I dare you to Let the Jehovahs Witnesses In! « Politics « Politics « Jonathan Spencer's Tales of Ordinary Wisdom

I dare you to Let the Jehovahs Witnesses In!

Published on July 12, 2005 at Politics

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What are you afraid of, why don’t you have the time, why do you not have ears to hear?

Who is it that most of us always turn away, and the door is always closed in their face, with a curt no thank you…The Jehovah’s Witness, what is it we are afraid of, what exactly is it we don’t have time for or are frightened of hearing.

About 10 years ago I decided that I would turn this around and when ever A JH knocked on the door I would invite them in. Often I have been pleasantly surprised by what they had to say and their sense of community.

The first JH I got to know who now is not so involved, but back then i used to have theological debates with, told me I made life too complicated and this is a statement i have come back to time and time again.

I am not a jehovahs witness, but I do believe in God and I follow a modern spiritual path… The Quaker Way

but there have been times since i started asking them in when they have surprised me. Once when i had moved house and everything was going wrong and builders had let me down, some JHs turned up with a builder to see how i was. Another time two derelict cars that had been left infront of a house I was living in by the previous owner were bought by the local JHs for some of their young people to do up and drive.

These people have great courage to knock on so many doors and be turned away so many times. What they preach is not what i believe and very often when they start quoting scripture at me I use the words of George Fox which I hold dear.

” You will say, ‘Christ saith this, and the apostles say this;’ but what canst thou say?”

I know it is important to speak from your own spiritual journey, find your own inner teaching, and stay open to new sources of spiritual knowledge from whatever source they may come.

So next question what are we afraid of? Is it that in this material world where there is a spiritual vacuum, that we are frightened of being converted to something that we know is not right for us, are we afraid as if this rather strict form of the christian religion was some kind of magic that might takes us over?

And what of the time factor, “sorry I haven’t the time”, we make time to turn on the TV and listen to the politicians lie to us…George W Bush did not win the US elections, he stole it, The Iraq war was not justified on WMDs, You never had it so good etc etc.

So what is it that really makes us turn not only from this strange but powerful religious group, but progessively from religion and spirituality as a whole. I have time for all spirituality and beleive it is possible to learn from all of them. What about you, just because you listen doesn’t make you one of them, but as an English teacher said to me once: “listen, and you might learn something”

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Jonathan has experience in both the nonprofit and business sectors, working in a consultative capacity and as a project manager with PCTs, charities, the arts, trade unions, businesses and individuals in the areas of Information, motivation, direction and communications development. He has helped organisations as diverse as carers charities and magazine publishers to develop strategy, policy and process to make a more efficient infrastructure. One where staff share in the gains of the organisation and the end user, whether client, patient or customer, receives the highest quality service possible. As well as being an expert in applied information technology and communication he is a qualified and experienced counsellor and motivator.