Posts by Tech49

Pacific NW where I am, just received notice that ALL meetings, assemblies, and Field Service, including memorial campaign work, is cancelled until further notice. They will work to determine the logistics of the Memorial on April 7th, as we get closer.

5

Taking Control

by Tech49 in

to recap: pimo/fading, continually in the process of dis-engaging.. as part of an ever-blossoming departure from the ways in which i grew up and spent a lot of my adult life, i had a moment recently where i took some of my own control back..... let me explain.. one defining moment i had about 8 years ago was when i shredded my "blood card", or dpa.

i had decided that those beliefs were not the ones i supported.

it was a little scary, taking that little step, that really only i knew about.. fast forward: recently, as i grow older and need the standard tests that come with age, i had the opportunity to reclaim even more of my independence from previously-held doctrine and beliefs.

Tech49

You go James! Perspectives sure change as we get older, right!? Keep on your own path. Follow your heart. Strip off the old personality.....

5

Taking Control

by Tech49 in

to recap: pimo/fading, continually in the process of dis-engaging.. as part of an ever-blossoming departure from the ways in which i grew up and spent a lot of my adult life, i had a moment recently where i took some of my own control back..... let me explain.. one defining moment i had about 8 years ago was when i shredded my "blood card", or dpa.

i had decided that those beliefs were not the ones i supported.

it was a little scary, taking that little step, that really only i knew about.. fast forward: recently, as i grow older and need the standard tests that come with age, i had the opportunity to reclaim even more of my independence from previously-held doctrine and beliefs.

Tech49

To recap: PIMO/fading, continually in the process of dis-engaging.

As part of an ever-blossoming departure from the ways in which I grew up and spent a lot of my adult life, I had a moment recently where I took some of my own control back..... Let me explain.

One defining moment I had about 8 years ago was when I shredded my "blood card", or DPA. I had decided that those beliefs were not the ones I supported. It was a little scary, taking that little step, that really only I knew about.

Fast forward: Recently, as I grow older and need the standard tests that come with age, I had the opportunity to reclaim even more of my independence from previously-held doctrine and beliefs. I was in the hospital for a very minor procedure. I hadn't given it a bit of thought, until I was in the hospital bed, all hooked up and ready to be wheeled into the OR. After the doc had come in and reviewed with me the "scope" (see what I did there?...) of the work to be done and the extremely minor risks involved, the nurse handed me the standard consent forms, and asked me to sign them. She also needed verbal confirmation of my signature and consent. Then, there it was: That one line sentence and a box to initial:

I agree to accept blood or blood products if the doctor deems them necessary.

Holy Hell. My brain went on fire for a brief second. Then I stopped. Here I am, an over-50 male, extremely healthy, great job that I love, building a great retirement portfolio, wonderful wife and family, living a good life and enjoying it! If something goes wrong while I am out, and the doc deems it necessary to save my life with whatever he can and with whatever he has at hand... do I really want to say "no, full-stop, sorry. The 8 guys in NY said that it would make the big J very sad.... so you need to let me bleed out and die."

It was in that exact fleeting millisecond that I made a choice. One that no other person would truly understand at that exact moment. I chose to live. If something goes haywire..... save me. I don't care what anyone else thinks or says.... I will live.

And there it was. MY choice. MY body. MY life. I took control, and it felt wonderful.

So anyways, the procedure went perfectly fine, no issues of any kind. But in that moment, I knew I had reached a new level of taking control of my own future. I LIVED.

The lesson, the take-away? YOU control YOU. Dont let anyone take that power from YOU. Sometimes it's small steps, but just do YOU.

Jack Harper, Tech49

70

'Experiences(tm)'! Made up or totally true??

by punkofnice in

at one assembly(tm), i was asked to relate an 'experience(tm)' which i did.

however, during rehearsals, the geezer in charge elder or co or some such title, told me that i shouldn't tell it the way it was.

i did a 're-enactment(tm)' with another 'brother(tm)'.

Tech49

I agree with everyone else. I saw this firsthand as well. It wasn't my experience, but I had a part on the assembly one time, so sat in on the entire rehearsal program with the CO. When it came time for "experiences", he did just what the others have described... he "altered" them to fit his agenda. It was my first time that I had seen this actually being done. It was blatant, and embarrassing. It was an outright fabrication and a lie. By the time he was done, the experiences were mere fiction. Even the guys and gals giving the parts were embarrassed, but they went along with the "glorious one" and his "instructions". It was definitely a defining moment for me at the time.

35

Not training speakers/teachers any more?

by eyeslice2 in

jw
friends

not having attended any meetings since about 2001, for reasons of safety (sounds a bit dramatic but i don't like my wife being out on her own late at night where we live now), i have started accompanying her to the mid-week meeting.. when i was young, the ministry school and service meeting were central to training brothers to take the lead.

you were assigned instruction talks, then if you cut it, you moved pretty rapidly to public talks - a full 55 mins at the time.

i was just 18 years old when i gave my first public talk and this was a first step to moving rapidly through the ranks.

Tech49

About 13 years ago, I spent around 5 years as a Ministry School Overseer. I loved it! I took it very seriously, and spent a lot of time making sure to match the right people together for demos, and to assign talks and subject matter to the most appropriate speakers, and to really "teach" using the BE Book (school guidebook). I wanted people to be better public speakers, and to learn to reason, no matter what the subject was. I never had a formal teaching degree, but it was rewarding to see the efforts of my "students" really make a difference in the way they read and were able to carry on conversations with an intelligent level of reasoning.

All that is gone now. There is no Ministry School any more. Currently, it consists of: 1. only a cursory reading of a set of scriptures (Bible Reading). No opening or closing comments. Just get up and read, get down. Any brother of any age, even those with years and years of experience with public speaking. The other "parts", or "talks" are scripted "presentations", or "return visits", or "bible studies", all limited to 4-5 minutes. Most of the time, those parts are just watching a video presentation of how to do it "right". About once every 5-6 weeks, there is a 5 minute slot assigned to a brother to give a "talk", on some random subject, using only WT information of course. Literally, some of the initial call parts are no more than offering a business card, pointing to JW.borg.

The other day, my wife says "hey, you were assigned a TALK". I said "actually, no. I was assigned to read 13 scriptures from the bible". Any child can do that. No thank you.

There is no more "school". The sheep are no longer taught to reason in any way, shape, or form. Public speaking training is non-existent. There is no latitude for freedom of expression in any of the parts.

I remember when I was assigned to give a "talk", that consisted of taking the lead in a field ministry style initial call, with some other brother as my "householder". Seriously? What's the point? I'm over 50 years old, I'm not taking the time to do an initial call/presentation with some dude I cant stand. And I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do a "bible reading", when you can have any 8-year old do the same thing. I don't consider that a "privilege".

The Ministry School has become so dumbed down that it is pointless. Even when a meatier subject comes up, it usually gets assigned to someone completely incapable. (example: I was almost disgusted when an actual "talk" assignment, with the subject matter of PORNOGRAPHY (of course), was assigned to a pasty pale 15 year old in our congregation..... jeez come on already!)

17

Have you heard of a Jehovah's Witness on federal SSDI disability Pioneering ? How common is this ?

by BottleGate_ in

asking 4 a friend.

Tech49

It’s very common. I know several firsthand. In fact, I have a family member, a young lady, who is having a hard time finding the “perfect” job to fit her “pioneering” schedule. So she isn’t working at all, not because she can’t find anything....no, she has been offered jobs, but refuses them if they conflict with her schedule at all. So she is a broke-ass pioneer, sponging off her friends. She’s basically lazy. Some of her “pioneer” buddies (and some of these people are in their 60’s) encouraged her to file for state benefits (welfare) to “support” her pioneering. Because you know, Jehoober will provide!

Absolutely disgusting. In my humble opinion...

17

Disability Discontinued for Lifting Religious Pamphlets!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

disability discontinued for lifting suitcase of pamphlets!.

https://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20191202/news08/912331976/disability-discontinued-for-man-caught-lifting-religious-pamphlets .

petra!

Tech49

When I was an elder, one of my best friends was the PO, he was on full disability and was a regular pioneer. One time I went over to his house, he was in his garage where he had a full on gym set up, working out with the garage door closed. It was the middle of summer, and I asked him why he didn’t open the door and get some fresh air and let the sun in while working out. His response was “in case someone sees me working out, I might get my benefits denied....”

No joke. 6 months later his wife, who worked at a hospital in clerical position, got a paper cut, (seriously not making this up), claimed infection and nerve damage, and eventually got on disability also. They were thrilled! Subsequently rented out their house and moved to Mexico to “serve”, thus keeping a US address to keep their benefits intact.

I specifically told him that was BS and was lying, and he just shrugged his shoulders and said “oh well, we gotta live within Satans system!”

Needless to say, we haven’t spoken since. The hypocrisy was too much even for my PIMI self at the time.

30

3-File Requests: Destroy Notes BOE--Publications For Discard--Where Are The Nine!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

2019-08-28 destroy notes.. https://docdro.id/ojsdss2.

2012--2018 publications approved for discard.

https://docdro.id/llottt0.

Tech49

At one time, I served as the congregation Secretary. Many congregations keep detailed notes on judicial meetings in a sealed envelope in their safe/files. I remember being told to hand over all of our notes when serving on a JC, so that they could be put into an envelope for future reference if needed. Many of these envelopes are years, and decades old. Some can provide some pretty interesting reading (or so I've been told )…... As noted in the letter above, GET RID OF IT ALL! And those pesky letters of introduction that can come around to bite you in the ass.... get rid of those too!