TerryWalstrom

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Posts by TerryWalstrom

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  9

  EXISTENTIAL topic: Why is Paradise or Heaven the solution to anything?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. social
  2. current

  gather around the campfire, boys and girls.. i have a little journey for us all to take together.. long, long ago in this universe not so far away .

  .we were told a story.______________once in timeless nothingness, there existed a timeless being we now call god.whatever "perfection" is or was--god was.

  god was perfect.. but wait--that's not all!and here is where the story begins!.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I have to confess I've never believed in heaven beyond mere acknowledgment that it "exists" as a conceptual term.
  The idea of Paradise seems ok--but--unless I have identity as a separate thinking entity with my own thoughts and tastes, I may end up having to "conform." Gee, I never liked that.
  
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  20

  My Issue With the Kingdom Melodies

  by humblepotato in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the organization really has some talented people in it.

  seriously talented.

  artists, musicians, animators, and any other creative venue you can think of.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Persons without knowledge, experience, acumen or creativity are in charge of Artists who are all of the above.)
  
  While I was serving time in Federal prison in the late 60's, the 40 brothers inside decided to stage our own assembly. I was the Music servant. (We didn't have Elders back then.)
  The theme of the assembly mimicked the free world assemblies being held outside.
  Long story short;
  I composed (what I think and everyone else thought was) a very good song titled: Following the Fine Shepherd as the End Draws Near.
  We rehearsed it (the bros who had instruments) and the consensus it was a winner :)
  Excerpt:
  "Jehovah God above, we owe you all our love; you are our shepherd and we follow you.

  Though Satan demands, that we must compromise; we'd sooner face death than be wrong in your eyes.

  Now and forevermore, we fear not Satan's roar;
  You are our shepherd and we follow you. . ."
  ____
  However . . .

  Just to make sure we were not "running ahead" of the Society, our version of an Elder, Tollie Padget, had the traveling Overseer (Circuit Servant) who visited the prison once a month, preview and decide the matter of each presentation on our "assembly" program.

  Guess what?

  Brother Bourgeois disapproved only MY song.
  Why?

  About a month previous, his step-daughter (whom I had dated on the outside) wanted to be added to my Visitor's list, but Brother Bourgeois had told her she could not visit because the incarcerated brothers could be a bad influence.
  I wrote him a personal letter filled with scriptures and made the error of quoting Proverbs 18:3 "Anyone replying to a matter before it is heard, it is a foolishness for him and a humiliation."
  
  He had his pride aroused and he sent me a rejoinder letter that pretty much excoriated me for attacking one of Jehovah's anointed. Yeah, he was anointed!
  ________
  
  To appear neutral and Theocratic the anointed brother excluded my song because "He had prayed on the matter and Jehovah's spirit had 'told' him it wasn't reverent and respectful."
  
  So. . .

  that's how things can go.
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  62

  How do you deal with depression?

  by BlackWolf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm currently going through a bout of depression and my eating disorder has gotten worse.

  ever since my parents actually told me that they are going to kick me out when i turn 18 i've felt kind of hopeless about my life.

  my parents won't take me to the doctor because the psychiatrists won't have my "best interests" aka jw crap in mind, because really that's the root of all my problems.. i'm wondering if any of you guys have any advice with dealing with depression?

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  TerryWalstrom

  This is just me talking; a personal experience. Hearsay.

  I fought depression for many, many years and did not know what it was or why it was. This was due to the fact I would never acknowledge it was depression. I was just "moody."

  But, I wanted to take a run at a wall with my head. That's exactly what I fantasized doing.
  Anyway. . .

  It finally grew to such serious proportion I wondered where it would all end? (Or where I would end.)
  
  One day, I was listening to the radio and there was a discussion (I think it was on NPR) about St.John's Wort. I decided I would try it because it was over-the-counter and I have a phobia (almost) about drugs (prescription) although I have taken antibiotics on rare occasions.
  
  Cut to the chase.
  
  I ended up trying 4 different brands and only one of those brands "worked" for me.
  My symptoms simply went away.
  If I couldn't get that particular brand, they symptoms would come back.
  
  I skeptically assumed I was experiencing a placebo effect. Yet--that one brand did work and the others didn't. So--I dunno.
  
  Here is the bottom line.
  This may sound a bit fuzzy.
  But--I learned where that feeling of "normal" was inside my head. I sort of staked it out and memorized it so I could find my way back.
  Then, I dropped the pills and did just that.
  
  It has been about 18 years. The depression has not returned (and that without pills.)
  I seem to always (well 97%) be in a jovial mood--even when I 1st wake up.
  
  Make of it what you will.
  It is just a testimonial and not evidence of any sort.
  I'd tell you the brand of St.John's Wort but I won't.
  Validate your own experiment.
  
  
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  18

  What were the Bible Students expecting in 1914, after all?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  skimming through old watch towers, i encountered this statements on the 1914 january 1st edition of the watch tower (vol.

  xxxv, p.5373), in the article "views from the watchtower":.

  "so far as our judgement goes, the year 1914 is the last of what the bible terms "gentile times" [...] the end of their "times" marks the date for the beginning of messias' kingdom, which the bible declares is to be ushered in with a great time of trouble, just such as we see impending.

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  TerryWalstrom

  According to Franz (same recording) Brother Russell clapped his hands and exclaimed: "The Genital Times have Ended. . ."

  Really? Genital?

  Fast Forward to 31 minutes and 35 seconds.

  Ha ha ha. He does admit they did not have the facts for a true interpretation of events. Also, he confessed they were short-sighted.
• 
  18

  What were the Bible Students expecting in 1914, after all?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  skimming through old watch towers, i encountered this statements on the 1914 january 1st edition of the watch tower (vol.

  xxxv, p.5373), in the article "views from the watchtower":.

  "so far as our judgement goes, the year 1914 is the last of what the bible terms "gentile times" [...] the end of their "times" marks the date for the beginning of messias' kingdom, which the bible declares is to be ushered in with a great time of trouble, just such as we see impending.

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  TerryWalstrom

  Listen to this recording and hear the oracle himself tell you exactly what the Bible student were expecting in 1914.
  
  FRED FRANZ
  
  Fast Forward to 10 minutes and 55 seconds in.

  ". . . the end of the world, the end of the system of things . . ."
  
  https://archive.org/details/DecisionMyLifeStoryByFredFranz
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  47

  The 1975 Generation---are they still around?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was raised as a jw and 1975 expectations were pretty intense.

  as i recall, most people did not leave after the failed expectations but many s l o w e d down.

  now, i think most of the 1975 witnesses are gone or barely in.. is the older generation still around in the kingdom halls or are they much gone?.

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  TerryWalstrom

  1975 wasn't a thing. It was THE ONLY THING.

  
  

  Have you ever stood and waited for a kettle to boil?

  That was what being a JW was like BEFORE the rumors began.

  What rumors?

  Didn't you hear--the Society says 1975 is the END of human existence.

  Wuh-what?

  ______

  
  

  Jehovah's Witnesses live inside their mind. There is no life outside their imagination. It is a bleak existence in the best of times.

  
  

  So, what does a Dub do to make life more interesting? They gossip and swap fictional stories purported to be actual life events.

  
  

  You've heard those stories about demons, right? Everybody had one to tell. Most of them were lying their asses off, too.

  
  

  So, when that perky little 1975 date popped up like nipples in an air-conditioned nightclub, there was a mating of kerosene and matches all round.

  
  

  Purpose loomed large in our lives!

  
  

  
  

  Imagine standing on that beach when the water rolled back out to sea leaving flopping fish and dry sand the day the world's most terrifying Tsunami made its way toward land--those 1720 feet waves don't look so big way-way out at sea at first--but Baby, they come on faster and faster!

  
  

  The Jehovah's Witness religion became an echo chamber of self-amplifying madness. The boys (old geezers) in Bethel looked out on the horizon and saw what their little earthquake had wrought--and what a surprise it must have been!

  
  

  They caught the fever. . . from themselves. . . fed back in a loop like side-stream smoke from a nasty cigar.

  
  

  It was like two old Fuddy Duddy seniors engaging in sex talk. At first, it's just a reflex. Gradually, something takes over. The heart beats faster and the skin reddens with an erotic flush of anticipations of something so desperately desirable!

  Little by little, there is touching and kissing and disgusting sounds too awful to mention--right up until the horny old fossils land in the big brass bed and tear off each others girdle and suspenders revealing . . . .

  Wrinkles and a flabby dick.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  That is what 1975 really was: wrinkles and a flabby dick.

  After all that hot and heavy, breathless sex talk--it was a dreadful silence of embarrassment.

  
  

  In fact, it was so dispiriting. . . nobody really wanted to discuss what had gone wrong. What is worse than a flabby dick and wrinkles?

  
  

  Teacher! Teacher! I know--I know!

  
  

  Being a JW in 1976 and ever afterward.

  
  

  THAT was worse.

  
  __________________
  
  
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  17

  A QUICK STORY for you

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  gallery memoriesit was 1982.. california summer.. the entrance of creative galleries.. the limousine arrived and she emerged.. there is a word i’ve been saving for the sort of story i’m about to tell you.

  she debouched from the limo.

  (she deserves a special word.).

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  TerryWalstrom

  GALLERY MEMORIES
  
  It was 1982.

  California summer.

  The entrance of Creative Galleries.

  The limousine arrived and she emerged.
  
  

  There is a word I’ve been saving for the sort of story I’m about to tell you.

  She debouched from the limo. (She deserves a special word.)

  
  

  Instantly I recognized her. Who wouldn’t? (Maybe you wouldn’t.)

  I’m older than you and I’ve lived a helluva life. I’ve seen things.

  
  

  Her real name was Norma Egstrom, the seventh of eight kids born to Norwegian and Swedish parents. I know you don’t care about that but you need to know.

  She had a rough childhood.

  Her mom died when Norma was four. Her dad was an alcoholic.

  He remarried and the new mom hated her guts. Such a bend in the road can make you stronger and more serious about the rest of your life if you’re Norma.

  
  

  Well, by now you’re wondering who Norma is. Or rather--who did she become?
  
  She was a slinky blonde. She was a singer, an actress, a songwriter, a poet and she would become famous. Fame is like that one perfect summer day that arrived and departed which you can never forget. Fame colors everything else.

  For Norma, fame was selling a million records again and again. Fame was receiving twelve Grammy nominations and winning twice. Fame was getting an Academy Award nomination, or finding a place in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.
  
  Fame is also the memoir of an amnesiac.
  
  

  When Norma died, the Academy left her out of their tribute at the Oscars. When I tell my story you’ll scratch your head and not remember her. That’s fame too.

  Oh but wait--I’m not going to let that happen. Today, you are going to hear about Norma in this itty bitty story and I’m going to link one of her songs which really cuts me up when I listen to it and the message it spells.
  
  You see, Norma was special and I insist you spare a moment to appreciate her. Norma became Peggy Lee.

  Peggy Lee was discovered by bandleader Benny Goodman. She traveled with his band and recorded her million selling hit, “Why Don’t You Do Right?” She sang in two movies and really looked swell up there on the big screen. Easy on the eyes.
  Peggy fell in love with the guitarist in the band. Benny fired him. Peggy quit. For love she walked out. Love meant something to a little girl from a cold, heartless family. She would make the most of it. She’d be a real mom and wife--not the other kind.

  
  

  "I fell in love with David Barbour," she recalled. "But 'Why Don't You Do Right' was such a giant hit that I kept getting offers and kept turning them down. And at that time it was a lot of money. But it really didn't matter to me at all. I was very happy. All I wanted was to have a family and cling to the children [daughter Nicki]. Well, they kept talking to me and finally David joined them and said 'You really have too much talent to stay at home and someday you might regret it.' She continued to record and had another million selling hit. "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)"

  ________
  
  The day Norma walked in the entrance to Creative Galleries I smiled and found myself saying out loud, “Peggy Lee, come inside and rest your weary frame of mind.” She actually smiled. We connected.

  By the time I met Peggy Lee, she was 62 and her health had betrayed her. She was heavy now and she dressed all in black from the top of her head to the souls of her shoes. I think she felt she was unrecognizable--and what must that feel like? Imagine being beautiful and famous and having all that dissolve like a lump of sugar in a hot cup of tea.
  But I had recognized her with a smile and a welcoming tune in my voice that was genuinely excited to see her and greet her.
  
  The next fifteen minutes were wonderful.
  
  

  I was all about ‘fanboy’ encyclopedic awareness. I knew the names, places, dates and particulars of her career in a respectful way. Not pushy. No gushing. Listen, I was a tall, good-looking 35 year old man paying Peggy Lee the kind of appreciation she deserved. Why wouldn’t she respond?
  Right?
  We covered it all, from cabbages to kings, in our cozy stroll through the gallery. I told her how much I loved the song she sang for the movie, “Johnny Guitar” and she nodded. “Nobody but you would ever remember that song” she laughed. Yeah, that’s probably true.
  We talked about the voice-over work she did for Disney in LADY and the TRAMP. She truly enjoyed singing the Siamese cat song, “I AM SIAMESE, if you please”. Walt Disney, she told me, had a crush on her and even did a promo for his animated film by showing the rehearsal and dubbing session with Peggy Lee. She scrunched her face into a girlish little smile and said, “I gave Walt a kiss on his cheek and he almost fainted.”
  
  

  It’s funny now--well, not ha-ha funny--but you know what I mean. Small moments in your life come and go in an instant of time and yet they linger, coloring your heart with a warm afterglow.
  Peggy Lee had to go. She had an appointment with her doctor and she had wanted to get her mind off what he might tell her. She had barely noticed the gallery after she had rummaged through the Antique Guild across the narrow street outside. She had told her driver to pull up so she could go inside.

  I was listening and nodding, not expecting what she said next.

  “I told my driver I wanted to go in because I saw you standing just inside laughing at something and I needed to be around laughter that very moment.”
  I confessed I was laughing at how long her limousine was--I’d never seen anything quite like it before.
  She turned and stared at it for a few seconds and turned back.
  “You see Honey, in this town nobody takes you serious if ya don’t take yourself serious.”

  She gave a little wave and off she went. The long, sleek limo purred away and I stood long watching it vanish.

  Peggy Lee lived another twenty years. She didn’t let go and never gave in to her diabetes and heart condition. She continued to perform in a wheelchair for the crowds who still paid to hear her sing.

  
  

  And now I get to the reason I told you my little story. I wanted you to know what sort of life Peggy Lee had lived and what sort of person she really was. Why? I want you to listen to this song and understand it comes from deep inside a person who has REALLY LIVED and knows what life is all about.

  Thanks for listening!

  
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFe4nak-oM

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  _____________________________
  
  
  
  
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  42

  DESTROYING the Governing Body’s claim of authority

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  destroying the governing body’s claim of authority.

  begin at the beginning.

  what source authority did early christians have?.

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  TerryWalstrom

  1919 seemingly 'updates' the Org concept.
  
  JW's try to assert an unsupportable premise that Jehovah always works through an Organization.
  What they don't stop to consider is how that premise reveals an embarrassing connection: Jehovah's organization in Israel was more often than not CORRUPT!

  The 'corrections' Jehovah sent were outsiders, gadflies, Gentile kings, and nominal foes.

  Apostates today could easily be seen to be Jehovah's way of "correcting" the corruption of today's version of his organization.
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  84

  I COLLECT QUOTES. . . Here are some of my favorites

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  please post your favorites too.

  my favorite quotations:.

  you cannot change what you refuse to confront.. sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.. don’t think of cost.

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  TerryWalstrom

  You guys are special. As in "special" olympics :)
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  8

  From the Spirit Realm: Weird Interview: Russell and Rutherford

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  russell: oh my yes!

  russell: oh my no!.

  russell: certainly.

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  TerryWalstrom

  In the last hour, the temperature outside Starbucks has dropped from 97F to 93F as clouds elongate and compress, slinky yet sketchily about the blue Stephen King-ish dome of our planet.
  I've been reading a Watchtower from 1900.

  This religion is so-o-o-o-o not the same religion it once was. No improvements at all, as a matter of fact.
  
  I'd love to have a conference in which Russell's followers, Rutherford's hardcore group, Knorr's (my) era, and subsequent JW's all convene and reveal what constitutes "Truth."
  Surely there would be fisticuffs and bruises to be enjoyed by all.