ex10

I guess I should add, that upon graduating from the corps, hubby and I were branch coordinators at a place that always got Lightbearers. We really helped them out. :D--> Knowing what we did about the whole experience. That's one thing I can be proud of??? or maybe not....

Sunesis I just had to jump in here and and say, that your friend from South America (as well as his girlfriend) was a Lightbearer at my house the second time around. They did "get a class together" that us Wows had already formed, more or less, and we did all we could to help them. Too bad they weren't around to help "run the class." It got interesting. :)--> The co-dependecy started there I guess. :)-->

Flat Stanley is welcome here in Texas. All three of my kids did the flat Stanley thingy, and it was truly amazing how he got around. Send him here, and we'll give him a great big, yee-ha Texas welcome.

Exactly, socks. And when the message and the point of it all is about Jesus Christ and how he is Lord, seems like we don't walk away talking about how great a teaching so-and-so taught, but how awesome it is to be connected with THE MAN. Ya know?

Lifted It was a front burner issue for CES, that was covered, like right from the start. ;)-->

Learning I don't think that it was so mcuh that certain things were available only to WC, as it was that certain things were available at The Way College campuses. And that's the way it should have been, in order for the colleges to be "institutes of higher learning." Many things were catalogued in the libraries at Emporia and Rome City, that it would have been fruitless to publish and/or make available to everyone, for alot of different reasons. Just my 2 cents. :)-->

JT I hear you so loud and clear. I agree with you, that it's so much fun to be a freelance Christian with absolutely no agenda, except proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord. And he lives wherever he wants to, regardless of how much "knowledge of the word" one posesses. :)-->

Well, to get back to your original question, Pat, I think Jesus was alive and well at some point in TWI. Seems to me that "principles and laws" replaced him at some point in time. I can't really pinpoint it for the way as a whole, but I know that for me, it happened when I graduated from the corps and became a "leader." Somehow then, I no longer was a "follower of the Lord Jesus Christ" as much as I was an important somebody in the corporation, who had to prove myself with numbers. :(--> Becoming a branch coordinator took the fun out of everything. ;)--> Although, we still saw some awesome things happen, as some posters here will attest. We just got bogged down with admininstrative stuff, that VP and company always criticized. Yet, TWI was way worse than any church I've ever been a part of, as far as that goes. Funny thing, but what VPW criticized churches for, he and his organization were way more guilty of.....Isn't that the way it always goes though? :D-->

dmiller CES did publicly denounce abortion in the early days. In fact, it was a pretty hot topic in the late 80's/early 90's. I remember having public discussions about it at the Chicago meetings. ;)-->

JT Thanks for the kind words. :)--> Witnessing was ok, when it was spontaneous and heartfelt and all about Jesus Christ. For me, it was never about TWI, as much as it was about reading and understanding the bible, and getting to know the Father and Son. But sadly, some of the people that I introduced to the corporation became zealous idiots, and corps nazis and such things. :(--> But I guess that's just people....

Just Thinking You bring up an excellent point. When I was involved with the cult, I happened to have been pretty good at "witnessing" and "signing people up." It's something that I still regret to this day, unfortunately. The sad thing was, I believed in what I was doing, and really thought that the poor souls were better off "knowing the truth." I so wish I could take it all back. :(-->

Steve Nika expressed exactly what I'm thinking. I hate to depend on someone else to speak for me, it's not my style. But she did it so well, I don't feel like I have anything to add. I just ain't right or honest, brother.

mj Please read carefully what I wrote. ;)--> I did not express "disgust" at all. That is your word, not mine. My feelings are my own, and I will not justify myself to you, or anyone else. My point of view is totally mine. If anybody agrees with it or not, so?

Just for the record, I feel the same way NIKA does. I find it disturbing that someone would use GS to fuel a personal dispute that evidently has been going on for years. :(-->

Steve I'm pretty sure I'm not "pozest" because of Momentous. Thanks for your concern, but just as you have dealt with it, so have I. :)-->

Last time I was there, we ate at Mr. B's and loved it. It's upscale and pricey though, but if you want to splurge on a great meal, it's alotta fun. Fantastic service. And you don't have to hurry at all. We also ate a Nola's, one of Emeril's restaurants, and it was pricey and pretty disappointing. :(--> And then there's always the antiquing on Royal Street. I like Pat O'Briens for good ole fashioned fun. There's something about singing corny songs with a bunch of strangers, while drinking a blue hurricane, that is uniquely New Orleans to me. :)--> Have a wonderful trip, P mosh.

Shaz, I love the phrase you used "psycologically dangerous." You have made me stop and think..... I think most of what I do in my life these days is "psycologically dangerous." Having 3 teenagers would top my list. Next, would be the job I've taken. Not to belittle what you said at all. I'm being serious. I'm just thinking......Maybe posting at GS on contraversial threads would be on my list as well. Hmmmm, some of us like to live on the edge, I guess. Stretching one's comfort zone, and taking risks, is ok for some, and maybe not so for others. I guess it all depends on who we are, and where we are in life. There are times when we need to step back, reflect, be introspective. And then there are times when maybe stepping out into the great unknown is good. I guess it just depends............on many things.

Well, and I ain't blond for nuthin. And I have to say, I do look like Donna Reed, as much as I hate to admit it.

Dear George, Well, whatever. I'm just telling what my perspective is. I shoulda known better. --> Not everything in my life has some secret, deeper meaning. Maybe that's how I survived the cult. :D--> I guarantee you, I don't resemble or act like John Wayne at all. ;)--> Sorry if I come across that way.

I guess I should add that a couple of my corps brethern who I knew very well, were in the training with me, and they "killed" me during that exercise. That kinda took me aback, but oh well. --> And I'm not trying to be flippant, but it was just an excersise, in my mind. A funny thing happened though, we ended up keeping in touch after the training was over, and became very close friends, and still are today. Go figure.

Steve, Wow, you've got a pretty good memory. And yeah, it happened just as you said. :)--> The only difference for me was that I knew everyone's name there. :)--> So I didn't have as much of a guilt trip going on as some, I guess. I walked away from it really tired, feeling like "I'm glad that's over. That was tough." And honestly, I haven't thought too much about it since. I guess I missed something, but it wouldn't be the first time. :D--> Later on one of the people on the team, the one who walked around with me, shared how she had been involved in many trainings, and had never seen anybody know everyone's name. I just said "oh really?" and didn't see any significance in it. Til later when I about discussed it with friends who were there, and then thought about it. I guess a big part of the "pain" of it all, was not knowing names. So maybe I missed something??? I didn't know everybody there before attending, but paid attention, and talked to alot of people. Go figure. I thought the whole thing was about community building.....and the value of each person.....

I just want to clear something up. A minor point really. But I am not "pro" Momentous, by any means. Yet, I know many people who have benefitted alot by attending, so I'm not exactly against it either. It is what it is, a "training." There was a purpose for each of the excercises. Apparently some missed that, and feel that the excercises were harmful and abusive. I don't agree. Personally, I benefitted from attending. I would just encourage someone who is possibly interested in it, to check it out thoroughly, pro and con, (then pray about it, if you are so inclined.) It's been 10 years for me, since I went. Would I do it again today? where I am in my life now? Honestly, probably not. But that being said, I do think it's of value to some. I guess I was just offering my opinion to offer some balance. :)--> PS I loved all the music. ;)-->

HA HA Long Gone :D--> But I'm not Donna Reed, dang it. My avatar is Grace Kelly. But I do carry a hanky to church. :D-->

sisex I can't speak for Evan, but I think you misunderstood his "dense" comment. And I have never been "ministerized" by anybody in my life. ;)--> I'm just a normal pedestrian, type Christian, but thanks for the compliment, anyway. :)-->

Yeah, sisex, I understand (I think) where you are coming from. ;)--> I also have a personal policy of relating only my feelings and experiences. I guess it comes from my counseling background, but I don't think it's fair for me to try to describe the overall experience except from my very personal point of view. Sure, I have my opinons of what happened to other people who were in my particular training, but my lips are sealed. :)--> It would be a breach of confidence for me to do otherwise. Not because of any silly Momentous agreement, just because I respect others. Maybe it's just my morals, but hey, that's what it is for me. I really don't want to belittle what anyone else has said, or feels, or took away from the whole thing. That just wouldn't be considerate, or Christian, or whatever you want to call it. I ain't no expert, and if somebody else feels like it's a really bad thing, then they gotta express themselves. I won't argue with that.