waysider

You think sitting through this class as a student was embarrassing? Imagine the level of embarrassment felt standing in front of the class as a presenter.

Here in the U.S., there isn't much focus on Advent. Sure, we still have the Advent calendars. The kids see them as a source for a daily chocolate treat more than something symbolic. Anyway, my hope for the approaching season and new year is that we may enjoy good health and strive to treat each other with respect and good intention. Thanks for the thread, Twinky.

For some reason, this conjures up images of Davros from the British T.V. series Dr. Who. For the uninitiated, HERE is some background reference. "Davros is from the planet Skaro, whose people, the Kaleds, were engaged in a bitter thousand-year war of attrition with their enemies, theThals. He is horribly scarred and disabled, a condition that various spin-off media attribute to his laboratory being attacked by a Thal shell. He has one functioning hand and one cybernetic eye mounted on his forehead to take the place of his real eyes, which he is not able to open for long; for much of his existence he depends completely upon a self-designed mobile life-support chair in place of his lower body. It would become an obvious inspiration for his eventual design of the Dalek. The lower half of his body is absent and he is physically incapable of leaving the chair for more than a few minutes without dying. Davros' voice, like those of the Daleks, is electronically distorted. His manner of speech is generally soft and contemplative, but when angered or excited he is prone to ranting outbursts that resemble the hysterical, staccatissimo speech of the Daleks."

Have one of THESE on the house. Did you miss anything? That depends on your perspective. From my point of view, you can consider yourself one of the lucky ones.,

Just my opinion here. Although The Way made money on every class they ran, it was short term. The real goal was to build a following of people who would give them 10, 15, 20% of every paycheck, time after time after time. They knew the drop-out rate for class grads would be incredibly high. That's why the push to recruit was so aggressive. From a sales and marketing point of view, it's simple math. It was never about "bringing people to the Lord" or however else you choose to phrase it. We were unpaid sales reps, working for 0% commission.

Hiya, Mikey. You know he wasn't REALLY a Dr., don't you?

For yea, verily, in olden times, as the Age of Aquarius was rapidly approaching, the ancients gathered together and mused... Who do you love?

I'm not familiar with it. Is there a link?

EYE Can See Clearly Now.

We have nurses in our family. At family gatherings, they inevitably wind up in a huddle, deeply engrossed in shop talk. You would think I would listen in and learn a thing or two. Nope. I've learned to tune it out after 35 years.

Thanks, DWBH, I didn't realize my information on chemical imbalances is so antiquated. I really need to spend some time getting better informed and up to date. Anyhow, the point I was attempting to make is that the TWI method of "in go the good thoughts/out go the bad" is much too simplistic to address the complexity of an issue as enigmatic as mental illness.

Well, we're glad you are here, Maya. Have a cup of coffee. It's on the house. HERE

Back in the days of the Renewed Mind class, we were taught about a sort of thought replacement therapy. The basic concept is built around identifying unwanted thoughts and replacing them with thoughts we deem to be more appropriate. Remember "En garde!" and retemory cards? This assumed that thoughts with a scriptural basis were preferable to thoughts without scriptural basis. One example of how the the process works is as follows: You take a glass of red kool-aid and set it under a running water faucet. As the clear water replaces the red kool-aid, the solution becomes increasingly clearer until, finally, no trace of the red coloring remains. For some of life's problems, this may be a viable process. For others... not so much. Sometimes things just don't fit this concept. If a person has a chemical imbalance, all the thought replacement in the world, by itself, is not going to have lasting results. Achieving a desired chemical balance may be the answer. At other times, a combination approach that involves correcting the imbalance and adjusting the thoughts is the correct course of action. Also, some things that are actually based in normal human behavior have been classifieds as unacceptable behavior by society. Such are societal mores. This is where people learn to condition their behavior , despite any thoughts they may have. For example: for a heterosexual man, it's quite normal to have sexually oriented thoughts about women. (apply the same general idea to homosexual individuals.) What is not normal/acceptable is to act impulsively on those thoughts. You can talk until you are blue in the face, you will not erase those urges. What you can do, however, is to educate that person in regards to what is socially acceptable behavior. In conclusion, trying to apply Pollyanna techniques to a complex issue is a recipe for potential failure. I leave you with THIS musical thought for consideration.

O.K... Here ya go..from the original post... "The quality of life of a society is ultimately determined by the thoughts that each individual in that society holds in their mind. Those thoughts in turn are dependant on the things each individual is told by sources outside of ourselves." There are types of mental health problems that simply don't respond favorably to this approach.

rrobs All you're doing is reformatting the basic framework of PFAL materials. Do you not realize that's what you're doing?

rrobs You might find a more receptive audience if you had more to offer than a rehashed version of PFAL 101. We all heard this stuff, over and over, too many times to possibly count. My advise? Read a book or two... get a hobby... volunteer at a local charity...Just do SOMETHING other than trying to make PFAL work. Because, quite frankly, it doesn't.

This is pretty much an updated repackaging of the challenge VPW put forth in PFAL, along with sprinklings from a half dozen or so various other teachings. ..."Put away all your secular materials for 3 months." (paraphrased a bit) It's just repackaged PFAL dogma. And that's fine, as long as you're willing to subject it to scrutiny in the doctrinal forum.

This belongs in the doctrinal forum.

Hi, Tom My point wasn't really a reference to intent. Before the internet, a large part of proving someone had stolen your music was being able to show they had been exposed to it at some point. Such is the case with Led Zeppelin using Taurus as a partial framework for Stairway to Heaven. They toured together and shared the same stage. Zep may have even heard Spirit experiment with various paramutations. So, there's the exposure element for you. Same with Eric Carmen. He undoubtably had extensive exposure to Rachmaninoff material. Wierewille clearly had access and exposure to the works he pilfered. They weren't "previously unknown truths" as he led people to believe. This is where intent to deceive enters the picture. Yes, the problem with authenticity of what was once regaled as sacred is certainly a valid area of interest and quite worthy of exploration. I think what we're talking about here, though, is something of a more basic, fundamental nature...Wierwille actively made a deliberate effort to misrepresent his work and conceal that fact in order to facilitate his own, self-centered interests.

There's a guy from Cleveland, Ohio, named Eric Carmen, who had a couple of hits in the 1970's. His family is from a Russian background, his aunt was a violinist for the prestigious Cleveland Orchestra. He started studying classical music even before he entered kindergarten. So, one might surmise he was no stranger to the works of Rachmaninoff. Well, it turns out that All By Myself was partially based on Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 in C minor/Opus 18. Never Gonna Fall in Love Again was influenced by the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphony #2. It was no coincidence. Carmen had probably been exposed to these works hundreds of times. The problem he encountered is that he thought they were in public domain. In fairness to him, I should note he was, at that point, not much more than a local kid, trying to break out on the music scene, not yet versed in the legalities of the music industry. His error was quickly discovered and he reached a royalty agreement with Rachmaninoff's estate. Wierwille's deliberate deception, on the other hand, took decades to come to light. Some still can't accept the reality of it. It's quite a different and darker issue than the Eric Carmen/Rachmaninoff controversy.

Who knew human reproduction could be so complicated?

I should have been clearer. I didn't think you were accusing me of anything. I'm just saying that to me, personally, the term "stolen" implies deliberate intention. For example, if write a song that unintentionally includes a riff I heard 30 years ago, that's a mistake on my part. If I know the riff is from a 30 year old song and try to slip it in, hoping no one will make the connection, that's stealing. Same result...different motivation. Well, anyway, that's just my opinion. By the way, this was an issue of legal importance before the internet existed because you had to prove accessibility to make a claim valid. If some guy in Germany wrote the same song I did, I would have to prove he somehow had access to my version. Otherwise, it was considered coincidental.

Stolen is too strong a word. It suggests deliberation. Drawing from previous influence might better describe the process. I'm using "lands" metaphorically.