Posts by Rohag

Hello!

Many Muslims who make Hajj - make the at-least-once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca - report the experience as a spiritual highpoint of their lives. Nowadays, each year about two million plus from all parts of the globe arrive in Saudi Arabia to perform the rituals of Hajj. Pilgrims don simple white garments to symbolize purity and erase (or minimize) the difference between rich and poor, and, despite 100+ mother tongues, worshiping Allah demands Arabic. Check the Web for "Hajj memoirs."

Every year many faithful Roman Catholics come to St. Peter's in Rome to attend Christmas Midnight Mass or the Easter Vigil. Those can be profound experiences and especially so during the Holy Years held every 25 years.

Praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem can be deeply moving for observant Jewish worshipers, who may have been pulled into a minyan (sacred quorum of ten men) composed of Israelis, Americans, Bukharans, Argentines, Russians, and others to join their voices in Hebrew praise of Hashem (G-d - that's you-know-Who, YHWH).

Also, Hindus have their "Kumbh Mela," Buddhists have four main and four other pilgrimage sites, the Latter-Day Saints have Salt Lake Temple, and Cubbies have Wrigley Field.

I'm sure others can add to the list.

Here's the text of interviews from the Friday afternoon "Young People - Walk by Holy Spirit in the Congregation" presentation at a 2008 Jehovah's Witness District Convention. This transcription approximately covers the second half of the presentation. I've omitted names and locations to preserve individuals' privacy. In a handful of places I've tried to capture vocal emphases by underlining stressed words. Any transcription errors are mine (and my aging ears') alone. Thanks to Ynot for providing access to .mp3 files of the talks!

Presenter: Do the same with long-term goals, looking farther into the future. How about regular pioneering, serving where there's a greater need, helping out a foreign language congregation, missionary service, Bethel service, Ministerial Training School, the list goes on and on. These too would be fine long-term goals.

In line with this thought of setting goals, let's again consult God's word, this map. Let's go to Proverbs 21 and verse 5; 21 and verse 5. It says, "The plans of the diligent ones surely make for advantage, but every one that is hasty surely heads for want." So it speaks of the wisdom, the advantage of making plans or setting goals, and then working hard to meet them, and the disadvantage of not doing that. So that's some good advice from Jehovah God: set goals and work hard to meet them.

It's also common when we're on a trip to ask for directions, isn't it? And it's the same with your trip or journey into the future. Pick some good mature, exemplary Christians, and ask them for direction, for help. Look at them as role models.

For instance we have these two Christians with us today. We'd like to ask them just a few brief questions. First of all we have Sister ___ ___, a regular pioneer in the ___ congregation. Sister ___, when your were a teenager, why did you choose not to pursue a higher education?

Sister Pioneer: Actually for me it was never a huge issue. From the time I was very young my parents groomed me to go into the full-time pioneer ministry.

Presenter: Alright, very good. So your parents gave you good direction. And what else helped you?

Sister Pioneer: Well, one thing that really helped me is that my older brother, who was pressured to go on into higher education, without hesitating at all refused, turned that down. And what I saw was that Jehovah really provided him with a job that was able to support his pioneer ministry. So I knew that if Jehovah did that for him, that he could do it for me also.

Presenter: Very good. So now when you were in school, what did you do to prepare for pioneering?

Sister Pioneer: Well again, my parents encouraged me to attend a technical high school. And what that was about was that if you chose a career, then all of your courses in school revolved around that career choice, and so all the curriculum was geared toward that. But the nice thing was that you were actually guaranteed a job when you got out of school.

Presenter: Alright. So how did things work out?

Sister Pioneer: What it was supposed to be was I was supposed to work a half a day my senior year and go to school in the other half of the day. However, by working very hard I, and going to summer school for just six weeks, I was able to graduate an entire year early and begin immediately pioneering.

Presenter: Alright, excellent. Now, looking back, why do you feel that you made a wise choice?

Sister Pioneer: Looking back on 39 years of full-time service, I have nothing to regret in the way I've lived my life. Materially speaking, I've really been in need of nothing. Spiritually speaking, I value very deeply my rich spiritual heritage. My parents, my husband's parents, all of their siblings, all of their children are all serving Jehovah, and most, the majority of them in the full-time ministry. I've had the opportunity and privilege to help many to come to dedicate their life to Jehovah, and also pioneering has helped me really keep focused on the work at hand.

Presenter: Any other blessings?

Sister Pioneer: Yes, the far majority of that time in the full-time service I got to spend along with my husband, and last but not least both of our children entered the full-time service along with their mates, and currently our son ___ and his wife ___ are enrolled in the 125th class of Gilead.

Presenter: Thank you. Next we have Brother ___ ___ from the ___ congregation. Brother ___, how old are you?

Young Brother: I'm 20 yrs of age.

Presenter: Alright, 20 years old. Why did you set spiritual goals when you were young?

Young Brother: At I Timothy, chapter 4 and verse 7, Paul wrote to Timothy, "Be training yourself with godly devotion as your aim." And with the help of personal study I saw that that was what I wanted to do with my life was to devote my life and my energies to Jehovah God. And really personal study helped me to see the need to set spiritual goals, how to stay focused on those goals, and then how to make changes in order to meet those goals.

Presenter: Alright. So How old were you when you began reaching some of these goals?

Young Brother: Well, as I progressed, I reached one of my goals, that being the regular pioneer service at age 17, and then later on when I was 18 I was appointed a Ministerial Servant.

Presenter: Alright, excellent. And what other privileges have you enjoyed?

Young Brother: Well, Jehovah has blessed me very much. I've had the privilege of giving public talks, helping on the RBC projects, with hurricane relief work, and also unassigned territory as well as one of my recent accomplishments is moving into a smaller congregation to help out where there is a greater need.

Presenter: Very good. So, are you happy with the way that your life is turning out?

Young Brother: Yes indeed, I wouldn't be happier. I'm pleasing Jehovah and also my parents. But whatever effort or sacrifices that I have to make or have made, there's so much joy and satisfaction in those, I'd, I wouldn't be happier doing anything else.

Presenter: We want to thank both of you very, very much. (Applause)

So again, you young ones, ask mature Christians for help and advice and you will get good direction. You young ones keep in mind that more than anyone else Jehovah wants you to make choices that are going to bring you the greatest happiness now and in the future. So remember him. Ephesians 5:17 says that "you should go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is." So consult your map, study it, and work at applying it. Be led by holy spirit. By doing that you're showing Jehovah as it says in Proverbs 3:5 and 6 that you are "trusting in Jehovah." Yes, find joy in working within the realm of his Christian congregation. (Applause)

I followed the link to the author's MSN Home Page and from there to her Favorite Music - Music Store associated with Amazon.com. Artists she favors include

• Nsync
• Boyz II Men
• Vanessa Williams
• Celine Dion
• Alicia Keys
• Gloria Estefan
• Jennifer Lopez
• Backstreet Boys
• The Pussycat Dolls
• Madonna
• and others.

My questions are real, not rhetorical. I'm attempting to understand where and how practicing Witnesses actually live out "being in the world but not of it." Dietequiladie, if you feel my questions hijack your thread, please forgive me and I'll start a new one. Thanks!

Thank you, Quandry! I just had to share that encounter. It wasn't what I was expecting after reading others' posts.

Personal Experience: Several months ago "my" Witness shows up at the door to drop by copies of The Watchtower and Awake. This time he's accompanied by one sister. I had planned to carefully broach the UN topic by relating personal history.

I told the Witnesses that back in the mid-1990s I had brief contact with individuals temporarily serving in low-level UN positions/personnel slots. In those days all sorts of groups maintained an association with the UN, to include the Watchtower Society registered as an NGO with the UN Department of Public Information.

I expected denial and perhaps anger. They presented neither, although I may have noticed some suppressed surprise.

The Witnesses accepted my story and even seemed to believe the Organization was still registered as an NGO with the UN. According to them, the association is justified for legal defense. Being a UN-associated NGO allows them to defend themselves in human rights cases such as those involving religious freedom in Russia and elsewhere, securing them the right to appeal to the World Court in the Hague. Biblically, they cited Romans 13, being in submission to worldly governments is legitimate for true Christians.

They stressed they did not consider the individuals I had known who worked for the UN as evil; it's the UN organization as a political entity (?) they consider a Satanic agent of Evil (?).

Further, they offered the analogy of the incorporation of local congregations for legal status and defense – people cannot sue the elders, they have to take on the congregation as a legal whole. I asked about the status of the individual Witness liaisons with the UN; they evaded answering and moved the conversation toward registering for the military draft. Witnesses can register but will refuse to serve in military forces. Alternative service is OK, and they gave me examples of brothers who, at the time of the Vietnam war, chose to go to prison and another who accepted alternative service.

Impression: These folks had no sure knowledge of these issues. I strongly suspect they were impelled to tell me anything semi-logical to clear the Organization of hypocrisy.