I am struggling a little to find something to write about this week since I said that I would not proselytize but just post my views on any incident in my life, and then my reaction to it as someone who is interested in Christian Anarchism. Of course I could write lots if I was to return to proselytizing, but I am trying to avoid that, for anyone interested in Christian Anarchism Wiki is a good place to start. I say again, I am the sort of anarchist who does not want to force my ideas on anyone else, certainly not with the threat of violence, which is the pejorative view of anarchism put out by governments and the media. My life is totally taken up by doing what I can to look after myself, keeping myself clean and working with my marvelous wife who does all of the work, shopping, cooking, cleaning and caring for me. My mobility is from wheel-chair to bed, and then getting to the table, the toilet, the shower and, of course, the laptop. I use a smart phone in the bed. I can sometimes manage a bit of washing up of the dishes!
My only involvement in conversation has been on the local landline telephone (in Barbados it is completely free, my wife is a great conversationalist - and counsellor - so spends hours on it) with a Jehovah's Witness. She calls frequently, is elderly and I think engages in talk therapy with us, and proselytizes. This she does not admit, but being JW I do not think she can break away from it. She asks me a question then cuts in on my answer, and even when I lose patience and point out her bad manners she continues to talk and tries to over-ride me and continue to talk whilst I am talking. She is no anarchist and in my mind not a very good Christian. Recently she arranged for one of the JW pamphlets to be posted at our door. It was entitled "What is God's Kingdom?" and I dutifully read it, since I guessed she would be asking me what I thought of it. It obviously explains the JW version, which I inevitably do not agree with. In our conversation, patiently bearing her interruptions, I tried to tell her about the book which Leo Tolstoy had written entitled "The Kingdom of God is Within You". When I told her he was a Russian writer her phrase was that she had nothing to do with 'those' Russians!! I tactfully tried to close the conversation, saying that we are all Christians together, and wished her well.
So how does my version of the Kingdom of God differ from the JW version, you may well ask? Without proselytizing I hope and pray, but anticipating such a question, the JW version, even though based on Scripture so they claim, I seem to understand that it will only come at some future date with the Second Coming of Jesus, and we will all have a paradise to live in, always beautifully illustrated in their pamphlets by pretty pictures. They are, of course, appealing to the ignorant masses, who may well need such a vision, but I claim to be a rather more mature Christian who does not need that sort of hope. Every reference to the Kingdom of God in the Bible is a spiritual reference, and has nothing to do with any hoped for future reality in this world. I told my JW conversationalist that my Kingdom of God was already within me, and although I looked forward to the Second Coming of Jesus it was important now to live in peace and harmony with oneself and others here and now, not simply go to an institutional Church and think that will achieve our salvation.
Ah well, I managed to find something to write about, thank you for reading.
My only involvement in conversation has been on the local landline telephone (in Barbados it is completely free, my wife is a great conversationalist - and counsellor - so spends hours on it) with a Jehovah's Witness. She calls frequently, is elderly and I think engages in talk therapy with us, and proselytizes. This she does not admit, but being JW I do not think she can break away from it. She asks me a question then cuts in on my answer, and even when I lose patience and point out her bad manners she continues to talk and tries to over-ride me and continue to talk whilst I am talking. She is no anarchist and in my mind not a very good Christian. Recently she arranged for one of the JW pamphlets to be posted at our door. It was entitled "What is God's Kingdom?" and I dutifully read it, since I guessed she would be asking me what I thought of it. It obviously explains the JW version, which I inevitably do not agree with. In our conversation, patiently bearing her interruptions, I tried to tell her about the book which Leo Tolstoy had written entitled "The Kingdom of God is Within You". When I told her he was a Russian writer her phrase was that she had nothing to do with 'those' Russians!! I tactfully tried to close the conversation, saying that we are all Christians together, and wished her well.
So how does my version of the Kingdom of God differ from the JW version, you may well ask? Without proselytizing I hope and pray, but anticipating such a question, the JW version, even though based on Scripture so they claim, I seem to understand that it will only come at some future date with the Second Coming of Jesus, and we will all have a paradise to live in, always beautifully illustrated in their pamphlets by pretty pictures. They are, of course, appealing to the ignorant masses, who may well need such a vision, but I claim to be a rather more mature Christian who does not need that sort of hope. Every reference to the Kingdom of God in the Bible is a spiritual reference, and has nothing to do with any hoped for future reality in this world. I told my JW conversationalist that my Kingdom of God was already within me, and although I looked forward to the Second Coming of Jesus it was important now to live in peace and harmony with oneself and others here and now, not simply go to an institutional Church and think that will achieve our salvation.
Ah well, I managed to find something to write about, thank you for reading.
