"The wiser a person becomes, the more aware he becomes of how little he knows; the more stupid a person is, the more certain he is about his knowledge. You can judge the stupidity by the certainty. The stupid are very fanatical because they have arrived at ultimate conclusions. And not only have they arrived for themselves, they have arrived for everybody! They want to impose their conclusions on the whole world.
Socrates in his last days said, 'I only know one thing, that I know nothing.' And that was the day he became the greatest wise man the west has yet known."
as i think back on my life now i have come to personally experience a verse from a song: "i'd rather be sorry for something i've done that for something that i didn't do.
" i guess that's just a variation of the old addage: 'its better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all'.
fear is a natural (and good) thing but i wonder how much unwarranted fear has robbed us of things that we would have truly enjoyed.
Thanks for the poem a lot of truth in that. It sound very similar to the writings of 'Osho' one of the greatest Indian mystics of all time.(he died 10 years ago)
ive been reading thesr posts for a while, thinking on them, pondering as the wt has recommended over the years.. having grown up as a witness, and having been involved in both the boring and the more exciting parts of the ministry, i know what it is like to be part of a team, and more importantly , i know what its like to be a team player on gods side.
and then one day, things start to unravel, the marriage, the relationship with bethel, the relationship with members in the congregations, and then, on another later day, suddenly you find yourself on the outside.. so, as time passes, a person begins to miss the association, the meetings, the laughter of the ministry groups, even the smell of the kingdom halls.....and effort is made to restore self to favour....and in time that too....comes to pass.. but here i am, a few years later, once more isolated, but this time by my own choice, beset by doubts and concerns over something that i held and hold sacred.. my circumstances have changed.
i chose the path of marriage again, to a wonderful person that has filled my life with contentment without the pressures of having to be an elder or an example to others in the christian manner, for those that are or have been in positions of oversight, you will know what this means...and yes my wife is one raised as a witness, and having her own journey that she may or may not choose to share with you...in any case, i feel priveleged to know her just for the decent human she is.. so, here i am, watching, reading, thinking....and i admit to being a little lost.. firstly, 607, it may or may not be correct, frankly my dears.... the ever changing date of armaggeddon...well that would appear to be a previousness on the part of the leading lights...after a while it gets tedious and a little self defeating.... the meetings and requirements for field service...well as i see it, the bible indicates it is a requirement to meet together, and furthermore a requirement to tell others about jehovah....the application of the principles have become (almost law,) in order to belong to the organisation known as jehovahs witnesses...that is a minor problem, despite the best efforts from co's and do's from the platform, the unoffical stance is that if you aint cutting it.. you aint spiritual.. now,where im at in this stream of time, along with all the confusion about what is right and what is wrong, i have to just look for other confirmations that jehovahs time is at hand...if indeed it is near at all.. man is now developing life in vacuums, primitive cellular structures it may be, but the leaps of testing criteria has been enhanced by the use of computers to cut time.... man has the ability (proven) to destroy earth.. man is killing the earth.. now if i was the creator, and he once before destroyed civilisation when they built the tower of babel, i would be thinking that soon they would know stuff they shouldnt know, and in any case, the earthdewellers are so dumb they will destroy themselves..id better start big a... my concern is,, that in the bigger picture..does it really matter if we get it so wrong, so many times and so quickly?
You story is very touching. I missed the emotional element of being a Witness for a long time after I left. Emotions take time to catch up with our conscious minds, perhaps you didn't give it long enough.
You say you have not found the answers and the bible is the only guide we have. There are other Holy books such as the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita. Your search for truth will not be complete until you have considered the spiritul writings of other cultures. You do not have to believe every thing you read but you will find the spiritual nature of such writings will help to bring you peace of mind and a fuller understanding of your reason for being on earth.
I hope that in your journey through life you find peace within yourself for it is the hallmark of truth
I understand where you are coming from because I too spent some years in a state of limbo. I can quite understand why you would want to keep a foot in both camps. There are many benefits to being a JW. My younger brother is an elder and seems happy to remain so. We are good friends and stay with each other for weekends. We avoid disscusing our differences and I have no desire to influence him. It is his life.
My only question to you is - Who are you trying to kid? All those precious Sundays sacrificed in the name of service to God. If you don't really accept that it is God's organization then according to the WT you will die at Armageddon anyway.
Life is too short to waste like that. In time you will have to make a choise.
the following discussion is based upon a question raised by larc, under another thread posted earlier.
it was interpreted that i could not answer the question.
the question was then, followed up by circare to the effect that i should comment upon it for the benefit of others who may be listening.. i have decided to respond.. these are the actual quotes, asked of me.. ...one minor point.
I have just read your reply to Frenchy. I was blown away by your arrogance. You have no doubt read my postings in defence of the God of love but have wrongly concluded that I too am a Godless heathen.
You are very fond of quoting chunks of the bible and using it as a weapon to defend your own ego. Do you ever read the scriptures that say 'Judge not others that you may not be judged yourself' or 'Beware he who thinks he is standing' or 'do not stumble your brother.'
I could go on but as you have explained, you are only interested publishing carefully selected passages that support your own agenda.
after reading the posts in parenting re: spanking and the wol thread, it made me ask: is there anything we can do as an individual or group to stop the abuses of the wtbs?.
i know i personally take any watchtower or awake articles i see placed in places (laudromats, hospitals, etc.
Despite being witness my parents treated me very badly. Many in the congregation had an idea of this, from the way my father (an elder) would regularly drag me out to the cloakroom for a thrashing which could be heard by all.
The point I wanted to make was that many of these brothers were wonderful people who encouraged and helped me to to survive. They became my family and on some occasions even confronted my father over his behaviour. I have some very moving memories of the love and kindness these brothers and sisters showed to me. I never had any quarrel with the members in the various congregations I was in and loved them until the day I left.
My sole reason for leaving was that I realized it was not the truth and could not live a lie.
well guys sorry i haven't participated much lately, i've been really busy.
but, i do have a question that i would really appreciate all of your input on.. it is no secret that young people are leaving jws faster and faster.
it is no secret that most jws are disappointed, and hurt by lack of prophecy fulfillment.. so here's what i was thinking: i'm going to post some very personal thoughts on what *i* think they need to do in order to stop the loss of almost 50,000 disfellowshipped and probably 4x that to inactivity.
In all your postings you just seem to quote Biblical passages. We have already read that book. Do you have anything original to add? Perhaps you were you a parrot in a previous life and cant't shake of the habit of copying other peoples thoughts.
well guys sorry i haven't participated much lately, i've been really busy.
but, i do have a question that i would really appreciate all of your input on.. it is no secret that young people are leaving jws faster and faster.
it is no secret that most jws are disappointed, and hurt by lack of prophecy fulfillment.. so here's what i was thinking: i'm going to post some very personal thoughts on what *i* think they need to do in order to stop the loss of almost 50,000 disfellowshipped and probably 4x that to inactivity.
The Watchtower Society has back-tracked on so many things. Firstly a partial lifting of the blood ban in Bulgaria, then saying that members can use some blood extracts or fractions.
At the end of last year they stated that voting is now a matter of conscience. They are trying to make matters, which were law in their regime into matters of conscience. This sitting on the wall may work for them but they should heed the warning given another character who thought the King had a special interest in him.
The Watchtower Society sat on a wall: The Watchtower Society had a great fall. All the King's horses and all the King's men Couldn't put them in place again.
