by compound complex 25 Replies latest jw friends
Greetings, Friends:
Did you - with or without holding an official position in the congregation - find that those needing to talk gravitated toward you? Did those individuals who unburdened themselves feel better after talking with you? How did you feel after helping someone who was genuinely grateful to you?
Are you still sought out for encouragement and sound advice - whether or not a practicing JW?
Many thanks,
CoCo
There were two of us on a BOE of eight that were especially "approachable".
One elder even complained about it one day.
LOL!
He was one of the biggest assholes I've ever met.
The irony was that we were often being approached about him and his offensive remarks.
That was one of the few things that made being an elder rewarding, being there for people.
The politics and "business" part of it were very exhausting.
yes i was, i was youg when appointed 22, so yeah all the under 30 , would come to me to complain about you know whos, that might be doin bad, and all the young masturbators, i would tell them, you are normal, rest it once in a while!
i enjoyed the ability to help and felt good about it, didnt enjoy seeing the real boe, and cos, they were assholes and only cared about procedures, not the real people in the borg, made to work way to much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
big d
The whole approachable vs non-approachable elders is a fascinating sociology study.
I'd been in congregations where all the elders were approachable and going to them with your problems felt only natural. This probably reinforced my satisfaction with the cult while a teenager. The last congregation I was in was a rural ass-backwards (especially by cult standards) one, where there were no approachable elders. The ones that were left. It made it hard for me to progress in the troof. By the time I decided to leave, these elders were such pricks in my (even undecided) mind it made it a joy to avoid being near them.
Approachable elders represent the sincere aspect of the cult that makes you weep for people in it rather than hate them.
big D ....have you ever thought about putting bromide in your tea?......he he
Yes, it seems that I was.
I never shared things that other people told me. They knew I could keep a confidence, because I hated gossip and didn't want to spread information about other people.
I must appear to be very approachable. People tell me stuff all the time... even people I don't know, with information that I don't need to know, and would probably rather not know.
Sometimes I really would prefer to be much less approachable.
I see many similarities with Scully...
People approach me very easily. I claim to have a good ear and a good shoulder. And will never share a confidence.
Sometimes it feels a little heavy. Especially when I am dealing with my own demons.
But most of the time, it makes me feel good. I see it as "instant karma" :-)
*summer*
ninja....whats bromide?
i dont get it?
big d
Very much so. I was a local Elder and the friends would come to me and call me. I have a wife and two boys who the friends loved very much. Only one Bethel Elder and one other local Elder out of twelve were sought out by the friends. I was the only Elder who had a family.I was assigned to the sick and elderly ones and families.
I was also the Watchtower study conductor and had the book study in our home. The friends wanted to be at our bookstudy. Some would stop by from their bookstudy and come over to our bookstudy. No one was in a rush to leave after our bookstudy was over. I conducted the bookstudy. Even the Bethelites would hang around for a while and relax with us and their rides would wait with them.
Back in the day, yes, it was fun to be a JW. We had gatherings, parties, outings, the lakes, baseball, football, sports, games, then it all came to a stop.
Blueblades
When I was in the congregation I found that the sisters who didn't had but unbelieving husbands would gravitate towards me, probably because I was in the same situation. I wasn't brought up as a JW and had learnt some hard but sometimes valuable lessons during my youth so I was very aware that some of the teenagers had emotional problems that needed help. Of course as a JW it is not in the agenda to go to "worldly" services for help, so I tried to talk to them about their issues.
Maddie
