It's been a while since I've written a blog exclusive article. Here it's usually an announcement of a new YouTube video!
I'd like to include an essay I wrote when I was 17. It resurfaced recently and...do you ever get that feeling that you were a better writer years ago than you are now?
From June 26th 2002,
One of Jehovah’s Witnesses
On the most important day of my life, December 1st 1996 at the age of 12, I was officially baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I now had the privilege of being called “Brother Joseph Lal”. I still remember how my blank white cotton t-shirt clung to my skinny torso as I came up from the water that apparently everyone else thought was freezing cold. I remember the smiles on my parents face, on the faces of my friends, and the smile on my face — which I found out was even more “beaming” than I thought when I finally saw the baptismal pictures. I have taken two of those pictures and placed it side by side in my photo album that I bought only a few months ago. One picture shows the much younger me as I step into the portable pool with neatly brushed hair, and the other shows me dripping wet and smiling after I came up from the water. When I look at those pictures today and think back to the day of my dedication, it seems so long ago. Today after I’ve grown up a little bit, I am a stronger member of my faith, and my religious outlook has changed significantly.
During my high school years, there were several tests of my loyalty to my religion. I have been taught to follow bible principles in detail without making any conscience compromises — this means avoiding premarital sex, drugs, having a girlfriend at an age such as mine, not using profanity, and not celebrating holidays that had nationalistic or pagan origins. Attending an American high school was going to give me tests toward my faith. Sometimes my friends would try to use their “reasoning” to get me to compromise my beliefs. “It’s not a real birthday party; it’s more like a social gathering where friends get together.” Furthermore, my religion centers around the belief that bible study and primary reliance on God through prayer is the best way of getting through life’s anxieties; Jeremiah 10:23 reads: “I well know, O [God], that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” Colleges teach a different, independent, self-reliant, education-first-above–anything philosophy.
One of the biggest tests to my faith in my religion came in my sophomore year of high school. A friend of mine gave me a tape to listen to one man’s opinion about Jehovah’s Witnesses from an outside perspective. After hearing that tape — though I knew most of the negative statements said about Jehovah’s Witnesses in it were false — I felt discouraged enough to consider changing who I was. I took a second look at my faith and began to wonder if I was deceived or brainwashed from birth into believing what I then believed. Doubts arose in my mind and new questions came up. The next year in one of my college classes, the very influential instructor introduced a different philosophy on life. I wondered whether following bible principles is the best way of life. Maybe, subconsciously I wanted out of my religion because I really wanted a girlfriend — and the “freedom” that all youths without biblical direction had.
Despite my temporary lapses, I got over my slumps in faith because of the encouragement of others. I’d ask myself: Is world philosophy made by humans today as good to follow as “God-inspired” advice from the bible? There are many people who are against the very fiber of the bible principles that Jehovah’s Witnesses follow. Why should I let false accusations against a good people weaken my faith?
Over the years, I have learned that I am not the only member of my faith that’s had to deal with tests. “The principal victims of religious persecution in the United States in the twentieth century were the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” says the book The Court and the Constitution. “Jehovah’s Witnesses . . . have been harassed and persecuted by governments the world over,” states Tony Hodges. “In Nazi Germany they were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. During the Second World War, the [Watch Tower] Society was banned in Australia and Canada…Now the Jehovah’s Witnesses are being hounded in Africa.” The bible at Matthew 10:22 states “...you will be objects of hatred by all people on account of my [Jesus’] name.” I suppose that not having a girlfriend isn’t as big of a test as what some other Jehovah’s Witnesses had to go through. I am only human, but so were the Jehovah’s Witnesses that endured the hardships in the concentration camps. Perhaps I could somehow manage to live without a girlfriend.
Regardless of what others or I think about my faith, my religion has made me a better person and makes up a large part of the person that I am. I have learned to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39) and be peaceable. I’ve learned to be unselfish and do to others as I would want them to do to me (Matthew 22:39). I’ve learned to obey my parents’ guidance—something not so prevalent among today’s youth (Deuteronomy 5:16). Regardless of one’s religious background, these are good practical personality traits to develop. There is still plenty more for me to learn — the Bible’s a pretty thick book. As a youth, I plan on using the Bible as a guide in making my decisions and continuing to become the person I want to be. Psalm 19:7 reads: “The law of Jehovah [God] is perfect, bringing back the soul. The reminder of Jehovah is trustworthy, making the inexperienced one wise.”
In some ways, my hair is still damp from the water I came up from when I was 12 years old. When the naïve boy made his dedication and baptism in 1996 he knew more about bible facts and the truth about bible beliefs than most ministers do. Yet, he didn’t know much about life and what growing up and maturing as a Christian means. Now, when it comes to the matter of experience and wisdom through life experience, I know a bit more. There’s still a lot to come. I have had many tests to my faith and experiences that show me that Bible knowledge is not “all I need”. Effective use of those principles is necessary too. My outlook on my religion has changed through my experiences, but my faith in my religion hasn’t.
“The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is…keep [God’s] commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man.”
—Ecclesiastes 12:13
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