Oakspear

Came out in the mid- to late- nineties. It was a book of photos of the Way International grounds. If I remember correctly is was divided into 4 seasons. And yes, they did call it "the coffee table book". :blink:

More on my house and the evil BC ... Generally I am a very orderly person, I like things in their places, and for them to be put back where they were. My dad was (is!) like this, and he got it from his mom. However, my ex-wife was not willing to do all the extra work that it took to keep all six kids at this level of "decent and in order". So I sympathize with rascal's husband! Anyway, I had accepted it, although areas that were 100% mine, like my home office, were pretty orderly. Our Branch Coordinators were newlyweds, and only in their second year of being out of residence (they were 20th or 21st Corps) They were pretty busy at the time of this story, maybe they were running the first batch of WayAP classes, I don't remember for sure, but they were running their @sses off. We decided to be helpful and offered to feed them. Nothing formal or fancy, just some tuna casserole and veggies. the idea was that we could contribute to "the moving of the Word" by freeing up our leaders from the duty of cooking and preparing dinner this one night. At the time, all six of my children were living at home. My oldest was about 17 or 18, and the various other kids were aged 15, 11, 9, 8, and 4. We home schooled them, and I worked primarily out of the home, so usually the living room would be filled with school desks, piles of books, both our own and from the library, and stacks of boxes filled with school supplies and whatever else we didn't have room for in the closet. Mr. BC was quite, almost sullen throughout dinner, answering questions in a curt manner, usually of one word. His wife looked confused, and kept looking to him for some kind of clue as to what his problem was. When he finished eating he got up, said good night and walked out. The next morning I received a phone call from Mr. BC, asking if he and his wife could come over and talk to me and my wife over the noon hour. I told him that we didn't like to have our school day interrupted, and that I was working, but that noon was as good a time as any to take lunch. he replied that we would not be eating. When they showed up we were ripped into for virtually every aspect of how we kept our house. From the living room to the kitchen to the garage. later, we were called before the BC's and several other leaders to be confronted again, since our cleaning and organizing wasn't up to par. This resulted in months of surprise inspections.

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Yup, I remember that. late 90's.

Well Mex, the "innies" threw me out. If I "fellowshipped" with them, I can't imagine being allowed to freely speak the "truth". And btw, I don't believe in the devil.

When my ex-wife and I were running a twig at our home, we had a big coat rack next to the front door. We mainly had it because, although it was a roomy five-bedroom house, it didn't have much closet space. In addition to the coats, we started storing stuff on top of it, usually a big 30-cup coffee pot, and maybe some baseball caps. Our BC would almost get the shakes when he saw the "disorder" of that coffee pot up there. After we were no longer twig coordinators, we really spread out our home schooling stuff in the living room. The kids would set up their desks wherever it was convenient: close to the book shelf that had their books on it, or near the window, or close to mom's table, whatever. Ol' anal-retentive BC came over and "suggested" that we line up all the desks, and line up all the pens and pencils in the desks :blink: - yeah, that helped them learn better.

No, we shouldn't (to answer the question the title of this thread asks)

Bottom line for me: I can't really know for sure, so I always consider it as a possibility. I'm open to spiritual and/or supernatural experiences, but I'm not open to gettting played for a sucker. If I hear a voice telling me to "be still and enjoy the beautiful sunset", it doesn't much matter if I'm deluded, or some bad drugs are finally kicking in; but if the voice says "give all your money to a ministry that is teaching the accuracy of God's Word", I'll consider the delusion angle a little more seriously. Assume that there is no God? I have no problem with that, nor do I have a problem with there being one. If there is or isn't a God is not determined by what I think. Ethics, love, compassion, all manner of good works speak louder when they are done altruistically, rather than because that is what some deity expects. This is not to say that religious faith taints any of thse actions, but that purely humanistic motives can be just as great.

"Originally", back on WayDale, I signed up as Taoiseach (pronounced Tay-Shock), which is a gaelic word that I believe means "leader" and is the title of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland. I had seen it in a book I was reading and liked the look of it. A short time later I also signed up as Twyril III, a character in a novel I tried to write in college. I kept both characters going to keep the WayGB guessing. I used Taoiseach to complain about TWI abuses that I personally suffered, and Twyril III (which I later shortened to simply "Twyril") to post "insider information", and made it known that i was an "innie". Toward the end of my time in TWI I added a third handle, John Oakspear, which I pretended was my real name. I used it to participate in some of the lighter threads. In the fall of 2001 I was found out by the WayGB: they figured out that I was Twyril. I tried to go back to using Taoiseach, but had originally registered on WayDale as a local user, and could not use that handle as a global user on Grease Spot. I briefly registered as Taoi seach (same name with a space), but too many people thought that it was Tao Search (i.e. a searcher for the Tao, or The Way) that I went back to Oakspear, leaving out the "John" and no longer acting like it was my name. The oak was the sacred tree of the celts, and the word for oak is the root of the word "druid". I had begun exploring the Old Religion of the Celts and wanted to honor that aspect of my ancestors' faith. I tacked on "spear", partly because it sounded cool, partly because it represented war, and I was declaring war on TWI. I use it all the time now, and in certain contexts I think of myself as "Oakspear"; on my 2002 tour and at the Weenie Roasts, most people called me "Oakspear" rather than "Tom".

socks: That makes sense. From all accounts, Martindale was acting like a whipped puppy from POP onwards. The whole chest beating thing just didn't make sense, did it? In retrospect, Martindale, Allen and Don Wierwille appear to have had been going along with what Geer said just so he'd shut up; like a kid who tells his parents he'll behave, all the while planning his next act of rebellion

Here's another one that I'm planning on seeing soon: Chris Duarte. He'll be here in Lincoln in March. Chris is rooted in the blues, but is influenced by jazz, beat poetry, and goddess knows what else. Veeeerrry talented guitarist.

I hate to admit this, but on one tiny little point, I agree with Oldies *wince*:( Whether we realized it or not, if you were heavily involved in TWI, you were standing with a man, and that man was Wierwille, and later Martindale. Don't get me wrong, the demand for a written declaration of loyalty, in light of his previous admission that what Geer said in POP was right, was a red flag, and a not-so-subtle hint to get out! But to say "I stand with God" implies that TWI didn't involve standing with a man, when it clearly did. "Don't give me that standing with God crap" does not address whether someone is actually standing with God, but the avoidance of the question of which man or organization that the believer will be "standing with God" with. You don't need anybody or any group to stand with God? I agree...now, but that's not what TWI taught.

We have a winner! "Hush" was the first big hit by the original version of Deep Purple. It was actually written by Joe South, and was one of several covers that Purple did on their first coupla' albums take it away George

No, that's not the name of that tune But it's a pretty good hint

I was still out on "hiatus" from TWI during this time...got back in 1990, but I still had contact with "innies" during this time. One thing that I recall was something that a woman who we babysat for told us. Most of the state leadership bolted from TWI, but kept a pretty low profile about it, acted like everything was still the same, the same twig, branch, limb structure was retained parrellel to the TWI "tree". The woman in question thought that she was attending a TWI sanctioned twig. She asked us one day how long it should take for TWI to cash a check. It turns out that the money was going to Scotland. While I'm sure that the leaders and some others knew what was going on, some of the rank-and-file, at least this woman, had no idea what was going on. She was not a faithful three-twigs-a-week person, but kind of floated in and out. It indicates to me that once the break was made, there wasn't a lot of dwelling on it. Takes one to know one, but Martindale missed seeing some of the qualities in this guy thatmade him Wierwille's successor: bu tt kissing and weasling

Any particular point that you're making?

She's got lovin' like quicksand Only took one touch of her hand To blow my mind and I'm in so deep That I can't eat and I can't sleep

Tom Petty Running Down a Dream (I'm pretty sure tha's right, but I'll wait for confirmation...will be back from work in 13 hours

One of the things that I see coming up is the need to have a being higher than ourselves to define morality for us. The problem is when there are competing systems of morality all claiming to be from that same supreme being. Then we fall back on each of us experiencing God in our own way, and listening to that still, small voice...in practical terms I don't see this as any different than each person setting their own rules, building their own personal morality. You have a written standard? So do the Muslims. It's diferent. Or maybe you stick to the bible. Guess what? Everybody interprets it differently. Want a standard mode of reading and "rightly dividing"? Most of us have PFAL's "keys". Yup; still, we have different opinions. So, if belief in God enables you to become a better person, I'm all for it. I just don't see "becoming a better person" limited to a belief in God, and certainly not to any particular faith. Is it a higher sacrifice to give your life because your God inspired you to, or because you acted "situationally" to fight for your country? Opinions vary.

hey...don't bad mouth the witches!

It's "Wicca", by the way, not "Wiccanism" And yes, I'm serious, but that post was a joke...we don't have popcorn Wicca is a specific form of paganism, started in the 50's by Gerald Gardner in England. He claims to have "rediscovered" ancient rites of the Old Religion. I think he was scamming to a great extent myself. I participate in a eclectic circle of pagans, which includes some Wiccans. My wife and I presided at the Yule/Winter Solstice ritual this past December 21st.

Back To The Future Marty: "unh...why did I set the alarm for midnight for?....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz" Clerks Dante: "H*ll NO I won't come in...I'm not supposed to be there today!" National Lampoon's Summer Vacation Clark Griswold: "Hoooneeeeyyy...I just heard on the radio that Wally World is closed for repairs..." Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Chekhov (before beaming down): "Keptin, I remember this planet..."

Aren't you married, JL?

Wow! Front row! I was in about the ninth or tenth row at Madison Square Garden in 1976. Aerosmith opened for them.

Like most of those afflicted with Waybrain, you don't understand what the image of Christ on the cross represents to Catholics. It represents what he endured and suffered for us. It's purpose is NOT to glorify death. It's what he went through so that he could be raised and ascended. All you know is what Wierwille and The Way told you that it meant, and they didn't get it either.