Posts by MYOHNSEPH

A current thread got me to thinking about a little poem I wrote many years ago. I wonder how many other pseudo poets we have here. If you're one, show us your stuff. Here's my little contribution.

Of Bigotry

He dwells within his arrogance,

On high and lofty planes,

On Haughty plateaus far above

The common and mundane,

Arrayed in florid raiment

Of elegance and grace,

With ornaments of dignity

And pharisaic face.

With opulent embellishments

Of splendid social fashion,

With grand delusive effigies

Of conscience and compassion,

He luxuriates and savors sweet

His rapturous pretension

Of eminence and majesty,

In regal ostentation.

But from his hallowed precipice

Of pompous privilege,

He condescends to gaze upon

A grievous assemblage.

For there, beneath his apogee

Of pious self-perception,

Exists a bold and fearsome bane

Of ignoble conception.

Effete and paltry commoners

Of vulgar inclination,

Who wallow in the consequence

Of their predestination,

They rant and rave incessantly

With torturous persistence

And writhe ferociously against

Their own profane existence.

For they are not his cultured kind

And cannot contemplate

The Providence that so ordained

Their sad and wretched state.

And in their gall and ignorance,

They dare presume to be

Deserving, all and one the same,

Of equal dignity!

Accursed with scarce intelligence

And squalid moral nature,

Pathetically do they aspire

To his exquisite stature.

Prodded and misguided by

Covetous disdain,

They plot and scheme defilement

Of his fair and pure domain.

Portending such a damnable

And foul adulteration,

Their rank and rude effrontery

Is sobering vexation.

But surely, God would not

That hateful coalition

Eer behold their evil plan

Unfold to its fruition.

And so, with vigilance and stance,

He guards his noble station,

Staunch and stern against

Their throngs of degradation.

And he will stay his solemn course,

Undaunted by their strife,

And reverently give thanks to be

A higher form of life.

6

Cute Joke I heard

by Yerusalyim in

jw
friends

ok, it's a blond joke, but still kinda cute... .

i was tending bar last week.

five exuberent blonds walk in and order two bottles of champagne and ten glasses.

MYOHNSEPH

A blonde calls 911:

911 operator: "911, what is your emeergency?"

Blonde: "My room mate is dead and I don't know what to do!"

911 operator: "Your room mate is dead, mam?!"

Blonde: "Yes, I think so!"

911 operator: "You think so! You're not sure?"

Blonde: "Well, he's not moving!"

911 operator: "Listen mam, the first thing you need to do is make sure he's dead!"

The blonde puts the phone down and the 911 operator hears two gunshots in the background.

Blonde: "O.K. Now what?"

18

November birthdays-please sign in

by TweetieBird in

jw
friends

i noticed that there are alot of birthdays this month, mine included.

my birthday was on the 12th.

all other scorpio's, please sign in and happy birthday!

Spirituality

by donkey in

jw
friends

many xjws and others i have encountered in my journey express disdain for religion but they instead refer to having found a spirituality.

do you mean that instead of seeking fulfillment from life that you have made an inward journey to self discovery?

or do you mean that you have found god by journeying outward?.

Trying to define spirituality is about as easy as trying to define "God". A thousand different individuals could have a thousand different concepts of what it means. One person may associate spirituality with formal rituals of worship or expressions of piety. To someone else it may have to do with an elevated plane of thought or awareness. We all struggle with semantics, trying to express our perceptions of life and the universe and often the word or phrase we embrace to communicate our thoughts or mind may convey quite a different idea to someone else.

"Detachment is mandatory for us to be free. For as long as we have an attachment to anything, be it a circumstance, our past, a person, an attachment to needs of any type, then we are therefore subservient to that attachment."

I don't know if you mean that as literally as it sounds, but if you do, lots of luck! We all came into this world attached, quite literally, to our mothers. From the moment of birth we all depend on someone or something, outside ourselves, for sustenance and life, at least to some degree. While there may be those who like to imagine themselves as completely independent and self-sufficient, no one is. (Unless, that is, someone has discovered a way to exist in a vacuum!) No matter how much we may isolate ourselves from others, we are all dependent on someone or something for existence, for achievement, for fulfillment. That other person or thing may be our partner, our pawn, our scapegoat, our victim or our benefactor, but we are never the only player in our lives. And honestly, in my brief sixty years on this ball, I've yet to meet a single soul who has lived a full life with a true sense of real fulfillment, without attachments to other human beings.

But, that's just me!

33

New to board-1st post

by kril in

jw
friends

my last attempts at posting were to no avail so i'm just going to test this out first and they edit and post something else.-it worked.. i have been reading a lot of the material on this website and find most of it interesting.

i'm still a witness but have some questions about bible/doctrine that haven't been answered to my satisfaction.

it seems that when i discuss things with people (i.e witness elders) they more or less don't listen to my arguements.

MYOHNSEPH

Howdy, Bootsie & Krill, and welcome.

I'm still pretty new here myself. The only comment I would make is, "This ain't no practice life!" This is it! And how we live it should be of our own choosing. But you're looking at the road ahead, right now. One of these days you'll be looking back at where you've been. Just try to make choices you'll still be content with twenty or more years from now. And, by the way, I agree with Shakita and Ozzie. In fact both of Ray's books are great for someone at your juncture.

Again, welcome and enjoy!

47

Falsifiability

by donkey in

jw
friends

i pose this challenge to believers: what would it take for you to stop believing in god?.

this is an interesting challenge.

well, it may sound paradoxical, but in order for any claim to be true, it must be falsifiable.

MYOHNSEPH

WOW! You've got quite a vocabulary for a donkey!

As to whether or not there is an all powerful spiritual entity that has personally intervened, or will intervene, in man's affairs and history, I'm not convinced there is or isn't. I do, however, believe there is an intelligence and a conscious energy manifest in the physical universe. I believe this entity has purpose and motive, but I am not so presumptuous as to think I could even begin fully comprehend the extent of that purpose and motive. What would cause me to relinquish that belief? I would simply have to see a far better and more plausible explanation for the obvious design in the universe than anything I've ever read, including the writings of Steven Hawking.

29

question for parents

by musky in

jw
friends

i have small children.

i was raised a witness, so i never celebrated holidays.

now, i don't go to meetings, don't agree that the watchtower is jehovahs sole channel of communication.

MYOHNSEPH

"Are you really gonna let 13 senile octogenarians in Brooklyn tell you what to do even after you've gone via some sort of remote control magic?"

I, for one, sure as hell ain't! But I'm also not gonna let anyone or anything else tell me I have to hang lights on my house or put up a tree in my living room or tell me when I have to give gifts to my friends and family. I agree in spirit, Francois, with what your saying, but having the WT in my sub-conscious has nothing to do with why I don't get into Christmas. My four daughters are all grown and have kids of their own now and they all do the Christmas thing. I got not problem with it. It's their choice. But to me, that's the rub. "Choice!" Tradition and commerce try to back people into a corner and cause them to think they have no choice. It takes away the spontaneity of giving, which for me, ruins it.

But let me emphasize, I'm not criticising anyone for making the choice to get into the Christmas thing. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I just don't think everyone who chooses not to is still dragging around a misguided WT conscience.

47

Falsifiability

by donkey in

jw
friends

i pose this challenge to believers: what would it take for you to stop believing in god?.

this is an interesting challenge.

well, it may sound paradoxical, but in order for any claim to be true, it must be falsifiable.

MYOHNSEPH

Define "God".

38

YOUR BEST DRUNK STORY

by Mary in

jw
friends

what's the worse thing you ever did while drunk (assuming we've all been drunk).........when i was 16, we all got blitzed out of our minds at a witness wedding that happened to take place on hallowe'en.

anyway, on our way home we thought it'd be funny to whip eggs at passing cars.

unfortunately, the first (and last) car i hit was a cruiser.......i realized this as the egg was in mid-air.

MYOHNSEPH

I'd love to post my best drunk story, but I'm still trying to get someone to tell me the details.

The one I remember most, however, was one night after sitting on a judicial committee. It was back in the early '70s, right after smoking, or any other tobacco use for that matter, had become a disfellowshipping offense. We met with this old brother who chewed tobacco. He refused to budge on his habit and pretty much told the three of us where we could stick our "counsel". Well, naturally, he was disfellowshipped. But this guy seldom even came to meetings and he was such a great old guy and had a great family, the whole thing really made me sick. (Even though I didn't say so at the time, I'm sorry to say.) Anyhow, instead of going home after the committe meeting, I found a little bar and got plastered. I've often wondered if anyone else ever did something like that after trying to play God with someone's life.