waysider

Like taking out your hearing aids at the end of a particularly noisy day.

"Seems to me there's no end to this rabbit hole"........Elmer Fudd

Perhaps some might fancy THIS take on the matter. (Yeah, it has a brief commercial. Pass through it if you so choose.) Also, his series of videos on "Who Wrote The Bible?" is fascinating, to put it mildly. Lots of other non-Bible stuff there, too.

There are some who might take issue with the verb tense.

One of the hallmarks of a cult is laying claim to privileged information.

Yes, this one.

I don't believe that's how it's been exclusively presented. My take on it is that the OP (original poster) was saying he was granted access to privileged information that would have otherwise been inaccessible. A subset of that involved questioning whether said information (or access to it) represented reality.

What guy?

"it's a jungle out there."...Randy Newman

That's alright. It doesn't make any sense in English, either.

It can go either way on Reddit and almost always does.

Would it offend you if I asked for evidence?

Meh. After 45 years or so, it's more like watching reruns of an old B-movie. You know the scenes are supposed to be scary but you laugh at them anyway. Like that time you were a kid and tried to do some insane bicycle trick that ended up costing you a bunch of stitches or a broken bone. Thinking about it just makes you chuckle about how naiive you must have been. Thanks for your concern, though.

I'm fascinated, fascinated, I tell you. Pray tell, do expound on the good fruit you've harvested from your own tree. Time may be short, but I don't mind waiting.

(I'll try to be brief so as not to drag this too far astray.) No, it was more similar to the Way Corps, but conducted at the state level. I think the original concept was to make it like satellite versions of the W.C. Many of the elements of the Corps were incorporated into FellowLaborers. It was in-residence "leadership training", intended to last for 2 years. We lived communally in a compound near the state limb headquarters and did support work at Limb HQ. The state limb leader was the presiding figure. It was an intense 24/7 commitment, complete with sleep deprivation, skimpy, group meals, no personal time and a lot of the other features associated with the Way Corps. There were approximately 50 of us and we lived 6 to an apartment. One big difference was that we were NOT allowed to have sponsors. We had to sponsor ourselves by working a fulltime job during the day and doing FellowLaborer work at night. In fact, one requirement (that often got winked at) was that we were also required to sponsor someone in the Corps. I presented a detailed description of FellowLaborer daily life when I started posting here in 2006. There have been a few other posters here from the Ohio program, as well as a couple other state programs. (Kentucky and California or Texas, I think, not really sure) One thing I can tell you is that "believers meetings ", 3 and 4 times a day, can lose their sparkle rather quickly, it you get my drift.

Granted I was never Way Corps, but during my stint in FellowLaborers, I got a generous portion of the same stuff you guys had heaped on your plates. The nasty taste still lingers to this day.

Anybody remember ROA 1976 or 1977? VPW took to the stage at the closing and directed (from the stage) a healing/ministering event. Lots of "Lo Shanta"s, lots of laid on hands, lots of tears and emotion. I vividly remember it for several reasons which may be too personal to share. What I don't remember about it are tales of anyone coming away from it "healed".

Mike Godwin has entered the chat.

Ya know, you could tell me that the moon was made of green cheese and it wouldn't make me dislike you. I just wouldn't believe you.

Soooo...there were no people in The Way capable of love. OKaaaay. Got it.

Like Fantasy Island except it's Fantasy Cornfield. "The gas pumps, Boss, the gas pumps!"

Note to self: Mark all the clears (c) and unclears (u) in my copy of "The Way: Living In Love".

In the first twig I was involved with, there was a young lady, still in high school, who was missing an arm. If I recall correctly, she was born like that. We'll call her Suzie for the sake of simplicity. She was initially attracted to The Way by fellow classmates who told her that complete healing was possible. Now, there was always this undercurrent of "believing" for Suzie's arm to be completely restored. People spoke in tongues for Suzie's arm, cast out "doubting spirits", ministered to her, counceled her on "the law of believing", encouraged her to become more involved in the twig workings. She became more and more frustrated and depressed as time elapsed because her "healing" just wasn't happening. Then, her father caught wind of what was going on and was, to put it mildly, furious. He had spent years teaching her to accept her current condition and to adjust to the realities of life as a disabled person. He forbade her to continue associating with The Way and I never heard from her again. When I look back on my life and reflect on things I'm ashamed of, I have to tell you that this is way up there toward the top of the list. To all the Suzies who crossed my path in The Way, I offer you this humble apology. I surely never meant to hurt anyone.

Maybe it was a combination of both... a man with the ability to swindle, stumbling into unforeseen opportunity.