by Open mind 57 Replies latest jw friends
It takes me a good 1/2 hour. I'm quick at marking the answers, but then I really like to read the biblical quotes that don't sound familiar.
You see, I want to provide a good example should some new ones sit around me and happen to look over my magazine; also it helps with brownie points when the higher ups and the brothers passing the microphones see that I've taken time to 'prepare' myself for a meeting.
Don't you all just love the drill?! (sarcastic smiles)
DY
What do you suppose would hapen if you underlined everything, then told the snoops that it is all sooooo important?
Haha. I remember we used to make fun/get annoyed at my dad because he would randomly highlight parts of the article, usually just a word here and there. I was pioneering at the time and writing all the scriptures in the margins from on top of my self-righteous pedastal. Now I get it :)
I always tried to match the study effort to the value of the material, TRL:)
I really don't bother anymore, and really don't care what anyone thinks about it.
There was a time (when I was an active JW) that I was embarrassed when I hadn't studied my WT...with good cause (at the time) too. JWs are a judgemental lot. You just knew that people saw your virgin magazine and would consider you as unworthy of Jehovah's spirit since you couldn't take the time to be prepared for his loving provision of regurgitation. Admit it...you did it. I did it too (when I had prepared)...
But as I started to realize what a sham it all was, when I did bother to show up, I proudly held up my unstudied, un-underlined, un-highlighted magazine. It didn't take long to realize that you didn't need to study ahead. All they did was read the paragraph and repeat it. How hard is it to keep up with that, even if you had never even seen the article before?
Toward the end of my somewhat active status I stumbled on a little secret... our WT study conductor never studied ahead. His copy was never underlined, never marked up with notes, not even creased where it was folded open. He just kept up with the reading, asked the question, took a supplemental answer, read any scriptures not quoted and moved on. If you think about it, you don't have to prepare to conduct the WT study. All you're doing is reading prepared questions to a pre-printed article and you're not allowed to introduce any independant research, so why bother...
A pioneer friend of mine told me that they were told in Pioneer School that the rest of the congregation looks up to them as good examples. So, with their busy door-knocking schedules they may not always have time to prepare for the meetings. When this happens, they should at least take a highlighter and underline random sentences. It only takes a few seconds, but can prevent stumbling the "weaker ones" which could make them bloodguilty.
It's all about appearances. We had an elder that would have every single sentence highlighted (in different colours which represented something to him I guess). He would put that magazine in a leather binder and hold it up high in front of him during the meeting for everyone behind to get a good look at his thorough "studying". He actually thought he was "being a good example".
I used to highlight randomly until my mother got wise to it. Then, I found that if I simply highlight part of the sentence nearest the scripture, I could easily fool her.
The thing that really bummed me out, is what all that preparation and "studying" did to my reading comprehension skills. I was in bad shape by the time I hit the real world. I had to read things so many times to get the point in college.
Just shows what too much garbage reading can do for you.
