Posts by philo

5

Poem

by philo in

jw
friends

you've learned the law.

and turn to your heart.

and the mind of christ.

philo

Just when you have it
You've learned the law
And turn to your heart
And the mind of Christ
Something changes and so must you

The progressive organisation
The ambitious body administers
Its latest nuance for assimilation
For your praise
For your agreement and assent

Command upon command
Command upon command

Now the man is put on hold
Maintain the machine
Another Christ stands
Demands your attention
Through pages of convolutions

Always new, good news
To keep in step with
Reports from better places
More honest hearted natives
With fresh smiling innocence

Measuring line upon measuring line
Measuring line upon measuring line

Where else are you to go?
Here is the pasture and the rain
Here the fence and shut gate
And the warm exhalations
Of fermenting ruminants

New grass, fresh green stems
Growing while you eat
New green truth to rip and chew
Before it turns to straw
Spoilt for green, green choice

Look here! It says, and look there!
So you look and you wonder a little
But the grazing herd lows approval
Trying to think a little
But it's, Look here! Look there!

Here a little, here a little
There a little, there a little

philo (no really)

15

There's Another Lady In My Life.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

here's her picture!.

this summer i will spend a lot of my free time aboard her, even my local pub carries her name, the waverley.

now tell me, is sailing on a fine old paddler like this better than sunday afternoons at the watchtower study?.

philo

E!
Sounds like you've got it all figured matey. Round the Island is it, or further horizons? Enjoy yourself.

philo (a little green)

1

Shunning: What is "Spiritual" ?

by philo in

jw
friends

generally speaking, a jw is not allowed to talk to a disfellowshipped person.

however i sent two e-mails to my x's mother and she replied with some trivia the other day.

there was, however, one non-trivial point she made.. "you know the rules.

philo

Generally speaking, a JW is not allowed to talk to a disfellowshipped person. However I sent two E-mails to my X's mother and she replied with some trivia the other day. There was, however, one non-trivial point she made.

"You know the rules. Because you are disfellowshipped, I cannot talk to you about spiritual things."

She assumed that I would understand exactly what this meant. But I didn't. So what does it mean? Btw, she is not supposed to communicate with me AT ALL, so it seems she is "pick n' mixing" her WT rules already.

Had I written something against the WTBTS to my X's mum? No, not directly. But I think what she finds challenging about me is that I have become, if anything, a more spiritual person than when I was a JW.

Here are a few commonplace expressions, which could be termed 'spiritual'.

Are you happy/sad?
I hope you are well.
How is [a loved one]?
What are your plans?
Did you enjoy…?
What do you think about…?
I hate [xyz].
I am reading/writing…
I dreamt that…
I remember…
Do you remember?
[xyz] is true/false.
What do you think?
I believe/don't believe.
I feel...
Why?
I am dying.
My garden looks crap/not crap.
What about artificial intelligence
Is there life on Mars?

Obviously it must be the JW who decides how to define 'spiritual'. After all, only they have The Truth. So does 'spiritual' mean anything, which in the mind of the witness hearer, can represent a threat to WT belief? If so, different witnesses will draw the danger-line in different places. One witness may find my Email curious another, threatening. Ascribing something 'spiritual', then, is only really a social cutting-off device. And it works on the most fundamental level because the things that are most important to a person can usually be termed spiritual. In fact that is a pretty good definition of the word spiritual: something important to a person.

If this is true, it highlights the depth of JW shunning. Within families where one person is disfellowshipped, anyone CAN ignore or discount their views by saying (or thinking) they were "talking spiritual". So WT shunning must in itself weaken relationships. That is not only the effect but also the intention. Sick.

philo

14

We are Jehovahs Witnesses.........

by JW72 in

jw
friends

i used to like some of the 'kingdom melodies'.

personal favorites were.. 'move ahead, move ahead to maturity...'.

'little gifts from god our children are'-shame they don't get any.. 'life without end at last'-everlasting life with them could wait!!!!.

philo

::Then there were the complicated ones, that only the Old fogies knew how to sing(badly,still)
::There was always one(usually old) who sang WAY louder than anyone else!!

JW72,
That's how I remeber it too. But you forgot about the mad foreign sister who sang in her own language!

Here's a repost of mine from H2O. I love dissing the Kingdom Songs - I just hate them so much.

Though I am no longer a JW or feel any loyalty to the Watchtower, many of you, both within and without the organisation, will identify with my nostalgia as I mention the lost joys of the Kingdom songs.

We were no heavenly choir. In our reserved English congregation, it was considered acceptable to turn the pages and breathe in time. That is with the laudable exception of the older ones. With almost perfect pitch, and a rough but natural unison, these wide-legged old timers, propped like assembly loudspeakers, filled the air - the humid air - of our low-ceiling kingdom hall, with praise. Their siren-tremolos inspired us all.

If most of our performances were indifferent, at least the songs themselves were special. We learned that they were pure and untainted by any of the supposedly great musical influences of this world. They were presented to us, on their release, not as the products of artistic genius, but as the sincere efforts of devoted brothers. Most of us, especially those with musical ability, unanimously agreed with this.

After the release of the Kingdom Melodies (orchestrations of those songs) surprisingly few brothers actually listened to the recordings in their cars, at work, or at cosy Christian socials, as had been envisioned by The Society. They were intended to create a Kingdom atmosphere, on demand and with push-button convenience, an harmonious spiritual background that would counter the insidious influences of the world. Dosing from your personal collection of Kingdom Melodies, we were informed, could treat our secret sins, if we had any. Masturbation stands prominently in my memory in this regard. This method of quenching the towering inferno that is the adolescent sex-drive, must certainly have originated with Jehovah in some indefinable way. But I wonder what sort of well-meaning brother on the writing committee actually devised that musical fix-it.

philo

24

Rainy Days & Monday Mornings

by Outaservice in

jw
friends

most normal people i know, and am around look forward to the weekend and nice weather.

even though i have not been a publisher for many years now, i still assoicate week-ends with taking the group out in service and baby sitting a lot of the kids from the hall.

what a pleasure monday mornings were when i could go back to work!.

philo

JW72,

At a fuggy bible study group
An aged rambling one
Warming to his subject
Of sex in Christendom
Rocks one who does her pre-study
Whom no one seems to hear
To sleep with old neuroses
Petals falling from her hair

A personal recollection which you might identify with. Ha.

philo

3

Sex In The Sect - Vicky J.

by unclebruce in

jw
friends

at all costs vicki's mother wanted to hold onto the myth of a man with sober habits with one wife and obedient children.

..... it seemed pointless to direct her attention to what was going on under her very nose.

dad hid copious quantities of cheap wine in containers scattered throughout garden sheds, under car seats, in long grass behind the out door dunny or anywhere that presented itself.

philo

Nice bit of writing. Thanks for the recommendation UB.

16

Commentaries perrleez.

by philo in

jw
friends

below is a paragraph from march 1st, 2001 watchtower.

as has been well said by homer simpson, "it works on so many levels.

" comments anybody?.

philo

A pair of dipped bifocals
Mark the starting of the song
A two-stroke engine labours
Coughing notes upon the throng
The wooden rhymes grind onward
There's a 'must' in every verse
And the faithful raise their voices high
For better or for worse

16

Commentaries perrleez.

by philo in

jw
friends

below is a paragraph from march 1st, 2001 watchtower.

as has been well said by homer simpson, "it works on so many levels.

" comments anybody?.

philo

WT Study conductor closing the meeting:

Excellent comments everyone, very build-up-ting. Thanks young Bro. Philo for reading there. He is very… young isn't he? <Lost in a Reverie> Such privileges to one so - young. A fine young dewdrop on the fresh-cut grass, as it were.

hrr, hrr. Anyway, I will just mention in passing, that we discourage brothers reading the Watchtower with one hand in the pocket. But it's OK really, I only noticed on paragraph 18 as you read about the strong sword, leviathan, and the gliding serpent. No…I know…it could happen to anyone. It's good to really lose yourself in the Watchtower sometimes.

But time is pressing. And we should wind up this meeting. My concluding comment?

How wonderful it is, brothers, that there are special places, refuges, interior rooms, set aside for the spiritually inexperienced. They can really learn how to be obedient under the loving care of the elders. Yes tucked right underneath, <Descriptive Gesture>, where it's warm and safe.

Shall we stand now, and sing song number 244: "Let's render one another!"

Thank you

56

Urban Legends!

by ISP in

jw
friends

its amazing the extent these circulate in the wt world.

i am not so sure, but it develops a powerful folklore amongst jws....often with a moral at the end!

typically these circulate as experiences given in talks and are then adopted by the masses as truth.. for example, anyone hear the ul about the married couple where the wife had to have a routine blood check.

philo

ISP

"BTW Philo what part of the world are you from? I also recall a DO called Carter who reminded me of 'Uncle Fester' of the Adams Family!"

I'm from the Sarf uv Ingland, mate.
And, yes, Uncle Fester IS the fellow. Hell of a show he put on at assemblies. I also noted an exaggerated sense of humility; during the breaks he would walk the corridors and empty the bins in the auditorium. DO brought low - another great show. God I'm so cynical.

philo

10

Freudian householder

by anglise in

jw
friends

ok hands up.

who really enjoyed playing the part of the irate or definately unbelieving householder on the school or demo items?.

i know i really did and its only recently struck me that maybe for years deep down these where my true feelings shouting to get out.. shame i didnt listen to them sooner.

philo

I was a householder once, being asked what his job was. It was "showing a personal interest" sort of item. The demo was an ad lib. And so I looked my friend in the eye and said, "I'm a cherry picker".

Well that was about the end of the item. He couldn't continue, and if he had done the cong were giggling too much. I have to say, in all modesty, that was my finest hour as a JW.

philo