minister159

@Linda, I know how you feel. There is a huge aging population in the U.S. and perhaps Australia as well, and this is also reflected within our organization. For example, have you noticed how many elderly and disabled brothers and sisters there are at both our circuit assemblies and regional conventions. Many of these ones have been in the truth since the '50's and 60's and are still hanging on, but succumbing to death at an alarming rate each year. I'm in my 70's and my older sister will be turning 80 in January. We were raised in the truth and neither of us thought we would ever be facing old age in this system of things, but here we are. It's a sad situation as we see these dear ones pass away and not live to see the end, as they had hoped. We have to remind ourselves, it's not about us, but the sanctification of Jehovah's name. "Baby boomers are defined as people born between 1946 and 1964 in the post-World War II era. About 77 million Americans were born in this time period, making it significantly larger than the generations immediately before and after." "Approximately 11,400 baby boomers will turn 65 every day in 2025. This significant demographic event, referred to as "Peak 65," indicates that around 4.18 million people will reach retirement age throughout the year."

From JW.org: Over 257 of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide are imprisoned for their faith as of November 2025. Russia: Currently, at least 156 of Jehovah’s Witnesses are either being held in pretrial detention, serving sentences of forced labor, or serving prison terms. I was thinking about the brothers and sisters in Russia who are being convicted, on what seems an almost weekly basis, but then I remembered the total number mentioned above, and it helped me put things in perspective. Let me first say, that even one brother or sister being arrested for their faith, is one too many. However, if I remember correctly, the total number of publishers in Russia at the beginning of the ban in 2017 was approximately 175,000. Statistically, the 156 who are presently being held in pretrial detention, serving sentences of forced labor, or serving prison terms, as mentioned above, is a rather small percentage when you think about it. In other words, if my math is correct, 156 is less than 1/8 of 1% of 175,000. That means that more than 99% of our brothers and sisters have either evaded arrest while continuing to live in Russia or have fled from Russia to avoid arrest. So, once again, while even one arrest is one too many, and is a travesty of justice, I think it's encouraging to see the big picture as we continue to pray for all 156 of our brothers and sisters who are suffering this injustice and proving Satan a liar by their endurance.

If you find biracial ancestry (black and white) interesting, you may be surprised and interested to learn about these people in America from the 1600's who are tri and quadra racial. I found this video to be both factual and fascinating. They are called Melungeons.

It was Live from Daryl's House, Daryl Hall and Ceelo Green: "I can't go for that" (No Can Do).

This gives new meaning to the expression, "light as a feather"! Unbelievable!

Tell us how you really feel. 😁

The article on JW.org doesn't name the president of Eritrea, but this does, and it's about as bad as the situation in Nazi Germany. 😢 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaias_Afwerki

That sounds an awful lot like a Rodney Dangerfield one-liner similar to this: "I told my wife I was going to take her to dinner somewhere she had never been before, and then I showed her the kitchen."

The Earth rotates on its axis once each day. Because the circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles, a spot on the equator rotates at approximately 1,037.5646 miles per hour. Not only that, but the earth is orbiting the sun at the speed of almost 67,000 mph! We know it's gravity that keeps us from being flung off into space, but why don't we feel the spinning? Because the entire solar system is traveling at about 144 miles per second in its orbit around the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. That is a VERY fast speed. So why don’t we feel this motion? The reason is that the speeds are constant. As people, we, the atmosphere, and Earth’s oceans are all spinning at the same speed. Think of traveling in a car. You don’t feel much motion when you’re driving at a fast speed down a smooth highway. But when you hit the brakes, you feel the speed change. This is why we do not feel the Earth’s motions through the universe.

Common misuse of words due to, I think, shortening or abbreviating so many words, especially among younger English-speaking people or perhaps people who speak English as a second language? For example: Invitation is a noun, "I received an invitation" is correct grammar Invite is a verb, "I received an invite" is incorrect grammar Consultation is a noun, "I had a consultation with my doctor" is correct grammar Consult is a verb, "I had a consult with my doctor is incorrect grammar