Greetings All.....
I've been reading intently nearly every day on here. It's like some sick addiction. Anyway, I'm constantly amazed when others on here relate stories of their relatives or ones in their congregations that are tired, depressed, sick, disgruntled, etc. I always find myself thing, no kidding? It's 2008, can you believe it! If someone had gone back in time and told my now deceased parents whom had just entered me into elementary school that somehow this system of things would still be around in 2008, I'm sure they'd become depressed, tired, and disgruntled as well!
Truly, can anyone on this board that was raised as a JW state that they thought we'd make it this far in the timeline and still be in the "this system of things?" Surely not. It was rammed down our throats as young ones that we'd never even graduate high school, much less have to work for a living to provide for a possible family we may have. Is there any wonder the sheep are wandering around like zombies? Only the fresh, new, young ones that are brought in or are too young to remember the rallying cries of the generation of 1914 dying off have any kind of zeal at all, and that quickly diminishes upon reaching high school graduation and having to enter the big bad world for the first times in their lives. It also ends for anyone doing any kind of research into their new-found faith or on the internet as nearly any person under 20 does for just about anything.
There is a man (now widowed) that when I was very young my parents originally studied with to become baptized. (early 1980's here) He was a down-to-earth gentleman with a kindly JW wife, and they had a son whom was in his late teens. This man was very opinionated and always had to chime in with his opinion on how he thought my parents should raise me - nevermind that his own son turned out horrible from their upbringing. They were hard workers but dirt poor, living in a trailer and raising their own animals in a make-shift barn. Uneducated, but nice, and completely engrossed in WT dogma. Anyway, I know he is still alive, and I am working up the courage to find his current residence (probably that same trailer) drive up some late Saturday, get out, introduce myself, and then procede to ask him what we are still doing here. When he asks what I mean, I'll flat out tell him this system of things. Why is my whole family dead, his wife dead, him elderly and me entering middle-age? Aren't we supposed to be in the New Order now petting lions and teaching the newly resurrected? (FYI - New Order is an old school term, and you were a die-hard if you used that term) I mean.....it all seems so surreal to me....still being here.....2008.....old system of things....a job, worldly wife and now son. I would like to ask him why I, or HE, should believe one word the WBTS puts forth anymore after being so dupped for so long. I would like to ask him what his blessing are for serving the WatchTower for so long? What have they done for HIM? Does the congregation take care of him, as my worldly relatives offered to do after each of my parents died? Of course we know they do not. What about the identifying marks Jesus said would identify his followers? I think just the reality of my straightforwardness would crack this poor aged man like an egg. That's half why I'm afraid to do it. I miss the guy, and feel terribly bad for him in all honesty. Part of me knows that if I had not, "made sure of all things," that somehow I would have end up like him - an old, used up piece of humanity living in some trailer with my son resenting me, nothing to show for my years of service (ok, maybe some kind of treasures in heaven, I don't know), with no retirement plans except for peddling literature. What a life!!!!
Somehow, I think this elderly brother's story is probably more typical than I myself can believe, and hence there are many depressed, tired, aged souls who are quickly realizing that not only has that generation of 1914 died off, but that 2014 is fast approaching. What a significant date in the minds of JW's whom are old enough to remember or care about what 1914 truly meant for us - seeing the New Order before that generation died off!!!!
And now? It's anyone guess as to when Christ's Kingom will come......and now the WT has again changed their doctrine. It's more of a mainstream Christendom doctrine now...instead of predicting dates - it's merely, "keep on the watch." And those of us old enough to remember the empty promises? We are left with our jaws hanging open wondering what's going on and why we spent so much time peddling those WT's and Awakes with the 1914 "Promise" printed on the front.
If that isn't reason enough to be depressed, tired, and disgruntled, I don't know what is.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading my post.....I don't post that often anyway. Best regards to you all, and may Jesus light your way to His Father, Truth, understanding, and eventually His Kingdom. (when he decides it should come)
- Wing Commander