Eric

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Posts by Eric

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  31

  confession

  by Mulan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't told this to very many people, so here goes.. when i was a child, my parents became jw's (i was almost 5), so i had celebrated christmas a few times, but have few memories of it, other than the bubble lights, and a huge tree and my grandparent's house.

  when we stopped celebrating it, i didn't really "get it", and i still believed in santa claus.

  i just thought he didn't come to our house anymore.

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  Eric

  Mulan,

  Of course Santa is real.

  I am almost 43 years old and I have a friend who is in his Fifties. Two decades ago we became friends, he has pulled my feet from the fire on more than one occasion. I have stood by him when he's had troubles as best as I've been able.

  When he was two he was separated from his mother, and he was raised by his grandparents. He recalls happy christmasses from his child hood, turkey and cookies, presents under the tree, from his gramma and grampa, uncles, aunts, and always one "from Santa". He was about six or seven when he figured out it wasn't really from Santa, it was from his mom.

  When he was fourteen, the family situation had changed, and he was reunited with his mother, step-dad, and now, five step-sisters. Now he got presents "from Mom" and "from Dad" but always still a little gift "from Santa" which he knew was from his mother, but it was kept as an unspoken secret between them.

  After he moved out on his own, he still went home for every christmas day, and after moving three time zones away, he still flew home for every christmas, and still found some small gift "from Santa" under the tree, even when he'd turned fifty. And he cherishes the sentiment that gift represented.

  This year, his mother got sick, and died. He was at her side through her last weeks. He was capped and gowned in the OR as they tried to help her. He was holding her hand when she finally rested.

  So now he faces the first christmas he can remember without the prospect of a gift "from Santa".

  But I am certain that Santa will somehow pull through for my friend, and sneak a small gift under the tree for him. After all, I've read Santa's list...

  Eric
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  50

  ANTHEM

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  shouldn't all of us ex-dubs, lurkers and nominal jw's have an anthem?.

  a few suggestions for starters:.

  i will survive.

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  Eric

  God Shuffled His Feet

  After seven days
  He was quite tired, so God said:
  "Let there be a day
  Just for picnics, with wine and bread."
  He gathered up some people he had made
  Created blankets and laid back in the shade.

  The people sipped their wine
  And what with God there, they asked him questions
  Like: do you have to eat
  Or get your hair cut in heaven?
  And if your eye got poked out in this life
  Would it be waiting up in heaven with your wife?
  God shuffled his feet and glanced around at them;
  The people cleared their throats and stared right back at him

  So he said: "Once there was a boy
  Who woke up with blue hair
  To him it was a joy
  Until he ran out into the warm air--
  He thought of how his friends would come to see;
  And would they laugh, or had he caught some strange disease?"

  God shuffled his feet and glanced around at them;
  The people cleared their throats and stared right back at him.

  The people sat waiting
  Out on their blankets in the garden
  But God said nothing
  So someone asked him, "I beg your pardon:
  I'm not quite clear about what you just spoke--
  Was that a parable, or a very subtle joke?"

  God shuffled his feet and glanced around at them;
  The people cleared their throats and stared right back at him.

  From: The Crash Test Dummies

  Arista Records
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  29

  A question for the ladies

  by JeffT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok bobsgirl got a bunch of advice, now i'd like to hear from the women.

  our anniversary (27 years)is this weekend.

  i've rented a place that has beach access and a hottub (on whidbey island for those in the seattle area).

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  Eric

  Guys:

  If/when you are giving her roses, carefully trim off the thorns, to show her that you would never want anything you do to bring her harm...

  But leave just one thorn protruding, to prove you that you know you'll never be perfect.

  Let her notice all this before you explain (it may take several anniversaries and Valentines days).

  Stand ready for an emotional embrace.

  Eric, gardener of Love.
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  39

  Interesting thoughts on the situation.. READ

  by Brutus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everyone, .

  everybody has called for everything from full scale nuclear assault to a more measured response, against targets ranging from the entire middle east to just the perpetrators.

  the only country in which arabs can vote for their leaders is israel, where native born arabs are given citizenship.

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  Eric

  Brutus,

  The title of the thread said there would be "Interesting Thoughts" and READ in big bold letters.

  So I did read.

  Instead of interesting thought, Brutus, I get this:

  Those camel eating cowards

  ...some fucking raghead

  And so of course I changed the channel, tuned out the Bigot News Nightly, and joined in discussion with other people who I think could find Afganistan on a map of Afganistan.

  I know too many fine men who wear the turban in my own neighborhood to ever think that there are not thousands of similar pacifistic Muslims back in their home-town. Men who believe terrorism is insane. Men who are shocked, even shamed by this outrage. Men who have been working hard to raise enough money to bring the remaining members of their family to this country.

  Men and women who have made a contribution to my neighborhood who now feel an additional sense of urgency to see their dream of a united family under threat by a surge of misplaced racism. Men who have met the likes of you far too often to even be surprised by racism, but nevertheless organise a blood drive to help out the victims.

  As much as there should be a ruthless drive to root out terrorists, your type of racist fear will accomplish no good.

  Eric
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  7

  top ten reasons why beer is better than religion

  by bboyneko in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  10. no one will kill you for not drinking beer.. 9. beer doesn't tell you how to have sex.. 8. beer has never caused a major war.. 7. they don't force beer on minors who can't think for themselves.. 6. when you have beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away.. 5. nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over their brand of beer.. 4. you don't have to wait more than 2,000 years for a second beer.. 3. there are laws saying that beer labels can't lie to you.. 2. you can prove you have a beer.. 1. if you've devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you stop.

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  Eric

  14. If you return an empty beer, you get your deposit back.

  Eric
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  50

  Considering Leaving? Consider Larc's comments..

  by DannyBear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  maybe this is the time, to stand up and be counted.

  larc says it so well in this e-mail to me:.

  ****thank you for your kind words and your recognition of me via e mail, on.

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  Eric

  Words often do not by and of themselves give real meaning. Take for example the word 'desert'. Unless you read that word in some sort of context, the writer must explain weather he/she means 'desert'...chocolate cake after dinner, or 'desert'..the sahara.

  The word for chocolate cake after dinner is "dessert".

  Try again, after pride has deserted you.

  Eric
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  6

  LOVE FEST 2001

  by peaceloveharmony in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  fussing and fighting [lee perry] .

  why's this bumping and a-boring?.

  we should really love each other (love each other).

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  Eric

  PLH,

  I almost always have this little song flash through my head whenever I see your full moniker on this board. It seems appropriate to post in this thread.
  --------------------------------------------------------

  (What's so funny 'bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?

  As I walk through this wicked world
  Searching for light in the darkness of insanity
  I ask myself - Is all hope lost?
  Is there only pain and hatred and misery?
  And each time I feel like this inside
  There's one thing I want to know:
  What's so funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding?

  And as I walk on through troubled times
  My spirit gets so downhearted, sometimes.
  So where are the strong? And who are the trusted?
  And where is that harmony, sweet harmony?
  'Cause each time I feel it slipping away
  Just makes me want to cry:
  What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding?
  What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding?

  Elvis Costello and the Attractions
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  9

  Atheist Prophecy Fulfilled!

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the late 1960s, when i was studying with the jws, i worked in a very unique and mixed environment.

  the two brothers who owned the company were lutheran and baptist.

  the drafting supervisor was a jw and a co-wroker was mormon.

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  Eric

  Amazing,

  You don't still believe that Jehovah would be pissed if we make this shit work do you?

  Eric
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  9

  Atheist Prophecy Fulfilled!

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the late 1960s, when i was studying with the jws, i worked in a very unique and mixed environment.

  the two brothers who owned the company were lutheran and baptist.

  the drafting supervisor was a jw and a co-wroker was mormon.

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  Eric

  The only part I have not totally done yet is putting my trust in man to solve his own problems.

  Either God or aliens will swoop down and do it for us, or we will do it ourselves.

  It is that simple.

  But nobody ever said it would be easy.

  Eric
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  536

  LET'S MAKE A LITTLE WAGER

  by You Know in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  perhaps you recall the instance in the bible where samson made a wager with the philistines that they couldnt guess his riddle.

  as it turned out they wheedled the answer out of him by his fiancee, but the point is that they had a wager.

  since the underlying assumption of the apostasy is that we are not living in the last days of this system of things, and that this world is not facing anything remotely like the biblical apocalypse, at least not any time soon, in the spirit of such antagonism, i would like to propose a similar wager.

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  Eric

  You Know,

  You do recall that you entered into a wager with me for thirty articles of clothing, do you not?

  Come November First, I expect you to finally make good on that wager, by providing a local charity with thirty warm sweaters for kids aged 2-7 in time for distribution on Christmas Day.

  When New Years Day rolls around yet again, you'll either have a reason for some personal pride, or you'll just be Bobbo the Clown Prince . Again.

  Eric