Twinky

Bagpipes - exactly. Thank you for sharing your story. You have suffered a great deal and it's wonderful to hear how you are healing. For anyone out there with back pain, I'd endorse the recommendation of this book. It really does help. You will also recognise other "tricks" your body will try to get up to, to get you to pay attention. Likewise, except they kicked me out and I wallowed in mindblowing misery and guilt and shame, and discovering GSC and what TWI was really like set me free. The truth shall set you free... Very quickly too. See your energy levels rocket! It's stunning to keep a journal and look back on it and see how you grow in mind and body from day to day. Makes better reading than my Corps journal. Wonderful people out there who would have helped before if only sufferers had eyes to see and were not blinded by TWI "truth."

I always hated ABSing by check. Aren't we supposed to give so quietly that the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing? God keeps account not the TC. God sees the heart with which the 10%, 15% or whatever is given, too. God loves a cheerful giver, but He rewards the cheerful giving not the amount.

Belle, I like it!! Now you'd think, wouldn't you, that if people come in (join) and they have professional skills (that have good earning potential) TWI would encourage people to stick with those skills. Then those people would earn big bucks and could ABS more. But no, TWI belittle the skills base as "worldly" and generally sneer at professional qualifications except perhaps as Way Builders (and I'm not looking to pick a fight with any of them!). Then when the income of the person drops so much they say you aren't believing God enough... How preposterous is that? Perhaps people believed God and therefore they acquired those skills - to help and bless? But no, if not taught by TWI such skills are obviously of no value. Hello Dr and Mrs Peeler. You are not alone.

You mean there is still an in-residence Way Corps? Do they (both) share a room?

I remember LCM sharing one time that there were times Donna would go to him and warn him about something that was going on that he should know about - things that were happening to him or concerning him. (In a way, that's an admission that he *didn't* know it all, just once in a while.) I think he held it up as an example of how a married couple should work together and take care of each other. Well we saw that in the fog years, didn't we. And we saw that with all the adulterous stuff. Anybody remember that article she wrote in the Way Mag about The Art of Followship? So are we to infer that wives should all permit their husband to have adulterous affairs? Have we burned all Donna's writings as well as LCM's?

Are we talking about this same organisation that - doesn't have an inter-active (or any) link on its website? - bans its followers from using the internet ? - likes to keep its followers in complete ignorance of what's really going on? Yeah, they know what Google is. They just don't want anybody else to know.

QT GSC is a great place to come, read, "have a coffee" and share with friends old and new. When you hear their stories or they share what they know, you realise that you are not alone, that what happened to you was not unique but part of a wider pattern of abuse in various forms. You also realise that those things that you thought were "off" really were off. When your spiritual antennae twitched and you were told that you were just being "carnal" or "not walking in the spirit" - you realise you were right! Yes, it would be helpful in some ways to isolate some of the threads so that they stood out more. But with things as they are you get a better sense of the all-pervading - interference (a very mild word) - in so many aspects of life. ...and the double-think (who's read Orwell's "1984"?) As you've found, some of the threads enrage, excite compassion, bless, heal, help, annoy - and some are just plain froth. Ain't that fun, we all got so serious in TWI! :) As others above says, you can plot stories and the growth of individuals as they come out from the legalism, negativity and condemnation laid on them by TWI. I spend far more time "lurking" and very little posting. But there are many people here who offer healing words, not just to the individual directly addressed, but to others who read later (like me). Help and healing come in a lot of different ways and for me at least and it seems many others, GSC makes that available where people are at. Discovering GSC was a real help for me.

Now come on guys. Can you really imagine LCM and Donna resident in a tiny room in Founders Hall? (Or a couple of rooms, given they had kids?) (in a whole wing or at least one floor, perhaps!) Or in one of the trailers in the trailer park? If you can't imagine it - why not? :blink:

Always wondered why this was called "the WC Chalet" since no WC except LCM & Donna ever stayed there. Did a tour in residence, nice place, but a bit like walking on eggs (don't want to step the wrong way...) As for being invited to stay over - :unsure:

WW I did see this post. However my point was that the one-finger salute is a US thing. The equivalent in Commonwealth countries, ie, originating from the UK, is the V sign. (My point is a bit of a derail, really.) Perhaps both signs come from the same "root" - the amputation of digits by enemies determined to stop bowmen attacking them. It would seem easier, if amputating digits, to remove the first finger first, before removing the middle finger. Don't think in the Middle Ages they were very squeamish and concerned about the appearance afterwards. I would think, therefore, that the V sign is the older sign. English bowmen were (in)famous for their skill way before 1415 (famous and very skilled in 1066 and all that). Whether the middle finger sign is based on the same history or has another origin, I really don't know. Any Mongolians out there got any suggestions?

QT Bless, you will find a lot of healing just being here, as Bowtwi says. It's not that misery likes company, but when you look and see the horrendous pattern that was being followed (as your own marriage did), you *know* you are not alone. Many of us have been through similar abuse and you have my deep sympathy. LCM always hated writers and said they were full of ego. (That's probably because he himself had such a big ego.) You could probably write some really good novels about what's happened (especially after you read some of the horrible stories on GSC), and expose the truth in your own special way. Do whatever it takes to effect your own healing. Twinky

Just to get back (somewhat) to topic - the middle finger is a US thing. The equivalent sign in Commonwealth countries is to raise the first and second fingers in a V sign. The gesturer needs to remember which way to point the palm - palm back to yourself, back of hand to the person gestured to - this is known as the V sign and it is very rude and offensive. Hand the other way round (as Churchill used to do) - just the Victory sign. Not offensive. History of the V sign is that these two fingers, 1st and 2nd, are the two most needed to draw back the bow on the English longbow, which was a much feared and very very deadly weapon in the continual bickering between England and France (viz 1066 etc). The English longbowmen were very greatly feared and extremely accurate over great distances. They were very fast and could shoot 3 or 4 arrows in the time it took the French to fire off one crossbow bolt, which hit hard but didn't go as far. The crossbow took a long time to re-load. Waving the two fingers was flaunting their ability at their enemies. In Medieval times it was a serious punishment or torture (especially from the French) to cut off a(n English) bowman's index finger. Meant he could not draw against them in the future. A bit like in OT times cutting off the thumbs and big toes of the enemy. They could not hold a sword, and could not balance effectively on their feet without these.

Well presumably there was also a birth, then (hushed up, of course). So there would be some records, somewhere. Perhaps given away for adoption. The child would be in its 50s now. Wonder if the Wierwille children/grandchildren know of any half-siblings?

Well well, this is nice to see. Some Internationals might feel completely overlooked! But as we all belong to a WC you might find us on threads to do with that Corps. Mine? WC22 and honorary WC21. I know of at least one International (regular poster). I know of a few other Internationals also.

Bowtwi So sorry to hear your sad tale. Your former husband sounds a nice guy and definitely more loyal and loving than TWI. Strong on forgiveness, too - unlike some ... Have you thought about re-marrying him? :)

And some of us were only just beginning to get involved!

No Michelle Tabor in WC22 but there was a Michelle Koklanes.

Well, don't know about JC but his Dad sure has a wacky really fun sense of humour. Things from many years ago still make me giggle. Why shouldn't JC have a great sense of humour? Life can be pretty funny at times - doesn't have to be so TWI serious! Someone told me years ago, "You catch more with honey than with vinegar." JC attracted more friends with a smile and being kind than by being sharp with them.

Seems to me JC just made friends with people because he cared about them. Cared about the detail of their lives. Was concerned about what a mess the devil had made of some of their lives. Put the blame where it belonged - not on the people suffering. After all, if you're gonna die for someone you may as well find out what you're dying for, huh?

This is a good thread to consider what "friends" are. And how to make them. TWI did make us suspicious of other very decent-hearted people, Christians and non-Christians. Jesus was a "friend" of all sorts of people. Accusations against him from the legalists were that he was a friend of winebibbers, etc, and other "disreputable" members of society. I started looking at his life, who he hung out with. He couldn't have been "in the face" of people in pubs, passersby, in the market place, on his travels, by jumping down their throats, could he? So he must have held forth the word in a quiet and acceptable fashion - perhaps just by living it and giving people space to feel safe in. When they were ready for a bit more, he gave it to them. He learned to be socially friendly with them. Probably he just asked them how their day had been, and was the donkey well behaved today? Some followed him quite quickly. Others turned away. But of the ones who didn't follow him immediately, who knows but that he planted the seed and they pondered it and followed him later? Maybe some of those were the people who got blessed at Pentecost? He made himself available and didn't criticise when people asked for help. No, he rolled up his sleeves and got stuck in. When Peter's wife was sick, did he criticise anyone's "believing"? No, he went to help. What I *don't* see is him deliberately running people off, on a regular basis. Some are offended and leave, but that isn't the general pattern. He warned people about the leaven, the words of the Pharisees, but he didn't tell them not to go to the synagogue or temple (he didn't stop going himself, either). He gathered about him a special band of buddies (we call the "12 disciples" or whatever, but there were really a lot more; also their families). He shared deeper heart with them. Sometimes they needed reproof and correction, but look how he did it, lovingly and encouragingly, not putting them down. On occasions his own followers became a bit over-zealous or legalistic, but again he gently reproved them, so they wanted to stick with him. They did it from love, not from fear that he would leave them or excommunicate them. And we love our friends who *gently* point out the error of our ways and value them even more highly. The only people who he really "got in the face of" was the hypocrites - Pharisees, legalists, church hierarchy - who said one thing and did another. He had no friends when it came to the Word (that they taught) and yet we also learn that one or two of them also became his followers. Unfortunately in TWI we rather lost sight of our "big brother" and instead of modelling our lives on his (from the heart, kindness, loving point of view), we were urged to model it on higher-ups in TWI. As Paul said - be ye followers of me. And some at TWI took this to mean that we were to be followers of them (as the new apostles) and not of Christ. There were some really tremendous people there whose lives were admirable and who set wonderful examples. And then ... there were others exemplified "what it is not." Those "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets don't really cut it for me, but as a reminder to think beyond the example set by TWI, well, what would Jesus do? How did he make friends?

Dido was in WC22 and he was a great guy with a big heart and a wonderful smile. He was from Ivory Coast. I seem to recall he met a woman who was an Advanced Class grad there and married her... but I could be wrong. Would also like any news of him.

Well, when I discovered the actions of LCM it seemed to me best to act in the way he had taught us - that is, Athletes somehow just jumped straight into the fire. Recommendations for The Red Thread, anyone?

Keith says: We got so caught up in the "accuracy" that we lost the heart of the word. Isn't that exactly the point? And isn't (wasn't) this the Ministry that right from PFAL taught us to look at the heart behind things (recall an example about a surgeon cutting off a leg to save a life). But then they "guarded the heart" so well that we all completely lost sight of it...

Well I'm another one. Escapee from WC22, that is.

Well, Sudo, I found my way to Grease Spot by accident, while looking for something completely different. Thought the Friend Tracker would be useful - now it's served its purpose, I'm outta here. Bye, Outcast