Posts by FlyingHighNow

24

Went to a Catholic Funeral Today

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

it was for a dear friend of the family that i have known all my life.now, bear in mind that i was born and raised jw, so my experience with catholic ceremonies can be counted on three fingers, a wedding, a "regular" mass, and this funeral mass.once they got down to the actual speaking about the deceased, i felt emotionally involved, but prior to that, i was watching and had questions about aspects of the services (these i have seen in common for all three times i have been in an rc church):why the "sing-song" voice during the prayers?

does god hear it better if you sound all spooky tenor?i observe that every time a reading from one of the gospels takes place, it is preceded by a big musical number:"alleluiah!

alleluiah"( "and nowwwwwwwwwwwwwww, heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's jesus!".

FlyingHighNow

You know, when the priest receives the body at the church, there is a prayer he does, which is respectful and lovely really.

24

Went to a Catholic Funeral Today

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

it was for a dear friend of the family that i have known all my life.now, bear in mind that i was born and raised jw, so my experience with catholic ceremonies can be counted on three fingers, a wedding, a "regular" mass, and this funeral mass.once they got down to the actual speaking about the deceased, i felt emotionally involved, but prior to that, i was watching and had questions about aspects of the services (these i have seen in common for all three times i have been in an rc church):why the "sing-song" voice during the prayers?

does god hear it better if you sound all spooky tenor?i observe that every time a reading from one of the gospels takes place, it is preceded by a big musical number:"alleluiah!

alleluiah"( "and nowwwwwwwwwwwwwww, heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's jesus!".

FlyingHighNow

The Roman Catholic service is the most beautiful of all of their masses. Since Vatican II, the services have been too watered down, except for the funeral rite. The services are very reverent, unlike the more fundamentalist churches that really are more, "Here's Jesus."

I am not Roman Catholic, but was raised in the Episcopal Church, which is Anglican Catholic basically. There are three readings from the OT, the NT and the gospel reading. In addition there are Psalms that are spoken or sung. I believe you are speaking of the part of the mass that the priest chants. That kind of chanting has been going on since the beginning of the church and is very beautiful to most of us, brought up in the catholic type of services.

The readings from the OT, NT and Gospel are done so that in three years, you make it through the entire Bible, save a few little things here and there. We were taught as JWs that the JWS are sooo organized, and that churches are not. Well, not true. These lessons are read daily, different ones each day, until the Bible is finished. The same lessons are done in every Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and similar churches on the same days. The priest, or pastor if it is Lutheran, will base the short sermon on the Gospel. The sermons for regular masses or services tend to be from 10 minutes to 20.

The music in today's Roman Catholic churches tends to be more folky, after Vatican II. They do still do some of the beautiful, traditional hymns sometimes. The Anglican church hymns are more traditional.

68

15 Years of Jehovahs-Witness.com

by Simon in

yes, today is the forum's 15th birthday!.

i never thought for one moment that it would survive this long or have so many people post so many great subjects over the years.. it is still humbling when i get pm's or emails from people expressing how the site has helped them and of course thanks goes to all the posters who have shared their experiences and make helpful and supportive comments to others who are in the sometimes difficult process of learning the real truth about 'the truth'.. the site has gone through several different incarnations over the last 15 years running on different platforms, different databases and different hosts but we've been able to keep all the old topics.

the current site is still being developed and i'm hoping to push another major upgrade soon.. i also may have some other news to share soon about the future of the site so stay posted.. until then, here's the the next 15 years!

FlyingHighNow

Thank you, profoundly, Simon. You've done possibly millions, including me, a lot of help and service with JWD and JWN.

64

POLL: Will You Be Attending The Memorial & If You Are---Why?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i was just invited.

i thanked my old elder friend and he left.

(i'm not going).

FlyingHighNow

Oh heck no. And yesterday I was even given an invitation by a nice jw lady who is one of my customers. She does not know I am inactive and an apostate. She only knows that my sister and youngest brother are jws. I plant little seeds with her, here and there. Things that made me go hmmm. Little things like their old KH having windows and the newer one they are in not having windows and then the new ones will have windows. My goal? To get the thought that things they consider normal and status quo, are perceived as a little bizarre by outsiders.

25

Which of these activities bothered you the most?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

which of these activities did you hate/bothered you the most?

rank them from 1-5 with the most hated to the least.. .

field service.

FlyingHighNow

They are all bad. Watching mentally ill people get disfellowshipped was very upsetting. It went on my list of things that make you go hmmm.

90

Some screenshots from new KH meeting!

by pixel in

.

they just put up a link to watch a replay of the "new kh meeting", here some screenshots.. .

.

FlyingHighNow

Windows?? Shut the front door!

8

Site Update: Feb 4, 2015

by Simon in

i have found the issue with the user post-counts being incorrect and the update to put them right is running right now.

it's upto people who joined about 5 years ago so if you're more recent than that just give it a while before checking again.. i've made a few tweaks to the css to fix some issues with ie which caused the side-bar to be pushed down under the main content instead of alongside it and also the reply counters didn't have any color to indicate the busiest topics.. the snippet / topic preview options should now be a little neater and clearer.. other than that, most of the changes have been backend stuff around optimization so nothing really to see but it should pave the way for feedback on the post like / dislike voting and other goodies..

FlyingHighNow

Thank you for all of your dedication and hard work, Simon. I hope people will come back and the forum will get busier.

22

Woke up this morning to the realization that the future is now

by campaign of hate in

jw
friends

as the title of the thread says, i woke up this morning realizing more than ever that we should, each and every one of us, live for today and what we can accomplish today, rather than constantly looking toward the future.. i'm not implying we shouldn't make plans, plans are healthy and advisable, especially if you have healthy commitments.. but i realized the reason why nothing in my life ever seems to get done, is because i put things off, and look ahead 10 years down the line, then a few days later realize how much work needs to be put into that said task, then i don't do anything.

and so the cycle seems to repeat itself.. what i think i'm trying to say is that worthwhile endeavors that have a reward at the end, but take many years to get there, need to be challenged one day at a time.

i now understand that to get to where we want to be 10 years down the line, we need to focus on today and the hard work that needs to be out into a task one day at a time.

FlyingHighNow

Likely you have heard this song, but have you really listened to the lyrics? It is about the same epiphany, only it happened to Carly Simon and she wrote a soulful song about it. I was 13 when I first heard it. I wish I had understood how this could apply to everyday of my life.

"...and stay right here because these are the good old days."

Anticipation by Carly Simon

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