Posts by kenpodragon

That is always the Catch 22 to the term "religious freedom", in that it allows the normal to walk in through the front door. While it does not put any locks on the back door either. As much as it sounds frustrating. I hope the government does not take away the right to "freedom of religion."

My thought

Dragon

17

Jon walks again

by kelsey007 in

jw
friends

some here have heard about my son and the loss of his feet due to bacterial menengitis.

yesterday he was finally fitted with his new feet.

after standing and taking steps he was promised his new feet for next wednesday!

kenpodragon

Sounds wonderful!!! Glad things are working out.

Take Care

Dragon

22

Resurection of billions will bring famine

by Gerard in

jw
friends

when billions of people resurect, in flesh and bone, their bodies will again need a source of energy: food.

the world will be seriously overpopulated overnight and food will become scarce; should we expect cattle rustlers, gangs, tribal wars?

will history repeat itself?

kenpodragon

Good thing it is a pack of lies than.

My thought

Dragon

9

It did not sound odd when I was a Witness!

by kenpodragon in

jw
friends

some times i will go out to lunch with some friends, or maybe they will have me over to dinner.

in doing so they will some times ask me a question about the witnesses.

normally it is because one of them works with one, or knows one in the family and they did not want to offend that person with a question that might sound rude or even silly.

kenpodragon

Some times I will go out to lunch with some friends, or maybe they will have me over to dinner. In doing so they will some times ask me a question about the Witnesses. Normally it is because one of them works with one, or knows one in the family and they did not want to offend that person with a question that might sound rude or even silly. Some of you might have experienced this yourself in your post-Witness life.

These question can be everything from "why do Witnesses not celebrate Birthdays", to "what is up with long skirts." In any case I can often pull from my 25 years in the religion and give them a answer along the thinking of the society and current Witnesses. As I do so though, and explain this detail and that thought. They will sit there and listen and watch me, and see the points that I am making. Then when I am completely finished and have thoroughly explained the answer to their questions. They will say something like "how did you ever believe something so odd?"

That is a good question really. I do not know how many times in this life I have asked that to myself, as well. I have set at night wondering, "why did I think demons were controlling everything" or "why did I accept that it was okay to turn my friends in for saying something against the organization." In all, it is so hard to find the answer to these questions. Mainly because the person inside who used to believe these things, got smarter. What do I mean?

Well when I look back at my childhood and wonder why I choose to take the quarter from my mom, because it was metal and cool looking, over the dollar that looked flimsy and worthless . I think, that was stupid! Yet I also think, "well I did not know any better." I was a child and children are learning in this life all the time. We make mistakes, and we learn from them to improve the way we think about things. To me, that inner child never really stops learning. Yes the body may grow older and the thoughts might grow deeper. Yet some where inside us is the "child within" always waiting to make a bad decision we will look at later and go "why did I do that?"

So as I sit there with my friends, or talk to them on the phone, and hear myself saying "we do not believe in Birthdays because someone got their head cut off" or "we do not go to college because the world is ending soon." I might feel a little odd now, realizing that was something I used to accept, but I have to remind myself many times. "It did not sound odd then" and that was because I just did not know anything else, and I was just doing things I would learn from later. Then I kind of reinforce my life now, by saying ..

"Thank goodness you do know now, what you did not know then"

So does this happen to you?

My thought

Dragon

3

Getting ready to do battle

by kenpodragon in

jw
friends

it was a dark night, i could not hear anything out side.

which was weird as i normally hear at least a cricket or two.

my wife was sleeping next to me, no doubt having a dream she would never tell me about later.

kenpodragon

It was a dark night, I could not hear anything out side. Which was weird as I normally hear at least a cricket or two. My wife was sleeping next to me, no doubt having a dream she would never tell me about later. I got out of bed and walked to the other room, doing the blind man's walk of using my arms to find walls and light switches. I closed the bed room door, and flipped on the light switch. The house lit up and it seemed like a mid afternoon illumination and nothing like 3 AM in the morning. I set down on the couch, when suddenly I heard something move in the other room. It was definitely foot steps and the sound of someone running. I set there freaked for a minute, getting my senses adjusted to what was happening. I stood up and looked for something to grab, who ever this was, was going to get a face full of my wife's new green plant. As that was the only thing within reaching distance. I slowly stepped forward and made comments out loud, "your dead who ever you are" and "I am going to beat the crap out of you" as I inched ever more forward. I could swear I could now hear the breathing of my would be opponent. He was no doubt waiting to confront me with more harm then this plant would inflict on him. I stepped closer, now ready to turn the corner and meet the man head on and perhaps my fate at this pivotal moment in life. I turned the corner, and all I could see was darkness. I almost thought I caught the glimpse of the white in the man's eye's in the corner. I felt his stair as his evil looked right through me. I was meeting a match of anger and hate that ran chills down my spine. I was angry, scared and ready to turn the light on and make my stand. I expected to see the animal of man standing before me at that moment. Ready to fight, and figured this was it and now was the time. Seconds felt like minutes and my heart beat with the pace of a hundred horses as I held that plant tight and aimed for the light switch. "Click" The room illuminated and there it was staring at me from across the room. The enemy of my night, the accumulation of my anticipation. Looking at me, seeing me ready to take it down, with my dangerous looking plant in hand. My anger boiling over me, my aggression brought forward so that all the world could see. I was ready to fight and I screamed out loud with anger as that light showed me all the room had to offer, "your dead!" .... well I don't think my sisters dog quite expected that. He leaped about ten inches into the air and wet the floor. I guess he did not find the sudden appearance of me running around the corner with plant in hand yelling, appealing. The thing is, I have made this mistake so many times before. Where I hear something someone said, or read something someone sends me and I get all upset. I start adding words to it, and seeing the person saying it in a way they would never do. Then I build up and build up my anger and frustration with all these useless weapons of "I will say this" and "I will point out this" statements. Then I will go to see that person and they are like the most friendliest people I ever knew, I mention the problem and we talk things out and laugh about it later. Especially after I left the Witnesses, I always thought my family or my wife's family would say things against us. After all, that was what we expected, right? Well I do not know how many times my wife and I would sit there going, "well if they say this, we can point out that" and "if they bring this up, let's let them know about this." In the end though, I can count on one hand how many negative conversations I really had with them. I set in the other room, or at home, thinking I would see this problem or that problem. I would be grabbing all the weapons I could grab with thoughts and reasoning. I would get my heart beating high and my thoughts ablaze with anticipation and you know what happened most of the time? I walked into a room of animals jumping and peeing themselves, because I brought so much hostility to the room. So as I have grown older and more mature in my way of dealing with people. I find that now, I just focus on going to see them with a nice positive thought and it seems that things stay that way. So basically, if you don't bring the battle and grab those useless plant weapons. You tend to find a nice little dog to pet, and not the demon or enemy you thought was out there. The only thing is though ... "I still think my sister's dog is scared of me" My thought Dragon

Edited by - kenpodragon on 17 October 2002 12:59:37

5

Meditation

by freedom96 in

jw
friends

i was just reading a posting about demons, and a response mentioned something about meditating and how that might allow demons in.. i remember very clearly, back in the old days of going to the hall, there was speculation on that subject.

how meditation was wrong, and that if you emtied your mind out, then demons would go in.

how crazy is that?

kenpodragon

I do martial arts and use meditation all the time. My focus was on charging "chi" and feeling "ki" and using them to better my skill. I do not think they have anything to do with demons and would recommend them for the development of many skills in life. I can not see how any form of martial arts would benefit from ignoring these concepts. Martial arts is 80% mental and 20% physical. Before I took my black belt test I had only scratched the surface of meditation. Since then, I accept many aspects of meditation and see the benefit in applying it to many aspects of my life, that you would like to acheive success in.

To each his own

My thought

Dragon

Edited by - kenpodragon on 17 October 2002 3:55:43

29

Yet another batch of "new light"

by caligirl in

jw
friends

i was talking to my sister yesterday, who spent the weekend with our still active parents.

over the weekend, they all had dinner with another couple, who were sharing some of the "latest news.

" i am getting this second hand, but my sister is excellent at remembering exactly what was said.

kenpodragon

Since when is new light introduced at meetings and not District Convention programs? Is that a new light too?

Just wondering

Dragon

26

Were You Obsessed With Demons?

by minimus in

jw
friends

from my youngest days, i remember being told that we should be careful because of the demons.

they are everywhere, just waiting to pounce on us.

we were told to stay away from windchimes since they "attract" the demons.

kenpodragon

Want a Tarot Card reading, or is that demons?

My thought

Dragon

21

Sad :(

by Xandria in

jw
friends

i will not be on much in the next couple of days.

just found out that my aunt passed away yesterday morning, after a long battle with cancer.

she defied doctors diagnosis for years.

kenpodragon

(((((((((( Xandria)))))))))))

I am truly sorry in your loss. Know that hugs spread across the globe for you in this time of sadness. All saying "we are there for you!"

My thought

Dragon