by John Doe 15 Replies latest jw friends
I love these stories, also.
I've done so much that no particular act stands out, but this one really touched me.
There's a family of 12 in my 'hood - 9 children, 3 adults. Dad was laid off; I gave them $100 when I received my tax refund; mom wept so hard that I almost lost it.
I would like to say that nothing we do goes unnoticed by our Heavenly Father.
Syl
Over the last few years I have encouraged my JW raised wife to pursue further education, career advancements and to network, both socially and through business outside the JW world, in order to slowly deprogram her from her life long devotion to the WTS.
Over this period of time it has slowly worked. She is every bit as inactive as I am....physically. Mentally she still defends the JWs and has not let it go completely. She has no clue that I was operating this covert plan to free her...she thinks I'm "weak" and "rebellious"...which is fine.
She is freer now than she ever has been and I'm seeing cracks in the mental defense of the religion starting to appear. She'll probably never know the extent of what I went through, biting my tongue, absorbing criticism, etc. in order to keep the plan in operation.
Undercover
Syl
I liked these stories. I think perhaps this stuff happens every day and we're too absorbed with the negative to take note. cheers
This didn't go unnoticed - but I still think I did the right thing... It's kind of not the nicest story overall but shows that it's important not to stand by and do and say nothing if you see something wrong!
It was a very hot and uncomfortable day in Sydney just after work, 5pm - so busy. I jumped on the monorail (I am one of the very few Sydney-siders who actually used it) and all of the compartments are full, so I had to stand. No biggie. Being a hot summer's day, of course the air con wasn't working and it was like a furnace. Anyway...
At the next station, a middle aged blind woman and her carer got in my compartment. Everyone looked any other direction except at the blind lady. The blind lady wasn't the most stable on her feet with the jolts of the monorail. I was raging. I waited, thinking that surely one of these 8 people sitting will get up and offer their seat. Nope.
I looked around and said loudly: "Surely ONE of you people sitting down is able to stand and offer your seat!!!!!" Suddenly 8 pairs of eyes found me. It was then a race for everyone sitting down to pretend that they hadn't noticed the blind lady before, and quickly get up and offer their seat. I was so furious and felt so let down by my fellow humans!!
That was a day that my temper seemed to come in handy though. I looked at the lady's carer and just shook my head and said 'unbelievable'. She just looked at me and nodded sadly - like she deals with it all the time - and although used to it, was still disappointed.
When I was getting off she pulled me aside and said 'thank you' and I know she meant it.
I still get annoyed when I think about that day :(
In first world countries in the west "hospitality" is something you buy - and not with loose change either - so I find any voluntary kind act often surprises the living daylights out of most people.
