by Phizzy 67 Replies latest jw friends
The real sadness emerges when the baby boomers bury their witness parents who never thought THEY were going to die.
Most baby boomers are in their late 50's and if you are a witness you missed out on the greatest life any group of humans has ever had.
They also know that their own end is close.
My SADNESS has developed into ANGER!
That's right! I'm f**king MAD!
Doc
There can be fewer situations in life more inducing of chronic sadness for older witnesses that realizing their life has been wasted and there are no trusted alternative options for them at this late stage of their lives.
Younger witnesses just might raise their eyes to the wider horizon and see opportunities for a life beyond the organization.
snare&racket: fantastic words my friend. Yes it is liberating and refreshing to look back and see that flying is scary and at the same time exhilarating! Thank you for your write up.
On another point: is that texting thing you wrote serious or is it some joke? That sounds awful if it really appeared in writing.
I think they are sad these days, see my thread about the "missionary couple" that preached to me this week.
Certainly their heart does not seem to be in it - i.e their door to door ministry - anymore.
I see this with nearly all the ones that have called at my place over the last five or so years, anyway. They go about their business in the most perfunctory of manner, radiating the aura that they are there only so that they can enter a few "hours" on their Field Service Report for the month, and thus not feel too guilty about things.
Then, if they do meet somebody at the doors who even hints at being perhaps a little too hot to handle, they (the JWs) seem all too happy to have an excuse for disengaging the enemy and fleeing the field!
And, yeah, all along with a facial expression that communicates everything but being happy about what they are doing.
I cannot but contrast this with the spirit of most JWs 40+ years ago, who relished the thought of getting into a verbal sparring session with others.
My observations, anyway!
Bill.
Thanks all, for your observations, I think it is really sad that so many are in fact not at all happy, but they fool themselves that they are, and that those outside of the WT cannot be !
I had a JW say as much to me, after I had been out for a few months he said "But you can't be happy", it made me stop and realise that he was so, so wrong, I was happy for the first time in my life in a way I had never experienced.
The "tiredness" that the JW's often show, and quite often admit to, is a symptom of depression.
It really is a religion of Saddos.
This made me think about my mother in law who is in her mid 80's and this is all she knows. She was raised as a witness and they told them they should never marry or have children because the end would be here any day now. Whenever my husband talks to her she is so depressed because she thought the new system would have been here by now and most of her friends are gone. She realizes that she will be gone soon also and it still isn't here.
A friend of ours whose parents are in their late 80's and early 90's told me they are acting the same way. They have even become desperate to get them to go back to meetings. They have been out for years so they weren't aware of the crazy new changes but when they read about the new light and the December 2013 article Cedars posted they could see why they have become so desperate.
I am just thankful I woke up because I was once one of those depressed and very unhappy witnesses.
The constant harping on JW's are exposed to that details how bad things are compared to how good things could be or will be some day, causes (IMO) a condition called Weltschmerz . Weltschmertz is the depression that arises from comparing the world as it is, to a hypothetical idealized world that one envisions in thier own mind. The steady diet of talks, literature and meetings where the flaws in ones current existence are highlighted and then compared to an existence of idealized perfection that is never attained or is repeatedly postponed, is bound to foster an atmosphere of discontent and rather than one of gratitude and appreciation of what one really has. If you want to see this on a large scale, spend a little time at Bethel and notice the altered state the residents there are in, especially the long time ones. It's certainly not what you'd expect to see at the world headquarers of God's happy people.
I have always felt alone in a crowded room. I am alone in my home, alone in my family, and alone in my KH. I have no friends. I am drinkning now to cope. Inside I am dying, and I know why the caged bird sings. My wife is upstairs, but I am not even free to talk to her about my feelings since she has threatened to leave me if I am an "apostate." The one person that I should be the closest to, is my enemy. I can't do anything except bury all my feelings and put on a mask. If I did not have a child, things would be different.
Snare and racket, your comment is profound.
DD
I'd be sad too. Especially if I was in the middle of a Bible study
where I had already fed the householder grubb from brooklyn that's now outdated
The only thing " Nu lite " shows is the expiration date on what they ate as " spiritual food "
After the funeral for the spouse that they were promised they would live forever with they have to deal with the damage from the doctrine that says that, even if they, themselves, make it through the GT, their partner is to remain celebate and the promise for them is eternity without each other.
Constant parroting of how nice it will be when they are resurrected is hiding their trauma of knowing that even a quick fondle with their loved one will be forever seen as a sin by their stroppy little god. Their promised 'reward' is more like a punishment, they know they are getting closer to their funerals, and every day is Groundhog Day, with Paradise no closer than it was yesterday.
