Bonsai

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Posts by Bonsai

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  18

  The bitter reality of death

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  been a lot of death in my life recently.

  a close family member died yesterday.

  a close friend died 8 weeks ago - both from cancer.

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  Bonsai

  Thanks for your comments everyone. It was really tough with my mother-in-laws death because i was very limited in the things I could say to encourage my inactive wife. There were no promises i could make, no speech about being or going to a better place. All I could tell her was that her mom was in peace and finished her life with honor and dignity. All i could tell her was that her mother lives on in her mind and her heart and her memories now.

  It was even harder explaining to my four-year-old daughter that her beloved grammy was gone forever. Reality is painful, but i don't want my child to have false hope. The quicker she learns the realities of life, the quicker she can build up the kind of mental toughness that we born-ins could never build up. We always lived for some distant, vague promise. I want my family living for today and treating each day as rare and precious.
  
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  150

  Start A Butterfly Garden!

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  time to take a break from debating religion.

  take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?

  how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?

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  Bonsai

  Nice pics everyone! My garden is blooming to the brim with zinnias, orange cosmos, Verbena bonariensis　（Ｐｕｒｐｌｅ　Ｔｏｐ）and other Asian stuff that I don't know the English name of them. Swallowtail butterflies are dominating my garden and chasing all the other kinds of butterflies out.
  
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  77

  Rumor: Discouraging news from GB at upcoming CA?

  by bohm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is on the reddit frontpage and sounds super weird.

  can it be confirmed in any way by anyone here?.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/4u72dk/what_kind_of_announcement_could_cause_jws_to/.

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  Bonsai

  Maybe a GB member is about to be canned for being too open minded.
  
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  60

  Are they either leaving or going full on 'cult mode'? No quarter.

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it might just be me imagining things.. i hear things from my jw spies.. from all that's being said, it seems to me that the rank and file(tm), are either waking up to the scam and fading/leaving.

  they are going full on 'cult mode' and acting like 'spiritual police'.. is it just me and my imagination?

  have others noticed this?.

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  Bonsai

  The religion has been dumbing down its doctrines and teachings and understanding of the bible over the last 10 years. This dumbing down policy is alienating the intelligent rank and file and making it hard for them to stay. Hard to stay humble and loyal when you are constantly being treated like a 10-year old.

  Only those who are desperate or dependent financially on the JW community are staying.
  
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  38

  What novels have you been reading recently? Recommend any?

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i've always been a bit of a reader - but only reading about topics i find interesting, e.g.

  natural history, dinosaurs, etc.. recently i've started to select, buy and read novels.. this year i've bought and read frankenstein (mary shelly), dracula (bram stoker), the hound of the baskervilles (a. conan doyle), 'salem's lot (stephen king), jurassic park (michael crichton) and the firm (john grisham).. i have an inclination towards horrors and thrillers.. what fiction have you been reading?.

  could you recommend anything?.

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  Bonsai

  Ditto JeffT.

  I'm a huge Stephen King fan. I like Ken Follett, Jeffrey Archer and Preston and Child's Agent Pendergast series as well. The latest fiction I really enjoyed was, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
  
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  8

  Disfellowshipping - What It's Supposed To Be

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  first of all, the wt tell this lie to the rank and file:.

  two factors—which must coincide—result in the disfellowshipping of one of jehovah’s witnesses.

  first, a baptized witness commits a serious sin.

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  Bonsai

  Very well written thread. Maybe I'll use that material if they ever get around to inviting me to a Judicial committee meeting.
  
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  18

  The bitter reality of death

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  been a lot of death in my life recently.

  a close family member died yesterday.

  a close friend died 8 weeks ago - both from cancer.

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  Bonsai

  It sucks because my mother-in-law could've extended her life a few weeks with a blood transfusion. She instead refused and suddenly died alone in the hospital. None of us could get there in time to say goodbye. My wife is devastated.
  
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  18

  The bitter reality of death

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  been a lot of death in my life recently.

  a close family member died yesterday.

  a close friend died 8 weeks ago - both from cancer.

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  3. 
• 

  Bonsai

  Been a lot of death in my life recently. A close family member ( a zealous JW) died yesterday. A close friend died 8 weeks ago - both from cancer. It was hard seeing them wilt away like a flower cut from its stem. They weakened, they suffered and they died in pain.

  In a time when they needed encouragement, in a moment where they needed to be comforted I couldn't think of anything to say. I had no hope to give out. I had no comforting words to explain why we must die in such an undignified way.

  My anger at a non-existing god and my rage toward the cult I was raised in has turned my heart to stone.
  

  Death never comes at a convenient time. Death never comes after you've fully prepared for it. It just rushes in like a tsunami and sweeps us all away wide-eyed and terrified.

  Death is all around us and hovering over those whom we love. Life is bitterly short and full of pain and then an abrupt end. When you find yourself going, when you find yourself dying, the world doesn't stop for you and there is nothing you can do - there is nothing anyone can do.

  Every day that you find yourself waking up healthy and sound is a day more precious than any metal. Life is bitterly short, so please value each day like it may be your last and never take even one minute of it for granted.
  
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  251

  God is Real in Principle

  by looter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now the majority of people nowadays do no go by the hope of old times.

  now the reason for this is important and goes beyond mere words.

  our culture sees ethics especially national or civil politics as the rules and standards by which we guide ourselves.

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  Bonsai

  Putting religion and morality in the same sentence is an epic fail. They go together like oil and water.
  
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  37

  Elders harassing me

  by raven in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi everyone, it has been a while since i've last updated!

  (refer to my previous posts for the full story) here is a quick re-cap: 2 months ago my mother found out that i am living with my boyfriend, she told me i was discovered by an "anonymous" tipper who turned me in for "living in sin".. first of all, that is nearly impossible, the congregation i was in is 100's of miles away from where i currently live.. no one would have ever known i was living with my boyfriend unless i told them, which i never did, i cut off all communication with that congregation in part of my attempted fade which was blown into pieces and discovered.. anyways, my mom tells me if i don't go to the elders and confess like a good little sheep, then she is obligated to tell them.. ( don't see why, i don't even live under her roof ) well i never went to them because why should i?

  so they met with my mother and she told them i live with my boyfriend... let me remind you, this was two months ago.. i was told i was going to be df'd and that was that.

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  Bonsai

  Who the hell has the money to let a lawyer shark do the bidding for them? People say go get a lawyer like it's as easy as buying a cola at the five and dime. For those of you who have actually gone this route, how much did it actually cost you? Was the cost worth it?