inclement weather ? I remember having to wait until just about the last minute to call my bookstudy to tell them whether or not a meeting was being held or not. And these poor people hoping to enjoy a legitimate meeting off would be told by the elders whether they were expected to go or not. I've seen winter storms so bad, you wouldn't venture out ANYWHERE but the Presiding Overseer would say HE didn't think it was that bad......I can't tell you how many truly sick people made their meetings, quite begrudgingly, because they HAD to.......Very, very sad.
Do You Kick Yourself For Going To Meetings When You Were Sick or During....
by minimus 29 Replies latest jw friends
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JH
When I was sick, I didn't go. When the weather was lousy, I didn't go. But since I had a car and I gave lifts to other people, they expected me to go and pick them up anyways.
So, it snows where you live Minimus. I now know where you don't live.
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minimus
JH, with those bad habits, it's no wonder you're here all the time. At least you were smart not to go when you were ill or it was lousy out. See, you were a rebel from way back when!
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caligirl
Meetings were rarely cancelled in the congregation I grew up in. My family was in a serious car accident returning from an assembly and after that, I refused to leave the house for ANY reason if I thought the weather was too bad, and my parents didn't argue too much - I guess they agreed that I had paid my dues after 4 months in a body cast. The book study was at our house, so we never had to leave for that- but we still had to sit through a one hour study, even if only one other person showed up. Thankfully, if no one showed, on went the TV, a much more enjoyable way to spend an hour! As for going when we were sick, my parents were pretty reasonable.
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minimus
In our area, during the winter, we could have a number of meetings cancelled in a stretch. At that point, some "conscientous" elder would come up with the idea that we should reschedule the meeting because we don't want to miss any of the "slave's" food. Or they would double up on meetings to make up for the meetings we had missed. There was always some do-gooder trying to make us go to all of the meetings. Imagine feeling that unless you got word from the elders, even if the roads were treacherous, you HAD to go to the meetings. (Usually, it was only the elders families along with a few "faithful" ones that made it anyway).
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rocketman
Good topic. Generally, our body of elders was pretty quick to cancel meetings during bad weather. I was always quick to cancel bookstudies for the same reason. My view was that if even one person fell or was in an accident because they were trying to navigate bad roads or sidewalks, the blame would be on the congregation, and rightfully so. I didn't want people taking needless risks. And the thing is, you know how jws are - many of them, when a meeting is being held, will take risks to get there to avoid feeling bad about missing them.
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rocketman
One thing to add....we had a CO who came through and said we should never cancel meetings (though we did anyway). His feeling was that "the provision should be available" and that those who did not wish to travel could simply decide not to.
I disagree with that notion strongly. In order to make the "provision" of a meeting available, there are still many who have to travel - elders, Ms's their families, people delivering parts, etc. And there will always be those who feel guilty and will take the risk. Also, the elderly were often, in our congregation, among those who would feel bad and take the risk.
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core
"the provision should be available" and that those who did not wish to travel could simply decide not to.
I disagree with that notion strongly. In order to make the "provision" of a meeting available, there are still many who have to travel - elders, Ms's their families, people delivering parts, etc. And there will always be those who feel guilty and will take the risk.
rocketman - exactly - another form of emotional pressure. I cancelled meetings (including some in the CO Visit) when extreme weather made travel v dangerous - he did not like it but then he was usually sick and missing anyway. Old faithful ones would always drag themselves out to risk death from pneumonia, freezing to death in KH or a car crash in blizzard conditions - someone had to think for them - I was always amazed at the desire of everyone to wait to see what would be arranged, not take any responsibility for themselves but put the burden for a decision on the PO - boy it feels great now not having the consciences of all those to salve.
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minimus
The reason why the people wait is because they do actually think that Jehovah God directs the elders and THEY know what's best for us. So if they elder say, "There WILL be a meeting tonight", then Jehovah wants us to be there. And if we refused to go once the "invitation" was extended, then we would prove ourselves to be unappreciative of what Jehovah God gives us.
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tinkerbell82
when i was a kid we lived next door to the people who hosted our bookstudy. missing was never an option.