Posted by YaYa [YaYa] on October 25, 1999 at 16:55:55 {DjTI9F5X/YsSqKAT2C6kwpYq2W9XoY}:
In Reply to: 1975,NOT local,yes real!! posted by Liberty on October 25, 1999 at 11:26:36:
Liberty,
My Father was a very devout JW. In 1967 he moved our whole family "to serve where the need was great". The planning for this started in 1965, a bit before the 1975 fervor really started to hit. He remained a bit sceptical about putting too much stock in 1975, which was easy to do in a congregation that often consisted of just our family and some 'interested persons'. He did make such comments as, "This will be the last car we ever buy before Armageddon." And after we busted the frame of that vehicle in the course of spreading the good news over rutted and rocky back-roads he said it again when we bought the next one. The next one after that it was more like "I hope this is the last one..."
We often had visitors to our home by brothers from areas of actual civilization (not surprising in the summertime, as we were nestled between the Rocky Mountains on one side and the Carribou Range on the other) and it became a standard practice for us kids to sit on the staircase overlooking the main room and quietly listen to the adults in conversation.
I can recall my father trying to argue for restraint on the 1975 issue using the Bible, "no man knows the day or hour", and I watched as his arguements got shot to hell with numerous quotes and chronological charts from WT publications. At one point I recall one particularly red-faced and animated visitor exclaiming "Do you think the Society is just wasting ink when they write these things?" My father acquiesced.
My father still maintains that he would serve Jehovah even if there was no end in view. In this, I believe him.
YaYa, who would like to better understand his Dad, is realizing that time may cut short his chances, and already has a bag marked lost hopes.