by Waffles 44 Replies latest jw friends
I've had those experiences. I couldn't agree more about what is being said.
I always thought that the friends acted like the apostles were visiting our congregation or something from the way they acted.
Everyone wanted to talk to them and hear their experiences and have them over for dinner.
Heck Bethelites got even more play and attention then COs did.
Magwitch, I would give real Bethel reverence (well, respect anyway) to your brother. Good for him.
@Meeting Junkie No More
Regarding "what a privilege it was for him to breathe the same air" as the anointed - Wow. Just, wow.
Sounds like the kind of guy that would inhale deeply if a Bethelite farted near him.
For those of us that have served in Bethel, I will say this. The only thing that is great about Bethel is that you feel like you are in God's house. At least thats what they tell you. I worked in menial jobs, but we are told we are at the hub, headquarters, House of God. We were also told that we should work hard 44 hours a week, then go to the meetings and in service. I was dead tired all the time.
So when we visit the congregations, we enjoyed the attention. In NY, there are Bethelites everywhere. The territory I preached in was pretty dirty, and riding the trains for hours was rough too. Away from NY we felt important, and the friends loved the stories.
I did try to be humble, who knows what others thought of me. But I will say that its true that some Bethelites act ridiculous, and some really are sincere and don't think so much of themselves.
Its a rough life though. Almost everything you do is decided.
BF
In discussing about bethel reverance, Bonafides states that "Its a rough life though. Almost everything you do is decided". What does he mean by that? Does this means that a bethelites cannot do a thing on his own initiative?
Scott77
Undercover,
I know what you mean that they are really nothing to look at, besides the fact that they don't have any money. But, yet the single sisters flock around them. One pathetic middle-aged lifer thought I was after him because I complimented him on his talk.
I made sure never to go near them again.
I always called Bethelites "JW Athletes"...cause to me, they were treated EXACTLY the same! Sisters would gun for their attention (groupies)...they were included in all gatherings/plans (VIP clubs/parties)...people always want to be in their company and brag about it!
LOL! There was this one bethelite I recall that was N-O-T-H-I-N-G to blink about, but MAN did the ladies love him! Not only was he short (about 5'6") but he also walked around with a backpack on IN the cong (and out). Oh, and forget the fact that he makes it loud and clear that he is NOT looking to get married and dude was 42yr old (lifer at Bethel). He gave the 'special talk' at our cong and I swear, the sisters that showed UP sweatin this man like he was Jesus on a stick. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! He was a dork, and anyone that wanted his attention that badly had to be pretty pathetic since he didn't have a pot to piss in. Talk about a FULL Khall that day. You would've thought Jay-Z was there putting on a concert. Never understood what the big deal was with these guys...
Shortly before we got engaged some brother took it upon himself to tell my future fiance that she should back off some because I would want to go to Bethel and work for Jehovah before the big A hit (this was in 1974). Fortunately she had the good sense to tell me about it, and I told her I had no interest in going to Bethel. Looking back on it, I wonder if the little voice in my head was already at work less than a year after I got baptized. It was naturally assumed that a dedicated young man would want to go where all the real action was.
I'm tempted to tell my wife that if she had waited she could have been married to a Bethel rock star, but I'm not sure my head can with stand another dent.
Having spent time in Bethel I can relate to comments made. Some of the guys I knew really took advantage of being a 'Bethelite". One year at a DC I ran into a friend. His name tag, instead of the two lines for name and congregation filled up both lines with the word "Bethel".
To be honest, going out was about the only time we amounted to anything. Visiting away from the branch, we were "Bethelites", people thought we were something and would take us out to restaurants that we could never afford ourselves. When we went back to Bethel, we were nobody, sometimes treated like crap, subject to having all our possessions inspected at any time without notice. Some congregations, you'd get treated pretty well, but most of the time the congs. were overflowing with Bethelites and even resented by the locals for a variety of reasons. A weekend of "reverence" made some of us feel that maybe people appreciated our sacrifices. Some of the guys lapped it up like they were god-almighty. Some were players, I heard of some of the older couples that had two sets of luggage. A nice set for when they were going on a real vacation. And a crappy set to look poor when they visited congregations in order to get more green hand$hake$.
The only other time Bethelites felt like something was when visitors and tours came. At least, that's what others seemed to think. I never had visitor/tour benefits worth mentioning.
