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Cloudy right now with possible thunderstorms later today, which will end my hiking trip. Oh well. Maybe next week.

The pilot episode of the TV show "Lie to Me" featured a storyline involving Jehovah's Witnesses. A student who is a Witness is accused of murdering his teacher. They get a few things wrong (notably that the boy's family was praying for her soul; we don't believe in the concept of an immortal soul).

I'll love to be one of the Mary's. Mary Magdalene after her release, gets to be around Jesus most of the time. How amazing Is that? How about you? You're yet to tell us which character you'll love play or replace.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYr8QQ9EZd2/?img_index=2 if its real i have my opinion that all i have to say

If you could be inserted into any of the current recorded Dramas, which one would you want to be in? You can replace a character or write yourself in.. Bonus question: has anyone been in a live action drama in past conventions. Either answer is acceptable. Really bored at work today

I heard rapper Biggie Smalls mother was a witness and has scenes of NWT and preaching. Movie itself is rated R so Ive never seen but coworkers mentioned. I personally dont think I would attach witness items with a rated R movie but I havent seen the movie.

I was a deejay as a teenager and did a lot of witness dance parties. I was pretty well known among witness youth in my city and surrounding areas for deejaying. I also did mixing and remixing just for my own amusement. One thing I enjoyed doing was experimenting with Kingdom Melodies on vinyl that I had from my parents. I'd mix them with a house music beat. I didn't play them in public and only shared them with 3 or 4 really close friends. Somehow word got out anyway and in short order, without mentioning my name, I was counseled on a circuit assembly program to stop. 😂 Anyway, using Suno, Al finally caught up to my brilliant teenage vision! You can guess what I've been doing. 😁 Especially now that the organization has given it's blessing to widening out in its music genre selection. Obviously the lyrics are copyrighted, and if it goes against the posting rules, mods please feel free to remove. I've also done one original composition called New World about the first week in Paradise. It's been fun! 😀 Hopefully I don't get counseled again at the assembly. 😂 At Last.mp3 Promise of Paradise.mp3 Move Groove.mp3 New World.mp3

Also, this is the last day with our CO, whose first name is the same as one of those missionaries. I was sorry to miss service today.and still overthought it, and even still would like to know what your fave re-read is.

Not trying to point fingers, it's just that 'a', the third word in the sentence, was an interesting word to start a sentence with so, in the spirit of the game, I just went with it - like now 'to' is the third word that now needs to start the new sentence.

Since I live in Florida, and Florida is a peninsula - we can see the sunrise come up over the ocean and the sunrise set over the ocean in the same day. This is a sing about the sun coming up over the water Sunrise

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to give time away now? Not spend it. Give it away. There is a difference. Spending time suggests intention. Choice. Awareness. You decided where it would go and why it mattered. But much of modern life does not ask us to spend time carefully anymore. It simply teaches us to surrender it a few minutes at a time. One more episode. One more scroll. One more video. One more click. And suddenly an entire evening is gone. Not because someone consciously decided: “I want to hand away three hours of my life tonight.” It happened quietly. Like someone floating in calm water, barely noticing that the gentle current and soft breeze are slowly carrying them farther from shore. Nothing dramatic happened. No violent wave. No storm. Just movement. Small movement. Constant movement. Unnoticed movement. And by the time they finally look up, they are nowhere near where they intended to be. That is why the counsel at Ephesians 5:15, 16 feels so serious. Paul wrote: “Keep strict watch that how you walk is not as unwise but as wise persons, making the best use of your time.” Notice — Paul connects time to wisdom. Because time is not merely something we possess. It is something we direct. Or fail to direct. And Satan’s world has become extraordinarily skilled at taking custody of human attention. Entire systems are now designed to keep people watching, scrolling, reacting, consuming, continuing. Even stopping points have disappeared. Years ago, a television program ended. A person got up. The moment broke naturally. Now entire seasons wait in a single row. Autoplay quietly asks: “Continue?” And before long, hours disappear into the glow. Not necessarily through wickedness. Through passivity. That is what makes the danger so subtle. Most people do not drift spiritually because they hate Jehovah. They drift because they slowly stop steering. The current does the rest. That may be why Colossians 3:2 feels so powerful today: “Keep your minds fixed on the things above, not on the things on the earth.” “Keep your minds fixed.” That requires effort. Correction. Intentional direction. A float in water naturally moves with the current. It takes no effort at all to drift. Remaining near shore requires awareness. Adjustment. Decision. And perhaps that is part of what spiritual maturity means now — not merely avoiding bad things, but remaining in control of where our attention, energy, and time are being carried. Because time is life in pieces. Once a day is gone, it does not return. And the frightening part is this: a person can feel busy all the time while accomplishing very little that truly refreshes the spirit. Endless entertainment can consume enormous amounts of time while giving almost nothing back except temporary stimulation. But spiritual things are different. A meaningful conversation in the ministry can strengthen the heart. Encouraging someone at the Kingdom Hall can quiet anxieties more deeply than hours of distraction ever could. Personal study can steady the mind in ways endless consumption never will. Why? Because humans were created with a spiritual need. Matthew 5:3 is not poetic exaggeration. It is reality. We cannot endlessly feed on distraction and expect to remain spiritually strong. And maybe that is why the account at Luke 10:41, 42 feels so close to modern life. Jesus told Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and disturbed about many things.” Many things. That feels familiar. Many notifications. Many demands. Many distractions. Many voices competing for attention. But Mary chose differently. Not because nothing else mattered… but because she recognized what mattered most at that moment. Perhaps one of the clearest signs of wisdom today is simply this: Refusing to allow the current to decide where our life goes. based on:https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=jwlshare&wtlocale=E&prefer=lang&docid=2026322&par=22

Remind yourself that our 9 millions are religious equivalent to their "catechists" (religious teachers), so our real number should be the 21 000 000 of the Memorial. Also, we are top 1 in teachers , the catholic clergy has less than 1 000 000 people (and I'm counting the nuns), with their lay-catechist, it's not even 5 millions.

The Blur — a Scriptural Consideration entry — One of the strangest things about distraction is that it often feels like rest. A person sits down exhausted. They open social media, streaming apps, short videos, news feeds — hoping to relax for a few minutes. And sometimes they do relax briefly. But afterward? The mind feels crowded. Foggy. Scattered. Like somebody walked through the living room of the brain throwing papers into the air. Not everything that entertains us refreshes us. Some things merely numb us for a little while. Jesus warned: “Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down.” (Luke 21:34) That expression is vivid. A weighed-down heart does not stop functioning completely. It just loses sharpness. Urgency dulls. Spiritual reaction time slows. And modern technology excels at producing that exact condition. Not always through wickedness either. Just endlessness. Infinite scrolling. Infinite recommendations. Infinite “next video.” Infinite updates. The system has quietly removed stopping points. Years ago, entertainment had natural endings. A television program ended. A newspaper was folded shut. A store closed. Even boredom existed. (People under thirty may need historical verification on that one.) Now the stream never stops. And if something never stops, eventually it begins shaping the rhythm of the mind itself. That may be why Hebrews 2:1 warns: “It is necessary for us to pay more than the usual attention to the things heard by us, so that we never drift away.” Notice — the danger there is not open rebellion. It is drift. A boat does not drift because it hates the shore. It drifts because it stops paying attention to the current. And this world is full of currents. One recommendation. One click. One lowered guardrail. One “this isn’t that bad.” That is often how erosion works spiritually. Nobody starts at the cliff edge. Satan understands gradual weakening extremely well. Slow weakening often succeeds where direct attack fails. Which is why “soundness of mind” is so valuable. (1 Peter 4:7) Soundness of mind means we stop asking only, “Is this wrong?” and start asking, “What is this doing to me?” Those are different questions. Something may not be openly wicked and still slowly flatten spiritual appetite. And once spiritual appetite weakens, prayer begins feeling distant. Study becomes harder to stay mentally inside of. Meetings feel heavier. The ministry starts feeling mechanical. Not because Jehovah moved away. Because distraction creates blur. And blur is dangerous spiritually. A driver traveling seventy miles an hour does not need complete blindness to crash. A moment of blurred vision is enough. That is why Paul prayed that Christians would have “accurate knowledge and full discernment” and would “make sure of the more important things.” (Philippians 1:9, 10) That expression feels especially important today. Because this system constantly trains people to treat everything as equally urgent. Every notification. Every outrage. Every trend. Every update. But spiritual discernment asks a calmer question: “What actually deserves space inside my mind?” The beautiful thing is that Jehovah does not merely warn us about distraction. He teaches us how to fight it. Clear priorities. Spiritual routine. Prayer. Sacred service. Good judgment. These things sharpen focus again. Almost like wiping condensation from glass. Suddenly the road ahead becomes visible again. And perhaps that is one of the quietest forms of spiritual warfare today — protecting the clarity of our own mind in a world that profits from keeping everybody mentally scattered. based on: https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=jwlshare&wtlocale=E&prefer=lang&docid=2026322&par=26

I would much rather be interested in the quality of the people rather than the quantity.

p.s Brothers Jones and King were mentioned, recently, in a morning worship piece about endurance.

We are not in membership competition with Satan's 'paramours' (I haven't used that word in years). It is just nice that someone noticed us. We are not just that little church at the edge of your town...😁

'Ambiguous' is not my intention, although I do tend to follow verbal games on here. Thanks to all who are putting up with my attempts.

Are there subjects in our literature that you find yourself reading again and again? I just looked up and did some re-reading about our brothers, Harold King and Stanley Jones, who were incarcerated and in solitary confinement for long periods of time. I pray for our brothers and sisters who are being severely persecuted presently, and find I am at a loss for prayer-words and understanding. These accounts help me to try to know how to pray for our friends in our day. Please share any pieces of our literature that are on your read-again list. Thanks, ys, pauline

"A" is ambiguous in a relative sort of sense ... depending on who your relatives are

Klingon is a language I haven't learned yet, but might like to; Bible vImuSHa'

Decades ago, I was much younger.

Monday, May 25 Each one will carry his own load.—Gal. 6:5. In some lands, parents or other adults may be expected to choose a mate for their single relatives. In other lands, family or friends find a potential mate for a single person and then arrange for the man and the woman to meet to see whether they are compatible. If you are asked to arrange a courtship or a marriage, consider the preferences and needs of both parties. Once you identify a prospective mate, find out as much as you can about the individual’s personality, qualities and, above all, spirituality. A close relationship with Jehovah is much more important than money, education, or social status. Remember, however, that the single brother and the single sister should make the final decision about whether to get married. w24.05 23 ¶11

Substance use and abuse has become well known in the past several decades.

Oops ... miscounted the words One early Klingon in Star Trek did not look the same as the Klingons in more recent Star Trek shows