by Elyse867 32 Replies latest jw friends
If you want to believe in prayer, then keep asking for signs, only ask for very specific and unlikely occurances. If a general occurance is used as a sign from God, it is easy to find something that qualifies as an "answer".
You're not crazy. Maybe need to do some more research to decide what it right for you.
Everytime my parents cried and begged me to "come back to Jehovah", I felt guilty. I felt that I was a disappointment. Well of course I was a disappointment - to my parents. But these were only my feelings. My "feelings" are no indication of truth. Real truth.
People feel guilty about all sorts of things. If you were brought up a Catholic and leave, you will be a disappointment to your parents. The same with any religion. It's just with JWs, the feelings are magnified.
If you are brought up to believe you must be the best at everything and then come second, you will feel a disappointment. It's all relative.
You prayed - and then looked for the answer you were expecting - or wanting to hear. In the last week, you may have walked past a bookshop with a display stand advertising, "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Now why wasn't that an answer to your prayer?
You need a break from it. When I left I made it a point to stay away from any churches or religious books of any sort for 2 years. That way I would not be hindered by any residual watchtower ideas in my mind if I wanted to read the bible again. Take the time to clear your mind of preconceived religious ideas, and once you've done that you can start fresh. By that time, if you're still interested in religion, do your own research without allowing anyone to look over your shoulder or "guide" you.
W
You are being de-activated and deprogramed. Allow the painful feelings to have thier way with you and you'll see more clearly overtime, what you need to do to retain your sanity. Medicine that taste terrible at the moment, yes, but will do such good once the storm has come to an end.
Strength and Honour: Arthur
You guys are so great! I have been doing research for so long and I know what I want to do, and need to do... it's just so hard, because my dub mom lives with me and my family, and and I don't want to lose her as my mom. It's so childish, but I also have a ginormous fear of her being disappointed in me. I guess THIS is what I need to get over. I know if I just sat her down and had 'the talk' with her, it would be excruciating, but liberating and freeing. How do I do this when she LIVES in my house?
I guess THIS is what I need to get over. I know if I just sat her down and had 'the talk' with her, it would be excruciating, but liberating and freeing.
Who doesn't want their parents to be pleased? This is something I faced too, growing up as a JW. Yet at some point we have to take charge of our own lives.
How do I do this when she LIVES in my house?
Absolutely. You hold the key here. If she doesn't like what you have to say, it won't be the end of the world!!
I'm glad this thread has brought this resolve for you.
One of the things you will discover as you distance yourself from the WTS's belief system is that it is not necessary to have all the answers provided on a silver platter or in a bound volume.
While there is a certain amount of security in believing that the JWs have all the answers we need, it comes with the harsh reality that we do not have permission from the WTS to require solid evidence or to ask questions when things don't seem to add up or make sense on a rational level.
It's kind of comical how the elderly sister implored you that "there is still time". Armageddon has been "right around the corner" for decades now. When I decided to return to school in my early 30s, an older sister chastised me and said "Why are you throwing The Truth™ away so you can have a career in this old system? Armageddon is so close!! You'll never use that education for anything." Well, the joke is on her, because not only did I spend 3 years getting my education, I have been using it in a very rewarding career and I will be celebrating a full decade since my graduation in about 6 months time.
There's still time, all right. Lots of it. Do what you want to do with your life. Don't put your life on the back burner and squander your energy and resources slaving for an ungrateful book publishing company. Look at all the elderly JWs who have been Waiting on Jehovah™ for decades. They neglected their education, their careers, their pension fund, their retirement needs. They did not invest wisely, and have nothing to show for the blood, sweat and tears they spent on the WTS. Just because they made that mistake, doesn't mean that anyone else has to do the same. Learn from their example, and don't make the same mistake and trust in an artificial deadline.
You have to make the important decisions, You have to live with it. We all have a story to tell.
Why the way we feel about God. ( I feel there is no God to pray to, he does't answer.)
PLEASE tell me I'm crazy!!! OK You are crazy
I want SO BAD to know what to believe... I don't believe that the 'truth' is the one true religion anymore, BUT I don't know what to believe anymore when it comes to certain things... what happens to you after you die, etc
Elyse867,
Believe and knowledge have something in common. The second is the basis for the first. .....So, if you want to know what happens after you die......Who is going to tell you?
For centuries people have told eachother horrid stories about what would happend after the horizon. Some thought that you could fall off the earth and never return home. Right now, it is a proven fact that such talk is rubbish, actually quite funny and entertaining. But rubbish still. What has helped us to change our minds? One thing is sure: the bold men who defied such talk based on assuptions, were a great help in finding the right answers. Other scientific discoveries have contributed as well.
Cheers
Borgia
