by badboy 57 Replies latest jw friends
there was 1 in our congregation. she claimed to be constantly tormented by demons. her oldest daughter drowned in a kiddie pool when she was 20 years old. this lady swears up and down it was a demonic attack. granted, it was a freakish accident, but I believe she fainted and fell into the pool.
Mary, I'm sure your grandma is in heaven what a sweet lady
Pete Popadopolis, central congregation, Vancouver WA. When I knew him, he was in his 90's and lived to be 103 or 104. He was a faithful believer. I first met him when he had my parents, me, and my gramma over for dinner after my dad gave a talk in their hall. The cabbage soup he served was wonderful!
I lived next door to him for a while as a newlywed. I'd make sure to take him slices of pie, or cookies, as a neighborly gesture. He'd always give me fresh produce, or a jar of just made soup, or whatever. Every spring, crocuses bloomed throughout his entire lawn! He was a wonderful person, and I learned a great deal from him about being humble, kind, and generous. He also made sure that the congregation was kept in line. Too bad he wasn't listened to. That was a corrupt congregation, and finally responsible for my fading away. There were others but I don't remember them.
Brenda
the couple who converted my parents in 1956 were of the "annointed class" they became an extension of my immediate family.
As I was growing up they became surrogate grandparents to me. I remember them vividly and fondly as gentle old souls. They were part of my life until they both died when I was 16.
My real grandparents; all Catholic ; died when I was very young. I did not "know" them at all and vaguely remember what they look like. How sad for both of us.
ahhhhh yes...The famouse pioneer ,Sister Brown...She was and is the one of the most judgemental , rude and contageruise person ya would ever meet...And to think God would put such a socail retard in charge is just funny....
Whats hilariouse is no one believes it...But there all well the spirit moves in mysteriouse ways..I could write a book on her lil quirks...
Did you personally know one of the 144,000?
Yes, and I thought to myself; if she is going to be on the board of directors up there, I am pretty screwed.
We were led into it by one who proffesed to be of the anointed, she was great and had a big impact on our lives right up until I left the org, I will always have a special place for her, she was like a 2nd mom. She did and said a few things to my family in recent years that really annoyed me but she died last year so I'll never get to clobber her one ;)
Well, leaving aside the stupidity of the whole WT teaching on this subject...
In Bethel I remember a "brother" in his 30's who used to partake in the Memorial. He was not taken very seriously by many, since he was clearly not of the "first chosen" (before 1935). Anyway he was accepted into Bethel with this status. He had no special responsibilities of course: I think he helped in the Service Dept. before he joined the Translation Dept. where I worked with him for some time. He was a kind, gentle, somewhat dreamy sort of person, and did not make an issue of his supposed status (actually I never discussed the subject with him). I keep very good memories of him.
Perhaps there were some older "anointed" in the Paris Bethel, I don't remember because I was not really acquainted with them (I was working in Louviers, about 100 kms from Paris). None of the Committee Branch was "anointed" as far as I remember.
When I was still in Bethel I had the same kind of experience as Little Toe: I found myself reading NT in a totally new way (from inside, as it were), and almost simultaneously realizing that the "two hopes" stuff was sheer absurdity. I quickly reached the conclusion that the next Memorial I would have to partake, that I would subsequently be questioned on my beliefs and that disfellowshipment would inevitably follow. I was quite scared by this perspective, as all my life and friends were in the org. I remember asking in prayer that I would not be left alone. Shortly after I resigned from Bethel, and applied as a special pioneer (as I was before coming to Bethel), hoping to have a kind of "Bible-only ministry" within the org. as long as it could last. I marked off the "a(nointed)" case on the form, not sure anybody noticed. I was appointed to a Paris congregation, and made an arrangement for accommodation with a friend who had spent some time in Bethel before and was currently serving as a SP in Paris.
When the time of leaving Bethel came, this friend came to help me pack and move. Before leaving we had a last walk in the nearby forest. Unexpectedly he told me that from his youth he had felt an "anointed"-like relationship with Christ, that he had mentioned that a couple of times to elders who never took him seriously, but now he felt he could not help "coming out". I was amazed. Only then I told him my own story.
A few months later the two of us were partaking in the Memorial. Both of us were disfellowshipped another couple of months after that.
Yeah, I've known a bunch that are "anointed." The thing that always used to get me though, is the case where only one mate is anointed and the other has an earthly hope. Must be weird to be married to someone that you supposedly love and have a good relationship with, and know that the relationship has and expiration date... and be HAPPY about it. And not that it matters, but in at least three couples that I can think of off the top, it was the MAN with the heavenly hope and the woman with the earthly hope.
One sister used to say that her husband was going to be her king when he got to heaven, so she had to treat him the way a king deserves starting right now. Ironically, in spite of her always saying that, they seem like a pretty well-adjusted couple, she is not at all "beaten down." He is a governing body member by the way. (Maybe she is joking about the king thing. Knowing her that is a possibility.)
O
Odrade's comments remind me that the "anointed brother" I just mentioned married (with a "non-anointed sister", of course) while he was in Bethel and that there was some gossip going on about that...
There were 2 in one of my congregations and I didn't find either of them particularly extraordinary.
One was Caroline G-something. She lived on the way to the hall and my parents used to give her rides because she didn't drive. She had a non-believing husband, and I think some adult children we never saw who weren't JWs either. She seemed very pompous. In fact, to this day, every time I think of terms like pompous or pious, I think of her. She effected the sort of speech you'd expect to hear in old black and white movies. The ones who were acting like rich people or just overacting with a pompous sort of accent. She loved to hear herself talk and would go on and on at meetings when she commented. You could tell the conductor hated to call on her, but she was the sort to raise her hand for almost every question. She'd also lecture us kids at times. My favorite was when she was lecturing my brother and I with "If you were my children..." and I think it was my dad who cut her off with, "They're not YOUR children". LOVED that! She was also a regular pioneer. I always thought of her as a bit of a nut and wondered whether she was just imaging this whole 144,000 thing.
The other was an elder and I forget his name at the moment. He had a wife and family of about a half dozen kids. He also seemed to exude this "I'm special" attitude. I didn't find him particularly warm or compassionate. I didn't see him as a particularly good speaker either. I wasn't at that hall long enough to see all his kids grow up, but I think the oldest 2 were starting to get in trouble. I think they both were disfellowshipped eventually. One for drugs (possibly even dealing), the other for something sexual. I always wondered how a guy like that got picked and in the back of my mind I always doubted he was annointed. When I saw his family start to turn out so poorly, I figured that was further proof. After all, if this guy is going to be king of millions, he should at the very least be able to keep his family "on the path".
At another congregation, there was some older woman who may have been in her 90's. I didn't know much about her as I didn't see her much. I think she mostly called in to listen to the meetings.
