waysider

"If the earth was flat, cats would have knocked everything off the edge long ago." *credit unknown

II was never full on assaulted while in TWI. I was sexually groped by women a few times, though. I can't say it had much lasting effect, other than to give me a faint glimpse of what women must frequently endure. There was an incident at ROA (Rock of Ages), however, that struck a chord with me. As I was lying half asleep in my tent, another man entered from behind me and assumed I was asleep. He laid down and began to fondle me. For a brief moment, I thought it was a female friend. I rolled over, realized it was a man and punched him in the face a couple of times.. I don't suppose it could have hurt very much, as I was on my back and punching upward. He got to his feet and fled immediately. It happened very quickly, it was dark and he was turned away from me, so I don't know who he was. Now, this was back in the days when everything, including homosexuality, was a "devil spirit". It didn't affect me in a sexual sense but it made me give some serious thought to my spirituality. "Why didn't I get revelation? Did I have a spirit that attracted him?"...all that sort of thing. I was an Advance Class grad, after all. I couldn't and didn't tell anyone, for fear of being seen as "spiritually weak". There was a real struggle in my mind, trying to understand why all this spiritual stuff just didn't seem to be clicking with me like it was with everyone else. A lot of unresolved thoughts and questions lingered in my mind. Well. I know it doesn't sound like much. I still remember it, though, even 50 years after the fact.

Glowwwry!

Like so many other "lessons" propounded by TWI, 4 crucified was meaningless drivel. If one hasn't learned to treat their fellow man with the respect and equity with which they, themselves, would yearn to be treated, they have leaned nothing at all. You can learn to ride a bike, put it away for 50 years, and climb right back on after all that time, still possessing the ability to ride a bike. Not so with interpersonal relationships. There is no end point. Every day is another chance to do better than you did the day before. This concept of becoming a better human being is lost to TWI's endless pursuit of pedantic excellence.

You guys know he wasn't really a Dr., right?

"For What It's Worth", I'm really kind of surprised this is considered obscure. Buffalo Springfield was ground zero for CS&Y, Neil Young, Poco, Jim Messina, Richie Furay....Well, anyway, I apologize for the confusion. Peace Offering:

I guess I need to throw the towel in on this one, too. It's Kind Woman by Buffalo Springfield.......free post

Be careful not to doxx yourself.

Meh. I still call it "the ministry" out of habit. I never stop to consider the semantic implications. I'm sure there are lots of other non-cult words and phrases in our vocabularies that we never stop to analyse in-depth. I still call bandages "Band Aids" without much thought. I just don't worry about.

Nowadays the sayin' depends so much on the kind of woman that you find.

I Will Survive I remember, once, hearin' the old folks say, love's an ageless old rhyme.

I don't recognize it.

He was so much more than just a singer in a rock and roll band.

Someone should really tell her.