My Journey-1975

truthsetsonefree

Well, after a hiatus I pick up my story. BTW-I have been enjoying others who have been writing like "new boy" and "junction guy." Between the lurkers who read these stories and our sorting out our thoughts, a lot of good is and will come out of it. For those of you just reading my posts for the first time, the preceding posts in this series are in the "Personal Experiences and Reunions" section of this site.

1975

I was nine years old in 1975. I was supposed to be oblivious to adult problems. But I was most certainly aware of 1975.

In 1974 we took a trip down to Cherry Hill, New Jersey for the district convention at Roosevelt Stadium. There was a drama on Noah. In that drama an elder is talking with a young couple. He says: "1975 marks the end of 6000 years of human existence. That must mean something. But how it relates to the great tribulation isn't that clear yet. Would it disturb you if the end were prolonged a little?" The husband and wife answer together: "I don't think so, we didn't dedicate our lives to Jehovah for a certain length of time."

The yeartext for that year was from Habbakuk 3:17. "Although [the] fig tree itself may not blossom...18+ Yet, as for me, I will exult in Jehovah himself; I will be joyful in the God of my salvation."

At that assembly several expectation dampening talks were given. One was: "Why We Have Not Been Told the Day and Hour." In another talk a Br. Tumolo made the following comment: "Plan your life as if Armageddon was way ahead in the future. But live your life as if it is coming tomorrow." It seemed that the Society was all of a sudden saying that the end might not come in 1975. Nah, couldn't be true. And even if it was true, didn't the brother just say the end might be postponed A LITTLE?

1975 had meaning for me.1975 meant that I would get to Paradise while still a kid. I would be liberated from my Mom's opressive standards. I could have animals to play with. I wouldn't have to go to school with those "bad" kids anymore. 1975 would fix everything.

And then came 1976.

What happened?

I asked a Bethelite who came by the house. His name was Br. Rodriguez. He grabbed a paper napkin and proceeded to draw me a timeline. He said: "We know that at the end of 6000 years of human existence the end will come. We know this because there are seven creative days, they are equal in length, we are in the seventh on which Jehovah rested from creating things, and the last one thousand years of the seventh are reserved for Christ's thousand year reign. What we don't know is when he began resting and started the six thousand year countdown. We know that Adam was created in 4026 B.C.E. But when Eve was created is not known. So the time that Adam was alone marks the amount of time till Armageddon. But that couldn't have been very long."

In 1980 I was being used constantly in the congregation. Reading the WT at the Sunday meeting was one of my favorite things to do. In mid-1980 I read this statement to the congregation straight from the pages of the March 15, 1980 WT:

"Hold to Your Choice!
4 If we remain faithful, God will not let us make ruinous mistakes. But sometimes he permits us to be in error so that we may see our need to look always to him and his Word. This strengthens our relationship with him and our endurance while waiting. We learn from our mistakes that it is necessary to be more careful in the future. The desire for the new system of things to take complete charge of the earth has always been very strong in Christians down through the centuries. And because of their own short life-span, they doubtless longed for it to come in their particular lifetime. Those who have tried to keep God’s judgment time "close in mind" have, on more than one occasion throughout history, become overly eager for that day’s arrival, in their own minds trying to rush the arrival of the desired events....

5 In modern times such eagerness, commendable in itself, has led to attempts at setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth. With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God, and its comments as to how appropriate it would be for the millennial reign of Christ to parallel the seventh millennium of man’s existence, considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. There were statements made then, and thereafter, stressing that this was only a possibility. Unfortunately, however, along with such cautionary information, there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated.
6 In its issue of July 15, 1976, The Watchtower, commenting on the inadvisability of setting our sights on a certain date, stated: "If anyone has been disappointed through not following this line of thought, he should now concentrate on adjusting his viewpoint, seeing that it was not the word of God that failed or deceived him and brought disappointment, but that his own understanding was based on wrong premises." In saying "anyone," The Watchtower included all disappointed ones of Jehovah’s Witnesses, hence including persons having to do with the publication of the information that contributed to the buildup of hopes centered on that date."

Well, at least they finally said something. I leave the reader to judge as to whether the "apology" was adequate.

As for me and my family we just kept plugging along. By 1980 I was entering high school. What would I do in the coming years until the "great day of Jehovah?"

Next-A Theocratic Career Begins

tsof

Abandoned

This is fascinating. I didn't even know the jw existed until 1987. I guess I sure missed out on a lot. NOT!

onacruse

truthsetsonfree, please continue...though it is painful for me to relive those days, which is why I've reposted to such topics only a couple of times, and why I was disappointed that RR's thread came to an end, and why I cut short my own life-story.

People that want to become JWs, or who are JWs, need to know the HUMAN history of their religion.

Craig

truthsetsonefree

"though it is painful for me to relive those days"

Agreed. It's painful sometimes to write about it to. I write in spurts, with generous beakes in between. But hashing this out is so therapeutic that I know I must finish.

tsof

deeskis

TSOF

I was fifteen in 75, it just seems like yesterday! In the back of my mind I thought "it's not going to happen", then the backstroke began about waiting for the time between Eve's creation began..........doh!

though it is painful for me to relive those days, which is why I've reposted to such topics only a couple of times, and why I was disappointed that RR's thread came to an end, and why I cut short my own life-story.

I'll watch for the next part of your story cause it is encouraging to many on the board. Ona.... your story was one of the first I read when I found this site 18 months ago, it had me "hook line and sinker". I'm sorry it was painful for you to relive, at times it was painful to read as well, and I was crying whilst doing so.......... but at the same time it was uplifting.

Best wishes

D