doojable

Happy Birthday, Eyes!

Dagnabbit! *shrugging and hrrmmmpfffing with arms crossed* Anna/Millhouse "Animal House" For the record, I even Googled lots of facts about Ernestine just to find the answer - even though I knew it would disqualify me - but I still found nothing. It was a clever clue though, George - we're just not worthy of you...

Happy day, Sir G!

Oh man...that I don't remember.

Was St Bonaventure a Way Corps Vet too?

For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give, But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. All the women in the kingdom belong to the King... Keep it in your pants...unless you're spiritual enough to handle it... Take credit for work you haven't done... This list can go on.

Oldies - The hypocrisy of the preacher was the preaching. He taught by example. Sermons We See by Edgar Guest I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear, Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear; And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds, For to see good put in action is what everybody needs. I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done; I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run. And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true, But I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do; For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give, But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. When I see a deed of kindness, I am eager to be kind. When a weaker brother stumbles and a strong man stays behind Just to see if he can help him, then the wish grows strong in me To become as big and thoughtful as I know that friend to be. And all travelers can witness that the best of guides today Is not the one who tells them, but the one who shows the way. One good man teaches many, men believe what they behold; One deed of kindness noticed is worth forty that are told. Who stands with men of honor learns to hold his honor dear, For right living speaks a language which to every one is clear. Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say, I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one, any day.

My point here was not that the Greek had no value. My point was that it's way too easy to get lost in the minutiae without really understanding the heart of the matter. It's entirely possible for someone to know it all and be able to recite it all - even practice it all perfectly, and yet not have the slightest clue about reaching people and caring for them.

Repeating...again. I seem to recall Jesus having something to say about the Pharisees being hypocrites. Ummmmm.... they made laws that they themselves couldn't follow. So vp handed out a two drink limit - but did he follow it? He told the in-rez corps they couldn't smoke if their tuition wasn't paid (this started with the 10th) and then smoked in front of the corps...while he lived lavishly on abundant sharing. Then...hmmmm... I seem to remember a teaching about being a tupos...an impression made by repeated blows. What kind of example was vp with his lifestyle? What did he teach by the lessons he had others see? Afterall, he was oh so fond of that poem that began with the first line, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one anyday Oldies - vp's actions were his teachings.

That all sounds good in theory WTH, but all this "You may hold the Word but does the Word hold you" stuff is still double-speak. It still serves to inflate the ego. Feelings get lost in Greek words and inflections. Common sense becomes something to negotiate. I've seen great artists - musicians, painters, writers. I've been around some great minds in my years. All of them were masters in their own right. They were accomplished and they not only "held their discipline" their discipline held them. NOT all of them could teach their art to another. Many of them were so skilled in their own art that they couldn't communicate in anyway except their art. Perhaps this is why the ten commandments were scaled down to two and then further to one.

Anna/Tricky Dicky...??? AnnaTricky AnnaDicky Arggggh!

No, he didn't stand up to him. See he understood that sh(t only flows downhill. Then again, no one ever knew when it was right to stand up to a mini-mog and when to back down. If you always backed down you weren't really a go-getter. If you always took a stand you were a trouble maker. Now I understand why I breathed a sigh of relief when I walked away.

You mean "One Ringy-dingy" *snort*"??

"You'll never make me stay, So take your weight off of me"

Ham is a Ninja Warrior Squirrel!

"Anytime you feel the pain, Hey Jude, Refrain...Don't carry the world upon your shoulder" Good words of advice from a "seed boy" - heh?

I just wandered into the theater...I'm standing near the door. Gallager? I hear you're not that funny.

WAIT! I need to find my barf bag!

"It's comin' round the bend," Fulsom Prison Blues?

"Remember to ret him into your heart, Then you can start, To make it berrer, berrer, berrer.....Ahhhhhh!" Very Cute! Thanks Ala.

My first major encounter with a SSEMM (Self-Serving Egotistical Mini-MOG) was during my interim year. He was apprentice Corps - but was well trained in the ways of bullying. I remember the men in his family complaining because their fearless leader wouldn't let them walk around the house in their underwear - while he did so. See, he was married and didn't want his wife to see other men in their skivvies - but he was fair game. So, in a family of 4, his wife and the two men had to watch as he paraded around in his tighty-whities. I still recall the lecture (near face-melting) he gave me in which he kept telling me that I needed to do something the way he pacifically requested. The second encounter was almost comical. I was in residence, in the kitchen for the day. The man leading the kitchen asked me to sharpen some knives and instructed me on the proper way to do it. (His was the right way BTW - though I didn't know it then.) Along came a second guy - more like a branch leader - and he yelled a bit, rolled his eyes and mocked me as he showed me how he wanted me to sharpen that knife. It was the complete opposite of what the first guy had said. Along comes the first guy, who gently re-instructed me. (I don't even remember if I mentioned why I had changed techniques.) Once again the second mini-mog came along and became quite irate that I wasn't being meek and doing what he instructed, in the precise way he instructed me to do so. At which point I looked up to see the guy running the kitchen standing in front of us, listening to everything that had just transpired. It was a good morning.

Nope - Sorry George. Think younger ;)

"Back in the USSR" by the Beatles Next clue: "I come home in the morning light "

WD - My point was that the written materials implied that there was the possibility that an assignment could be declined with no consequences. In reality declining an assignment got you on a list sent out to all corps saying that you were no longer "Active Corps." There was a lot of double-speak, a lot of misrepresentation, a lot of lies and ridicule. That being said, I kept my service as Corps and my love and service to God very separate. In my mind the Corps nametag was only worth keeping if it helped me to serve God. It took me longer than I care to admit that I needed to drop the Corps thing.

The pamphlets also said that Corps would be given assignments "should they chose to accept them." (Or something like that.) THAT implies that a person would go through training, graduate, and decide what assignments he or she would or could accept. THAT is not at all how it happened. A corps grad had to accept an assignment as having been handed to them by divine revelation. Some arguing would be acceptable - but resistance was futile, for the most part. How you were treated after you declined an assignment depended on many things - but not one of them had to do with what was best for you or your family. As I recall, for most folks, if you declined an assignment, you were considered non-corps. That of course brought you the divine calling of "Copped Out Corps." Can't you just feel the love?