Posts by Markfromcali

17

Dedicate a Song...

by MerryMagdalene in

...to your friends at jwd...or...?.

here's my dedication (such a beautiful song and i've only just discovered it...better late than never i guess...):.

why worry.

Markfromcali

This one is dedicated to Andrea:

Nothing Could be Separate
by Steven Walters

Rising with eastern light
Still as the dew of the morning
Fresh from a dreamless night
Filled with a lovers longing
How deeply the branches bough
As deeply the rotos must be holding
May I remember what I'm knowing right now
As strong as the winds may be blowing

That,
Nothing, nothing could be separate from this
Nothing, nothing could be separate from this
Nothing at all

Coffee from a paper cup
So fine on this autumn day
The sights and sounds I'm drinking up
But it's in the silence that I stay
Again I wonder how it could be that
One hand moves all in grand design
Yet under these blue skies I can so clearly see
Even amidst the concrete and fast food signs

That
Nothing, nothing could be separate from this
Nothing, nothing could be separate from this
Nothing at all

Let life come
I will find out what is changing
I will find out what is real
And I will find that place that is no place at all
At the center of the center of
The center of the wheel

So I turn my collar to the wind
And pray that I will remember
What I know so clearly this day
In northern California, late November

That,
Nothing, nothing could be separate from this
No, nothing, nothing could be separate from this
Nothing at all

121

Do you ever feel invisible?

by Sassy in

jw
friends

sometimes i do.

Markfromcali

Wow, how do these recent threads get so big without having been seen sooner ... must have been invisible!

Seriously, I don't really care about this anymore because I'm not interested in being seen for it's own sake, and on the other hand when it does happen it can be intense without any words exchanged, just that eye contact.

It should be noted though that even if you are not seen it may have a lot to do with the other side, perhaps they are too preoccupied with their stuff, whatever that might be. So you feeling invisible may just be a sense of the other side being oblivious. People tend to have that selective attention thing going on too. It's funny when I encounter someone absorbed in that kind of state (usually in traffic, both in car and on foot) I don't tend to think in terms of notice me, but I mostly think "wake the hell up you moron!" lol

59

Have you a POSITIVE JW experience??

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

ok sometimes i feel it's good to maybe not redress the balance, but at least can you say something positive that you gained from your jw experience.

so thats what i want you to do, if you so feel inclined.

can you say or mention something that had a positive effect on you when you were a witness?

Markfromcali

Sure here's one: I remember at a certain District Convention, during the break I had seen this sister who was part of the drama, and I smiled and pointed to her from my seat above and she smiled somewhat shyly and kind of waved back in a "tee hee" sort of way.

And there are other experiences that has more to do with the religion itself, but I don't really think of it as all that relevant because I don't think it's all about having a positive or negative experience. Frankly, I think it is entirely possible that someone may have an aversion to the JWs and the experience and never really wake up out of it. Basically it's just a matter of being caught up with experience, good or bad, JW or otherwise. We hear a lot about learning from experience in the typical life lesson kind of way, but I say if you learn not to be caught up in experience, being free from it like 'it was just an experience', then that'll go a lot farther than the little life lessons kind of learning. Even though we talk about JW stuff to some extent, to me it's about having this experience with you guys right now - even if we talk about past experiences.

8

Not wasting your time on people

by Markfromcali in

jw
friends

just a really simple point here, have you ever noticed maybe after a particular conversation (or series of them) that looking back, it was a total waste of time?

like no matter what effort you make you just couldn't get through to actually communicate with the person you are talking to.

it may be easier to let it go for people you are not so close to, but probably a bit harder if say you have family in as jws.

Markfromcali

I guess a nicer way of putting it would just be there's a time and place - and a person/persons for everything. With some things there's just going to be relatively few people who understand where you're coming from. Unless something changes it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to try repeatedly.

Siddha, my question was really rhetorical, I understand what's going on. With the person I was thinking of it is the same old story. I can see the state they are coming from, I just don't care to run around and try to process information on that level because I'm not interested in relating in such a limited manner. I suppose it is only confusing if all you understand is stories. In this case it is essentially counsel out of ignorance, sophmoric psychoanalysis when I'm trying to point to something beyond that. (by the way, it is nobody on this board) In reading your response though it occurs to me that you need to be listening to even know that you were heard, otherwise you're just going to drone on and on about "your point", if you were not speaking face to face the other party could probably go get a cup of coffee or take a nap while you keep going. The other person can acknowledge your point and agree with you, but you will never know you were heard unless you are also listening.

It may seem distant, but I have no problem not communicating with someone when this is the case. I can reflect what someone says per the typical communication format, but even if they recognize you understand their reasoning that in itself does not go to any depth. Anyway, listening itself can be done with anything, they don't need me or even any person if they should decide to want to pay attention and listen at some point. And when you've gotten the point of listening (aka "meditation") it's time to get off your ass and do something.

16

Did you think they were hooked on titles and "classes"?

by LongHairGal in

i couldn't stand all the titles and categories they had!

i felt they were hooked on respect which maybe in some cases bordered on adulation.

i had a problem with this because i always saw it as unchristlike.

Markfromcali

You know it may very well be that's all some people have. If you can't cut it on actual merit, even if it is just the merit of a human being, then you have to resort to an artificial construct like the position of an elder or something like that. And when you get enough of such confused people together then they all play their little roles in a world they've created together.

8

Not wasting your time on people

by Markfromcali in

jw
friends

just a really simple point here, have you ever noticed maybe after a particular conversation (or series of them) that looking back, it was a total waste of time?

like no matter what effort you make you just couldn't get through to actually communicate with the person you are talking to.

it may be easier to let it go for people you are not so close to, but probably a bit harder if say you have family in as jws.

Markfromcali

Just a really simple point here, have you ever noticed maybe after a particular conversation (or series of them) that looking back, it was a total waste of time? Like no matter what effort you make you just couldn't get through to actually communicate with the person you are talking to. It may be easier to let it go for people you are not so close to, but probably a bit harder if say you have family in as JWs. But the result is the same isn't it, if they are just not hearing you.

14

For Me, the Dead are Still Alive in Paradise.

by pepheuga in

at least the rural folk had the green and blue they had always known, their fall cushioned by the dewy grass, onlookers nothing but nature itself.

there is a kind of fulfillment to go that way, to die as one lived, the soil's fool, in the softness that humanity craves at the end.

the city dwellers had no such comfort at the last; their end would be filthy and harsh, we knew it, we who had seen the wickedness that their spaces had bred.

Markfromcali

It's funny, when I was a Witness I had the idea of some kind of "theocractic fiction" like that. Of course, it's all stuff you've come up with your own imagination.

29

Not an elder anymore?

by ivy in

i just found out from my son that my father is not an elder anymore.

he has no idea why.

of course i called home, but no one is there, probably at a meeting.

Markfromcali

It does get announced.

29

Not an elder anymore?

by ivy in

i just found out from my son that my father is not an elder anymore.

he has no idea why.

of course i called home, but no one is there, probably at a meeting.

Markfromcali

The only elder I've known to step down basically got tired of it, although there may be other circumstances involved it just all depends. He was basically still faithful though. There may be general patterns that some who have been elders can point out but that may not necessarily apply to your dad.

9

Attention and re-making yourself

by Markfromcali in

jw
friends

someone recently told me that there's a t-shirt with the message: "some say i have attention deficit disorder, but -- oh look, a chicken!

sometimes we talk about getting busy with life as a way of getting over the jw experience, but in reading the reconditiong thread it occurred to me to really get over it you need to put a decent amount of energy and work into it.

obviously to do that you have to really focus on it and pay attention to what's going on, which wouldn't be as simple as just going about your merry way and living life.

Markfromcali

Hi Paul, I really do not mean research at all - although for some they may want to do that. Personally I've never been the academic type, but like I said I think sometimes that same work is being done if you just examine life closely. Although you may not directly address the subject it ultimately will play a part in that transformation. In other words it's more a matter of 'working on' yourself than what you think about the JW's beliefs and so on. In my case I never did look at the doctrinal stuff directly, but eventually I could see those things in a larger context..