J0nny Ling0

And hey Out There, I don't doubt the BS that you saw. I was fortunate to have some really "heartsy" LEAD staff on the sessions that I was on. But I also know that there were some real azzoles there too. I call it the "people factor": "novices, lifted up with pride", something the Bible warns us about. Anyway, I am good friends with Steve Armstrong, who was one of the original LEAD staffers, who in fact helped to set the whole thing up, and he is a really great guy. He is one who definitely was sad to see the way that LEAD went, for his vision was way different than what it became. In fact, he now runs a school called "Sojourn Mountaineering" (That name is correct-I think), and has actually taken young people "back to the summit" on a LEAD type session. I think his website can be found easily. There is even an account of the first time he and his kids and some other teens "went back to the summit" at his website. He is no longer with The Way, but still believes in the benefits that can be had from these types of challenges. And, I would bet that you too can appreciate the benefits from this type of school, were it done correctly. Maybe I can find his site for you, for your perusal: http://www.cicword.com/SMI%20is.htm No doubt Steve has come a long way from his Way days, but his love for the mountains and for climbing still lives. Maybe you might find his web site interesting.

LEAD was a positive and wonderful experience for me both times that I went. First time in 1980 in the winter, and the second time in the spring of 1982. The staff there were mostly good people. The first year I went (and those sessions were a full two weeks long), no one was injured, and there were many wonderful breakthroughs for people who had never been out doors much. Lots of fear of the unknown regarding "The Outdoors" was conquered. For me, the physical aspects of it were not much of a challenge. I was very fit, and had already done a bit of climbing, and lots of hiking (read that last as- hunting). What was challenging for me during that session was that of being one who was willing to get out of my sleeping bag on those cold and snowy mornings, and help with the fire, and get breakfast going etc. But I noticed this about myself, and made the change, even though it was hard with my lazy arsed attitude. But I did it. We called our solo a solo that year, but by the time I went again, it had become a "duo". But really, was the concept of a "duo" really that bad? What is wrong with calling it that? It was supposed to be a time alone with God. Jesus went out into the wilderness to be alone with God, and we as Christians are instructed to follow Jesus's lifestyle. At least at that time we considered ourselves as Christians, and I think that term as appropos. Maybe now, that some here have rejected Christianity, it seems stupid. But for me, who still regards myself as a Christian, I don't see anything wrong with the term. And so, I had a great time and enjoyed it immensely. My second time was no less better. One girl while we were hiking back down from Sunset peak, did slip and fall and then tumble down the embankment, banging up her knee fairly badly. However, she was a real trooper, boned up, and was fine by the time we all got back to Emporia. Yes, there were negative incidents, some incredibly so, but there were also many many positive incidents, and some that were quite phenomenal. On my way back home the first time, my hitching partner and I prayed to God that somebody would take us out to a steak dinner, and specifically, we asked God for some cold, fresh brewed iced tea. And that is exactly what happened with our next ride. We started telling this guy about Jesus Christ, and he was so blessed, that he said; "Well now, I'm gonna take you kids to dinner in Roswell. Do you all want a nice steak dinner? Well, my partner and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing! And when he asked why, we told him about our prayer, and he got all teary eyed and said that he was just so thankful to have met us and to see God work in his life like that". And so, she and I ate at a steak place with this guy, hogged out at the salad bar, ate like we'd never eaten before, and man was it so fine! And, they served freshed brewed iced tea! And, the guy said he'd give us a ride all the way to Emporia, but that he was in Roswell to visit a person in the hospital who need his prayers. And so, we went with him to the hospital to pray for his friend, and later, he dropped us off at a truck stop on the east side of town. We made it back to The Big E in record time, and it was a really great time. And by the way, there have been a number of deaths during Outward Bound sessions. The fact is, these kinds of "outdoor challenge sessions" have their risks. Here in this article, two people died in the intense heat in Utah: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-0...ah-deaths_x.htm And according to this article, there have been 24 deaths in the 46 year history of Outward Bound: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventur...ward-bound.html And so, what was negligent to me about the LEAD program, was that The Way required The Way Corps to "go LEAD", and that should not have been the case. Some people are simply not cut out to do that kind of a thing. And when one decides to do the Outward Bound Challenge, it is a personal decision on their part, and they no doubt had to sign some kind of a legal document, where they acknowledged the possibilities of fatal accidents. I am aware of only one person who died on LEAD, and he was a friend of mine. He ran my first PFAL class. He was a black man, and while hitch hiking, he was hit by a truck and killed. Many of us loved this man, for he was a dear and "heart of gold fellow". The driver sped off and was never apprehended. I suspect that it was a racially based murder. But I guess we'll never know until we all get to Heaven. The truck accident was just that, an accident, and even though many of us "Wayfers" didn't believe these things could happen to us like it did to those in the LEAD Accident because we had "God's wall of fire of protection about us", the accident happened, and thank God, no one was killed! That's a thing to be thankful for, I think, right? No doubt those involved all have thought the same thing! But for many many people in The Way Corps, LEAD was a very positive experience. You may not find that sentiment here at the GSCafe that often, because this site is designed to point out the negatives of The Way. But, there are many other websites where "Way bashing" is not as popular as it is here, and no doubt at those places, you will find good reports about the LEAD program. I will always cherish those times on LEAD, for they were good. And so Hooner, I just thought I would let you know that there are more than one side to a story... :)

It seems to me that the majority of responses here seem to be in the "not favorable towards marijuana use" category. A lot on the paranoia thing, and also on the lack of memory thing. Both seem to be a recurring thing. It seems that many of us who use to smoke way back when have some great memories of our early use of it, but has now changed, as if the "reefer turned on us!" I'll tell ya now, if the negative aspects of dope smokin' never set in on me, I'd probably want to smoke it here and there. But, that is not the case...

When I was a WOW in South Central Los Angeles (76/77) at the age of nineteen, I was already done with Mary Jane. I hadn't smoked it for two years, and like I said before, I'd quit before I ever went to twig. And one day, my two WOW "cousins" (they were in the other family), Jeff and Dick, showed me a bag of pot that they'd found. It was about a dime bag. They asked me if I wanted to get high with them that night and drive around Hollywood. But I told them no way, I just didn't do that anymore. And so, that evening, off they went in Jeff's Chrysler New Yorker to cruise Hollywood Blvd and the Sunset Strip. And wouldn'tcha know, they "forgot" to put gas in the car, and when they ran out, they had no idea as to where they were. They were lost somewhere near Hollywood, and it was WAY PAST MIDNIGHT. They called our 6th Corps branch leader and told her of their perdicament, but had no way to tell her where they were. And so, the call was made to we in the other family who had been doing a prayer vigil for them, and were told that they had been found, "sort of". And so, they had to try and ask some late night stree people to tell them where they were, and finally, they came up with some directions, and Nancy Jo, the BC finally went and got them. And later, Dick and Jeff told me their story, about how stoned they got, and how dumb they felt when they ran out of gas and didn't know where they were. I never ratted them out of course, but for me, it was another confirmation on just how bad that stuff is... P.S. And Groucho, now I see Your 49th State thing was an attempt at humor. Okay, I get it... P.P.S. Too funny Chas!

The worst (yet sadly the funniest) thing I ever did when stoned: I was in ninth grade science class with Mr. Patch, a half white/half Chinese American. He was very very serious about his job, and supplied us with alot of laughs. But we never laughed to his face, because he brooked no nonsense, and simply kicked us out if we were too far out of line. And as it was, me and four friends of mine, because we were goof offs and always stoned in class, were made by Mr. Patch to sit in the front of the room, just in front of his desk, so he could keep an eye on us. One day, while we were really toasted, we came into class and took our seats up front as usual. Mr. Patch, then comes up and announces that we had a special guest from the National Institutes Of Health (NIH-this was in Bethesda, Maryland), who was a scientist, and who was going to give us a talk on molecules. Mr. Patch seemed very animated about it all, and was happy, it seemed, to be able to have procured a genuine and well paid scientist who was willing to hold forth concerning "molecules", that which we had been studying for the past week. Before he introduced this guy, he also told us that if we studied hard, we could end up like the guy he was going to announce and have a great paying job like him. And so, he announced this guy, whose name should have been something like "Poindexter" or something to that effect. And so, on cue, this scientist comes in from the hallway, and after introductions, takes the floor. And I swear, this guy looked like Jerry Lewis in the original "Nutty Professor" movie. I mean, he was classically nurdish, with dark horn rimmed glasses, white lab coat, with pocket protector, and just all of it. And not only did he have the look, he was very nervous and uptight about standing before a bunch of spoiled brat 1971 Junior High School kids. And, my buddies and I, all of us in that front row, only glanced at each other at first, but then looked straight back at the Scientist so that we would not laugh out loud. I mean, we were sooo waisted! And we were in that stage of "potsmokingdom" where virtually everything was funny. Even stupid things were funny. But here we were with this seriously nerdy scientist standing before us about to hold forth about molecules, and we were already doing our best not to look at each other so as to not laugh. We did sneak peeks at each other, but Mr. Patch's stern look kept causing us to look back straight ahead. But, the smirks were forming as our minds reeled with stoned humor. And then, the scientist began to speak. He began to hold forth about m-m-m-olecules. As it turned out, the poor man stuttered! And it appeared that his worst words for him to pronounce were words that started with an "M"! And so, he'd begun with something like; "Hello boys and girls, to day we are going to talk about m-m-m-mmm-molecules. And there was a dead silence. Now in a civilized crowd, people only get quiet and embarrassed for the poor person who is up front having a hard time. And this was as it was with our crowd, at first. None of us wanted to belittle the man, but our stoned heads were reeling with the possibilities of all the wicked humor and laughing that we could have out of this situation. I looked over at Steve-Reefer-Keefer, who also chanced a glance at me, and we grinned. And Mr. Patch glared. And we both looked again at the scientist. But then, from my right, fellow stoner Kenny Birch stifled a laugh by snorting through his nose. But, that was sooo funny when he did that! And I looked at him, and he did it again, as did I! And Mr. Patch was boiling mad just off the the left of the stuttering scientist, who was now redder'n a beet. And Kenny, Steve and I gathered our composure for a moment, and the Scientist continued on; "When it comes to m-molecules-he was getting it under control-we must understand that the very nature of m-m-m-m-m-mmmolecules are very interesti..." and that's when our buddy Stuey Nussbaum blurted out a short version of his classic laugh which we all knew so well, but then caught himself like a gentleman should, and stopped his mouth and tried to compose his face. But it was during those intense moments of Stuey endeavoring to compose his face, with a stifled and hilarious smile upon it, that the rest of us "stoned out of our gourders" finally lost it. At first we all just looked at each other back and forth with this "volcano of laughter bursting beneath the surface" look, which we desperately were trying to hold in, but then finally, to no avail, we errupted. We laughed horse laughs until the tears ran down our faces. We were laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt! And all the while, Mr. Patch is yelling; "Get out! Get out you little sons of bitches! Get out of my classroom forever! You are never ever welcome back here! You are nothings! Leave leave!" And we left, holding our stomachs and wiping the tears from our eyes as we headed for the office. By the time we got there, Mr. Patch had already talked to Mr. Brockdorf, the assistant principal, and told him what we'd done, who in turn, just looked at us and shook his head and told us to sit down until the bell rang. And we did, and then we all burst into laughter again, and Mr. Brockdorf came out of his office and looked at us, grinned, and then went back into his office again, which caused us to laugh all over again. OMG our bellies hurt from that! But man, I swear, when I became a Christian believer, it was things like that that I asked God to forgive me for! NOT for "smokin dope, drinking alkyhall and chasin wimmen! I asked him for forgiving me for having done things like that that hurt people. Oh man oh man, that was aweful...But, it was funny too. Well, ya had to be there...

A couple of times back in HIGH school, I bought a pound of pot at $150.00 apiece. Each time I broke it down to sixteen ounces, and sold them for fifteen bucks apiece. But, since there was good competition at good ol Walter Johnson HIGH School, I needed a gimmick to sell my oz's off. And so, since there was (and still is) a nice bamboo patch in my yard which I started when I was eight, I cut down some bamboo, and made sixteen bamboo bongs (32 total). And, my sales pitch was; "Buy one ounce of this fine reefer, and you get one natural bamboo bong for free ! And remember: "natural bamboo" is way better than those plexiglass bongs"! And so, I did that twice, and they sold like hotcakes. And my bongs were all around my highschool and at parties, which really helped my self esteem when I saw them gleefully in use. Yeah, back in the day, my nick name was "Get High Nye". Geez. Glad I got away from all of that fer sher!

Man, where have you been? And you want me to show you "proof" that Alaska is a state, our 49th state? You've been smokin way too much pot dude. Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. I'm not going to give you any proof. If you don't know this by now, well I guess you've been too stoned to know 1st grade history. You stoners...geez! P.S. There's also this little island group in the Pacific, once known as the Sandwich Islands. They are an island paradise, and are now known as the "Hawaiian" Islands. And, the Hawaiian Islands are actually now our 50th state, and, home to a form of marijuana known as "Maui Wowee"...

Well, up here in Alaska, our 49th state, everything costs more. Way more. For, most everything is shipped here by ocean going barge or container ship. Of course, some smart arse mentioned in an earlier thread that "Alaskans are rich" because of our oil, which is way not true. I am paying $3.55 a gallon for gas, for instance. Refineries are not aloud to be built in the US as you probably know. Not "environmentally friendly". But yeah, a quarter OZ will cost you, Groucho, $125.00 to $150.00 a quarter Oz. But, no problem no doubt, because you druggies will always come up with "whatever it costs" to support your drug habit, like they do here... The trade off when it comes to the high cost of living here is that we get to live in/on The Last Frontier where whales breach, eagles sit on lamp posts (as well as soar over the mountaintops and swoop down and catch salmon), and glaciers calve, and bears wander the neighborhoods along with the moose. And all of that with a total population of only 650,000 people over an area that is two and a half times the size of little old Texas. And how many millions (including illegal aliens) live down there? Yep, even you druggies have it pretty good up here, even though your weed costs more. You ought to come up and purchase some Matanuska Thunder F_ck...

And I KNOW that I never knew jack crap about God, but wanted to ever so badly. And one night, while in the wheel house of the ship I was responsible for, I got on my hands and knees and prayed to God to send me a Christian to show me the way to Him. And the very next day, a WOW Ambassador by the name of Anne Marie O'Reilly came to work as a cocktail waitress aboard our cruise ship. She witnessed to me within the first few minutes of our meeting, and my life changed forever for the good. It was like a miracle to me, for the Answer came so fast, for I had truly, and finally surrendered my heart to Jesus the night before. And so, maybe you'd had a nice experience with God before TWI, but I had not. And, what was served up to me was wonderful, and the love amongst the Believers was something that I will never forget. Those first two years were literally out of this world, and I thank God Almighty for every day of it. But I do not dispute that it all went way south (as also did the ministry of the apostle Paul), but I know and will always declare that God answered my prayer that next morning with a WOW Ambassador, and with PFAL.

No kiddin! Whew! About two years ago, I was working in one of the Eskimo villages out West, and my partner, who smoked daily (and has since quit-amazing!), offered this Eskimo dude some reefer while we were working. And so, I too took a hit, and man! Just like that, "I was back". That was some serious killer weed. Up here in Alaska, there is a "breed" known as "Matanuska Thunder f_ck", which is what my partner had. And just that one hit reminded me immediately why I had quit back when I was seventeen. Alls we had back then, for the most part was what we called "Mexican dirt weed". We got just as stoned no doubt, but we smoked bowl after bowl through out the day and night. A whole oz would be gone in a couple of days, basically.

And also, one thing of note was that when Vince Finnegan had been a young hoodlum in New York, he'd been sent to The C of E, and his signature was up at the top of Anderson Library also. Anybody else remember that? I seem to remember going up there to see it one time. It was up in this dome like deal...

Nope, never been a redneck. And, I have smoked pounds and pounds of the stuff back in the day, and so, I would hardly say that my conclusion is unsubstantiated. And I also have many acquaintences today in the construction field who are still pot heads (are you a pot head Focker? ), and who still blow their $150.00 bucks every paycheck for a quarter ounce of "bud". And almost all of them are Losers who can't seem to get a "life" going on and become productive, even though they make good coin. I have seen it over and over and over. And the other day, I met a man on his seventieth birthday who kept forgetting what he was talking about in mid story. The first time he did it, he was real embarrassed, and I recognized it immediately. And I told him, ya know, that's what I would call a "marijuana moment". And he lightened up, and said; Yeah! I still smoke lots of reefer. And I know that's what does it to me! P i ss es me off!" And he proceeded to do it at least ten more times. He'd go off on a tangent, and boom! There'd go his main line of thinking and he'd forget. It was amazing. It was like watching re-runs of me back when I was seventeen. After he did it the third time, I began to monitor whatever he was saying closer, and was able to help him back on track each time which made him happy, and he thanked me for it. I also told him that maybe it was time to "put the bong down". He laughed at that too, and agreed. No, I think that reefer is way more destructive than stoners want to believe. Yet, I do believe that people should have the right to smoke it, should they so desire, just like when it comes to alcohol. I just don't like it when they forget that they are driving a car, or something like that...

And, as far as I am concerned, marijuana is a rotten drug, and that those who partake of it almost always have a big "L" on their forehead.

I believe that song was done by "Agape", the British Way Prod band. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure of it. That one was my very favorite Agape song...

That's cool. And, if I didn't say sorry then, I do now. Peace... Kevin

Hey there Hills Bruh! Happy birthday, and may you have many more! JL

Hey man, I loved Pressed Down, and that song in particular. Also, "All The Little Children". That one makes me cry. Glad you love their tunes also ChasU. I listened to them live all the time back in the day. One time though, I saw LCM ream them out while they were on stage because he thought the song "I am A Leaf (on a mighty tree)" was too "sissified" or some crapola. It was rude man, really rude. And that Joe Fair, what a voice the man had/has, and their three part vocal harmonies made my heart just sing! I think my overall favorite by Pressed Down was "The Old Brownstone". "The windows were boarded on the old brownstone, to look at the place, ya figured no one was home....."

Ya know Excie, I was never after all of that. I only wanted to serve God's people. I was shocked when it was evident as to what was happening. And so, even though I may seem to be a caveman to you, I am not that bad of a guy. I have been married for 23 years, my kids (God help me with my second set of teenagers!) are pretty well adjusted. I am pretty conservative, but not so rigidly so. And, I am thankful that I have not been through so many of the trials that so many who have survived. The Way Ministry gave me a number of GOOD principles to live by. But, I no longer live by all of them. Sorry Ex, if I upset you so. I seem to do it all of the time. :( Send me a PM if you want to talk... Kevin

Oh, no, he wasn't in on it. I hope I didn't imply that. It was just his trailer home that they gave me for the weekend. He wasn't even a friend, although I knew him a bit in that he was my elder Corps, the 8th. He always looked like Barney Rubble to me...

Excathedra asked: This happened in 1986 or 87. I do know that it was just before the first big exodus when LCM issued his "Big Letter" demanding allegiance. I drove to HQ to pick up a truck that I'd purchased there during the Rock, but had left in the care of Max Morgan, a friend of mine. This was about three weeks or a month after the Rock. And when I got there, there were a number of weddings to be performed as it was the first weekend where weddings were allowed at HQ after the Rock. Apparently there was a policy where weddings weren't allowed there for a certain amount of time before and after the Rock. And so, this was the first weekend when weddings could resume there, and there was a fair amount of visiting clergy there.. Apparently, there were people on the field who had a desire to be married in Mecca (oops I mean at HQ), and they would ask their LC or some local clergy person to go with them to do the honors at HQ. Maybe they did it in the BRC? Maybe that was the draw. And so. There I was. I showed up at HQ with a friend who drove me there who was going back in for his last year in residence but had been home in Maryland to get some dental work done. I'd showed up with my sea bag (small hand carry deal), with nothing more than a couple pairs of blue jeans and some t-shirts. No suit, suit bag or briefcase (thank God!-I hated alla that!) for, I was only there to pick up my truck. But when I signed in, the person where I signed in recognized me as a clergy guy, and got me a nice room in Mr. Linder's "unit" which is on HQ grounds. John was away fishing up north somewhere, and so I had his trailer unit deal to myself, or so I thought. And, while I was there, they sent that girl over to live in the room across from mine, to be my "hand maid" or whatever, and the incident I cited ensued. I think she was really embarrassed when I turned her down. It was weird and surreal to me, for I didn't believe things like that happened in The Way. It was the beginning of many more eye opening experiences. Mind you, this was all just before the Great Purges began, and I have always wondered if that was a ploy to get me "on board" and "in debt" to LCM by taking what think of as a "bribe" by jumping into the cess pool of pleasure with them. I didn't think that then, but I certainly did later. I didn't know what to think then, for it was Way confusing to me. Pun intended.

You must be talking about the "Coelacanth" http://www.dinofish.com/

Nice to hear CC! Glad you are at peace with your self and this old world...

No, I'm not! And we need to stop women's sufferage! They've been suffering for too long!

Reading books and writing short stories. Actually though, I get jazzed when I write. Also, I play my git-tar too, which really is a stress reliever. Playing my harmonicas with The Band ( not THE Band-but my friends) is fun but it is almost athletic, definitely aerobic. And so, as far as the question goes concerning stress relief, now that I have mentioned my hobbies and filtered through them, I guess it would have to be reading and playing my git-tar. Oh, and maybe for Groucho's sake I should also mention "girl-watching".