almost two months into the change in format of the mid week meeting from the school and service meeting format to the christian life and ministry (clam) format.
in my congregation, seems attendance is down 10-15% over the normally low attendance for the mid week meeting before the change.
some indicate that the meeting under the clam format is very "intense"...you really need to study and research to be able to participate or get anything out of the meetings.
It's just so much more boring than even the "school" was! How did they manage that? Attendance is down and participation is low.
I think people just can't stand any of it any more. But I don't think it's "intense", it's like it's designed for the brain dead, super boring and sad.
i just started reading this book.
wife and i were at the local library a few weeks ago and she pulled it out of a shelf, almost by chance it was this book about mormons.
she did not read it much but said that it looks like a good read.
l was wondering if others get the feeling that the world we live in seems not quite right.l can not pin point anything specific but since childhood days l often get the feeling something isn;t correct.you know the feeling of deja vu.
am l the only one to feel this way?ld love to hear from others and any storys they may have.having been raised in the jdubs maybe lm just suffering mild bouts of paranoia .
l was wondering if others get the feeling that the world we live in seems not quite right.l can not pin point anything specific but since childhood days l often get the feeling something isn;t correct.you know the feeling of deja vu.
am l the only one to feel this way?ld love to hear from others and any storys they may have.having been raised in the jdubs maybe lm just suffering mild bouts of paranoia .
JWs learn early to catastrophize every event to fit into their worldview (the end is coming tomorrow!!!). It's hard to get out of the habit when you were raised that way.
A study of history shows that there have always been troubles, wars, famines, and people looking for signs of a "new world". Looking at the big picture puts it into perspective.
from the time i was a small boy - i loved rock n' roll music.
beatles, rolling stones, led zeppelin, hendrix.
i started getting slighted for the music i listened to as i lay in my bedroom listening on headphones to led zeppelin's song " black dog " at age 14 with my elder dad looking suspiciously at me as i'm rocking out .
I knew a lot of teens who had to throw out their music. A few had me hide it for them until their parents got over the "scare" of worldly music. hahahahaha
My Dad wasn't a witness so I was automatically "bad association" to the adults. I didn't matter, and was not watched much. I could also do what I wanted because my Mom was just too lazy to check. ***clueless***
Now you can have everything on your phone or ipad (or where ever, no tapes or vinyl to hide) and the older generation has no idea. The teenagers now must be loving it.
tonight my dl was posted by hand by my husband (a worldly guy).
i had the luxury of being at work distracted whilst he posted it.
i have been baptised for just over 2 years and studied since 2010. i couldn't take it anymore, not just the zealous dislike/disgust for 'people in the world' (this includes my husband and 99% of my family btw) but the obvious.... the investigations into child sexual abuse.
Awesome, 13th. I congratulate you on not spending decades in the bOrg trying to make it work.
The website is just dreadful, but so many in the cult just...... don't know any better. I can't watch it at all.
Introvert, yes, if we had wet ink signatures on paper they'd be suing us all, wouldn't they? That might just be the next NuLight.
some areas of our home are very nice, tidy, clean.
and other rooms are just junk and clutter and clothes and papers.... omg.
and now that we are getting older, we realize that we face a time of transition -- and this is hard to cope with too, as we believed the lie that we would never get old, etc.
"truth is the most beautiful thing" is a quote from andrea camilleri, author of the montalbano novels among many other writings.. what do you think about that statement ?.
is there anything more beautiful ?
or do other things top it, or come further down the list of beautiful things ?.
there was a recent thread on the "quality" of converts to jws in recent years.
it wasn't a pretty picture, based on the thread contents.. well, the lack of depth isn't restricted to new converts.. in our clam this week, one of the principal points for review was this:.
ne 1:1; 2:1—why can we conclude that “the 20thyear” mentioned at nehemiah 1:1 and 2:1 is countedfrom the same starting point?
There was a brother in our old congregation years ago who would give the most atrocious talks, frequently criticizing the "world" because he could never keep a job. On and on he'd ruminate on one particular failed interview (with a woman no less!) until you wanted to just get up and walk out. But by just listening to him misuse words and garbling his ideas, we all could tell why he couldn't get along in the "real world". He could be really hostile too, you just steered clear of him whenever possible. But the congregation was short of brothers so they kept him.
His wife finally quit going, saying she had an anxiety disorder. You can imagine the real reason. I'd see her around town though, she wasn't truly home bound.
Fast forward to a different congregation, but I'm seeing a lot of the same thing. Some of the brothers can barely read, much less really give a real talk (hence all the scripting).
dear friends:.
i imagine by now we old timers have adjusted to the fact that we are getting older and, one day, will make our exit.
are your "senior moments" ever a cause for worry to you?
