Don't you want to know why? Well, I'll tell you . . . .
Today I called someone I've known for many, many years, since I was about 5 years old (DIM will know who -- Josephine), to see how she was doing. When I was little I was in awe of her and thought she was the most fashionable person I knew. Her parents were old school Witnesses who thought nothing of taking the train to New York to argue a point of doctrine with Freddie and Nathan. When I grew up I realized, to my shock, that she was a bigot, and my respect for her diminished. When my dad got disfellowshipped she was downright vicious in her judgmental viewpoint of him and I stopped talking to her altogether. I think she called me a year ago and told me that she had had a stroke. We spoke briefly, and I did not tell her that I was no longer attending meetings. Today (since I'm home this week) I called her to find out how she was, and I was struck by the hopelessness in her voice as she struggled to say, as she had last year, "well, it won't be long now before this system is over."
She doesn't believe it anymore, and won't admit it. I see this in two friends we have who are still JW's and, remarkably, still talk to us. "It won't be long now," but there's a hollow sound to it.
EVERY ONE OF YOU HERE ARE SMARTER THAN THE ELDER AND HIS FORMER PIONEER WIFE, SMARTER THAN JOSEPHINE WHO WAS RAISED A JW BY TWO PEOPLE WHO PERSONALLY KNEW JUDGE RUTHERFORD. Anytime you are tempted to feel bad about yourself or listen to the little voices in your head or the big voices of your family telling you how stupid you are for leaving "the Truth," please remember this: you are now, maybe for the first time in your lives, looking at life head on, right in the eyes, and seeing it for what it is. Life is sad, happy, hard, easy, fun, stupid, frustrating, and the best thing in the world.
Enjoy every minute, my friends! And the future? Let it come, whatever it is. Just do your best now.
Love to all of you,
Nina