waysider

So, let me get this straight. "Empties floating by" is an insult, too? Who could have imagined?

It was a 2 year commitment. I ended up being there for 3... Long story. The stated goals were the same as Way Corps. The mission objective was to live as they did in Acts (cough) and return to our home areas as better prepared leaders. (Never happened)

In FellowLaborers, we were NOT allowed to have outside sponsors, we had to pay our own way. This included a general fund which essentially covered our rent. I no longer remember if this included utilities or if that was covered by the individual "house funds", which took care of toilet paper, dish soap and such things. There were 8 "houses" which were duplex townhomes in an outlying, rural area. Then, each person was responsible for their own personal needs like tooth paste, deodorant, hygiene products, laundromat, etc...If you don't pay, you don't eat. period. The way we did this was to work fulltime at outside jobs through the day. No part time jobs were allowed. A typical morning began at 5 or 5:30. All 50 of us met in one of the townhome basements for daily announcements, prayer and manifestations, after which we did a one mile group run down a rural side road. From there we went immediately to breakfast in the individual townhomes (Familia, wheat berries, mush, fresh fruit and the like were the typical menu) I usually had breakfast duties in my house. Next, we left for work as soon as we were dressed and ready. After work, we either went back to the townhomes to prepare the evening group meal to be held at limb HQ, work schedules permitting, or went straight to limb HQ if we worked slightly later hours. We had a half hour group meal, complete with hosts and hostesses. We followed Christian etiquette protocol at meals. Wednesday night were FellowLaborer group meeting/teaching. (Basically a branch meeting) After the evening meal, we did various limb work such as painting, mowing or gardening. (We had a large vegetable garden that provided most of the vegetables for 50+ people) Some others worked on the food co-op or menu prep and distribution. When our work assignments were completed for the evening, we went back to our "houses" (about a 20-30 minute drive). We met in individual twigs which did not reflect our housing assignments. Then we went back to our assigned houses for a short house meeting, preparations for the next day, dishes and lights out at midnight. There was some time allowed on Saturday afternoons to go into town to do laundry and shop for personal items. The routine did occasionally vary, but this was a typical day... Self funded.

Thanks, JoyfulSoul, for reminding me that, despite all the madness, there were some good times, too.

Nah. Basketballs existed before VPW, but nobody knew what to do with them so he invented the hoop.

Really? I must have missed that part. HERE

Maybe you could start with the collaterals? I've heard everything you need to know is in them.

It's only been 50 years. These things take time.

Yeah, I remember back when guys from the first twig I was in (1972) joined the Way Corps. They came home at Christmas and were talking about how you could live a more abundant life by using less toothpaste and saving old buttons. I should have run for the hills, right then and there. edit: The last time I looked these guys up, a couple of years ago, they were no longer active with The Way, but still deeply entrenched in all things Wierwille.

I'm really kind of surprised he didn't, at least, use the character of Hamburglar, to represent the thief who comes to steal.. I mean, wasn't VPW the guy who had the original concept for McDonald's?

Late Lament (The Moody Blues) Breathe deep the gathering gloom Watch lights fade from every room Bedsitter people look back and lament Another day's useless energy is spent Impassioned lovers wrestle as one Lonely man cries for love and has none New mother picks up and suckles her son Senior citizens wish they were young Cold-hearted orb that rules the night Removes the colors from our sight Red is grey and yellow-white But we decide which is right And which is an illusion

Isn't it interesting? When the lady wanted drapes, she had to get specific. And I mean VERY specific. Not just drapes. Not just red drapes. FIRE ENGINE RED drapes. Meanwhile, no make, model or color was required for the little boy to meet an untimely death. Did the salesman picture himself dying in a head-on collision with a dump truck? Pulverized on a railroad crossing? Missing a turn and plunging head first over a cliff? Why, if I was a bettin' man, I would have to conclude that, compared to the difficult task of believing for positive results, believing for negative results is a piece of cake.

"Coming soon to Netflix!... a flirty, harassing underbelly of emeritus-irrelevance"

And you think that's a good thing?

As far as I know, they were not. They were ordinary hamburgers, cooked on commercial BBQ grills, like you would see a typical outdoor festival, and transferred to platters on a picnic table as they finished cooking . But, picture this: It's a hot August day in Ohio and you're leaving food uncovered on a picnic table, mere steps away from the porta-pots. You weren't supposed to point out the obvious problem to anyone because it would be seen as a negative confession. And, anyway, you could just beleeeeve they wouldn't make you sick. What a fellow's hip, what a joint divine.

Be sure to park near a road side latrine. The unavoidable swarm of flies will give it a nice touch of authenticity.

This, in itself, is problematic. Why were they using a ministry owned vehicle and hunting equipment that almost certainly was paid for using abundant sharing funds (ABS.)?

It wasn't even ministry business. They were on an annual hunting trip to Pennsylvania. (It was for pheasant or quail, if I remember correctly, and the ailment was encephalitis.)

Fair enough. It never hurts to give it the old college try, though.

You won't see me argue with that.

And this is why it's necessary to look at multiple sources and exercise the critical thinking skills we've been discussing.

It's just one article and doesn't represent the entirety of the situation. I posted this particular one because it was readily accessible. There are a lot of other sources that look at the issue from different angles and address other aspects. Maybe what needs to be scrutinized and revised is the actual oversight process itself at a systemic level.

I don't see that so much as an opposite as I do of that being a variation of what can happen without proper oversight. Think of the human body. As cells become damaged or aged, a biological mechanism initiates new growth. That's the healing process and it's much needed. There are triggers that tell the body when to start and when to stop the process. If the signal to stop the process is somehow missed, growth will continue. In a very simplistic way, this describes cancer. It happens thousands of times a day to even the healthiest of people. Fortunately, though, the body also has an oversight mechanism for detecting when this happens and is able to respond in a manner that halts this process. If this oversight mechanism is not functioning properly, the situation can take a turn for the worst. Homeschooling can be a wonderful experience for students and parents alike as long as there is an oversight mechanism to insure the process doesn't go unchecked.

Point well taken. My key take-away here is that they were able to establish a network, so it went beyond the scope of an individual homeschooler and into the realm of organized indoctrination.

I don't doubt that for a minute. But, there needs to be some sort of safety net to catch the outliers.