Posts by Terry

please share your fave christmas music , a carol or something more modern .to start i will list my best carol as hark the herald and my best ever chart song as santa claus is coming to town by bruce springsteen .

Terry

I do love a good fugue and Ring Christmas Bells does it for me IF it is cleverly arranged and orchestrated.

Minor key melody entwined upon itself like an Ouroboros: fascinating and delightful!

Here are two widely divergent versions. The first is traditional and the second is modern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJWz1-R88oc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Tr1qCHwq4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCabI3MdV9g

102

Should I attend Kingdom Hall meetings to discreetly "preach"?

by CrytoJesus in

jw
friends

christians, should i attend kingdom hall meetings to discreetly "preach" to jws about the real jesus and the lies of the watchtower?.

.

i plan to go undercover and plant seeds into them.. .

Terry

If you walk up to a person and tell them their mother is a whore, would you expect them to be happy and to thank you?

Well, telling the 'truth about the truth' is exactly that. It is brutal!

It is not an act of kindness. . . UNLESS. . . the person you talk to is readyfor it.

If they've been noticing something strange going on with their Mother and can't quite put their finger on what it is. . .

at a certain point, THEY ARE READY for the 'truth.'

But, not until then.

The ORGANIZATION is their mother--or so the GB has said.

You don't talk about a person's mother casually or drop rumors or innuendos and expect a positive response.

Please remember that!

LOYALTY is the first line of defense.

Righteous anger will soon follow.

Denial is the order of the day.

_________________________

You see, none of this is actually about Bible verses being interpreted wrong or right. No.

This is about NEED. Human NEED to be told what to do is at work.

If you remove a person's compass, map and tear down their safety net--you damned well better be ready

to REPLACE it with something equal to it.

YOU CAN'T!

That is right. You can't replace what religion and belief and faith and loyalty offer.

Leaving all that behind is a long journey of self-searching, depression, anxiety and harsh reality intruding on every day.

This kind of preparation is done INSIDE the individual THROUGH THE AGONY of self-examination.

The only thing you or me or anybody else can do is SPOT THE MOMENT of breakthrough and be ready to toss a life vest.

Reality is a harsh mistress.

127

I'm sitting here listening to a JW try to recruit somebody

by Terry in

jw
friends

i'm at starbucks .

just outside in the courtyard.. i'm trembling.

my hands are shaking.. wow!.

Terry

It has been about 3 weeks since my last update.

Much has transpired in the interim.

_______________________

Jordan and I have kept in touch.

He texts me telling me how he's feeling and what is going through his mind.

I listen. I suggest links to this and that.

We share a strong bond. He trusts me and I'm doubly conscientious in not trying to sway him.

He must do the work and follow his conscience where it will lead.

_________________________

Not long ago he said something which floored me. He's been reading things online. His appetite for information

grew ravenous apparently. He said to me I was some kind of 'celebrity' to him!

What?

He told me he looks at the life I had as a JW and the things I went through trying to 'please Jehovah' and follow the Organization even

when it made little sense (out of blind loyalty) and the resulting damage to my life--and my struggle has an authenticity to it which

has struck a chord in him.

I had to squirm at that. I'm not comfortable being anybody's cardboard hero.

Now my sense of personal responsibility was doubled and heightened for certain!

_____________________

Suddenly, a fire ignited inside him and his curiosity soared!

I'd compare it to daylight breaking through a long, dark storm.

He was researching on his own all over the internet!

His strong intellectual nature pounced and he became alive to the BIG PICTURE.

________________________

One day, we spoke for the better part of three hours on the phone.

He's been cautiously asking JW's whom he trusts penetrating questions.

He's able to do this because of the precarious position he's in. He's DF'd trying to get REINSTATED, therefore,

JW's expect a certain amount of grappling with ideas to go on! It is normal to question things at that juncture.

________________________

As we all know, once you 'wake up,' your mind is on fire.

Jordan's sure is!

He has been listening to the link I sent to CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE while he is at work every day!

He quickly figured out Ray Franz was a real person and not a boogeyman. He listened and became enlightened.

_________________________

Finally, the Elders--after putting him off while they went about their day to day personal business--finally told him he was

scheduled for reinstatement. What rankled him was--if his eternal life was "on the line" while in a DF'd state--why had the Elders

been so foot-dragging about it?

Secondly, even though they had reinstated him--he was forbidden from commenting at meetings UNTIL it was announced.

__________________

This young man is an entirely different person from the one who sat at that table in Starbucks debating with a co-worker about

the Trinity, the 'torture stake, and Apostates!

He finally told me, now he KNOWS how it goes.

He will slowly fade from the moment of reinstatement.

____________________

I did an intervention at one point--not knowing if I should.

He immediately wanted to begin working on his Mom and his girlfriend trying to pry loose their minds from the clutches of delusion.
I tried to slow him down by telling him--

"Jordan, when does an Alcoholic stop drinking? It isn't when loved ones TELL them to do so. It is when there is NO OTHER way to continue in life excdept to do so. You have to be READY to change--on your own--by your own decision!"

He stopped, considered and understood immediately.

I also explained, "When you open people's eyes up to the betrayal of trust you HARM THEM by taking away their safety net and destroy

their WORLD! You inflict a wound! What are you prepared to REPLACE that with? Are you going to tell them to go to a Baptist Church, or become an atheist? You see, they have to SEE THE NEED TO GET OUT as survival of sanity. That's the only way which works."

I dunno. I overstepped my boundary inside my own head, but I really felt I was giving good advice.

______________________

Jordan and I remain bonded in an extraordinary closeness of affection.

I may have rescued myself by simply saying the right thing at the right moment.

It was an extraordinary struggle inside when I suddenly stood up and walked over and butted in--but, all in all,

I couldn't help myself and hold back. I just couldn't.

Let me say to any of you who face a similar moment of decision: GO WITH HOW YOU FEEL and speak the truth about the 'truth'

when the opportunity presents itself. You'll feel awkward, emotional, stressed and unprepared.

But SINCERITY communicates more than you know.

I think most people can tell the difference between sabotage and intervention!

______________________

44

Looking for Truth with a capital "T"?

by Terry in

jw
friends

stop begging for crumbs like a pigeon in the park!.

nobody anywhere has truth tied up with a red ribbon to hand to you so you.

can go skipping down the road with a smile!.

Terry

cognizant dissonant: How does my saying a prayer or worrying about my children's struggles help them one iota? It doesn't. It is just a way to feel like you are doing something useful when in fact you are doing nothing useful to help a situation.

_____________________

When people say true things, those who listen flinch and turn away in disgust. I don't blame them. This life can be very hard indeed if

you disrespect reality and insist on fantastic mind-sturbation instead. But, the quicker we acknowledge the way things work the better

prepared we will be for what comes.

I developed a mind experiment one day.

I'll share it with you.

________________

Three men are sitting quietly on a long park bench facing forward with no expression on their faces.

Each person looks as normal as normal can be. In fact, you wouldn't look twice if you passed them.

Now here is where the experiment begins. . .

IT IS TEN MINUTES TILL NOON

1. One of these men is in the last stages of brain cancer and today he is calming himself before suicide by gazing on the

faces of the living, the beauty of nature he'll leave behind, and reflecting on his memories of triumph and despair.

2. The second man is wearing an explosive vest which he will detonate at the stroke of noon when crowds are surrounding him

walking their dogs, playing with their children, sunning the newborns, and planning their future.

3. The third man is about to donate a lung and kidney so that his 19-year-old daughter can survive. The wait for other donors

is at end and today is the last possible moment a transplant could be effective.

QUESTION:

Since there is nothing remarkable about appearances, how would YOU know which was which if you casually passed by?

____________________________

What is the point of this mind experiment?

It was to remind me how the essential truth hides from our eyes so easily at every moment.

That park looks so warm, safe and inviting--and it is--except for what is hidden.

Those men appear so normal--and they are--except for personal circumstances, beliefs, bad luck and heartfelt passions.

________________________________

Each of us, at a mature age, and with some experience at life is--no matter how clever we are--IGNORANT about life and people.

Anything can happen at any time any place we are.

OUR OWN LIFE must be kept orderly and purposeful--as though we must depart quickly.

1. Have you told the people you love how much you love them? BETTER DO SO NOW.

2. Have you sorted out your "things" as to who should receive them when you go? Do you even have anything worth leaving?

3. Do you know who will be most pleased and most hurt when you die?

4. Can you speak two sentences filled with your finest accomplishments?

5. Did your life MATTER? Why?

________________________

You see? We are all somewhere in that park and it is always ten minutes till noon.

That is the real 'truth.'

Each of us could be any one or all of those men on the bench at some odd moment in our life!

44

Looking for Truth with a capital "T"?

by Terry in

jw
friends

stop begging for crumbs like a pigeon in the park!.

nobody anywhere has truth tied up with a red ribbon to hand to you so you.

can go skipping down the road with a smile!.

Terry

Twitch

religious people build hospitals and schools, feed the hungry and help others.

No question about it.

I'll never fault anybody who takes the trouble and time to reach out and help another person for whatever motive. Help is help!

44

Looking for Truth with a capital "T"?

by Terry in

jw
friends

stop begging for crumbs like a pigeon in the park!.

nobody anywhere has truth tied up with a red ribbon to hand to you so you.

can go skipping down the road with a smile!.

Terry

Rub a dub

How many people even know the Onion's articles are supposed to be funny? So often they seem to hit the bull's eye.

44

Looking for Truth with a capital "T"?

by Terry in

jw
friends

stop begging for crumbs like a pigeon in the park!.

nobody anywhere has truth tied up with a red ribbon to hand to you so you.

can go skipping down the road with a smile!.

Terry

Finklestein,

I wish I was as innately imperturbable as Sam Harris. He's always laid back and thoughtful.

44

Looking for Truth with a capital "T"?

by Terry in

jw
friends

stop begging for crumbs like a pigeon in the park!.

nobody anywhere has truth tied up with a red ribbon to hand to you so you.

can go skipping down the road with a smile!.

Terry

SAHS: But when you look at the history of humankind from a psychological, anthropological perspective, it become so obvious that people’s believe in a “God” is not coincidentally quite self-serving and rife with all the basic human defects of character – such as fear, pride, greed, and lust.

And those are the good points!