Linda Z

When I was about 5, I thought I "taught" my dog to hump my leg. My parents were way less than impressed with this feat.

Romancing the Stone Michael Douglas Fatal Attraction

Mike said, "True closure will only come as people get that pure love of God working again in their lives." I agree, except for a key word in your sentence here: "again." This would assume that it was working in their lives to begin with. For some, it was. I witnessed it. For some, it wasn't. I witnessed that, too.

Mike said: Mike, I know this is your answer for everything, but life isn't that simple. And if Geer "took the writings all that seriously" and "worked" all those tapes, what happened to him? Seems to me he'd be the poster boy for the approach to life you're advocating. Here's a flaw I see in your reasoning: God knew, from before the foundations of the earth, that not every person who would believe on Him would be a book-learnin' scholarly type. I don't believe God envisioned that the only way people could get to know Him was in having their noses buried in the pages of some weighty tome 12-14 hours a day. The key messages in the Bible, IMO, are easily grasped without extensive study (I'm not saying don't study...just saying many important points don't require a concordance or a Greek lexicon: love one another, be kind, be tenderhearted, don't steal, etc. While I value the Bible for what it contains, I would contend that God's Word is not limited to a book--and surely not to a bunch of books a man has written, no matter how good they are, about HIS book.

My exhusband's cousin was (is?) married to Larry Tamblyn of The Standells, brother of actor Russ Tamblyn and uncle of Amber Tamblyn (Joan in Joan of Arcadia). We had our wedding in Larry's garden in the Hollywood hills, presided over by a paraplegic poet from San Francisco who was a minister in the Temple of Man church (whatever that was). At the party afterwards (I guess you could call it the reception), I smoked pot with former Mousketeer Dickie Dodd, who was in The Standells. Russ Tamblyn wore a big black cape to our wedding. I wore an Indian wedding sari (borrowed from a friend who'd been married in India). My hubby wore a powder blue silk kirta, which later became my pajamas. Oh, and it was a double wedding. Here we are:

oops, sorry!

Believe in them? I think I live with one!

Thanks, Georgio...I forgot it had a name!

Nice job, Megan. :)--> By the way, we built that game room you played in as our gift (Family V) to the campus or to the way or somebody. It was just an old abandoned room when we started, and we ripped everything out and built it like brand new. We had a blast doing it. I've often wondered how our handiwork held up, but it looks like it lasted at least until you lived there! You're right, def, it was a beautiful place year round. I loved the old buildings and the grounds and the woods. And the main barn was gorgeous inside. Megan, I'm sure you were like all the other kids who lived there over the years. They knew every nook and cranny of the main building, and every inch of the fields and woods and grounds. For the kids who didn't hate being in the Family Corps (and granted, some did, and it sounds like it got a LOT worse in later years), it was a great place to live. Heck, I wasn't a kid and I really liked living there. When I was on HQ staff I didn't mind going to the dentist, because it was an excuse to go back to the Indiana Campus.

Once again I realize I was a bad little Wayfer. I was in from '72 to '89. I never moved until I went into the Family Corps in '78, then I moved five times in 11 years (between 78 and 89): 1. To Indiana Campus '78 2. Interim year '79 3. Back in rez '80 4. assigned to a "twig area" at graduation '81 5. to HQ staff '82 I don't count the move I made in '86 when I quit staff and moved where I darn well pleased. I'm still there. :)-->

I'm partial to Washington, DC--there are almost unlimited things to do and see there, many of them free. I love New Orleans, too--depends if you're taking any of the kiddos. If so, I'd recommend Washington. :D--> If not, let me just say that New Orleans has the best restaurants I've ever eaten in, the street musicians are more talented than many I've paid to see, and March is a good time to go, before it gets so doggone hot down there!

PBS has been running a six-part series on Auschwitz. I've seen two of them so far. What a horror that chapter in history was. It started out as a prison for political dissidents. Later the Nazis were executing mentally and physically handicapped people there, experimenting with different kinds of poisonous gases--I think there were 70,000 in the first batch alone, if I remember correctly! This stuff is chilling, but it does need to be known. I'd say "so it will never happen again," but genocide is still taking place in some countries in Africa and other places in the world today. I guess if these were more "prominent" countries the average person in the USA would be outraged, but because they're small, poor countries, the atrocities don't get publicized very much.

hahahahah simon, you romantic, you

Tom, wouldn't it be el gato whippido? :D-->

I have to wonder why the wife felt like she had to hide out at her parents' house and change her cell phone number. Perhaps this isn't her husband's first attempt to reconcile with her and he's bordering on stalking now. :D--> That's only a guess, though. It could be that he's the nicest guy in the world, going to any lengths to win back his wife's heart and that she's so stubborn it would take something this dramatic to get her attention. ZShot, I don't think you can call the wife a whore when she didn't demand that he spend $17,000 on her, can you? He did this thing on his own.

VPW's teaching about the Jews was something I pretty much dismissed as irrelevant. I never read either of those books all the way through. I just wasn't interested after skimming them. I'm a simple person. Re: the "Myth of the Six Million" premise, I always figured that whether the people were Jews or not didn't matter...if six million people were killed, that was six million people who shouldn't have been killed under the dictatorship of an evil, twisted man and his cohorts. I didn't connect the dots, either, Skyrider. I never got what those two books had to do with anything, either for modern-day Christians OR modern-day Jews.

Oakspear said, "With all due consideration to you GSers who were in the Way Corps. I believe that these people were doing just what they were trained to do." I think you're right to a degree, Oak, but I have a slightly different take on it. I think the Corps people who acted like Nazis were too immature for the responsibilities they were given and, in their immaturity, copied the worst of the behavior they saw among their Corps "leadership." Why do I say that? Because lots of people went through the exact same training and didn't come out yelling and screaming and expecting people to jump when they spoke. Another factor comes into play here, I think. Although the Way Corps was touted as leadership training for people who were "mature in the Word" and "called to be Corps," the truth was that most anyone could get in if they could get enough people to sponsor them or if they could raise their own tuition. The alleged purpose of the Corps was to train people to serve, not to lord it over others. But more and more, as the Corps groups got bigger and bigger, lots of people went into the Corps who saw it as a rung up the ladder to the top-dog spots. The three-piece suit 'n briefcase set grew more predominant over time. I agree with exsie. Some of the greatest people I've known were Corps--kind and tenderhearted and smart and talented--and some of the worst people I've known were Corps--ambitious and arrogant and in WAY over their heads. Likewise for the non-Corps folks--some great ones and some A#1 a-holes.

Mike: I have no desire to vanquish anyone. Nor do I harbor any ill feelings toward innies trying to hang in there and "rebuild." It's my view that they're wasting their time, but it's their time to waste and I wish them well. I know from experience that God can and will bless people for their pure-hearted actions. I'm sure you've heard that children's song: "The wise man built his house upon a rock" and "...the foolish man built his house upon the sand." Twi is a sandy foundation on which to build anything; it's the proverbial shifting sand. Yesterday's doctrine is today's "old wineskin," and made-up hocus-pocus is trotted out as "the present truth." Until the people in top leadership positions within twi either (a) leave or (b) wake up and truly build on THE Rock, Jesus Christ, instead of talking about it in flowery words, the sands will continue to shift. Edited to fix typo-roonis

Hi Megan: I collect old postcards of the places I've lived, so I have some of the old Kneipp Springs cards. I'll post a few here and you can let me know if they'd be helpful. If so, I have 8 more that I could scan and send as e-mail attachments. I'll post them in the "Every picture tells a story" forum. Nice to see you here again! Linda

Mike, I'm all for forgiveness. Forgiveness and trust, however, are two different matters entirely. I'll put my trust in God and let Rosalie and her yes-men do what they please. They have no effect on my life, and I'm not particularly interested in any positive spin they might try to put on what's left of twi. As far as I'm concerned, twi has become just another controlling fundie outfit that got caught with its pants down and is trying to wear the look that cats have mastered so well: the one that says "Well, I meant to do that!" Linda

Abi said: "I'm confused, are the scriptures now the ministry publications?" This little tidbit is right up Rosalie's alley. When I worked in her department (this was '85, I believe), she told me I shouldn't worry about not having time to read the Bible (what with all the darn meetings and mandatory activities), because I read Way Publications stuff in my job every day. What a crock. That was a real red flag, and part of the reason I quit.

Aw, don't despair, JL. You could make the news in Alaska if you'd been one of the two states blamed for tipping the election in Bush's direction. :D--> :D--> *running away now*

Yes, it looks like her ministry was far-reaching, for sure...in both time and geography! (not to mention hearts)

Here's a little info I found on Rosalind Rinker: From: http://www.cornerstonesc.org/20020421.pdf …I read on Friday that Rosalind Rinker died last January 11. [2001] She was 95, so most of you have no idea who she was. Rosalind Rinker visited the church where my dad was pastor sometime during 1964, while I was in high school. The impression that lingers with me is that she was a solidly built, rather elderly lady. But I did some calculations and realize that she was only a couple of years or so older than I am now! She had been a missionary in China in the 1930s and then went to work for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, ministering to college students. Then in the 1960s Rosalind Rinker wrote a best selling Christian book called, Prayer: Conversing with God. And that was why she came to our church--to do one of the hundreds of workshops on prayer that she led around the country. Preached by Dr. Rick Perrin on April 21, 2002 at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC www.Cornerstonesc.org Copyright 2002

Ah, Mary Chapin Carpenter was my second guess. I like her, too. I'm glad country singin' women finally figured out they don't have to sing through their noses! :D-->