topoftheworld

With a lots of Crazy glue. Just prayer and a giggle now and again. I'm hanging on to my internet connection for dear life-who needs food, anyway? haha I'll be here-and there. Ok, mostly there, but I'll be here. I'm so confused. See ya'll.

haha-oh, no, I just couldn't remember the name, but I do remember some of those cozy days up there, and the days that make you cringe. I hated having to sit on the floor, and lived in fear my name would be called during some rant session Craig or Richard would have. I also recall our singing to Pat "Happy Trails" or was it "Don't fence me in?". I don't remember why we did, something about making her feel good (when some of us needed it more-lol). Ah, yes-I remember it well. Nice to met you, Livininit. Welcome to the cafe. I'm not around much lately, but I peek in from time to time when I can.

Livininit, Thanks! It's heck when the old brain won't stay at the age you really think you are! Ambassador Room (smacks forehead)--how could I forget. Four years WOW even-geez. Sigh. Guess I lost my spot in the Fireside Room (haha). So-you be one of us firkins? Dooj-I meant that it a good way. Honest. I did. :) I may not talk much, but I think nice things. Really. You always make me feel better, and it's appreciated. Love to all. Have a good Labor Day holiday! "Sitting in an armchair, reading the word........."

Dooj-that made me laugh so hard. You are such a character, and I wuv you veeewwwy much! Hey-would I be banned if I said there were parts of our 10th Corps days I liked? Ok-it'll gets worse-and sometimes miss? I mean, we were quite the crew. For all the bad-we had fun! The pond, Sadie Hawkins day, hiding from Bless Patrol, singing upstairs (what was the name of that place-above the dining room?), dressing up for Halloween, movie nights. Yeah, it had it's moments. My memory seems to be fading quickly, so I'm glad to have you folks remind me of the nice moments now and again. Those I have and always will treasure. 10th Corps ruled!

Thank you, George. That was amazing to see. Your heart is showing. :)

Ha, Tonto-the way things are going lately I might just have to cash it in! 'Cept I doubt they would let me in the door-they'd want to know why I didn't burn all the stuff as old wineskin. :lol:

ROA 77 was in Sidney-still have my ticket stub. I had pulled into the grassy parking lot that afternoon and was sitting in my car listening to the latest Stevie Kay Louis tape (It's A Wonder?). I got out of my car and saw an old friend just coming in off the WOW field from a state down south. He's the one who told me about Elvis. They had just driven in, and described driving through Memphis-seeing flags at half-staff and people staggering around like lost geese. Naturally, be Way-brained as we were, we "marveled" at the coincidence of the world's attention being focused on this individual instead of on us!!!! In all fairness, I was not a huge Elvis fan, though I knew of and appreciated some of his music. It was his movies I was not impressed with. Much later, I came to appreciate him more. Just recently, in one of my low moments, I saw the 25th anniversary Elvis special, and found myself sobbing to 'American Trilogy". Did my heart good, actually. BTW-anybody remember Joyful Noise performing "American Trilogy" on ROA 71 (or maybe 72?) If anybody has a recording of that.......

Just when I think life has no gravy left, I find this thread. May not be helping Outfield much, but it gave me some flavor today. Thanks for the savory lift.

Thank you all for your good advice and wisdom. All will be taken into consideration. Best to you, Act2-hope you sell out!

Thanks, Rhino. It's a thought. I don't do Ebay, so I don't really know how to go about that. That's why I first want to confirm that it remained unpublished, and I'm hoping I can find that out here. I'd also like to give you guys the first bite of the apple. Not that I couldn't use the money.

Forgive me for butting in, Act2-but you made me remember something. I have a copy of an unpublished manuscript by Whiteside entitled "The Trip". The rest of the cover page reads as follows: "The President and First Lady of the Way International Attend the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Way Ministry in Great Britian. TRUTH (her caps) versus Religion-Tradition-Churchianity as observed and recorded by Elena Scott Whiteside." If it was ever published, I hadn't heard-does anyone know? It's a fascinating read-especially in light if what we all now know. It was given to me more than 15 years after I left, and pre-Waydale/Greasespot, and I can tell you that while reading it I felt pulled back into the "life". To make matters more surreal, I was reading it on a flight back home from the west coast to Texas, and at some point the pilot comes on the PA to announce we were flying over Gunnison. I've had many flights since over the Rocky's, and not once has a pilot made that particular announcement. It was like an out of body expereince. I've never been able to trash it. If I had the energy, I'd post parts of it here, but that would probably cause some of us problems. Anybody want it? I feel the need to lighten my load. It's 251 pages, not in great shape but not bad-I've been hauling it around.

Great news, TL. Best wishes and have a great homecoming.

4) He thinks the keyboard is really a secret ouija board.

Hey, BB! Once you get past that 5-0 number, it's all uphill! Happiest of birthdays to ya! Enjoy the rain today-someone smiled on both of us. xo's

Happy belated birthday, Out There! And for you-many more!

Thank you, sweet people, for the good wishes! Sorry I haven't been around much: I'll try to do better. Dooj: You are a wonderful woman, and this place wouldn't be the same without you. Thanks for remembering me. Eyesopen and Rainbow girl: I have enjoyed seeing you grow in this wonderful place whenever I peek in, and look forward to seeing your sweetness and wisdom continue. You both are a great addition to this banquet. Strange One: Good to see you sir! Keep the Texas fires burning for me! I had my morning coffee in my favorite cup that is labeled "If you lead a good life, say your prayers & go to church, When you die you will go to Texas". Well, I do two out of three so maybe I'll get back to New Braunfels one day. Cool. T-bone, and Templelady: You all are precious and special. Dmiller: I miss our chats. You are a good man (for a Yank). Chatty: I pray all is well with you. Your heart always shows through, and I wish you nothing but peace and happiness. Bikerbabe: Didn't you figure it out? The cooler weather was my gift to you!!! Happiest of birthdays to you! Suda: Love to you and Sudo. My prayers are for your family to continue to prosper, and for life to keep smiling brightly on you all. Jonny: You know I have a special place in my heart for you. Excathedra: When I get to heaven, I'm saving a spot in the living room for you-on the comfest couch I can find-but take your time, okay? I love you bunches. and Paw-Thanks for keeping me around. Hope I remembered everyone. Love and hugs to all.

I know, I know-I haven't been around much, for reasons I won't get into, but since I have partly become the subject of this thread, I feel like answering some of these issues. Maybe it's a last gasp from me. I had many good experiences in this organization. I had some bad experiences at well, even before I went into the Corps. I kept my rose colored glasses firmly in place through most of it, because nothing they put me through could compare to my experiences growing up. These people replaced my so-called family, and they were all I had. This ministry gave me the answers I'd asked all my short life and filled in so many missing pieces-and I felt I had the ability as I grew and matured to separate individual bad behaviour from a policy dictated by the group. If everything I have read here over the past two years is to be believed, then I was led straight into the lions mouth by their underlying actions. Hearing Catcup talk about the experience of her Sixth corps sister, and after coming to this board and finding out about Ken B and Rachael, made and makes me all the more angry about what happened to me. There is no justification for them to have continued the practice. I hitchiked plenty before and during my Corps years-before because I had no choice, and during because we were given no choice. I don't want to dwell on the negative situation either, but the fact of the matter is that it has affected me my entire life. Maybe relating my experience makes some uncomfortable, so participating in this board with that as my backdrop had been difficult, and tougher to do emotionally once I finally revealed it openly, but instead of my story being the subject of gossip or speculation, I brought it out. Some of you demand "proof" to backup stories. If hearing directly from someone who went through what you all have been discussing isn't good enough for you, then I don't know what else to do. These people were my support, my family, my all in all-at least while moving up the ladder. But as I have related in other threads, that support was pulled out from under me. For the record: My partner and I were picked up heading to Tinnie just west of Oklahoma City by two men. They took a side road, pulled over, and without displaying any weapons, instructed my Corps bro to get out of the car. He did-no argument. And that was it. As I've related, I was allowed to remain in the Corps, but always, always, with a cloud of "spiritual" suspicion over my head. I put one foot in front of the other, and did everything I was told, but things were never the same. I was even allowed to go LEAD my final year-and you know what-I had a great time. Did all the climbs, even the Australian repel (wasn't THAT a hoot). Strangely enough, I have absolutely no memory of getting there or getting back-I just remember the experience once I got there. But it was to be my last good time. A few months later, I was gone. Yes-I went on. But I've never been the same. Work became my life. Personal relationships were doomed. Friendships stemed from work. How the &^%$ could I trust anyone if I couldn't even trust people who were "God's best"??? I couldn't even get in a car with anyone for years afterwards. It was ten years before I voluntarily traveled outside of wherever I was living, and until I could afford to get my own car, I walked everywhere I needed. Counseling? None-not within the remaining Corps years or afterwards. Feel good books or seminars to boost my self image? You're kidding-after sitting through what was supposed to be the absolute best only to find it was based on quicksand-you think I could tolerate a secular viewpont? Join a church-umm-no. So what's my point? I don't know-so much has been said already. But here's the thing. My life has been permantly scarred by the actions of this group. I'm still alive, but I wouldn't call what I have much of a life. Oh-you want me to just get over it? Ok-you go through what I did, then you tell me how to get over it-with no support group. I have my good memories, and you know what? I'm ok with them-they are part of who I am. But the bad-well, they made me who I am too. It's been an emotional two years since discovering Greasespot and finding out how much quicksand my memories were built on. In someways, it has been similiar to the months directly after leaving the ministry. You and I have had to take our memories and re-evaluate them based on what we now know-and it shakes you to your core. I don't write well, so I don't know if I said what I started out to say. There are arguments pro and con to everything. All I know is what happened to me-and my heart aches for what happened to others-and none of it was necessary. Did it happen because &^%$ happens? Maybe. Did it happen because I didn't believe big enough? Maybe. Was it a little of both? Maybe. You know what? I no longer care. WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PUT IN THIS POSITION. And that's that. Sorry for the long post. Thanks to all of you-you are all dear sweet people and I'm glad to have heard your viewpoints. Takes guts to keep putting yourself out there, and you all do it so well.

Honestly, I didn't just post what I did to troll. I haven't been around much cause the stuff just got to me, even after all this time. This thread serves a useful and truthful purpose, and it just got me going. My story is just one of many-whether you were in TWI or something else. It burns me that so much of what we did was not to please God, but please the organization and the people running it-and that's a big freaking clue that we were in a cult. Took me a long time to admit that. Don't stop with your stories-please-keep going. Thanks for the good thoughts.

You know you're in a cult when........ You eagerly join their leadership training program, thinking it's to learn to be God's best by training with God's best, only to find yourself working menial jobs, falling asleep in mind-numbing classes, and eating food you wouldn't fed your dogs. You actually look forward to piling on every piece of clothing you have to stand on the freeway in the freezing cold with your thumb out to hitchhike to another location that you must be to in a certain amount of time or face the wrath of leadership. You find yourself abducted on the way to one of these blessed locations and having unspeakable things done to you, only to refuse to file a police report because you have to get to where you are going or face the wrath of leadership. You return from this experience, only to be told by leadership that you have failed due to lack of believing, and they will decide whether or not to kick you out. You then spend the next year and a half on pins and needles, never receiving counseling for the experience but instead feeling like God's worst among God's best. You finally near the end of this training experience, only to be told two months before graduation that you are truly worthless and have no business being there, causing you to run away in shame and leaving all your belongings and "friends" behind. You then spend the next twenty years surviving and attempting to build a life (albeit one outside the protection of the household) all the while knowing you're a worthless piece of crap as a human being-they said so, so it must be true). You make no close friends and build no lasting relationships-after all, who would want to be involved with damaged goods and a worthless piece of crap? You then discover Greasespot Cafe, and discover it was all a lie-and now you don't know anymore who you are. Yes-the joys of being in a cult.

Happy Birthday, OFM!!!

:) :) :)

I love airline humor......... Occasionally, airline attendants make an effort to make the "in-flight safety lecture" and their other announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported: 1. From a Southwest Airlines employee.... "There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane..." 2. Pilot -- "Folks, we have reached our cruising altitude now, so I am going to switch the seat belt sign off. Feel free to move about as you wish, but please stay inside the plane till we land...it's a bit cold outside, and if you walk on the wings it affects the flight pattern." 3. After landing: "Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride. 4. As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Washington National, a lone voice comes over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!" 5. After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced: "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted." 6. From a Southwest Airlines employee.... "Welcome aboard Southwest Flight XXX to YYY. To operate your seatbelt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seatbelt and if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised. In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with two small children, decide now which one you love more. 7. Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but they'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you or your money, more than Southwest Airlines." 8. "Your seat cushions can be used for flotation and in the event of an emergency water landing, please take them with our compliments." 9. "As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses." 10. "Last one off the plane must clean it." 11. From the pilot during his welcome message: "We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry...Unfortunately none of them are on this flight...! 12. Overheard on an American Airlines flight into Amarillo, Texas, on a particularly windy and bumpy day. During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant came on the PA and announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo. Please remain in your seats with your seatbelts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!" 13. Another flight Attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal." 14. An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying XYZ airline." He said that in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally, everyone had gotten off except for this little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why no, Ma'am," said the pilot, "what is it?" The little old lady said, "Did we land or were we shot down?" 15. After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the Flight Attendant came on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt up against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal. 16. Part of a Flight Attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of us here at US Airways."

Happy belated birthday, Paw-sorry I'm late!

College WOW's existed in 76-77, 'cause I was one. I lived off campus with three other College WOW's, even though I was supposed to live in a dorm. The requirements were different from regular WOW, in that we schooled part time, worked part time, and devoted the rest of our time to twig, witnessing or studying. So as long as we made sure the "word" got moved on campus, our schedule was whatever our schedule allowed. I went WOW on three other occasions: first time wide eyed and innocent, the second time to try to make up for the first time, and the third as an interim Corps assignment. None were what I would call smashing successes. I do recall some snickering (not aimed at me, I could only hope) about the concept of "professional" WOW-anybody else remember that?

Happy Birthday, ((((Ron))))!!!!!!!!!