A Jehovah's Witness Sent Me a Letter...Filled with Negative Energy?
This Saturday as I am bringing in groceries and sipping my Starbucks (it's my Saturday ritual), I stop to check the mail. There is one envelope addressed to me with curvy handwriting. I notice it's addressed with my full name. I hate my middle name and unless necessary, only use my middle initial.
I take it in and after I put away the groceries, sit down to open it. At first, I am hoping it is some of those mysterious seeds from China. I can already picture the article I would write about it and couldn't believe my luck. But instead of seeds is a handwritten note on notebook paper that reads:
Dear Neighbor,
I am writing this letter to you because I am unable to speak with you personally, but I have some important information that I would like to share with you.
Our Goal is to get more people to read the Bible. For example, have you wondered why we grow old and die? Some sea turtles live for hundreds of years. But humans lives just 70 to 80 years and then die. I hope this scripture will help you. If you have any questions you can go online at www.-------.org
Thank you,
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I edited bits of the letter for clarity, as well as omitted the website and name of the individual who sent it to me. I am not here to advertise someone's website who decided to send me snail spam, nor do I need someone coming after me because I published their name. I'm too broke for court fees at the moment.
Beneath the signed letter was a scripture from Romans 5:12
That is why just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because they had sinned.
Needless to say, I was disturbed and reaching for the sage.
I re-read the letter several more times over, wondering how they received my address or why they felt it was appropriate to send a letter with such negative energy to me.
Then I visited their website. It was from a Jehovah's Witness. Even the pandemic could not stop their rhetoric.
My first reaction was to call them and demand to know how they had gotten my address and why they felt the need to solicit me like this. It felt like a massive invasion of privacy, especially since they had not met me face to face or knew a thing about me.
My next reaction was to write a strongly worded email suggesting they lose my contact information. However, I decided I did not want them to have another way of contacting me.
So I lit some incense and did a bit of soul searching while cleaning my house. After calming down a bit, I decided that instead of reacting...for lack of a better term...like a Karen I would react with the opposite message my unsolicited penpal had given me.
An Open Comment to the Jehovah's Witness Who Wrote Me a Letter
Dear Neighbor,
I'm quite certain you will never read this. After all, I'm sure you find the name of my blog offensive, as well as some (if not most) of the content that I write. Yes, I have thought about death. As someone who has struggled with depression, that topic has crossed my mind a number of times. However, instead of focusing on my sin and how that will impact my eternal afterlife, I choose to focus the good in this world and loving my fellow human beings.
You are not the first person who has preached this message to me. Not the first to tell me I am a sinner. But we were not put on this earth to live in fear, we were put here to help each other, love each other, and be as good as we can possibly be.
The letter you sent me was filled with the exact opposite of what I expect from a church. The negative energy was disturbing and I wish I had not brought it into my house.
But since you decided to share some scripture with me, allow me to share some with you:
...He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone...-John 8:7
We all have our sins, that is what makes us human. But a little word of advice to go along with your verse for the day, tend to your own garden before going to weed your neighbor's.
-Your Heathen of a Neighbor