by Frog 45 Replies latest jw friends
I heard of one meal where a loooong prayer was uttered, and at the end of it the homeowner turned to someone else and asked them to say "grace", as the first guy forgot to mention the food
Rod:
I thought the Amen was related to Amun - similar heritage
LT -
Supporting this stance with the words of an animation seems as ludicrous as praying to an invisible entity you feel pretty certain doesn't exist.
But the "yellow faced" animated character you speak of has uttered more sense and truth and humour since his creation 20 years or so ago then the whey faced one in the sky has managed in the last 7 millenia. If this was an election - well my vote would have to go with the God/s that created Bart and Homer.
We're all entitled to our opinion.
I don't recall Homer coming out with "do unto others..." etc.
Even Ghandi appreciated that one.
"Be Quiet Brain or I will stab you with a Q-tip"
- Homer Simpson
smirking xx
Frog -
Good topic by the way.
I , wifey, and the grandchildren always pray before we eat. We have left dubland, but the reason we were in the organization for all those years was because we wished to serve the Father. That has never changed for us. We were not hypocrites then, nor now. We embrace Christianity. And we know that a creator made us and the gifts that we use and enjoy daily. So we thank Him for that.
We have not attached ourselves to any organized religion - don't know if we will. But we want our g-kids to know and love the Father. Wifey also reads them a portion of Bible every night before they go to sleep.
Leaving the WTBTS has made us better Christians in so many ways. We cannot but thank God for all he gives us, not the least of which is the escape from the cult of Jehovah's witnesses.
Jeff
Rod P,
According to Strong's lexicon, amen simply means "so be it".
From my distant memories of being a JW i remember an elder coming to dinner with his wife and my mother asked him to say a blessingTM; and well he went on and on and on and on....bloody food was cold by the time he'd finished...what was the point in that? I asked my mother that if he was ever to come to dinner again he should say a blessing before she started cooking...that way he might finish by the time its cooked.
Supporting this stance with the words of an animation seems as ludicrous as praying to an invisible entity you feel pretty certain doesn't exist.
Ludicrous but funny nonetheless... the stark honesty of the comment stuck with me...it was hardly an academic quote of great importance...but again funny nonetheless.
LOL @ DB74
I don't remember the last time I prayed, about or for anything. It would seem strange praying to "Jehovah" when the "Jehovah" I had been praying to would always in my mind be associated with a false religion. But it felt weird the few times I tried to pray to Jesus. So I don't know who to pray to or what to pray for. I guess I could pray for guidance, but I did that for the first 27 years of my life and only at the age of 28 did I get the guidance I was looking for. Namely, guidance out of the borg. I'm somewhat upset with God to think that he would let me linger in untruth all that time. Kind of makes me question his existence at all. Now that I think about it, the last time I prayed I said to God, "If you exist prove it to me now by striking me dead right now!" Obviously nothing happened. Another unanswered prayer. I don't recall praying since then.
Zugzwang, you are not alone. Except that I'm quite older than you are, I feel exactly the same way.
When and how did this custom/tradition begin?
Is it only related to 'christian' based religions? I don't seem to remember the Jews, Muslims or Buddhists praying before 'regular' meals.
Interestingly, if you've ever eaten at JW HQ, bethel, they pray before AND then stand and pray after all meals.
Seems to be some formalistic ritual without a strong biblical foundation.
