Fearing the Pain

by rockhound 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  heathen

  The truth will set you free .... ( a very wise man once said).

  Well they do have some very interesting explanations as to why they were wrong in the past . The Isaiah scriptures suddenly applied to them as bringing in new improved truth over the faulty teachings , with their kind of reasoning it would be very hard to convince them of anything even with hard cold facts . They think we are the devils advocates and only want to deprive them of eternal happiness , when in fact we only want to discuss things from a rational point of view .
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  Annanias

  Fearing the pain, facing the pain, it is interesting how pain became the center piece of lives. Pschologists say that the human mind does not remember pain (less the population=17), but as a JW, I was taught to keep it formost in my mind. I remember that Sir Thomas Moore would reputedly wear burlap (sackcloth) underwear all year round as a method of reminding him of his humiltiy. The graveside comment bit kind of deep into my thoughts as I read it, as that is a point I have often said. I realize that there is a legal case in the offing here, that things so much bigger than any of us are being played out and brought to fulfillment, but I have the damn hardest time rectifying what I see and what I feel with what I have been led to believe.

  When I first started in the truth, I was told that initially, people become JWs out of fear of pain, of death. But as time goes by, after we learn more and more about him, we stay JW out of a love for him. That was as poetic a thought as even Emily Dickenson could pen.

  Question: At what point does Jehovah's "waiting for his appointed time" cross over into accomplice status? I have sat in tearful contemplation for hours asking, "If your point hasn't been made yet, what could ever make it? Now, either s*it or get off the pot."

  However, there is one final note. If, some 1000+ years from now, Satan is out on his last recruitment drive and somebody asks me if I want things to be the way they are now, I hope I remember how I feel this day.

  And I realize that the hardliners (right wingers?) on this board will state (I like to think it stated without an air of superiority) that as long as I choose to believe the cosmic joke, the longer I will continue to hurt. That only when I finally throw up my hands and declare it all as garbage will I be able to be free of it. I think it's like that one lieutenant on "Band Of Brothers" reasoned, "Once you accept that you're already dead you'll be able to enjoy this war."

  I'm sorry, but the problem of timing is not the fault of the FDS, or the borg.
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  heathen

  Annanias--- It is interesting especially since the bible writers were expecting the conclusion in their lifetime . I tend to agree that there are plenty of things going on that are bigger than what we can comprehend . The JW made it very simple that you are either being victimized by evil spirits or God himself is testing you for the purpose of his own glory . The appointed time thing is very difficult to understand , not only are to exspect the conclusion but we are to exspect that jesus is now ruling invisibly based on an old testament scripture that really can't be taken the way they state it because Daniel 4 does not mention the appointed times of the nations . It mentions 7 times and the explanation given is that nebuchadnezzar would be as a beast in the feild for 7 years and not that the messiah would begin ruling . AFA I know nobody in the old testament knew what year it was so it takes alot of guess work .
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  Annanias

  This may not have a lot to do with this thread, but it just seemed like a good place to stick it. It has probably been on this site many times in the past, but it is one of my favorite songs. Gee, go figure.

  Cain slew Abel, Seth knew not why.

  For if the children of Israel were to multiply

  Why must any of the children die?

  So he asked the Lord

  And the Lord said:

  "Man means nothing, he means less to me

  than the lowiliest cactus flower

  or the humblest yucca tree

  he chases round this desert

  cause he thinks that's where I'll be,

  that's why I love mankind.

  I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee

  from the squalor and the filth and the misery.

  How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me,

  That's why I love mankind."

  The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree,

  The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV.

  They picked their four greatest priests

  And they began to speak

  They said, "Lord the plague is on the world

  Lord no man is free.

  The temples that we built to you

  Have tumbled into the sea.

  Lord, if you won't take care of us

  Won't you please, please let us be?"

  And the Lord said

  And the Lord said

  "I burn down your cities--how blind you must be.

  I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we.

  You must all be crazy to put your faith in me,

  That's why I love mankind:

  You really need me.

  That's why I love mankind"

  -Randy Newman- "God's Song" from the "Sail Away" CD
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  Navigator

  Great post Rockhound!

  Lying Eyes-You are so right! Most of our physical problems come from self generated stress. Letting it go is a prerequisite to healing.
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  FreeFallin

  Rockhound,

  That was a great post...I copied it and have been reading and re-reading it. This may not be exactly on topic, but my experience with grief and facing the truth was this: my mother died and I grieved her for 15 months (which I read somewhere is about the right amount of time) At. the end of this time everything came crashing down when I realized it (the truth) was all I lie re the UN scandal. I remember the absolute emptyness I felt when I realized there wasn't going to be any resurrection "real soon" and we weren't going to be together in Paradise in just a few years. So in essence, I started mourning my mother all over again, and the loss of my beliefs. And I hate them for it.

  Kat
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  seattleniceguy

  Hello RockHound,

  Excellent post. Just yesterday I re-read the first couple pages to The Road Less Traveled and discussed the book with a friend. What M. Scott Peck has to say is indeed very applicable to the Witnesses. A friend of mine loaned me the book, telling me that reading it provided him with his first inkling that the JW way of life was not one that promoted mental health. To me, it was a novel concept, but I now recognize that virtually all JWs suffer from the kind of neurores that Dr. Peck describes.

  I heartily recommend this book to anyone. It is excellent fodder for reflection, and it will help the reader to cultivate more real love and better mental health in the lives of himself and of others.

  SNG