps. for a few of his views and actions. I believe this disturbs “his percentage”, perhaps just about as much as if he had stepped down and slowly faded. But that’s my take, he now feels fading now would just show he was not humble and couldn’t take the discipline. So for the time being, he’s going to try and hang on.

  In my case some came to me and said they were sorry I stepped down and appreciated all I had done as an elder. It made me feel bad and good. A C.O. visited us unannounced, met with my wife, and then gave a condemning talk at the hall, slipping in some of her comments to his talk’s advantage. His talk took down the sister that told her about it, but the others seemed to have accepted his remarks. That is hard…not being able to explain real reasons. But then, are their ears ready? Perhaps for now they are happy in their place in life, should we try and change that? When I slowed the meetings and service, I know a lot were upset and felt sorry I was going down one of Satan’s slippery paths…and wondered which one. But I decided that to get to where I needed to be it would be impossible to try and explain. To help ease the pain I’ve told a few that my issues are with the WT and not with the local congregation. I don’t think it really helps a lot. When some tried to get further explanations, we just said we weren’t comfortable talking about it. My parents are very elderly and I don’t want to upset their beliefs, which they hold to very dearly. I just tell them I don’t agree with the WT’s attitude, that I feel they need to take responsibility for things they have said and even excuse themselves for the difficulties they have caused, but that I’m leaving it in J’s hands. Although they were shocked and quite upset at first, they seem to have accepted it.

  I hope you can find a way to get to where you need to be with the least damage possible – It may help to consider how long a congregation is affected by a death or dfing of a cherished member…the memory is there…but the real hurt?…not too long in my experience. In the mean time I’ll pray J to send manna to your area…don’t take this the wrong way…but ‘I don’t need any around here’ (I hate shovelling)

  wheel
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  miseryloveselders

  Wizard, you're a funny guy lol. I definately relate to being disappointed when the storm of the century is a dud on a meeting night.

  Wheel, thanks for your input. I've never really considered how fast a congregation moves on after losing a loved one to death. (there's that JW speak coming out of me, why can't I just talk normally and say, "after someone dies") Wow i just got to work, and brain is alreay in overdrive after reading what you wrote. I'm saving your post on a Word Document and leaving it on my desktop. Wow, I've never really taken into consideration how quickly a congregation can discard and forget, even after a death. Crazy. Thanks for the post.
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  Room 215

  I don't know any JW, no matter how zealous or active, doesn't LOVE to get that "meeting's cancelled" call!