{"id":1275,"date":"2006-08-02T16:01:05","date_gmt":"2006-08-02T20:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/2006\/08\/02\/ex-jehovahs-witness-raven\/"},"modified":"2006-08-02T16:24:56","modified_gmt":"2006-08-02T20:24:56","slug":"ex-jehovahs-witness-raven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/2006\/08\/ex-jehovahs-witness-raven\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Jehovah’s Witness Raven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just posted this for my friend and fellow ex-JW Richard<\/a>. He is blind, so I post his blog entries for him. He has written a number of books that I found helpful, and he has devoted himself to a life in love’s service. He’s a mystic and has all sorts of interesting opinions on a wide range of topics. I really enjoy helping him out in the little ways that I can.<\/p>\n

When I saw this little nugget, I had to post it here as well. For those of you who got short-changed in American Literature class, it’s a version of Edgar Allen Poe’s most well-known poem, “The Raven<\/a>.” The Raven has become a Jehovahs’ Witness at the door of a former member. I can relate.<\/p>\n

On upon a morning, dreary,
\nas I pondered weak and weary
\nover many a quaint and curious volume
\nof forgotten doctrine and Watchtower law.<\/p>\n

all was quiet, no one talking,
\nand suddenly there came a knocking,
\nas if a giant clock tick-tocking,
\nknocking on my own front door,
\nonly this, and nothing more.<\/p>\n

Ah, distinctly I remember,
\nthat Saturday in mid-September,
\nWhen I was visited by a member
\nof that group I was part of no more,
\nonly this, and nothing more.<\/p>\n

“They’ve found me,” I said in quiet terror
\nWhy are they here, is it an error?
\nSurely they don’t want to have me
\nin their busy group once more!
\nonly this and nothing more<\/p>\n

I heard the knock, but I resisted,
\nand that annoyng knock persisted,
\nthe Witness on my porch insisted,
\nthat I answer my front door,
\nonly this and nothing more.<\/p>\n

Alas, the door I opened wide,
\nand saw him standing there outside
\nin a suit with necktie nicely tied
\n“Hello, Sir”, he said, smiling wide
\nand I hoped that he’d say nothing more.<\/p>\n

“I’m here”, he said, “to fill a need,
\nWith magazines and books to read,
\nto show you how you can survive
\nthe coming Armageddon war”
\nhe set his book bag on the floor.<\/p>\n

“It’s obvious the world ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t working
\nthe devil, he is surely smirking,
\nover all the evil he’s inspired,
\nbut God has a remedy in store.”
\nI sighed, I’d heard it all before.<\/p>\n

“by a book and have a study
\nlearn from me, I’ll be your buddy
\nand in time perhaps you’ll join us,
\nsaving souls from door to door.”
\nboring already, and still more.<\/p>\n

“The time is short for God to act,
\nit’s coming soon, and that’s a fact.
\nso sell your home and quit your job,
\nand leave your friends. We’ll find you more”
\nHe smiled, but said nothing more.<\/p>\n

I listened and I stood politely,
\nbut inside felt anger burning brightly.
\ndid he not know his message had
\nruined many lives before?
\nWith promises, and nothing more.<\/p>\n

As I watched the man I wondered,
\nshould I tell how often Brooklyn’s blundered,
\nDoes he know his message that “Time is short”
\nhas been preached for a hundred years or more?
\nthe dates have changed, but nothing more.<\/p>\n

Should I tell him of the rules that changed,
\nof doctrines gone or rearranged
\nby men who claim to speak for God
\nin those magazines, now at my door?
\nselling promises, and nothing more.<\/p>\n

Does he know the heavy price he’ll pay,
\nif he ever thinks in his own way?
\nor breaks any of so many rules,
\nand each year they just add more.<\/p>\n

Should I tell of my own family, taken,
\ntheir affections now forsaken,
\n’cause long ago I did awaken
\nto the lies that I’d believed before,
\nand had preached gladly, door to door.<\/p>\n

Should I tell him of my father, dying,
\nold and feeble, but still trying
\nto make it to the paradise
\nthat was always just “a few years more”?<\/p>\n

In truth I knew not what to say,
\nso I asked the man, “Please go away”
\ndon’t bother me with your books
\nI know I’ve read them all before.
\nthe door closed and I said nothing more.<\/p>\n

Should I have told him that the truth I’ve found
\nis not in books so brightly bound
\nand not from a place or learned man,
\nand the world is not in Satan’s hand?<\/p>\n

Perhaps I should have warned him so
\nbut this day was so long ago,
\nI said nothing as he left my door
\nand I saw this Witness, nevermore.<\/p>\n

“Terry Allan Poe” (Terry Johnson)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just posted this for my friend and fellow ex-JW Richard. He is blind, so I post his blog entries for him. He has written a number of books that I found helpful, and he has devoted himself to a life in love’s service. He’s a mystic and has all sorts of interesting opinions on a wide range of topics. I really enjoy helping him out in the little ways that I can. When I saw this little nugget, I had…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9,8],"tags":[2669,2670,6170,6160,291,89,2671],"class_list":["post-1275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jehovahs-witnesses","category-odd-and-interesting","category-religion","tag-edgar-allan-poe","tag-ex-jw","tag-humor","tag-jehovahs-witnesses","tag-jws","tag-poetry","tag-terry-johnson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}