Posts by COMF

Like waiting, I found new dimensions through our meeting. Her attitude in person seems more confident, more positive and upbeat than what I had picked up from the board. And she took me by surprise with her attractiveness and tasteful attire. Not that I had thought of her as dumpy, mind you; just that in my mind, as with most people I've never seen, I had settled on something around the average mark. Not so in this case.

Waiting's husband is a soft-spoken guy; so much so, in fact, that he and waiting swapped places at the restaurant to put him closer to Believer, who was having trouble understanding what he said (it was Friday night, and this is a large and very popular restaurant). But I felt at home with him right away; he reminded me of a couple of friends from my past, and his comments and witticisms convinced me that, at least on the topics we discussed, he and I were coming from the same place.

Believer and I emailed back and forth a couple of years ago, when I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and had to undergo a prolonged treatment program with nasty side effects. He was a considerable comfort and encouragement to me then, and it warmed my heart to meet him in person. Here, also, my average expectations were not enough, as he turned out to be both big and tall, but without any appearance of being overweight. Thick, full head of silver hair and a trace of a northerner's accent. He also is soft-spoken, but when he speaks it's worth the listen.

Nickie says she enjoyed the visit and is glad you came, and if you are down here again be sure to let us know so we can get together again.

Also, I received an email from a former H2O poster who wanted to join us; unfortunately, I only got the email after the evening was over. So we'll need to arrange another Dallas Apostofest soon. Y'all come back, now... y'hear? :)

COMF

69

Atheists/Agnostics/Prayer

by patio34 in

jw
friends

on the subject of prayer: this is addressed to the more atheistic or agnostic ones amongst us.. now, all those years i prayed really hard when times were tough, and then things worked out.

i now believe it was my own hard work that gave the solutions.

prayer was helpful in that i felt i had help.

COMF

I guess what I'm trying to say is, just don't close your eyes and go at it blindly as if you are all there is.

I closed my eyes and went at it blindly when I was praying. Going at it as if you are all there is, equates to having your eyes open, assessing the situation, weighing your strengths against the requirements, and making informed decisions. If others want to jump in and lend a shoulder to the load, it's usually welcome. But you don't want to build your plans on the assumption that any shoulder other than your own will be there. Otherwise you may spend a whole lot of valuable time at the loading dock waiting for them to show.

COMF

69

Atheists/Agnostics/Prayer

by patio34 in

jw
friends

on the subject of prayer: this is addressed to the more atheistic or agnostic ones amongst us.. now, all those years i prayed really hard when times were tough, and then things worked out.

i now believe it was my own hard work that gave the solutions.

prayer was helpful in that i felt i had help.

COMF

my very sweet younger outtatruth sister (who posts as 'Waiting'--cool that's we're sisters, huh?).

She is indeed sweet, although tough as nails if you get crossways to her, as I once did. :) I had the pleasure of meeting her last Friday evening. She, her hubby, and a gentleman who used to post on H2O as Believer all spent the evening visiting together. I had no idea you were sisters, though. Wish you'd been here, too!

COMF

69

Atheists/Agnostics/Prayer

by patio34 in

jw
friends

on the subject of prayer: this is addressed to the more atheistic or agnostic ones amongst us.. now, all those years i prayed really hard when times were tough, and then things worked out.

i now believe it was my own hard work that gave the solutions.

prayer was helpful in that i felt i had help.

COMF

This calls to mind what a regular pioneer once said to me. He had terminated a study he had been having with one of his marks, and I asked him why. He responded, "How long do you spur a dead horse?"

Well, you spur it until you realize it's dead. Then you get off the horse, accepting that it is not going to take you to your destination. You gather your things together, including whatever is on the horse that you want, and you set off toward your destination on your own, you doing the walking that the horse would not do.

So it is with prayers. As long as you are waiting for divine intervention, you are not inclined to do things for yourself. As soon as you figure out that the choices are: a) do it yourself, and b) do without, you are in a position to achieve your goal.

Being open to connecting the dots in different patterns, though, will provide some amazing spice in your life.

Well put! I recently told a close friend of mine, "Your goal in life seems to be to make it through to the end without getting any of it on you."

Not me, buddy!

COMF

(Grammatical errors corrected)

71

My Identity!

by qwerty in

jw
friends

that got you to read this!

what country are you from?.

i find it encouraging to see where different posters are from in the world, especially for me, if you are from the uk or europe.

COMF

Favorite book: Teaching your chicken to fly.
Favorite sexual position: "as above"

Gee, I dunno, unk... it sounds like fun all right, but if you ever forgot to flap yer wings... besides, you know what happens when ducks fly upside down, don'tcha.

COMF

23

Things to do when they come knocking

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

i encourage people not to either verbally or physically harass jws when they come knocking on the door.. saying this, i recognize that it is ever so tempting to try the following:.

1) answering the door wearing a t-shirt with a logo such as "satan rules", "member of the evil slave class", and "1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, what's next?".

2) answering the door wearing only underwear (or less).. 3) dropping a name of some governing body member and suggesting that you got to know him when he and you were in jail together, and then ask if they know if he's stopped some particular filthy habit.. 4) answering the door while brandishing a pitchfork.. 5) say that you're so glad they came and that it's good for people to have an open mind about their religion and to be willing to change; once you get them excited with this, show them a copy of the wtbts failed prophecy list (backed by quotes from their own literature) and ask if they are open minded as well.. 6) as most jws have never looked at a copy of _studies in the scriptures_, tell them that you've gotten many of your religious beliefs by pyramidology; then show them a copy of _sits_ and point to the wtbts copyright notice.. i have #5 and #6 ready for the next visit.

COMF

I was visiting my son at his house in Washington a couple of years ago, and I was up and about Saturday morning, but they were still asleep upstairs when the knock came on the door. I answered and two witness sisters were there, one looking to be about 36 and the other about 16. The morning was nice, warm enough for shorts and a short sleeve shirt (which is what I was wearing), with pleasant floral scents occasionally wafting on the breeze. As the 36 year old introduced herself and her companion, I sized up the situation and decided that standing outside in such nice weather, having a conversation with an attractive woman who, to judge by her mannerisms and speech, was feeling awkward and slightly embarrassed to be there, was okay by me. I stepped outside and closed the door. I would have invited them in, but the living room still contained the aftermath of a party, including stinky ash trays full of cigarette butts (my son, his wife and their friends smoked at that time; the wife has since quit) ...nah. It was nice outside.

It must have been the older one's turn to make the presentation; she was the one doing the talking, and I was glad. At my age (I guess I was 43 at that time) sixteen doesn't have the appeal it had when I was 17. What looked so devourable then now looks like the green bud of a flower just beginning to open its petals outward. You can appreciate its fresh beauty and potential, but you don't want to pick it; what you want is the flower that is in its full-blown glory. Maturity has sex appeal that freshness cannot attain. You look at 16 and you see your own children petulantly refusing to pick up their dirty clothes out of their room, so ignorant of life that they aren't even aware of their ignorance. You look at 40 and you see experience, wisdom, understanding, and readiness; glowing embers radiating heat and needing only the right stoking to burst into flame.

She moved awkwardly through her presentation, fumbling with her bookbag and magazines while she spoke, avoiding the eye contact which she feared would nakedly expose her embarrassment to me. 16 took shelter behind her and occasionally peeked over her shoulder.

When she reached the point where she offers the magazines, I wasn't ready to let her go yet, so I asked a question about something she had said. This accomplished several things: first, it alleviated a great deal of her embarrassment and set her at ease, because it indicated that rather than being irritated about their knocking at this hour of the morning, I was accepting of their presence. It showed her that I had been paying attention to what she said rather than just waiting for her to stop so that I could say I wasn't interested. And it suggested an interest beyond mere politeness in her message. And, most importantly, it kept her there, speaking earnestly to me while I was drinking her in.

Eye contact is such a wonderful thing. Two conversations at the same time; one public, neutered, generic, a stream of words from anyperson1 to anyperson2, transmitting a mundane concept. The other private, intensely personal, highly sexual; a stream of energy transmitting awareness rather than thoughts: "Yes... I see you. We are here, together, aren't we... here, now, you and I." All your potential, all that could be, flows between you on that shaft of energy from eye to eye.

She forgot where she was. :)

And so, bringing the conversation back around again, I decided to give them an added boost. She had offered the magazines for "whatever you'd like to contribute." So I asked them what they thought the magazines were worth... wording it that way on purpose to give them an opening. And you should have seen their eyes light up as they saw it.

So, they told me what the magazines were worth to them (priceless... the price and the telling) and I gave them a couple of bucks and took the magazines. We said our goodbyes, she promptly forgot all about me, and I still remember her to this day. Lovely little darling of the doorway. :)

COMF

3

It's not just us!

by COMF in

jw
friends

we were told that in the movie jesus was portrayed as a known homosexual and that this was proof that the end of the world was near.

no need to do next week's laundry, i thought.

life of patricia: http://members.aol.com/lostdillos/brian.html

COMF

Rem, I've never seen it either. I wasn't a Monty Python fan, although my sister loved it and used to do several of their skits for me as her own one-woman show ("Spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam..."). Yes, I was in throughout the latter half of the seventies. I remember the hokey tract artwork, too.

Think41self: I went to college at the age of 37, as a single father raising two teenaged children. I was working fulltime, although I had to take a job as a lowly grocery store stocker (which paid little more than minimum wage) in order to work evenings and schedule daytime classes. The government was very generous with grant money; as a single parent and an older student I qualified for enough grant money each semester to cover my tuition and books and still leave about a month's rent remaining. Grant money is better than student loans in that you don't have to pay it back.

You can find out what kind of student aid is available to you by calling the campus financial aid departments of whatever colleges you are considering. These people are there to help you get your education financed. Getting you money is what they do. I encourage you to check into it.

Four years after I started college, I was four years older and had a degree and a great deal of new self-confidence based on my accomplishments as a student. If I had not gone to college, I would have simply been four years older.

Test the waters, sister. It's waiting for you!

COMF

71

My Identity!

by qwerty in

jw
friends

that got you to read this!

what country are you from?.

i find it encouraging to see where different posters are from in the world, especially for me, if you are from the uk or europe.

COMF

Dallas, Tejas

3

It's not just us!

by COMF in

jw
friends

we were told that in the movie jesus was portrayed as a known homosexual and that this was proof that the end of the world was near.

no need to do next week's laundry, i thought.

life of patricia: http://members.aol.com/lostdillos/brian.html

COMF

We were told that in the movie Jesus was portrayed as a known homosexual and that this was proof that the end of the world was near. No need to do next week's laundry, I thought.

Life of Patricia: http://members.aol.com/lostdillos/brian.html