humbled

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Posts by humbled

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  54

  Nelson Mandela - comments of what his life meant to you

  by MMXIV in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  nelson mandela has passed on.

  he was a symbol of hope and peace to many.

  has his life and achievements meant anything personal to members of jwn?.

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  humbled

  Although Mandela was terrificly strong to come through what he did, the greatest impact he had on me was the powerful effect of his Truth Commission.

  Forgiveness requires truth if it aims to heal a grave wrong. Both the oppressed and the oppressors were invited to tell what had been done without the objective of punishment but with the objective of letting the truth be told. A forgiveness that ignores or dismisses the full extent of the suffering caused is no healing--I appreciate the earlier account telling how Mandela at the Nobel Peace Prize did not tolerate DeKlierk's comments that minimized horrifically unequal suffering by the Colored under the white regime. The generousity of forgiveness is that the victim fully understand the wrongs against them even as they forgive. The criminal(s) who receive forgiveness must allow at he very least that the story of their victims be fully laid out-- if they hope forgiveness to be a full measure. That the final and maybe single comfort they can give is to acknowledge the suffering they have caused.

  Truth with forgiveness can heal--I thank Mandela for showing me that.
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  75

  the final fall of metaspy

  by metaspy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and so it goes....

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  humbled

  YES!YES!

  stick around, fellow! We all need each other

  Maeve

  Neither words nor emoticons can say how glad we are that you are back.
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  95

  Please Share one of your Favourite Quotations

  by cofty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have you ever come across words that resonate with you?

  it doesn't have to be a great gem of wisdom, just something that is meaningful to you.. please share, and if you want to, tell us why it's meaningful to you.. here is something that made me nod when i first read it.... .

  "fortunate are those who have learned to see, in the wild things of nature, something to be loved, something to be wondered at, something to be reverenced, for they have found the key to a never-failing source of recreation and refreshment".

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  humbled

  so many great sayings.

  I love these 8 Cardinal Virtues compiled by the scientist George Washington Carver. Born a slave during the Civil War in the U.S. he had much adversity to overcome--But this is what he modeled and tried to teach his students as much as the science he taught:

  1. Be clean both inside and out.

  2. Neither look up to the rich nor look down on the poor.

  3.Lose, if need be, without squealing.

  4. Win without bragging.

  5. Always be considerate of women, children and old people.

  6. Be too brave to lie.

  7. Be too generous to cheat.

  8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.
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  70

  If you believe in nothing, then how do you know JW's are wrong?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many who leave the witnesses go on to affirm other recognisable sets of beliefs.

  some become christians of various sorts, others tend toward patriotism as a kind of rejection of the anti-patriotic stance of the watchtower, while yet more simply affirm in general the secular values of mainstream society.

  do you believe jehovah's witnesses are wrong?

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  humbled

  They are wrong if only because they TELL us what to believe, whether or not I believe in anything or nothing at all.
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  52

  I'm new here...

  by Demokan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm 15, and i'm an unbaptized publisher... so i've been what you call "lurking" here for the past few weeks and i have some questions.

  i hear you guys constantly mentioning ttatt so where can i go to learn more about this (links please)?

  also i've already told my mom that i don't believe in the governing body and she is making me do even more!

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  humbled

  Demokan,

  My youngest daughter fended off the elders who tried to crowd her into baptism. They arranged to come to our home because they felt I wasn't doing right by her--she being a bright girl who gave sharp comments at meetings and could have answered the baptismal questions right then if they had asked.

  What she answered made them leave her alone even if it didn't make them happy.

  She told them first that she wasn't ready. They offered to set her up with a book study (they obviously were unhappy with my results). She told them that my study with her was fine but what she lacked no body could give her--she told them that baptism was a dedication to do God's will and baptism affirmed the relationship you had with god.She was right so they couldn't "un-horse" her. She said though she knew all the answers, she had no real connection with God at that time. She thanked them and told them she would let them know when she was ready to study with someone else.

  She was 13.

  At 16 she asked to study with a lovely sister whom she loved. She herself terminated the study several months later feeling she was wasting both of their time--no hard feelings. then she skipped meetings(bad mom, I let her). She studied for college, got a scholarship and financial aid to a good school in Massachusetts. She will graduate next year.

  She worked hard and her big sisters helped pull her through. One never got baptised, one went through hell and a sort of fade, went to college and is doing fine.

  Just a side note: Being young you will have hard times. My family has certainly had them, and my children struggle in life. So I want to make it clear that even a good life, a life that will bring you satisfaction will not be easy. But remember THAT IS LIFE. Life IS a struggle--but as one of my kids says, "I shouldn't be miserable." So never believe that the troubles in life are because you left the organization or because Satan is on your tail.

  Whether you have an abiding faith that a Goodness presides in the world that Jesus tried to invite us to know and share (I do), do find a way to love yourself and others without the rules that kill you and others. You will do well. that is the story that so many here will tell you. And you will do well.
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  20

  How did you spend your Saturdays?

  by MissConfused in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  it's been 3 weeks and every weekend is so much fun, spending quality time with real friends who dont pretend... last week was bbq, this sat was potluck, next one is long weekend away from home... all in all love my life again.... how was your saturday?

  :).

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  humbled

  Good morning! Saturday is when I sell a week's worth of spoon carving at the local Farmers Market. It is a beautiful setting on the old town square here in the Ozark mountains.

  Since I am house-sitting in town this week (why I have the internet now) I slept in til 6:30 am, rolled out to a morning cool for August but with bright sun. Old car pre-packed, coffee in hand, in 5 minutes I was setting up umbrella, spoon-bench and tools at 7 sharp.

  I love the market. Many friends were there for me and strangers stopped to watch a spoon grow out of a tree and talk "spoons" with me. (I learned definitely how to discern what kind of winter we'll have by splitting open the seed of the wild persimmon tree). I saw old JW friends who I liked so much whose eyes dragged past me and whose feet flashed past me. I wish we could have talked.

  I missed the young busker whose fiddle makes my kitchen spoons clatter against my knee and dance in my fingers while I should be carving. But instead I heard the melody of a saxaphone and a bass fiddle--lovely.

  I had children stop for a long time loving the noisy mess I made and loving the hatchet and gouges. Other vendors asked about my health, we joked and encouraged one another. One friend's cancer is back, she was reluctant to tell me so as not to discourage me--but we talked at the end of market as she helped me clean up my chippy mess. We are resolved to enjoy each day of life and not count the days with sadness. she is such a good woman.

  After that my youngest son bought a lovely take out-of lasagna for us to share and we split a large Guiness from the package store. My day wound down to just me and the cat in the house I am "sitting" til Tuesday evening.

  Thank you, friend, for asking. It is good to share what we DO with a Saturday now we are not tormenting ourselves and others with a sale's pitch from Brooklyn.

  Maeve
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  29

  My August Update

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't really have a purpose in this thread, but wanted to share my thoughts and updates.. fading has, at least for now, totally stabilized.

  my jw wife doesn't discuss jw things and, as difficult for me as it is, i haven't been discussing anything directly against jw policy.

  oh, i slip in comments when she tries to judge people or groups based on her jw training- things like gay marriage, medical marijuana, pedophile news stories.

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  humbled

  I am just impressed at the tenderness of your responses to your wife. You could use many of the moments when she is vulnerable to criticism through her inconsistent actions to sling zingers at her. But you don't. And it is evident that she trusts you emotionally. I am happy for the both of you.

  Maeve
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  39

  A hello!

  by Oogie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, i'm newly awakened and just needing reassurance that the wt is indeed a mind-control cult.

  i have two lovely children (under 5) and a husband who is currently asleep..

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  humbled

  Welcome--and YES you will get over the guilt you feel for disobediently reading the lable of the poison they have been spoon-feeding you. Maeve
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  50

  Satan must have directed me here

  by Miss.Fit in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was telling my jw friend about the condi law suit.

  the first thing she asked was how did i even hear about it because it was news to her .

  ( i was 't expecting that reaction.

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  humbled

  Dear Missy,

  It does make us sweat when our well programmed buttons get pushed: Jehovah's Witnesses are always to follow the direction of the loving sheperds and the Faithful slave who tell us to never talk to apostates. So a comment like your friend's will make a shiver run through you---Did Satan lead you to this site?

  When I was waiting for Bethel to respond to a matter I had addressed to them and to the local elders I didn't doubt that Jehovah's Witnesses were the foremost christian outfit. I didn't read apostate literature and only discovered by accident the Ray Franz book Crisis of Conscience on the web. I only allowed myself to read reviews of it in Amazon but not the book itself. The hundreds of thank you notes Franz received intrigued and horrified me.

  I say this to encourage you. It is a hard thing to really look for the truth--to not be driven by fear.

  There are times when I have felt this site has been bad for me. We are vulnerable when we don't have all the answers, aren't we? That isn't because Satan has come in the door-- it is because we do have to find how to address life for ourselves and what can we know now with certainty?

  I have no sense that I am "special" yet I am convinced that there is a Goodness that lives and warms the world. And there is a world of horror as well. I do not believe the JWs have it sorted out and they have no right to forbid us to look, to knock, to ask saying that Satan is waiting for us when we do.

  Jesus wasn't afraid to step out of line--and we must not be afraid either.

  Take care. Maeve
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  17

  Thank you LoisLane Looking for Superman

  by TotallyADD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife and i ran up against a brick wall trying to find out imformation on our search of finding my half brother.

  will loislane pm me and offered us her service in finding him.

  found us some very good leads but surprise, surprise she came across someone i totally forgot about from my childhood.

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  humbled

  Lois is as warm and kind as they come. Big hug from me, Lois.

  Maeve (House-sitting for a week and have the internet!)