waysider

I Love Bagpipes: You asked what/where is WAYSIDE TRUCK STOP? ............In the mid seventies there was a training program known as FELLOW LABORERS. About fifty of us lived in an apt. complex in a somewhat rural area. We were about 15 miles from the nearest large town. We lived in townhouses that each had three bedrooms. We met at 5 a.m. every morning for a believer's meeting and announcements in a basement of one of the town houses. We then ran a mile on an adjoining road. There was a pasture next to that road and when we ran it awakened the cows and they ran alongside us. Not nearly as exciting as running with the bulls in Pamplona.(i'm not implying I ever ran with the bulls). This program was promoted to me as a way to intensely develope leadership skills and teaching ability and to then return to one's home area and establish and move the word. The duration of the program was two years. For all those who were in the program, this a perfect time to say "HA HA HA HA". WE were required to have secular jobs and then to report to limb HQ (in other words meet at the limb HQ) for our evening foot ighnments and group evening meal. When we finished our evening work foot ighnments we drove back to the apt. complex for our evening twig, our THIRD required meeting for the day. At this point I should note that there was a truck stop 1/4 mile from the complex. Many of us would run in quickly for a pack of smokes or coffee before reaching the apts. Of course the name of the truck stop should be obvious by now. After our evening twig we had about 1/2 hr. before "lights out". Lights out was literal according to usage and there was to be no conversation after "lights out". Many FL visited the WAYSIDE between nite twig and lights out .This was only about 1/4 to 1/2 hr. but served as a time to consider(PFAL taught us not to even consider) with each other what in the heck we were doing there without anyone listening in on our conversation............added note:we were living in atime before cell phones, internet,etc. the only phone nearby was a payphone @WSTS

Although I don;t know anyone who was tossed for not tithing, I do recall a twig of senior citizens who were told by a representative of HQ they would either have to disband or stop representing the twig as part of twi. If memory serves me HQ said the twig was not diverse enough...............OH! ........did I mention none of them tithed? This was many years ago. There probably aren't too many of them still with us. I know they were quite hurt when all this took place.

The late '60's and early '70's is an era that is difficult to explain. It's a bit like trying to explain TWI's effects to the uninitiated.It was a time when so many young people like myself wanted so desperately to make the world a better place. What better way to do this than with the blessings of God himself? I think a lot of us had a genuine desire to do the right thing without a concern for how many crowns we earned or whether God would shower us with personal gain in the here and now. Of course,mis amigos, los lobos can sense which sheep in the flock are vulnerable and play this to their own benefit. Still, every lamb is equally important to the Master Shephard & He does his utmost to safeguard them. Yikes! I'm starting to sound like Chauncey Gardener in the great Peter Sellers flick "Being There".(side note: If you have never seen it, be advised, it's not over when the credits roll.)...............I was witnessed to in '71 or '72. A particular young lady took it upon herself to personally undershephard me. It was all quite innocent I assure you. We read the Bible together, went to twig, etc. she signed me up for PFAL & I started the class two or three weeks after my initial intro to TWI. AT about the halfway point of the class,I discovered that the class instructer was actually her beau!(Do people still use that term?) They eloped and left the area. Now remember I stated that this was all platonic so I wasn't crushed on a romantic level. Ifelt pretty silly ,however,to have been enticed into this class by such devious measures.BTW,all the other twiggies knew the score and played along................fast forward ....I was intrigued by the teaching and decided to finish. I then took TIP,AC KTR, CFS,PCP,LSD,LMNOP oops! sorry! I ran classes, ran twigs, and just generally ran , ran ,ran ,til I thought I would drop. OH! I also "ran with the cows".(That's for all my Fellow Slaverer brethern and cistern)..........I drifted away about 15 years ago and to my suprise, the Debul did not strike me upside the head betwixt my eyes nor did anyone follow me to bring me back. so much for "We luv ya brotha man". I continued to share stuff until about 2 or 3 months ago at which time I realized my PFAL book was MIA. I started looking for a replacement and found GSC instead. As for that PFAL book ,I have officially stopped looking for it. I'm glad you guys are here. It;s like an aosis , umm,an eousis ,umm,an oeesis, well anyway it's a welcome sight on the horizon!............oh yeah, WAYSIDER:one who frequented the WAYSIDE TRUCK STOP.

DM.....O.K. but it sure will look funny on your driver's license.

O.K. I hope I don't derail but sometimes we old folks get lost in the moment. Back in about '71 or '72 I got witnessed to by some kids who seemed pretty excited about twig fellowship. I went to acouple of fellowships and was really blown away by SIT.(o.k. ,one of the young ladies caught my eye but that's another story). After 2 or 3 twig meetings I decided to try this SIT stuff myself. Nobody told me you had to have a class so I just went ahead and did it. Next day I tell the TL about it. HE gives me a "lift list" and a WAY MAG. This sounds remotely like my vasectomy experiance but again I digress.First up, Joe B. Leever needs a car. I envision him driving a shiney new Caddy and SIT. Wow, this is easy! Next, I envision this "DR." from the WAY RAG as he stands behind a podium about to expound,but just then he grins from ear to ear, flips me the bird and mouths those two little words we all know too well.( I kid you not this really happened). My TL says it's probably just unrenewed mind and to strive to block it out. In retrospect, I wonder if that middle finger was't really his thumb and those words really "Goin' my WAY?"

IMO, Truth is the only thing really WORTH defending. Oh, but wait, according to TWI,"facts are not truth". Huh? sounds like a pretty handy loophole.I wonder if it's "true" or just a "fact"?

Watered Garden I do remember the check only requirement but I can't for the life of me remember why they said it was required. I always had to buy money orders since I never really had enough money to open a checking account. And then, of course, there was the issue of requesting special dispensation to run a personal errand such as go to the bank or post office. "Thou shalt weed thine swiss chard lest the mighty thistles of satan consume thine crop" Oh well, I'm making a coffee and twinkie run to the WAYSIDE TRUCK STOP,want anything?