I've been toying with an idea that I think just might have some legs. So here I am trotting it out for all of you to consider and comment upon.
For many of us, we are extremely frustrated by the fact that we have no way to communicate with our loved ones still stuck in the organization. Maybe it's our parents, maybe it's our children. It could be our sisters, brothers, cousins or maybe just someone we really care about. It doesn't matter. We love them and want to let them know, but we can't.
We would love to just let them know from time to time that we are thinking about them, that we miss them and that we love them. But we can't. We are locked out. The WTBTS has effectively sealed all the cracks, or so they'd like us to think.
We are shunned. Maybe we are DF'd, DA'd or just inactive and or loved ones shun us. Whatever the reason, it really doesn't matter; the effect is the same. Perhaps they really believe they are being obedient to God. But let's not go down that road right now. This is not the time or place to argue doctrine. This is not about beliefs, this is about love.
What ever the reason, they shun us.
Our loved ones have blocked our phone numbers so we can't call or text. They won't respond to emails and maybe have even changed their email address. If we send a card or a letter we have no way of knowing if they read it or throw it away unopened. Maybe they've even sent mail back to us, "Return to Sender." We are completely thwarted in any and all attempts to reach out to them. That is as long as we play by their rules, that is to say the WTBTS rules.
But I am not a victim. Doing nothing is not in me.
And so, I had this idea. Maybe we could use the power of JWN to help each other out. I'm here on the West Coast of the US of A. Since I've been on JWN, I've made many friends all over the world. So what if one of you in Australia or Canada or England or Eastern Europe or the East Coast of the United States, or Georgia or Colorado or Alabama or the Carolinas or Whereever were to simply send a letter to one of my kids saying something like:
I'm a friend of your father/mother/sister/brother/son/daughter. They asked me to forward this message to you: They love you and miss you. They wish you would get in touch, just to talk, to reconnect. They just wanted you to know.
And I would of course do the same for you. Maybe they'd get a similar, but different letter from a different person in a different place every month. You get the idea.
The letter wouldn't even have to have a real return address if anyone was uncomfortable about that. The postmark would be enough. But just imagine: your loved one comes home one day and finds a letter addressed to them. It's from some distant, faraway place. Intrigued, they open it. Who could resist? Inside they find a message, a message from you. A message of love.
This could be powerful, very powerful. All for the price of a stamp.
Who's in?
00DAD