Leaderboard

I was in from 1974 to 1989. I attended a secular college, so I got exposure to what was going on in the world. It didn't matter, I was still stuck in Way world. For example, I didn't take any philosophy classes because I was afraid of being tainted by worldly thinking. I looked down my nose at the other students who weren't PFAL grads and I didn't enter in to a lot of relationships and activities because of my religious snobbery. At the time I played the trumpet and the college I went to was famous for its marching band. I never auditioned for the marching band because band camp was at the same time as the Rock of Ages every year. I considered enlisting in the Army ROTC program where I would have joined the Army as an officer upon graduation. I didn't do it because basic training was...at the same time as the Rock of Ages. After graduation I decided to enter the Way Corps. Why? Because I just couldn't get enough pain and suffering. My culture shock was a little different. It came when I discovered that, after all was said and done, everything I learned from TWI in terms of "spiritual development", "leadership training", and "living the more abundant life" was completely ineffectual for living life successfully in the real world. My training was even ineffectual for being in leadership with TWI. I was trained that I was better than an unbeliever, defined by TWI as a non-Way person. I was taught that as a Corps grad I was the "cream of the crop", the "best of the best". I was told that I was taught how to do things better than "the world". I was taught that "I could do all things", and that I should say in my heart,"Look out world! Here comes a Son of God!" And just by virtue of the fact of my association with TWI I was "the best". This haughty mindset is dysfunctional, and it just plain doesn't work. It takes time and discipline to be good at something. When I did not achieve instant success once I finally graduated from everything I was at a loss. My props didn't work. Of course, when you spend as much time and money in something as I did you don't want to face the fact that what you've been doing for the last 15 years has been a waste of time so you keep doing the same things over and over again and keep coming up with the same results. I finally woke up, thank God, but I believe I missed out on some things I could have accomplished had I embraced a more healthy way of viewing myself, God, and the world. The "blue book" did not help.