Should have accused him of being a Mormon just for a kicker.
Just saw an elderly JW man...
by zengalileo 44 Replies latest jw friends
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Virgochik
3rdgen, it's really nice to read your post. My Father passed away a few months ago, elderly and after lengthy health problems. It was so sad, because I do believe he harbored some doubts but it was too late to do his life over. After having been out for many years, some of "the friends" impressed me with their caring and willingness to help my Mom; others were real oddballs and clueless about appropriate times to visit the hospital or how long to stay. They had no idea the family wanted privacy in the final hours.
I do believe there are so many good folks still in who wonder about the direction the JW's are going in and the questionable leadership. Something seems "off" but they can't put their finger on it. After you get too old, (like my mom), you just hang on to basic biblical principles, and the friends you have made. It's too late to start over once you get in your seventies and eighties. They kind of cross their fingers that they've lived a good life and hope it will be allright.
Glad you are doing OK. I was a born in and know lots of us aren't evil people. We just sensed something didn't smell right at the Kingdom Hall, and try to live good lives. I honor my Mother and respect her fear of change. She is better off at her age being happy and naive than finding out there is anything wrong. Best of luck to you!
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satinka
Awww... I feel sorry for the elderly ones who have been waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting for the "New World" to arrive. I know a bro who declined taking a company pension with the railway, where he worked all his life. When his workmates asked him why, he laughed and said, "I won't need it. The New Order is coming any day!"
Well, now he walks with that same dejected look that you describe. He and his wife have had to sell their house because they can no longer afford it. He has no company pension and collects a meager Canada Pension which keeps a person in a state of poverty.
And no New Order in sight.
I wonder if he has figured it out yet... he has been seriously lied to.
satinka
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life is to short
There is an elder in the hall I went to who is in his mid 80's and has a really hard time walking. About a year ago I was at a red light and I saw him shuffling to a bus stop, no one was there at the stop but he had in his hands the WT and Awake, he looked like he might fall at any moment he, he threw the magazines on the bench and shuffled back to his car. I noticed others also watching him, it was really sad. I am sure it was a truly bad witness as it was so sad to watch.
LITS
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jookbeard
problem is these old cantankerous long time Dubs are the very worse to receive help or advice in exposing what many have spent 50 years plus defending.
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outsmartthesystem
Yes.....but what a happifying SPIRITUAL paradise the old broken down man ALREADY lives in!
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exwhyzee
There is an elderly couple in my former congregation that left the Circuit work after about 35 years due to his health problems. As a kid I remember people being giddy with excitement when they were going to be visiting. He seemed so knowlegeable and she so zelous. Later as an adult his talks seemed very corny and the logic and reasonings were pretty sketchy. You sort of overlooked this because they were very sweet people, very devoted to one another, truly the kind that lived up to what being a Witness is supposed to be all about. Like many they found themselves elderly without any means of support .They didn't have much, if any Social Security because they had been in the Circuit work since they were newlyweds and they never had kids so there was no family to turn to. Uncomplainingly, at a time when most people rertire, he got a job as a school bus driver and she got a job in a dept. store. They had a tiny old death trap car and lived in a mobile home in a senior mobile home park. It was spotlessly clean but was a bit dated and shabby, and in need of repairs. About a year before I left the org for good, she came to me because she had found some used carpet while out in service, somebody's return visit or bible study was getting rid of it. She had heard that in another life I used to install carpet and wanted to know if I could help her out. I was happy to do so but when I unrolled the carpet we realized there wasn't enough that was worth installing. She began sobbing and explained that one of their old friends from Gilead was going to be visiting the area but her husband was too ashamed to have him see where they were living and didn't want to invite him to stay. They had never owned a home and hadn't a clue how to fix things around the house. She thought that if the carptet were replaced and they had some repairs done it might make him feel better about their situation. It made me angry that these two lovely people were in this position after all they had done in their lives for others. Long story short, I installed some new carpet for her and fixed a lot of the little electrical and plumbing problems they were having. He came home from work and was grinning like a little kid when he saw how much better things looked. He went around switching on and off overhead lights that hadn't ever worked etc. The point is, these people were waiting until they were 72 so they could stop working and resume pioneering. Unlike the man in the story, they were very perky and seemed to thrive on having this JW mission in life. They were absolutly certain that although they lived in a place where people who hadn't fared to welll in life also lived, Jehovah was looking out for them and I was sent by him to help them. Viewing them now, through adult eyes, it was almost a little weird and as if they were out of touch with reality and a bit child like but that's exactly what the organization encourages and those are the ones who can keep doing it.
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moshe
That was a kind thing you did for them exwhyzee- Rich people without kids have no problem getting help. By the time these lifer fulltime JWs realize they have to enter retirement with minimal SS checks and no pensions/savings it's too late to for them renegotiate a work contract with Bethel. The Billion dollar WT org could easily pay these worn out fulltimers a decent retirement stipend. I seem to remember my old KH from the 70's organized a fix-it day to help elderly JWs- well maybe they did it one time- it was on a Sat- it was more popular than going out in service.
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Ding
I often wonder if older JWs think back to 1975 and wonder what their lives might have been had that fiasco awakened them to the fact that that the WT emperor had no clothes.
Most likely, they suppressed all such thoughts, blamed themselves for running ahead of Jehovah, and still expect Armageddon any day now.
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shamus100
easywhyzee,
You must be a very special person in real life.