Family secret: Memorial(tm) while on vacation in Cuba

by Quotes 22 Replies latest jw friends

  • willyloman
    willyloman

    Quotes:

    What your dad, the elder, did was quite in line with WTS doctrine. I'm not sure where to find this in writing, but I know it exists. There is a society opinion someplace that spells out exactly what a JW would do if for some reason they simply cannot attend the memorial. The options range from just what your dad did... to waiting a month until the next full moon and observing the memorial then, in the rare case where you not only could not be at a KH for the actual memorial date but also due to circumstances could not improvise one of your own.

    This might be a QFR or in the OM book, or the KM, or possibly it was in a letter to the body of elders; sorry I cannot be more specific. I know I'm right, however, because this came up once when a couple had made plane reservations and were going to be traveling the night of the memorial and it was "too late" to change their travel plans. I was asked to research it for them and I found the above info and shared it. They ended up taking some unleavened crackers and ordering one glass of red wine, and passing these emblems to one another, along with silent prayer. As far as they could tell, no one on the plane paid any attention to them.

  • iiz2cool
    iiz2cool
    Everyone, please follow AA's lead: add a note in the margins of your yearbook!!!

    You said this took place in the early nineties, but can you give us an exact year? Any partakers?? I want to be accurate when I update the spiritual food? that is mouldering on my bookshelf. I'm sure this will affect the percent increase (decrease) as well, perhaps even for subsequent years. I hope this new light? doesn't stumble? me.

    Walter

  • Poztate
    Poztate
    That means they know who my family is.

    That means, the "WT Monitors" may cause trouble for my father, and ask him about this old indescretion!!! Whoops, sorry dad!!!

    That can be the shits if they try to squeeze you by putting pressure on your parents. Vacation first....Worry Later

  • Quotes
    Quotes

    willyloman, thanks for the detailed response! What you are saying is ringing some bells here.

    Although, I must say, it seems like this "most important evening on the calendar" sure has a pretty simple escape loophole. I mean, when I was a kid, just missing a stupid meeting required a pretty darn good excuse; and I don't think promising to "have my own book study when I get home" would have been an acceptable alternative.

    And then, there goes Dad & Mom, missing memorial, simply because they "weren't paying attention to spiritual things" when they booked the trip. We used to hear stories about the sacrifices and health risks brothers would take to get to weekly meetings; surely my parents could have sacrificed their tickets in order to attend "this most sacred event".

    I know I'm being hard about this; in fact, I'm *GLAD* they didn't go that year. I keep hoping that one day they will decide to never go again!

    ~Quotes, of the "probably day dreaming" class

  • el jarocho mayor
    el jarocho mayor

    The revolution is with you Quotes.

  • blondie
    blondie

    *** w85 2/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***

    ยท

    If a Christian cannot be at the celebration of the Lord?s Evening Meal, what should he do?

    It is important that Christians attend the annual celebration of the Lord?s Evening Meal, for Jesus said when instituting it: "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19) The early Christians did so. The apostle Paul thus could write about the Corinthian brothers who each year ?met as a congregation,? or ?came together,? for the Memorial of Jesus? sacrificial death. (1 Corinthians 11:20, The New English Bible; NW) But what would they have done about the Memorial in difficult circumstances? For example, what did Paul himself do during the years that he was imprisoned (under guard and perhaps even chained) in Caesarea??Acts 23:35; 24:26, 27.

    In view of Jesus? plain command, even if Paul was in isolation on the occasion of the Lord?s Evening Meal, he certainly would have reviewed the Scriptural aspects of the event. Being a spirit-anointed Christian, he would have made every effort to partake of the most appropriate things he could use for emblems. Wine was then a common beverage, so despite being a prisoner Paul might have had some wine and a type of bread to use. That was even more likely when he was later confined in Rome, where he was permitted to have visitors. Probably some brothers from Rome tried to "come together" with him in a small group to celebrate the Lord?s Evening Meal.?Acts 28:30.

    Around the earth today, congregations of Jehovah?s Witnesses gather on the date corresponding to Nisan 14 for the Memorial of Christ?s death. But sometimes unusual obstacles arise. On occasion, raging storms or floods have prevented a congregation, or some of its members, from meeting together as planned. In rare cases, martial law has been in effect with armed soldiers barring citizens from being out-of-doors after sunset. Other Christians have not been able to be at the congregation?s celebration because of being hospitalized or seriously ill. What can be done in such instances?

    While it is fitting for the whole congregation to unite for this important event, circumstances such as noted above may make that impossible. When extreme weather, a natural disaster, or the like, absolutely prevents a family or a portion of a congregation from meeting with the congregation, the isolated ones can meet and discuss Scriptural accounts such as found in Luke 22:7-23, 28-30 and 1 Corinthians 11:20-31, as well as discussing the meaning of the occasion. Similarly, if an enforced curfew makes it impossible for a congregation to gather on the appropriate night, meeting in Congregation Book Study groups or neighborhood groups might be the best alternative, the sum of those in attendance serving as the congregation?s attendance report. A brief talk may even be given if a capable, dedicated brother is in the group. There need not be concern that no suitable emblems are available as long as no one in this emergency situation previously partook of the bread and the wine as an anointed Christian.

    God?s Law to Israel had a special arrangement for someone who was not in a position to partake of the regular Passover meal; the individual could do so a month (30 days) later. (Numbers 9:10, 11; 2 Chronicles 30:1-3, 15) Comparably, in an extreme situation with a spiritual Israelite who absolutely cannot attend or be served the emblems on Nisan 14, he or she could partake 30 days later. This would apply only in the case of an anointed Christian who is under command to partake of the bread and the wine.?Galatians 6:16.

    On April 4, 1985, after sundown, congregations of true Christians around the earth will gather in obedience to Jesus? command: "Do this as a memorial of me." We invite you to assemble with them.?1 Corinthians 11:25, NE.

  • Beans
    Beans

    Memorial Attendance

    Cuba: 2

    Partakers: 2 Canadians getting drunk in a hotel room with a bad bottle of red wine.

  • G Money
    G Money

    Go to Cuba through Cancun, reenter USA with birth cert and Driver licence. Don't stay in a hotel in cuba but a private home (casa particular). Cost is $25 to $30 a night USD. You can't use credit cards or travellers cheques from US companies and should bring cash. Better to bring euros or other currency as there is a 10% exchange fee to exchange US dollars to Cubans convertable pesos.

  • willyloman
    willyloman

    Thanks for the citation, Blondie. That looks like the material I was talking about (above) You're the best reference librarian in the whole world!

  • upside/down
    upside/down
    Yes but did they partake?

    Doesn't matter as long as they didn't "inhale". u/d

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