It’s Saturday morning and you’re in the front yard washing the car or pulling weeds. You look up the street and see a group of eight, maybe twelve people pile out of a car. The men are wearing short sleeved oxfords with wide, striped ties and the ladies are in floral print dresses and hats. They pair off and strike out in different directions, two of which are coming your way. “Crap, they’re Jehovah’s Witness!'” you say to yourself. You take your bucket or trowel and stash it up in the shrubs and make a break for the front door, hoping they didn’t see you. Breathing heavy, your back pressed against the door, you hear the doorbell ring. You wait, because you know they will ring it again. You continue quietly waiting in the house another 30 minutes or so, just to make sure they’ve left your street. Cautiously you open your door, scanning up and down the street, making sure the coast is clear before you go back out and carry on with your day.
You know you’ve done it; we all have.
But going door-to-door is not the only trick up their sleeve.
My wife recently lost her brother to cancer. Understandably, it’s been difficult for her and the family. She’s thankful to all who have taken the time to visit and call to share their condolences. She’s also thankful for all the sympathy cards she’s received. Well, with one exception. She happened to receive a note from a person she didn’t know. It said:
Having read the obituary of your brother in the Orlando Sentinel, I can only imagine the extent of your loss. Thankfully, The Bible offers comfort in the hope of God’s promise for the future:
“He will wipeout every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have pasted away.” Revelation 21:4
May the enclosed pamphlet help you in this time of mourning, by providing additional comfort from the Bible.
In that letter was this pamphlet, pictured to the right. It seems this woman scanned the obituaries, found my brother-in-law’s, and ostensibly wrote a sympathy note in order to proselytize. When my wife told me about it I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I did laugh after looking at the picture inside the tract. The picture at the top of this post was cropped from that one. After looking at those two blond girls they made me think of the movie Children of the Corn. They look creepy to me, especially the one with her eyes rolled upwards. As an attempt to provide solace by giving my wife this tract, I’ll quote my son; “Epic Fail!”
My sister-in-law is a former Jehovah’s Witness and was able to give us some insight into why this lady wrote to us. Jehovah’s Witness are required to have 60 hours of field work, or pioneer time, each month. Pioneer time includes the door-to-door witnessing we’ve come to anticipate on a Saturday. When they can’t get their time in by actually beating the pavement, they can resort to writing letters to bereaving families they find in the obituaries. It’s also practiced by the elderly or others who can’t go door-to-door.
She also pointed out that Jehovah’s Witness, “really do think they are doing a good thing by finding other ways to share the ‘truth’.” When my wife first received the letter she was incensed and ready to send a “letter of appreciation” back. (I would hope her “appreciation” would not be expressed with expletives.) But, after our sister-in-law’s comments and further reflection, she simply feels sad for this woman. Sad that she feels compelled by her faith to proselytize even though it could be hurtful or offensive. Just to make some arbitrary quota. In the name of a dubious truth.
Well, who knows, maybe one day you’ll be the lucky recipient of a conniption causing sympathy letter from you neighborhood Jehovah’s Witness. I hope not, but if you do, instead of finding the closest Witness you can and shoving it down their throats, maybe you will think to have some sympathy for them.
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