Another Type of Unhappy "Believer"

Francois

There seemed to be one or two of these in every hall with which I was associated. Was there one in yours? You know the ones. Usually a married couple. One of whom was handicapped in some way. In my original hall, there was a lady, I guess about in her early forties. She walked with the assistance of two canes, and poorly. At assemblies, she used a wheelchair. I never knew what the problem was and didn't ask. I was in the same book study group with them. And Oh my god, did they want the new world to come...tomorrow.

The brother was so attentive. It was obvious that he loved his wife. And she loved him for loving her. And at the end of every other sentence out of their mouths it seemed came the phrase, "praise Jehovah," or "praise the Lord," or some variation. And it was obvious, too, that in their minds that this was designed to be a little boost, a little extra added insurance that, yes, when the new world came that Jehovah wouldn't forget to fix her legs for her.

So it was, "Wasn't that a fine talk on Sunday, praise Jehovah?"

"Yes, brother x, it was I haven't heard that talk in a long time. It was just grand hearing it again, how Jehovah is going to kill off 99.98% of the human race so we can live in a different house every day. Isn't that so thoughtful of Him. What a loving provision from the creator of us all."

"Yes, brother Frank, praise be to Jehovah, that certainly is a fine blessing if we can just hold fast to our faith and make it through the great tribuation. And all our infirmaties will be no more, praise Jehovah, praise Jehovah."

It was so SAD, so sad to listen to these folks talk, to hear them pepper their conversation with the rote repetition of these meaningless phrases, grasping at straws, grasping at any hope no matter how small, how faint. And the JWs have no qualms about taking advantage of these people's abject hope.

Did you have folks like this in your congregation?

freedom96

There was an older lady in our hall, that was just a sweetheart. Older, raised 5 kids, half on them on her own after the father passed away.

So sad, she worked so hard, and yet had nothing. All she had was the organization. It was her only time really out of the house, and would never have friends other than witnesses.

She was not happy, you could see it in her eyes. She passed away recently; was a sad life.

terabletera

Mom has MS. It is this infirmity of hers that I believe keeps her in the religion. She does her very un JW things on the side, like birthdays and doing holidays but NOT really doing them. Calling it something else and making it a point that the "friends" don't know about it. But around JWs, she is the wonderful sister that everyone thinks of in their prayers because her faith is 'unshakable'. Oh boy does she want the new system, YESTERDAY. Jehovah is sure to fix her legs too. You bet it's sad.

jgnat

It happens amongst the Pentecostals, too. I knew a woman whose handicap had her bend at almost a 45 degree angle. She stooped forward wherever she went, two canes in hand. She really was a very sweet soul, and never failed to come to the front for prayer. She was totally convinced that one day God would heal her.

My esteem for her dropped, however, when I found out her condition was surgically fixable. In Canada, her insurance would easily cover it, so finances was not the problem. She just was afraid of doctors.

Xander

Mary

I don't really recall anyone handicapped in our Hall, but I always remember that one sister on the back of every frigging Watchtower who was paralyzed from the neck down and had an iron lung but she was a pioneer and what a great example she set for the rest of us! She wasn't concerned about "the things of this world", but rather she focused on "spiritual matters."

Well duh! Of course she wasn't concerned about every day issues: she had no mortgage to pay, no kids to raise, she didn't have to worry about driving a car or paying insurance or buying clothes for work or having a boss stand over her while she worked: she lived in a machine! What else would she have? Of course she would pioneer; she wanted to ensure that she'd get into the "New System" of things and she wanted it to come yesterday!

This is not unusual for those suffering some sort of ailment: quite often, it's the believe that relief is "just around the corner", that keeps them going......how sad.

NameWithheld

"The destruction we will see at Armageddon should be viewed as a thing of beauty."

I don't recall anything printed that stated that in those words, but I've heard the sentament from the stage (meetings and assemblies) many times. It's a thought held dear to many JW's hearts, though of course the WTBTS cannot say anything like that, especially nowdays due to their becoming extremely PC in their printed word. They are masters of avoiding printing anything condeming yet making it quite clear to the 'flock' what they expect from them via verbal means.

acsot

The ones I'm thinking of weren't "sad" - oh no, they were the hyper/super spiritual poor but blessed pioneer couple who never stopped recounting to anyone within hearing distance about how much they sacrificed for others and how happy they were to do it, and how even when they didn't have gas money for the next week they'd gladly hop in their cars and drive 15,088,332,086,234 miles to pick up Bible study X then Sister Sick Y and how nobody but nobody would ever help them out, they were the only ones to help others and of course - every second word was Jehovah - Jehovah be with you, Jehovah's blessings on you, Jehovah's helping us, we're doing all this for Jehovah, we're sacrificing to Jehovah, Jehovah's happy to see our sacrifices.

A non-dub listening to them would think "what type of sicko is this Jehovah anyway?"

TR

TT,

This is close, but no cigar.

http://www.watchtower.org/library/dg/article_10.htm

TR

Another Type of Unhappy "Believer"

Share this