i think it's a given that most of us who have left, have had dreams about still being jw's or doing jw related things, even years after we left.
i had one of those last night.
it involved getting a hotel for the next district convention and then it skipped ahead to when i was attending.
ps. How do we know if our dreams are visions??!
Reminds me of that comment (was it quoted in a Watchtower publication?) by a priest who reckoned Revelation was just the nightmares of a mad old man - so why was he still a priest?!
Maybe next time I have a dream, I should write it down as a Bible book and make some money - though my conscience halts me, ulike some people we know
i think it's a given that most of us who have left, have had dreams about still being jw's or doing jw related things, even years after we left.
i had one of those last night.
it involved getting a hotel for the next district convention and then it skipped ahead to when i was attending.
Religion creeps me out full-stop
Weird thing is, I had dreams as a kid, then when I got deep in 'the Truth' as an adult, being a pioneer/appointed man with all the stress, I stopped having dreams. Eventually, I started having the occasional dream, which probably was a nightmare, a reflection of the frustration.
When the bubble burst, it took a while, but slowly my self-esteem, etc., are coming back, regaining confidence, becoming more positive about life, and having a rich variety of dreams - still the dreams about 'the Truth', which often are weird, but when I think about them, seem to reflect my concerns - but I also have other dreams, about most things, including work and women.
i wanted to get this down in type before the thought is lost.. this afternoon, i gave two hours of my time to help a local charity raise money by packing groceries in a supermarket.
the charity provide support to families who have a child affected by a disability that, well, let's just say it's close to my heart.
as i drove the twenty minute journey to the supermarket in question, i struggled with some feelings which i understand are part of something called dissociative disorder, sometimes experienced as part of post traumatic stress disorder.
I've always felt a good, deep sense of fulfilment from any kind of volunteering I've done to help people, but the ministry never gave me that, except the odd rare occasion I might show someone a scripture point they didn't already know.
I liked the idea that we were helping people, showing them a way of life that would free them from the oppressive church or the vices of drugs, etc., but we never really seemed to do it - no one was that enthusiastic about it, and instead it was just lots of internal politics - brothers liking the 'privileges' that pioneering had helped them to achieve. It was hopelessly disorganised, and we seemed to ruin each others efforts.
Helping people to have something to eat, or cope with illness, or rather, get their life on track, that feels good, but pestering someone to take a magazine they probably won't read, or join a religion that is giving me stress, well that never was easy, especially when the bubble burst.
@MrFreeze, trying to explain that to an employer or on a CV is a nightmare. I always have found it difficult to explain to 'worldly' people what I did with all that time over so many years, why I have so little materially - I spent 20 hours a week knocking doors - that's almost as much as people work. Most people will think that is crazy.
i was giving look look oh no oh no budha belly some cat biscuits this morning and noticed the claim on the box.... chicken and rabbit flavour!.
who tastes these to declare ''by god, we got it!
this does taste like rabbit!".
The Governing Body eat them every Wednesday morning during their meetings - it explains a lot about the decisions they make!
with all of the announcements made in our kh this year, we have announced 4 da' s and only 2 that got baptised.
the 2 baptised were born into the jw family.
we also lost 4 elders, and 1 ms.. what was the count for your kh for 2011?.
@Quarterback, sounds like a typical congregation - it's not good for the future.
How about over the last few years, which brothers tell me have been exciting, that as well as a number of disfellowshippings/reproofs, the loss of 7 elders and 4 servants (including 2 MTS graduates), as well as loss of half the pioneers.
Congregation is shrinking each year, despite pressure from the COs who seem to be blind as to the real problems (stop elders arguing with each other, sometimes on the platform, and get them to help the flock?!)
No baptisms, other than those within of which some kids haven't got baptised, and only one disfellowshipped person returned. Many publishers are discouraged and inactive in the congregation! Amazing! Hey! This is such a spiritual paradise?! Look at the Holy Spirit at work?!!
i think it's a given that most of us who have left, have had dreams about still being jw's or doing jw related things, even years after we left.
i had one of those last night.
it involved getting a hotel for the next district convention and then it skipped ahead to when i was attending.
@ThinkAboutIt - sounds like the Spanish inquisition
@yellow = sleeping with Satan, well, he's got to be one hot guy, living in hell!
for those of you who have had the co/do stay with you for the week:.
how was the experience?.
how did they spend their free time?
He was pleasant.
i think it's a given that most of us who have left, have had dreams about still being jw's or doing jw related things, even years after we left.
i had one of those last night.
it involved getting a hotel for the next district convention and then it skipped ahead to when i was attending.
Oh, as a kid, I would often struggle to sleep because I was worried that the government would come and take me away from my parents, or that we would all die in a natural disaster - I am sure that it was the experiences in the Watchtower - I'm not saying kids must be shielded, especially when older, as they need to learn to live in the world, but the constant doom and gloom is not healthy for a child. Perhaps it would have been good if the government had taken me away from my parents, as I would have grown up away from the clutches of the Watchtower!
i think it's a given that most of us who have left, have had dreams about still being jw's or doing jw related things, even years after we left.
i had one of those last night.
it involved getting a hotel for the next district convention and then it skipped ahead to when i was attending.
I had this weird dream last night that the elders and my family were torturing me sadistically - held me down and attacked me with a knife for having missed meetings, then tried to kill me - it seemed very medieval and I had this storng feeling of being forced to do something against my will - I think it expresses how JW life comes across to me; being control and made to do things I think are wrong, but not doing such results in family trying to force me.
maybe this has been previously been discussed.
in my area in the us.
it seems that jw men that are felons or have served time seem to have more value.
The amazing lie transformation, like Saul > Paul - the power of the Bible, changes people - this is what they like. Similar with ex-army guys.
