Peace to all of you dear ones and to your dear households!
So, Armand, I, FreeFromMen (I think), and her hubs (Armand's Bro/my BIL) (peace to you, all!) went and it wasn't bad, per se. The speaker made a few errors but, I mean, same 'ol, same 'ol "talk." However, I kept my eyes on the speaker almost entirely and when we all took the bread and wine he kept his eyes on us (shaking his head once during the wine part). Afterward, I asked FFM if she wanted to go with me to speak with him as during the discourse my dear Lord encouraged me to do so (and, during the talk, he gave me the specific verses to share, which I wrote on the only paper I had, the Memorial invitation dear Armand had given me in the car as we were driving to the event - it had come to the house the day before).
Of course, I was feeling a bit nervous because it has been some time since I've spoken with a Memorial speaker, but our dear Lord said I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to do. I asked him if he wanted me to share with this man and he said he did but "I want you to do what YOU want to do." Well, of course, I wanted to speak with the man - his discourse raised questions that could be easily address/challenged; however, I didn't want any drama or someone rudely trying to get out of a conversation, etc. Ya'll know what I mean. So, I asked my dear Lord to please "soften" the man's heart a bit and at least let him be patient and civil enough to get through it in a calm way for both of us - LOLOLOL! And so dear FFM and I went up to the podium.
We had to wait a few minutes while the speaker ended his conversation with another but in really short time I was able to speak with him. I introduced myself and dear FFM, shook his hand, and told him that he'd given a very good presentation and his voice sounded like Denzel Washington's (it did and he said he's been told that before but tries to understate it). I reiterated that he did sound like Denzel and then asked him if I could ask him a question. He said I could and so I asked him why it was that everyone didn't eat the bread and drink the wine. We were briefly interrupted (see * below) but after that I asked him if he would read John 6:48-58. He did, although he tried to rush through it, saying "Umm-hmm..." and looking up at me after having read, I KNOW, no further than verse 48. I didn't let him stop, though, but encouraged him to continue and I could tell he'd never read it like he did at that very time. I could literally see the cognitive dissonance in his eyes.
When he was done, I asked him "Didn't everyone who left Egypt eat the manna and drink from the rock mass, both the Israelites AND the vast mixed crowd?" He hesitated and then said, "No, only the Israelites ate the manna." I said, "ONLY the Israelites at the manna? No, the crowd ate the manna, too. In fact, it was the crowd that first got tired of and complained about the manna which led the Israelites to start complaining, too. It's in Numbers 12..." (but, mercifully, my dear Lord let me be cut off by the speaker insisting, feebly, that it was only the Israelites, because it isn't in Numbers 12 but in Numbers 11).
Once again, I could see the cognitive dissonance in his eyes, literally see him THINKING that what he'd said was NOT right, that HE knew that both the Israelites and crowd HAD eaten the manna and I could see that he'd wished he hadn't said that only the Israelites did. I realized (though I'm not sure he knew I did) that HE realized that the only reason he'd said that was because of the whole "only the 144,000 partake," BS conditioning. I could literally see him processing that, wait, both the Israelites AND the crowd ate and drank and if that was the case, then why WASN'T everyone eating and drinking the bread and wine? And I saw it when something went "click" for him... but that he couldn't say that, not then and there which, of course, I knew. But what happened next not only surprised but almost caused me to shout: he asked me if I... "had a number".
Yep, dear ones, he asked for my phone number. AND when I turned to FFM to ask her for her pen, he said, "I have a pen!" and handed me his own.
And so, I took the invitation that dear Armand had given me with the verses our dear Lord had given me... and wrote my number on it. As I was doing so, he said, "And write your name," which I did.
He then asked me, "What church do you go to?" Ya'll know what I told him: "I don't go to any church; I AM the church, part of the church, a member of the Body of Christ, and a living stone in the temple of God." I then said, "You want to know 'where' I go. There is no 'where,' no religion to go to, brother - there is ONLY a 'whom.'" At that time, a lady a bit older than me came up and wanted to introduce herself to me and she was SO startling pretty after telling her my name I said, "I HAVE to hug you!" and she and I hugged and then we moved away so that she could speak with the speaker. Then we left.
[*Between the time I asked the speaker about why everyone doesn't eat/drink, another JW, a man known by dear Armand, FFM and her hubs, interrupted and said the Samuel Hurd had just given a talk on that issue and it was recorded and I could check it out. I asked him if it was on the JW website and he said it was. He tried to hijack the discussion but somehow my dear Lord gave me the words to, in a non-rude, kind, but firm way, get him to move on. Once the speaker and I had finished our conversation, though, he came back and reminded me of the Hurd video and so I said to him, "I'll make you a deal - you read 1 John 2:26, 27 and I will review Mr. Hurd's video." And I will, but not for a minute because I KNOW it's gonna make me want to write to the WTBTS and that's really a total waste of time. But it might give me "food" for when speaking with JWs, so I will get to it and soon.]
And so, we will see if the man has the courage to call. I have had JWs cold call me and, after listening to them and then asking my questions, say they're going to call back but so far none have. Perhaps this man will be different because, again, I was directed to speak with him. I hope he's not one "calling" for "truth" only to run away when the Truth reveals himself and truth to him. It happens.
May the undeserved kindness and mercy of our dear God and Father and love and mercy of His dear, dear Son, our dear, DEAR Lord, JaH'eShua, be upon you ALL and upon your dear households... to time indefinite!
Your servant, sister, and a slave of Christ,
Shel
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