Posts by Tristram

I lit a thin green candle
To make you jealous of me,
But the room just filled up with mosquitoes
They heard that my body was free
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
And I put it in your little shoe,
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
That you wore for the world to look through.

I showed my heart to the doctor
He said I'd just have to quit
Then he wrote himself a prescription
And your name was mentioned in it,
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
With the details of our honeymoon
and I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
and his practice is all in a ruin.

I heard of a saint who had loved you
So I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers
Is to tarnish the golden rule,
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
He drowned himself in the pool,
His body is gone, but back here on the lawn
His spirit continues to drool.

An Eskimo showed me a movie
He'd recently taken of you
The poor man could hardly stop shivering,
His lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
And I guess he just never got warm
But you stand there so nice in your blizzard of ice
Oh please let me come into the storm.

28

What Excuses Did You Make To Get Out Of "Theocratic Activities"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as an elder, i always seemed to be at a meeting.

Tristram

I've used the kids occasionally, some random illness, ailment whatever. There are times of year that I am absolutely crazy work wise and let them know. If I get any resistance I kindly ask that if they will pay my mortgage and bills then I will be at every meeting.

Also I've noticed that things are generally cool if at least one family member is representing.

I know its been stated many times elsewhere, but for some reason the friends with money, who always have some event, vacation, etc. always get a free pass when it comes to missing meetings. The working stiffs like us are under the microscope and chastised for missing occassionally.

8

Jehovah's Witnesses and Education - The Credibility Dilemma

by Nicodemus in

"it is only the ignorant who despise education" - publilius syrus, moral sayings, first century b.c.e.. .

as quoted in awake!

of march 8, 1998

Tristram

The "credibility dilemma," however, is that in many fields it is precisely the acquisition of such a degree that makes one employable, that opens the door to opportunities in the field.

Its the acquistion of a degree that makes one more employable in any field.

A point I have heard many, many times from the platform to discourage the traditional 4 year degree is that "30% of all college graduates do not even work in their field!"

But there is a good chance that a large majority of that "30%" (honestly i am not sure of the figure, could be higher or lower) is employed in either a related or even non related field and is making a comfortable salary or has a personally rewarding and satisfying job.

Good post as always, Nicodemus. And far too few and far between.

33

Did your Kingdom hall ever cancel meetings?

by moshe in

jw
friends

we were building a new kh- not quick build- and we had to vacate the old building and the new kh was not finished.

the elders decided to cancel all the meeting with the exception of the tuesday night bookstudy in homes.

we had no other meetings for about 4-5 weeks.

Tristram

Very rarely. Only if there was really bad ice on the roads and the news was reporting how awful things were. At one hall once they cancelled because of a tornado warning, which i thought made sense. But no one told me and i showed up for meeting anyway. The KH was locked. Sometime last year, at a different hall, there was miserable weather with a tornado watch, but they had the meeting anyway.

48

Was Simplification the Downfall of the Watchtower?

by NotBlind in

a thought i had daydreaming while at the recent convention .

old timers in the organization often reminisce about the way the wts was many years ago.

attending a convention meant (a) getting hot meals, (b) orchestra music before and during sessions, and (c) two, three, or even four dramas.

Tristram

Its been duly noted here already, but a few years ago an elder friend of mine was musing about how the simplification, especially with assemblies was affecting the communal spirit. I worked in food prep for years, as well as expediting and working the food stalls. We always had a good time and met new people (especially girls, heh heh.)

Then, overnight, that whole arrangement changed. Now we take our lunches, sit with people from our halls, stay in our seats and eat during the break. Assemblies definitely don't have the fun, friendly atmosphere that they used to. I don't think it was anything sinister on the society's part, they just wanted to save (and thus make) more money. But the fallout has been observable.

On a side note, I had no idea that truthseeker was British. Always thought he was American.

T.

40

DID ELDERS POKE THEIR NOSE IN YOUR BUSINESS?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?

Tristram

What a question.

Of course they did.

8

going to a second DC

by darth frosty in

jw
friends

one of my friends who still is "faithfull" told me he plans to go back to the dc this weekend, to catch a few talks that he missed due to being on bathroom attendant duty.

did any of you know (or were you prone) to go to the same dc or assembly to catch parts you missed?

frankly even when i was in if i missed it i did not feel the need to make up a meeting.

Tristram

If I ever did it was to meet/ impress girls. I did do it a couple times. A girl who i really dug was assigned to another convention, so of course i went to it, and mine too.

17

Wanted - two men of integrity at Bethel

by moshe in

i think a big change is due soon for jehovah's witnesses and it will come about because of changes from the top.

all it will take is two men on the governing body who somehow convince the rest to implement these three changes , for starters i see this:.

#1- they eliminate all rules and guidelines on all medical practices.

Tristram

Eliminating 2 meetings and FS time has got to put a happy face on a lot of kids and parents.

You have no idea. Or maybe you do, having been there before. I can't see a single JW, no matter how rabid, not embracing that change. Still, can't see it happening. The weird announcements and decrees lately point to a higher level of control, not a lightening of the load.

17

Wanted - two men of integrity at Bethel

by moshe in

i think a big change is due soon for jehovah's witnesses and it will come about because of changes from the top.

all it will take is two men on the governing body who somehow convince the rest to implement these three changes , for starters i see this:.

#1- they eliminate all rules and guidelines on all medical practices.

Tristram

Moshe,

I appreciate your optimism, but to paraphrase Dana Carvey's imitation of George Bush Sr.: "Not gonna do it."