Not with the religious experience....I dont believe in God anymore. Emotion is strongly connected for me with humanity. I feel a deep connection to people of whatever creed or orientation. Love of people is my religion.
chicken little
JoinedPosts by chicken little
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7
fantastic day!!
by chicken little inwe all stood under an old walnut tree, gathered around a homemade alter with a basin and jug set upon it.. a female ordained priest led the ancient ceremony of christening the child into the christian faith.
the sun broke out as we sang a hymn.
of praise.
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fantastic day!!
by chicken little inwe all stood under an old walnut tree, gathered around a homemade alter with a basin and jug set upon it.. a female ordained priest led the ancient ceremony of christening the child into the christian faith.
the sun broke out as we sang a hymn.
of praise.
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chicken little
We all stood under an old walnut tree, gathered around a homemade alter with a basin and jug set upon it.
A female ordained priest led the ancient ceremony of christening the child into the christian faith. The sun broke out as we sang a hymn
of praise. Two young people provided the musical backing and all the family and friends stood by watching and smiling.
After the ceremony an old family relative walked among the guests playing her accordian and everyone was singing and smiling.
We sang a song to Hollyrose and signed in the deaf signs as we watched the young girl who lead us. Tears poured down my face as I looked around the forty or so assorted ages gently waving their hands and singing to Hollyrose.
We were not family, just new friends to the two mums that were having thier child christened. They never gave it a thought that we in the past would never have been at such an occasion, not just because of the religious element but also because of their lifestyle. I felt so humbled, so privilaged to be asked to witness this private event.
The love I felt wrapped around us that day will be something I will never forget. It is so strange that I attended a funeral two weeks ago and felt the same feelings of humilty, awe and deep appreciation for being included in something so extremely personal and private. Two events that as a witness I would have looked upon as "spiritually unclean"....oh how ashamed I am, and I can only thank the friends I have made since I have left for their deep tolerance and embracing love. I stand the sinner, asking for forgiveness for my ignorance.
A truly wonderful day under the old walnut tree.
Chicken little
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Hello there...
by IronHill inhello everyone.... honestly i dont know how to start my first post.
i have been an avid reader of jwd for some time now, and now have decided to say hello.
i was raised as a witness, and have been baptized for 17 years.
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chicken little
Hello, and a warm welcome.ยจ
chicken little
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Goodbye to my dear new friend
by chicken little ini only knew you a little while, yet you touched my life and enriched it so much.. you were one of the outcasts if i viewed you from my past beliefs.. yet you shone as a true loving person.. you are gone to soon, way before your time.. i shall miss not having had the time to get to know you better.. rest from your sufferings, who knows what the future holds.... from the greatest joy comes the greatest suffering.. my love goes out to you.. .
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chicken little
Thank you for your kind replies...I am just back from the funeral service at a lovely swedish church. It was so moving to see so many people that loved this couple so much, I counted over a 100 wreaths and the people filled the church.
It was a glorious sunny day and the beautiful graveyard in the countryside where he is laid to rest was so peaceful.I have cried more tears today than I can ever remember, the well must run dry, yet they are springing up again.
My friend the exwitness could understand me when I said I was also crying for myself too. I felt guilt that I had not known this lovely person long enough...guilt for my past way of thinking. Humility in seeing so many people heartbroken to loose our friend. All had their stories to tell of a man who went out of his way to make everyone feel happy around him. Yes I have learnt from this experience, I will never shun, avoid anyone ever again no matter who I loose as a result.
Thanks again for your love
Chicken little....a bit hoarse with the cheeps today because of crying
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My SIL's dad is dying right now
by RaraAvis inand it is so sad, and so hard.
this is the one thing about losing my religion that has been the hardest for me.
it was so wonderful believing a person goes to sleep, a hope of waking up to a wonderful new world.
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chicken little
So sorry, I know what you are feeling. I sat with my friend while he died last week and today is the funeral. I felt peace watching him leave. I have no anwsers and that is ok with me. I know it was a privilage to be there with him and his loved ones when he died. I want to be joyful after the funeral today in celebration of a life that was filled with meaning.
Love to your family
Chicken little
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Goodbye to my dear new friend
by chicken little ini only knew you a little while, yet you touched my life and enriched it so much.. you were one of the outcasts if i viewed you from my past beliefs.. yet you shone as a true loving person.. you are gone to soon, way before your time.. i shall miss not having had the time to get to know you better.. rest from your sufferings, who knows what the future holds.... from the greatest joy comes the greatest suffering.. my love goes out to you.. .
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chicken little
My friend was gay and married for over 12 years. I knew of him through a friend who had been a witness, yet I kept my distance. When I left the witnesses two years ago I met this couple. A more loving, caring person you would seach long to find. His humour and positive life attitude was so infectious. His sudden sickness was a shock for all, his death such a blow. He died because of mistakes at the hospital, it was so unnecessary.
I am so sad I did not know him longer, my past prevented that...I will never again allow this to happen. Now I can be of support to his partner, he is a christian and a nurse, his love and compassion for people is endless.
I am crying for myself and my friend today.
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Goodbye to my dear new friend
by chicken little ini only knew you a little while, yet you touched my life and enriched it so much.. you were one of the outcasts if i viewed you from my past beliefs.. yet you shone as a true loving person.. you are gone to soon, way before your time.. i shall miss not having had the time to get to know you better.. rest from your sufferings, who knows what the future holds.... from the greatest joy comes the greatest suffering.. my love goes out to you.. .
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chicken little
I only knew you a little while, yet you touched my life and enriched it so much.
You were one of the outcasts if I viewed you from my past beliefs.
Yet you shone as a true loving person.
You are gone to soon, way before your time.
I shall miss not having had the time to get to know you better.
Rest from your sufferings, who knows what the future holds...
From the greatest joy comes the greatest suffering.
My love goes out to you.
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45
Very confused-help please
by hatchetsup injust found this board late last night and can't stop reading, it's fascinating.. let me give you a quick background of myself.
i was born a jw, never baptized, was labeled bad association when i was 12 due to having all worldy friends and smoking, lol.
i was very confused how being that young i could be labelled as that but i was.
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chicken little
Hej Hatchetsup,
Welcome to the board. Sorry about your grandmother, it is hard to say goodbye...at least you got that chance.
To come back to your asking for help. I want to tell you about my brother. He is 48 and been a biker since he was 16, covered in tattoos, loves heavy rock and has lots of lovely girlfriends (2 kids as well). He is a lovely guy, heart of gold and would do anything for anyone.
We were brought up as Jws but my parents left the "truth" when he was 12, I stayed in for various reasons (fear, group acceptance, low self worth, hatred of my parents....many other reasons).
When my brother left her had his wild life and the topic of the witnesses we sidestepped to remain good friends. When I left after over 30 years of being a witness he was shocked to his core. He never believed I would stop, I was so IN... Well the conversations we had from that point on were very revealing. He still suffered from nightmares of armaggedon from the pictures in the old books. This is after 36 years!
My view now is that we were young and impressionable, we were taught that it truly was going to happen. We keep it deep inside of us the same as all the other lasting deep impressions in life are there. In times of stress or extreme difficulties many of the old insecurities pop up. The mind reverts quickly to the deepest memory and up it comes....I was in therapy for a while to understand just how it works. It means we subconsciously go back to those old "truths" to find meaning in our life crisis now. I went through this with recalling child abuse some years ago...the memories just pushed their way up even though I had blocked them.
So dont be too suprised by what is happening. Just do not make the mistake of believing what your memory is telling you. If you want to investigate the witnesses you can do it without a bible study with them, this board will help you. You may feel your life choices have been wrong, but there again they were your choices...at least you had that chance. Those staying with the witnesses give up all life choices and go into remote control.
Life is wonderful if you keep in mind that there are always the unknown things that can alter it from one day to the next.
After 45 years as a witness I can say I truly started living 2 years ago when I stopped and put it all behind me.
I wish you all the best in your quest.
Chicken little
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Forget all of the stages: Denial, Anger, Sadness - Don't you sometimes just feel STUPID for having believed in the Organization?
by BonaFide ini know i have been through all those stages, i denied it, then i got angry, definitely sad.
months and months of this, and i still am in for my family and friends.. but sometimes i just feel stupid.
why did i ignore basic common sense for so long?
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chicken little
My therapist told me that as a 2 year old I was ran over by a truck. That was his comparison for my parents accepting the Jw beliefs when I was so little. He said there was no way I could have reacted any differently, you believe your parents..full stop. I stayed a witness when they left..why? Because I felt like I belonged to a group that gave me an identity. My self worth was very low, coming from an abusive family, being a witness filled a need at the time. As the years past my doubts became more and more difficult to ignore. When I left I wanted to embrace strangers on the street and ask for forgiveness for judging them. I feel shame to think of how I thought about certain groups of people, now some of those groups are my dear friends. They have never once said a bad word about my past and what I was before. Amazing really. I think stupid is not the correct word...uninformed in general...a little better maybe?
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Another excellent news article about Hughes lawsuit in National Post
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1637102.
did bethany have a choice?the father of a jehovah's witness who lost her life after refusing a blood transfusion is fighting back.
juliet guichon and ian mitchell, national post .
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chicken little
Excellent reporting. Thank you for posting it.