I missed my first Memorial last year in 60 years. It always amazed me on this special night that the JW's forget how to park their cars in the parking lot. I would pull in with my wife and there are 5 brothers giving directions on where and how to park my car. For God's sake, the parking spaces are marked and the cars are parked no differently than the other 364 days of the year.
I walked inside and you can tell which JW's have Bible students there because they have the biggest smiles and wear these individuals like badges of honor. Look what I have accomplished and look who I have with me. They have bragging rights. They are not introduced as this is Mrs. Jane Doe but rather this is my Bible student. Then there were the ragtag visitors in blue jeans and t-shirts. I kept thinking what on God's green earth would make these people want to come to the KH one night out of the year? Of course, there was the love bombing that you only get until you get baptized. I could tell that those who were getting bombed enjoyed the attention.
The talk was the same as last year. "We are here to observe the Memorial of Christ death but you will not be partaking of the emblems." Jesus said to keep doing this in remembrance of me. When Jesus gave his instructions in the first century, all that heard his words drank the wine and ate the bread even though they were not yet anointed with holy spirit. That would not happen later until Pentecost.
So the emblems are passed like in some sacred ritual. You could hear a pin drop as one by one everyone in the Kingdom Haul rejects the blood and body of Jesus. Even children 5 years old, under the watchful eye of their parents, have the opportunity to reject the Son of God.
Then there was the funny and awkward dance of the emblem servers as some sat down putting the emblems on the table, then some stood up to get the emblems to serve the servers to make sure that everyone gets to firmly reject Jesus with a shaking of their head and their oh so solemn expression on their faces. Then, of course, the speaker also gets to reject Jesus but he usually shakes his head with a big no before the server gets to close to him.
I am so thankful that I will never go to another meeting and sit through the sadness of rejecting Jesus.