mothers day can bring up many issues for some of us.
for some their mothers have passed away and the opportunity to say i love you in person is forever lost.
for others our mothers are lost to the borg.
My mom passed on Feb. 3 of this year. It's my first year without her. I miss her very much already. Though she was a JW utnil the end, she never shunned me, ever. I'm so glad that I got to spend the last few months with her.
Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for the memories.
ok, i'm one.
to those who do not know the term, it is a reference [from people from other us states], to discribe auto drivers from massachusetts.. dc.
I'm not from there, but I'm surrounded by them every winter/spring. In fact, I live about a mile from where the new RedSox Spring Training stadium is being built. It's name will be "Jet Blue Stadium." So, from November through March, I'll be surrounded by "wicked-stupid" Mass-holes.
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a bit of nostalgia .... please add your fave songs of the 50s.. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ile6eheeng4.
recently saw the movie soul surfer with my family.
nice film for all ages.
inspirational.. but it got me thinking about the question in the topic header.
I think there are many films and books that show, as Hollywood terms it, "the triumph of the human spirit." I guess it's a more humanist approach, but movies can show how a person's own goodness comes out and has some great effect. One example was "Rebound:The Legend of Earl "the goat" Manigault" starring Don Cheadle. The story was about a basketball player from Harlem that was such a great player that he could have been mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Michael Jordan. He squandered it all through addiction. Eventually, he got clean and started a charity that existed until his death that encouraged young men in Harlem to play basketball and to stay out of trouble. Nowhere was religion mentioned. It was truly heartbreaking and inspirational at the same time.
when i was growing up most of the jws around me were poor and lower middle class.
some were middle class, but very few were upper middle class.
only (maybe) about 1% were college educated.
I think much of it has to do with the circumstances of the person when they were approached. My wife, for instance, was in her late 20s. She had recently moved to Tulsa w/ her fist husband. She knew no one, had no family in the area, and was expecting her first child. When the dubs came knocking, she was lonly and ripe for recruitment. I think more educated people come in because of circumstances like this. Look at when they recruited Prince. He and his wife were going through the grieving process of having lost a child. He was succeptible in an emotional way. That's the method of most proseletyzing faiths - find those that are emotionally vulnerable, offer them a better idea that addresses theri particular situation, love-bomb, then dunk 'em.
i registered to vote today.
it all came from my political science class i am taking in college.
the more i heard the more i wanted to vote.
I'm a proud voter. I have no declared party affiliation, so that means here in Florida, I'm SOL when it comes to primaries. I try and participate in all elections, though national elections seem a bit like mental masturbation - it feels good right after you do it, but then comes a feeling of senslessness and shame....
Anyhow, welcome to having a voice! You might really enjoy getting involved in serving your local community on mayoral boards, city council, etc.
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a bit of nostalgia .... please add your fave songs of the 50s.. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ile6eheeng4.
so many of us are free, so many of us are not.. share whatever "mother's day" activity you will be involved in this year.
moms and those with non or ex-jw moms, whazzup?.
tell us how that makes you feel, your involvement or lack of involvement in mother's day..
Even when I was "In," the banning of Mothers Day celebrations baffled me. The whole BS about it being a celebration of the earth goddess is such BS. Mother's Day was introduced after the civil war by moms who'd sent their boys off to fight and die in a war. I never could see the "wrongness" of showing appreciation to your parents. Sure, you should do it all the time, but what's the harm in setting aside a day to make sure they know they are special? I always did something for Mom for mother's day - even when it had to be on the DL when I was still a dub.
I miss you Mom.
Mom and the four of us kids (I'm the tubby bare chested one on the right)
| From Mom |
Mom as a working professional (her best years)
| From Mom |
Mom about 2 months before she died.
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| From Mom |
do you tend to blame your problems on the fact that you were a jehovah's witness?.
No, I refuse to let my experience as a JW define who I am. It is certainly one if many components that make up my life, but it doesn't have to be front and center. I think most things that people might give credit or blame to the JWs - when it comes to me - would have been a part of me whether I'd been a JW or not.
I posted some comments on there. Looks like the JWs are spending more time giving attagirls on youtube than preaching. Someone should tell their BOE.
