TheManOfa Thousand ScreenNames

Oh, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Fearless Leader. You are most benificent. Again, I thank you. The lessons repeat until they are learned.

The book I want to see is: Jesus Christ is not Eric Clapton The lessons repeat until they are learned.

HERBALMike, Check yer privates again. :D-->

I offer up D.A. Reed's post as a textbook example of how to respond to a question about faith. :D--> Mind you, I'm not any closer to believing in God, but his post demonstrates how to explain something without it degenerating into a shouting match. btw, Jeff, we still have to go hang gliding. :D--> The lessons repeat until they are learned. (Edited to give proper credit) [This message was edited by TheManOfaThousandScreenNames on August 24, 2003 at 14:26.]

Silly question, I know, but how important is the doctrine/dogma of the Trinity to salvation (or anything else for that matter)? Granted, I'm an outsider looking in, but it just wouldn't seem to matter a whole lot whether you understand God as being 'triune' or as 'one'. The lessons repeat until they are learned.

Aaaah, 71, you will be sorely missed.

Just bringing this back to the top, where it belongs........

Hey Mike, Check your privates (topics, that is).

P.S., I promise I won't make it like I do at home. Montezuma's revenge wouldn't be a pretty sight. :D--> The lessons repeat until they are learned.

I happen to make the killerest sausage gravy north of the mason dixon line. I usually have it on english muffins, but for this occasion, I might splurge for the refrigerator biscuits (I like youse people, but not enough to make biscuits from scratch) :D--> Also, just this time only, I might make it with lard instead of butter. I will bring a coffee grinder, and we can have fresh PERCOLATED coffee. Unfortunately, it only makes 12 cups at a clip, so there'll have to be a number system. The lessons repeat until they are learned.

Choo, choo......... Hey Cat, glad to see you're still around. :)--> We return you now........ The lessons repeat until they are learned.

I apologize for the length of this post. It is the second time I?ve told my story at length for general consumption. Originally, it was submitted for an English Composition class I took about 13 years ago. And, if I don?t blow my own horn, no one else will :D-->, I?m sure most of you will be shocked to learn, I earned and ?A? for this paper. So stick THAT in your smoke and pipe it. :D--> I haven?t included a large part of the sordid details. Not only have I not written them down (as yet), I don?t want to bore you with them either. It is my hope you will understand me a little better after having read this. Betrayal. It can shatter one?s sense of self like a rose dipped in liquid nitrogen. It is incalculable how much is spent on psychiatrists? couches rebuilding self perceptions after such an incident. Betrayal is no stranger to me and I would like to relate my story. In the spring of 1977, I was working at a convenience store in Totowa, N.J. This was a chain of stores not unlike 7-11. I was seventeen and working to help support my family after my parents split up. There were three stores in the area. The closest was three blocks away from my house.The next was fifteen blocks farther. The furthest was approximately two miles away. This was the store where I was employed. In order to save money, I would hitchhike to work. It was a rare occasion when I didn?t get a ride. I also had a contingency plan should that have occurred. It was to allow enough time to walk there should a ride not materialize. Thus set the stage for betrayal. One evening, a station wagon pulled over and the people inside waved for me to get in the car. The sky looked like it was on the verge of a downpour, so the stopped vehicle was a most welcome sight. Once in the car, I found out all of them were from different geographical locations. Minnesota, Kansas, Chicago, and last but not least, Indiana. At first, I thought this a little strange, but quickly dismissed it because I needed a ride and they were providing one. The conversation turned to God in half a nanosecond. They were talking about how great He was, what he did for them, and just generally having a grand old time with it all. When it came time for me to get out, an invitation was extended to what they called a fellowship. I said I would come should I not have any other plans for the evening. Lo and behold, there was an opening in my social calendar. I went to the house which was directly across from the high school. Their apartment was on the first floor of a Victorian-style house. Being somewhat apprehensive, I didn?t ring the doorbell immediately. I sat on the tree stump across the street. Then walked around it for a while. This went on for quite some time. Finally, I gathered myself together and stepped onto the porch. Nervously, my finger found its way to the buzzer. At the time, it seemed like it was taking forever, kind of like waiting for the first pot of coffee of the day. Having struck paydirt, the buzzer signaled my presence to all inside. Phil, the one from Chicago, greeted me with a handshake and a ?God bless you?. Similar sentiments were expressed throughout the living room, which was the meeting place. Everyone present was rather friendly, which was a definite switch from the way people usually behaved at the church I grew up attending. This also belied what was to happen seven years later. Little did I realize how my trust in this group of people would one day be a danger to my personal safety. Ah, to be young and foolish. Trust is the major component in betrayal. Those who are closest to you have the greatest advantage in the betrayal market. They are privy to a much greater amount of information than you would allow any enemy. Therefore, friendships are not to be taken lightly. Life was fairly uneventful until the early spring of 1984. This is when the excrement impacted the rotating oscillator. Jim, one of my friends in the organization, was having a rougher than normal period in his life. It was thought it was due to the major influence of the organization. I know this will come as a shocking revelation to anyone who has had contact with the organization for any length of time. Jim had a friend named Peter. Peter is a former member of The Way Corps. This is the ?leadership? training program for the organization. After spending the day with him, we all decided it would be in our better interests to disassociate ourselves from the organization. Needless to say, the world as I knew it came to an abrupt end. On the way home, I elected to do all the driving. It was an eight hour trip. I needed something to occupy my hands, since my head was doing donuts in the parking lot of my mind. One of the methods the organization uses to keep the rank and file in line is the threat of being ?marked and avoided?. This is very similar to the Amish practice of shunning. Within days, people who were supposedly my best friends had great difficulty if not found it impossible to talk to me. My social circle disappeared faster than a computer file can. Later on, I made the apparent mistake of talking to someone who expressed a desire to extricate themselves from the evil empire. I hadn?t even set a date to talk further to this person when I got a phone call from one of the local ?gang? leaders. It was approximately 11 o?clock at night. I had been asleep for about an hour. Therefore, I was fairly foggy for most of the phone call. The last thing this person said to me was (and this is a paraphrase) ?You better walk down the street looking behind your back?. This was should I have continued talking to people who were dissatisfied with the status quo of the organization. An obvious attempt at the ?love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation?. I?ve since learned, they tack on ?toward the household?. ?Present truth? abounds. The loneliness was hard to deal with at first. I no longer had the people I would have trusted with my life for conversation. Since I didn?t adhere to their belief system anymore, they thought I was possessed or worse. For approximately ten years I lived by myself. I didn?t want the complications of interpersonal relationships. Self-esteem didn?t exactly runneth over my cup. In November of 1998, I discovered the Waydale website. I was looking for information on The Way International. When I got there, it was a tremendous relief, because there were people who had experienced things very similar to those I had. This opened a whole new world to me. I spent an enormous amount of time at the website, mostly in the chatroom. I could talk to people without the bother of them actually being at my house. : ) Eventually, Waydale closed up operations. This led to the introduction of The Greasespot Cafe. Again, I spent an inordinate amount of time in the chatroom. In the course of human events, I met our own lovely Abigail. We were in the chatroom one day and, how these things usually go, one thing lead to another. I moved to where she lives and my life since has been an idyllic one. Of course, there are ups and downs, but the downs are usually from without, not between us. I?ve been ?blessed? with an instant family, which I wouldn?t trade for the world. When I was in my pool playing phase, many of my fellow players would call me the luckiest man on the planet. I am now realizing the truth of this statement. Edited for content error. The lessons repeat until they are learned. [This message was edited by TheManOfaThousandScreenNames on July 12, 2003 at 11:53.]

(posted by Abigail) MJ, it might be wise to know what you are talking about before you speak, particularly when dismissing what is actually good advice. Court systems (excepting federal courts) vary some from state to state. Perhaps in your state divorce cases are heard by a state supreme court (though I find this very difficult to believe) but that is not true of all states. In Michigan, such cases are heard in family courts, which are part of the civil, not criminal courts. The rules of evidence are very different and what you say here can most definitely be used against you in these courts. Civil court is not about 'beyond a reasonable doubt' it is about a 'preponderance of the evidence'. What is and is not admissable evidence is also different than that for criminal law. Admit you used the spoon as a rod of correction and left a few bruises, it absolutely can hurt you in a custody case, even if you no longer do so. Admit you let your leadership in TWI do such things to your kids, again, it can hurt your case. It is not difficult for someone with the proper software or legal backing to trace a handle back to the actual identity of the person posting. I have used information from the internet, as I said elsewhere, in obtaining a protection order. I was also advised by my attorney to keep such information in case I needed it in a custody battle. I am a paralegal student MJ, I do have some understanding of the court system. Please check your sources before you dismiss someone's advice, particularly if the advice was not intended for your situation anyway. Perhaps such advice is not necessary for your life, others still stand to benefit from it. "the reason I call them monkey courts because it is often cases of less magitude, no laws can be changed due to the rulings" Less magnitute to you, perhaps. But to the person who is fighting for custody or the right to visit their child, these courts have a great deal of power!!! The lessons repeat until they are learned.

Would love to be there, was there in 80-81. Unfortunately, finances dictate otherwise. However, I'll be there in spirit. Have a good time all. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

Obviously, SOME people aren't adhering to Corps time anymore. :D--> Again, I thank you all. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

Thank you all. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

What I didn't say on MY birthday thread was Happy Birthday to you too. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

Thank you, all three of my fans. :D--> BTW, Rottie, not only do we share a birthday, but our sometimes Karl Kahler (who wrote The Cult That Snapped) is also a Gemini on the same day. Be a real hoot if they were all the same year...... So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

To the Thought Police (Zix, Shell, Steve!, Ayla): You better get over to the redneck joke thread, they're making fun of economically, mentally, and Yankee challenged people there. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

Since I my palate isn't refined enough to appreciate the advantages of charcoal, I choose not to hassle with it. I have other things I want to do with my time than perfecting my fire-building technique. The only other thing I desire in a grill is cast iron grates (not the porcelain coated ones). Eventually they will 'season' and not require me spraying them down with Pam before every use. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

This will probably arrive too late, but if you make holes with a fork a number of times in said potato, it will cut down the cooking time (gives the steam an outlet). So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->

Certainly a possibility. BTW, thanks for the armchair analysis. Should I expect a bill for this wonderful service you've provided? If memory serves, Steve!, you were in the same cult I was? Perhaps you have your own issues to work out. Actually, I prefer bunnies, but wouldn't mind taking a shot at Bambi. :P--> Mel Brooks once illustrated the difference between comedy and tragedy. He said words to the effect of, "You fall in a manhole, that's a comedy. I get a paper cut, that's a tragedy." Yes, everyone will laugh at something as long as it's not aimed at their pet peeve. So, if you've EVER laughed at a joke in your life (which is doubtful) you were being supremely sensitive to the person who was the 'butt' of the joke (however large it may be). (edited to delete the word anger in reference to issues, since there could be so many more than one) :D--> So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D--> [This message was edited by TheManOfaThousandScreenNames on June 09, 2003 at 19:09.] [This message was edited by TheManOfaThousandScreenNames on June 09, 2003 at 19:22.]

I just HAD to be the first to respond to this, before all the good jokes were made. :P--> 1. Tankah, Mexico-is this because all the clients are built like tanks? 2."The resort, which formally opens June 15, targets people afraid to go out on the sand with a few extra pounds, or a few extra dozens of pounds. No more enduring cruel jokes on the beach, or wisecracks from the staff." At least, not to their faces. I'm sure when their shift is over, it's another story. 3. The 112-room property has plenty of places to eat as part of its $150 per-night double-occupancy rate. The owners expanded from two restaurants to five, each with a different theme: international, Italian, Mexican, a steakhouse, a Hawaiian-style seafood room and a snack bar. Notice, they didn't say anything about an exercise area, but expanded the RESTAURANTS from two to FIVE. Unless it's an all-you-can-eat deal, I'm sure they'll make a 'ton' of money here. 4. Sabo said that Freedom Paradise ``is talking the talk'' of size-friendliness, but asked, ``Can they walk the walk?'' Wouldn't this be more of a waddle? 5. ``Speaking of walking, that's not as easy for some of us as it is for other people,'' she said. ``Is the place all spread out?'' Just like the clients ? 6."The 112-room property has plenty of places to eat as part of its $150 per-night double-occupancy rate." Is this for one person or two? One last thing, if you're a guy who's a chubby chaser, just remember to bring a five pound bag of flour. And, no, you're not going to be baking anything with it. So I took a six month vacation. So sue me. :D-->