Greetings to all who are reading this post. I haven't started a thread for several months. I haven't even stopped by very often. But, I am back and I hope I return to open arms.
Anyway, enough of the gratuities. I am here to tell you where I'm at in my life (JW's, etc). So, here goes...
I am happy to say that I currently have two consecutive months without having any field service time to report. In March, I didn't even bother to turn in a slip. My JW wife had to call Elder Secretary to inform him that she had 10 hours. When he asked her how much yours truly had, she told him "none". His response? "Oh...Not even one hour?" Well, for April, I decided to fill out a slip. I put all dashes in the 'total' fields EXCEPT for the # of hours, which I proudly put a BIG, FAT 0. Oh, I forgot to mention that after reporting my March time, Elder Secretary chased me down in the KH parking lot the following Sunday and asked me and my wife if they could stop by for a shepherding visit. My mind said 'no' but my mouth said, "We'll call you". A few days later, my wife (who refuses to believe how deep my disdain for being a part of the JW's is) asks me, "Did you call the elder's yet?" I said to her, "You can meet with them if you want to. I don't have anything that I want or need to say to them." End of discussion.
My meeting attendance has dropped dramatically. I occassionally attend just to keep my wife happy, but even when I do attend, I can only sit in a meeting for 15 minutes, tops! I usually get back in my car and drive somewhere until the meeting is over. Sometimes, I bring a bag of peanuts with me and feed the squirrels. I've learned that the JW's are mainly concerned with appearances. You can go to a meeting 5 minutes before it begins, just long enough so that people can see you are there. You can leave for the remainder of the meeting and enter the KH right after "amen" so that they can see you again. They never realize that you are gone.
I began a new job that requires me to work from 9:00-7:30 on M-Tu-Fri-Sat. that means that I totally eliminated the Book Study from my table. That was actually my first big step. Up to that point I had taken many "baby" steps. This new job also has eliminated my field service activity. Life for me is much more grand these days. My passion for not being a JW is so great that I am much happier working at a job for 10 hours on a Saturday rather than knocking on doors for two hours. My wife still continues to "encourage" me to try to go out in the so-called ministry. For some reason, though, she cannot understand why, EVEN THOUGH I DON'T READ ANY JW literature, I don't knock on doors. That there proves to me that, again, the JW religion is all about appearances and #'s. It doesn't matter if your heart isn't in it, as long as you follow their rules.
I removed myself from all of the responsibilities they used me for (mic's, stage, sound, and attendant). I removed myself from the school one week prior to the institution of the new TMS book. In fact, I stayed home that night and left a message on the School Overseer's answer machine removing myself from the schhol. Oh, the irony!
Lastly, the bigot-millionaire-proud Italian-snobby Presiding Overseer confronted me in the KH library because I told his 14-year-old son (jokingly) that his (the son's) part was a load of crap. Background: His son jokes like that, too. In fact, he draws pictures of people during the meetings making fun of them. So, before you get your knickers in a twist, I only joked the way he joked). His part was about exemplary youths in high school. The reason I called it a 'load of crap' was because his son is constantly in trouble at school. For some reason, he told his parents about my comment. Now, picture yourself as me. The walls are all around you. The only way out of the library is being mildly blocked by the PO. He asks me straight-up if I said that to his son. I said yes but that I only dish out was his own son dishes out. Then, the PO starts to flip through the pages of his Bible. It was at this very moment when I realized that neither he nor any other elder had any power over me. My heart stopped racing fast and I took a deeeeeeep breath. My day of boldness had arrived. No longer would I cower to a mere man. I said to him, "Don't you show me any scripture!" Pausing, he was puzzled, confused. Then, trying to ignore my request, he began turning to the scripture again. I repeat to him again, "I don't want you reading a scripture to me. You see, your problem is that you came to me with an agenda. No matter what I say to you, you are going to do what you set out to do. You have no respect for me. So, why are you doing something that I don't want you doing?" So, he conceded and didn't open his bible. He still tried to slide in his bible point because, once an elder formulates in his mind and then takes several days to plan for his "attack", he's going to try to do EXACTLY as he sets out to do. But, I learned that all you have to do is put a road block or an obstacle in their way. Their mind isn't fast enough to compute what to do next. I took away his sword and without it he was nothing. That day he (and all the elders) lost their control and power over me.
Thanks for letting me give you an update. I've missed all of you........Funch