Twinky

Surprised there weren't special "executive" toilets for the trustees' wives. Should have gone out and peed in the woods.

Pardon my scepticism, but I think I'd want to know what his doctors/hospital thought, and whether a death certificate was issued; or at least some other corroboration. Some people are kept in medically induced comas for quite long periods, to aid their healing; and some might enter a "vegetative state" or "persistent vegetative state," where they're unresponsive to all stimuli. Either coma or PVS patients might be on ventilators or other equipment to maintain their breathing and circulation.

Welcome, RW. Be aware that most posters here are long since gone from TWI, many in the 1980. Things haven't changed too much, though. I left mid-1990 I suppose (the date is not etched in my memory). Wordwolf refers to VPW, LCM and RFR. These are the three previous leaders of TWI, namely, WP Wierwille (founder and chief cult leader), died 1985; LC Martindale (leader 1985 till late 1990s, when his sexual misbehaviour with many cult women came to light); and Rosalie Rivenbark (a rumoured lesbian, who is, was, or appeared to be cohabiting with the former wife of LCM). The current leader is JY de Lisle, but RFR has her hand so far up his back (if not other parts) that he is virtually a puppet mouthpiece for her and she still runs the show.

I think my time with TWI has enabled me to reach depths of empathy, understanding and compassion that are far more than I had before. I don't think that this means of learning that is what God would have had in mind, but He's enabled me to make some lemonade from the lemons. My time with TWI and the years afterwards wasted my professional qualifications, but even so, I've managed to turn those into things for good to help others. The time that was wasted was in the prison of years of self-condemnation after TWI had M&A'd me: my fault, through absorbing poor teaching. A waste? Only if you don't use your experience to grow and to help others. I'm sure this author is a tremendous example to others of succeeding against the odds, and of refusal to compromise on what she needed, on her pursuit of her reasonable ambitions. And I'm sure that many with a non-cultic background will shake their heads and not understand.

Definitely much slower than it used to be here in the Café.

Yep, right on, and some are still living in the Open forum.

Now Thomas is on the hunt for anybody still here. Helllloooooo????

Nice medley, GSG, but cheating!! That's lots of great songs and tunes!

Listening to some of these as I'm making truffles to give away tomorrow.

Sang "O Night Divine" as part of the Christmas choir I sing with in a broadcast to the local hospital radio service (and via internet, worldwide). Nice rendition on the video, though (IMO) it might have benefited from not having the shepherds and wise men wandering about. Thanks for posting.

That was very nice, Rocky. Very enjoyable.

Funky!

Nice, DWBH.

Heh heh heh, WW.

Jolly choice, WW. Looks like nobody else listens to anything. C'mon,, guys!

When I first read this, I didn't think it was a "fear" thing for Job. I thought it was something that a loving and responsible parent might do, to pray for his children. It took PFAL to show me that it might be a fear-filled thing to do. Don't parents in our time also pray for their children, to ask for their safety, and to ask for mercy if/when those kids have done foolish things? God help us all, if the slightest smidgeon of doubt or fear were to open the doors of hell upon us.

Hi, Bill, and welcome. I found this article in Keith Hagin's website. It covers the relevant section of Job: https://www.rhema.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2246:quit-blaming-god&catid=236:2014-april&Itemid=813 but it doesn't really cover what I meant, and a search in his website using only the word "idiom" brings up nothing at all that's useful. I don't think I can agree with you that God will rain down judgment on bad people: he wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of Him. Many times, good things happen to bad people (at least in the short term - maybe days, years or decades), and bad things happen to good people. We can learn fortitude from such. But that's tangential to any "idiom of permission" - if such exists. Maybe I will ask on one of the many Jewish websites that there are - Chabad, maybe.

What song most symbolises, or encapsulates, Christmas, for you? A piece of classical music? A pop song (please, no Bing!)? A carol or hymn? Something choral, or maybe something orchestral? Me, I'm thinking Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Lighthearted fun.

Different!!

Yes, I thought that, too. If they'd looked at this site, they'd've found a lot of other material. And if they'd talked with Ralph D, they'd've found a lot of info, if not "too much information." But for a couple of hours for a podcast, this was a good exposé.

Mince and cheese pie??????????? You know mince isn't meat, don't you? It's chopped up mixed fruit (sultanas, currants, apples and such like, together with spices), sometimes a few nuts mixed in. Originally called "mincemeat" - used to include mutton or beef, and is still traditionally bound together by suet (beef fat), but I don't know that that's always still a component. Is mince pie and cheese an Ozzie speciality?

Hmm. End of the second podcast: RFR is rumored to be [LCM]'s wife's former lover. Errr - former lover? Are they not shacked up together any more? Has one of them "got a life" outside (Donna has gone back to LCM? Hahaha!) As Ham might say: enquiring minds want to know!

Hey, willpower! I went to the supermarket and bought not mince pies - but carrots and a cauliflower!

Random thought for today: should I stop at the supermarket [store] on my way home this evening, and buy some more mince pies? Hmm. Well, maybe not so random, considering I ate the last but one half an hour ago.

Well done, TaxiDev. You took a thorough look and found it was just another flavor of Kool-Aid.