OperaBuff

Coco thread is a riot, thanks for bring it to my attention, y'all are too funny sometimes. The robes always creeped me out. Like that line in the movie 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' the old codger who says, "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges." That was my attitude toward the robes. But now, after reading about Coco and then someone in the thread writing about Dr dressing up in his little sailor suit and riding around on his big, throbbing motorcycle,... well, maybe the TWI robes were part of a dress-up fantasy. Not many men can carry off a robe properly, you know. I can, but then I have great ankles. When robed, one should wear shoes with a short heel, not flats. A kitten heel is best. And for heaven's sake, no sandals! God hates sandals with robes. Jesus got away with wearing sandals with his robe, but then he did all that walking, so one makes allowances. But a formal procession of robed TWI clergy, promenading down the main runway aisle of the Big Tent? No sandals. There was always a disconnect in my mind between Dr's teachings, which I'd heard for months from afar, and the reality of what I saw in Dr during my first weeks at HQ. The two didn't go together, somehow.

bah. still no workee.

Here's how I figure it. God did the heavens and earth thing to find out (a) who can stand and fight against evil, (b) who has a loving and giving heart, and © who He wants to be with Him and Jesus Christ for all eternity. Eternity is a long time. If it were your eternity that you had created, wouldn't you want to spend it with the coolest people possible? I recently read somewhere (Bullinger? I can't remember where) that the serpent should have been translated as the "shining one". Eve talked to a shining one, or a shining man, not a serpent. Guess who that was.

I don't see the "use full editor" option or button or whatever it is.

test test... that doesn't work for me mstar. HTML On - Auto Linebreak Mode, correct?

Steve, thanks for the book mention, my copy came today and it looks like it will be an interesting read. I'll let you know what I think of it. I love you, too.

Your choice in pronouns fascinates me, and exposes you. I was born and raised in a Christian family, believers all. I was with believers 24/7 since the day I was born. If my earthly brother had behaved as my WOW brother had behaved, my earthly father would have put a stop to it. It is telling that TWI HQ found no serious problem with my WOW brother's behavior on the field. HQ often removed WOWs from the field for one reason or another, but not this New Knoxville kid. He got to stay, and because the three of us knew that this guy knew Dr, we felt trapped and stuck in an unhealthy situation, knowing we had no way out except to pack ourselves up and leave the field. That was an unacceptable choice to us. It wasn't until I came here to GSC and started reading and hearing about the manipulative and sexually incontinent behavior condoned and practiced by TWI leadership that I started to put 2 and 2 together. I finally understand, all these years later, why the wiener-wagger received only a slap on the wrist.

I keep going back to old Joni Mitchell songs. She got under my skin in the 1970s. She's still there. From her 1976 album Hejira, this is Song for Sharon. I don't remember how to make the link turn into a picture.

Yes, we all four stayed the entire year; psychologically abandoned, adrift and completely dysfunctional, but we stayed together. Funny how much the human mind can seemingly tolerate. On the drive back to the Rock, we weren't speaking. We stopped for the night at some believer's house, but I decided to sleep in our WOWmobile. After the Rock, I stopped associating with TWI and soon began using recreational drugs on a daily basis. I snapped out of it in a few years.

Two men, two women. Er, make that two boys and two girls. The typical WOW family arrangement at the time. I won't get into the stunts he pulled with me when the girls weren't around, what with this being a family web site and all.

Whaddaya mean, throw darts? God Himself chose my WOW brother for me. ha. ha ha. haha. hahaha. Haha! Hahaha!! HAHAHAHA!!! My WOW brother was also our family coordinator for the first few months, until our BC finally believed what we'd been telling her and got permission from HQ to demote (but not remove) him. He used to entertain us, his stunned WOW family. His favorite way, one which always got a huge laugh out of him, was to walk out from the bathroom with his thang dangling out his zipper. haha, what a riot. Another favorite was to walk around with an erection that he would suddenly and unexpectedly flash at us. HAHA! Oh my. Those were some good times. You're the best. He was from the New Knoxville area and knew Dr quite well, he said. Darts. I wish they'd thrown darts. Good luck, Sowers! Now you're the best.

Great post, PatAnswer. Nice to "meet" you. You are not alone. I've given lots of thought to the question of "what the heck happened to us?" that we would associate ourselves with an organization whose true workings were so hidden from our view, at least at the beginning. How did they successfully tamp down the critical thinking skills in so many people? Part of the answer, I think, is that their teachings and writings contained what appeared to be superb critical thinking, already done for us. Someone smarter, wiser, more experienced than we in biblical studies had already done the critical thinking for us. All that was left for us to do was follow the bouncing ball, nod our heads and say aaahh, yes, it all makes sense to me now. When we entrust our critical thinking ability to someone else, we surrender something vital to our own well being.

Our branch leader and my twig coordinator left the field together during the middle of their wow year, and afterwards I used to ask about them even though I already knew what happened and where they went. I've forgotten some of the canned responses I got, but the general theme was "they are dead to us and useless to God because they have left the household" and other such tripe. I don't recall hearing the grease spot line, guess that was before LCM made it up. My twig coordinator knew LCM back in his Oklahoma days, she used to talk about him frequently.

I recall reading somewhere that "God looking down from heaven" is a figure, to aid our understanding of His omnipresence. It's difficult to grasp how God could possibly be present everywhere at all times, but it is rather easier to have a mental picture of God waaaay up high somewhere, looking down upon everything, seeing everything, watching everything, knowing everything that happens. And then it hits you: if God were sitting waaay up high somewhere, looking down upon the earth like that, He could only see half of it at a time. Even to say "God looking" is to use a figure. He has no eyes. I heard lots of that, how heaven is anywhere above the earth's surface, but I've never had it explained or shown to me. Edited to add: I'd be inclined to accept that heaven is anywhere above the earth's atmosphere. Or perhaps that would be the heavens (plural) and not heaven (singular).

haha, that's a good one. I'd forgotten about that line, but I must have heard it a thousand times. "Would you be blessed to clean out my car for me?" "No, but I would be blessed if you cleaned up the bathroom after you mess it up every fricking morning." haha. Reminds me also of the line we used at work, trying to get someone to volunteer for a crappy assignment.. "It's an opportunity to excel!" we would say, usually getting a stony silence in response. About 98% of the time, using the word 'bless' in TWI was fake. It became robotic to say it after a while. But if you didn't say it, watch out. Right there is a good example of how TWI counterfeited and misrepresented truth. It's a wonderful thing to be blessed, that's for sure. But to use the word 'bless' and toss it around like we did, use it when it was not truly appropriate, was to corrupt its true meaning and rendering it meaningless.

A recent question on the current whereabouts of Del Duncan (in the Friend Tracker forum) has got me wondering if we could string together the names of former TWI leaders who were cast aside and then forever ignored by TWI gatekeepers and lock-box minders. People like Del, whom I remember meeting once, and hearing so many great things about. Then, poof; he's dropped down the memory hole, never to be heard from or talked about again from the New Knoxville podium. People like Donnie Fugit, whom I also remember. Hanging out with Donnie, even for a few brief moments, was like hanging out with a lightning bolt. Such an electrifying guy he was; his love for God was physically visible in his face, somehow. I know he fell asleep at a too young age, but I don't know what happened to him re TWI. He just sort of vanished down that handy dandy TWI memory hole. Is there a thread that has already attempted this? Is it possible to name them all in one thread? Or are there too many? In my life, I've been the victim of passive-agressive behavior by another, and I did not appreciate it at all. Seems to me this TWI behavior is passive-agresseve behavior on steroids, and it annoys me that they get away with it.

Taxicab, who tugged on your rope? Don't leave me hanging like that!

I can't recall where I heard this, quite possibly here in GSC: Q: What is a religious cult? A: A religion that has not yet gained political clout. It's quite true.

Twinky, Ch@r1ie M@nd4y mentioned in that article was my former BC back in 1975. He left TWI that year along with one of the female wow family coordinators. Big scandal!

Until today, I never knew 'buttholey' was a word. I like it.

Another one: I've recently decided to get a Swimming Pool and Spa Maintenance certificate, so I can offer myself as a certified technician to maintain public and/or private pools and spas. This involves doing things like maintaining proper water pH, chlorine and other chemical levels, filter maintenance, pool vacuuming, etc. There are lots of pools here where I live, not sure how many there are in your corner of the UK. A friend at work said he knows of a two-day course here that results in certification. Something else to throw on the idea pile.

Way International, heal thyself.

You'll need to find out the going rate somehow. Newspaper adverts, craigslist.com or word of mouth from others in the business. The larger the apartment, the more you can charge; the dirtier the apartment, the more you can charge. Most places require you to provide your own cleaning supplies so you need to factor in those costs. Buckets, rags, sponges, broom, mop, cleaning solutions, oven cleaner, window cleaner, labor, etc. Depends also upon the expectation of the property owners, how much they expect you to do and how well. Bottom line is, most owners don't want to clean their own properties and they are more than happy to pay someone else to do it, particularly if they own many properties. Don't undersell yourself, it's a valued service you are providing. Well-cleaned properties rent/sell much faster for the owners. My experience was with large apartment building owners. Going to real estate agents about cleaning empty houses after owners move away is also good, as Linda described. Cleaning a house will likely pay more than an apartment, depending again on size, dirtiness, and what's expected of you. Your cleaning supplies will be a considerable lot of stuff to transport from job to job. So that's a consideration, particularly if you don't have a car or other suitable transport available. Apartment buildings may allow you to store your things in a locked closet, which obviously helps.

I did this too, one summer. It paid quite well, I recall charging between $250-$300 to clean just one empty apartment, and that was about 25 years ago. That was a thorough cleaning of an empty apartment, which sometimes took more than one day. Each apartment has different needs, so I adjusted my bid accordingly. The dirtier they were the more I charged, I even charged $400 for one particularly nasty place and the owners didn't quarrel with my bid. Be sure to do a walk-through of the vacant apartment before making a bid. Towards the end, I had an efficient system down so I could thoroughly clean most places in 8 -10 hours. Pack a good lunch, wear comfy grubby clothes, and bring some tunes! What does it mean in England to tend someone's borders? Gardening?

There's also office cleaning, going into professional office spaces to do light cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, trash to the dumpster, etc) usually done after business hours which would mean working evenings. Being a courier is nice work, it can sometimes involve overnight travel. Seems like all the part-time jobs I've had always led to a full-time job offer from the employer, so don't shy away from doing something part-time. You never know where it may lead. There's an inbred ministry in New Knoxville, OH that desperately needs new leadership, though I doubt they're accepting any resumes from the public.