Dot Matrix

Wow, you didn't tell them to shut-up? My husband yelled at three old ladies that got loud once! It was cute! Huh?

Yes, but not because of TWI because of God.

Amen to Washington Weather, Steve, Lindy Hopper and M and O. I can be perfectly happy and not have forgiven TWI. I am not saying I HATE them. I am saying you learn if you touch a hot stove you get burned so you don't do it again. I learned if you get involved with an abusive lying cult you get burned so I do not do it. I do not play nice with them because they still burn people. What happened needs to be stated over and over again to help others heal. Am I passionate when I talk about it? Yes, I am. So, Do I feel hatred and get all emotionally constipated -- NO. No, the anger is empowering and cathartic. More like righteous indignation. To stand up and be counted and say "NO more!" and to call a spade a spade is not a bad thing. When they stop advocating "sex" with anyone or anything has God's "some what secret blessing" (paraphrase), when they stop lying and demeaning people then I will stop pointing a finger. I tell people to stop at a red light, do not run with scissors, never give credit card numbers to telephone solicitors, don't walk down alley ways late at night, do lock your doors and stay away from cults that endorse pulling your pants down for the leaders. I do not think that is hateful or unforgiving. It is just fact. Seeing them, to me, is like watching the exposure of a conman on America's most wanted. John Walsh warns people. He tells folks what has happened in the past, reveals the history of lies, posts pictures of the offenders and does a public warning. Does that mean he HATES criminals? Or he hates crime and warns people to beware? His show is strong and helps people to recover or keeps them from becoming victims via his shooting it straight from the hip. This subject "forgiveness" comes around about every six months. I still feel the same way I always have. If you are a criminal and going to hurt people -- I will boldy warn them. If someone views it as unforgiving, frankly I don't give a darn. For me to see people say, "well, it was not that bad, or well, humans make mistakes... yadda yadda yadda" adds to the damage. It minimizes the crime and in a sweep-it-under-the-rug-and-move-on fashion, kinda makes the offense "smaller" than it is/was in reality. I think it needs to be shouted from the roof tops "stay away" like America's Most Wanted does, until they either fold or stop doing criminal, or mean things to people. I do not think that is about forgiveness or unforgiveness.... It just needs to be done.... In my humble opinion.... ;)--> [This message was edited by Dot Matrix on December 19, 2003 at 18:47.]

Yeah, where is she?

Cool, he was great....

I love Rita and she did not look like that. Tssssk Tssssk He looks Isaac Hayes....

Go see the movie ELF. It is a scream for adults and kids! I laughed from the opening... "A Guy walks into a bar productions" I could have posted this down in "movies" but I thought some of you may not see it and might be looking for something fun to do!

Hate the new name. Sounds like they think they only have the truth or something. I do not like CES just like some have their reasons FOR liking it, I have my reasons why I do not like it. To each his own. Georgio- I am sorry that happed to you. Screw them.

C-child WOW, your story has me all goose bumpy. that poor WOW to be and that EVIL loud mouthed big foreheaded fool! I am proud of that WOW to be guy! That took some guts. To think of all the times I just slinked away.... Gosh - If you are out there WOW-to-be Please respond! I am so proud of you and so sorry he did that to you!

prune away" all trappings and trimmings of a "traditional Christmas." In the years from 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in the ... It Happened Here Just Another Day For Dorchester's First Two Centuries, Christmas Was No Holiday December 6, 2001 (First of a Three-Part Series on the History of Christmas in Dorchester) By Peter F. Stevens For nearly the first two centuries of Dorchester's existence, there was not a Christmas tree to found on December 25. Nor a Christmas candle, stockings hung by the fireplace, carols, nor holiday decorations of any sort. The reason was simple enough: the Puritans of New England loathed Christmas, denouncing it as a "Papist," or Roman Catholic, pastime that had no place in a proper New England community. The settlers who arrived aboard the Mary and John brought their deeply held religious tenets with them, and as the settlement of Dorchester continued throughout the seventeenth century, locals embraced the "Christmas" views of fellow New Englanders such as Pilgrim stalwart Governor William Bradford, who had a large hand in shaping the colony's opposition to any Yuletide celebration of any sort. In 1621, Bradford quashed any thoughts of a Yuletide observance. "On the day called Christmas Day, he noted that a few newcomers to the community asked to be excused from work, and he tolerantly said that he 'would spare them until they were better informed.' But he then discovered that they were determined to celebrate 'at play, openly,' as they traditionally had in England. He took away their implements of sport and sent them indoors.' Bradford wrote that he labored to crush "pagan mockery" of the observance. Back in England, Oliver Cromwell, from whom many New Englanders took their social and religious cue, ranted against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any "idolatry" that desecrated "that sacred event." Cromwell's and Bradford's actions would have earned staunch support from the Minots, Clapps, Blakes, and other founding families of Dorchester. They decried Christmas out of their abiding conviction that December 25 was a "Catholic holiday." In contrast to the Catholics' traditionally exuberant celebrations of Christmas, the men and women of the Mary and John "were determined to purify and simplify religious belief and practice." They wanted to "prune away" all trappings and trimmings of a "traditional Christmas." In the years from 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in the region. The General Court of Massachusetts decreed that any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) constituted a crime, and locals were fined for hanging decorations. In early 19th-century Dorchester, the "bah, humbug" approach toward Christmas remained strong, as most residents still did not recognize Christmas as a holy day or celebrate it with any semblance of gift-giving, parties, or decorations. One look at the era's diaries, letters, and account books reveal that for most people in Dorchester and surrounding towns, December 25 was just another cold winter day. Unless the 25th fell on a Sunday and people attended their regular services at the town's churches, it was business as usual on Christmas: "Stores, shops, and taverns stayed open, and children went to school." In the 1840s, as the Victorian Era hit New England full-bore, Christmas in Dorchester began to change. A social historian notes: "But with the beginning of the nineteenth century, the need for a festival to have some commemorative time made the Americans embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday. Christmas was declared as a national holiday for celebration on June 26, 1870. And that was not all; Americans even re-invented the Christmas celebration and transformed it from a mere carnival into a family-oriented day of feast, fun and frolic." Dorchester, a town that was built on family and community virtues, soon embraced the holiday that previous generations of locals had abhorred. In Dorchester, the influx of Irish immigrants, who celebrated Christmas, also changed the holiday landscape &emdash; literally. One of that Yuletide landscape's most vivid symbols &emdash; the Christmas tree &emdash; began appearing in some genteel Dorchester homes in the 1840s in large part because they had the personal stamp of approval of Britain's Queen Victoria: "In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree....what was done at court immediately became fashionable not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived." Notwithstanding the queen's social influence, when it came to the now-popular Christmas tree, Dorchester residents did things the "American way": "It was noted that Europeans used small trees about four feet in height, while Americans liked their Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling." Other European Christmas touches sprouted in Dorchester by the 1890s, with Christmas ornaments arriving from Germany and household holiday decorations now the norm. A historian writes: "The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition." Those words describe the Christmas scene of turn-of-the-century Dorchester. In the town where locals had once frowned on the holiday, it was "beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

Just thinking you are looking at dates registered. Look on the BOTTOM of the post. It is a new thread! :)-->

Cool -- except for that hacked to pieces thing.

Al I was sitting here thinking of how all of us were strange characters -- I guess... I remember in Norristown, Laleo was there, we did so many things because we loved God and did not know about the EVIL TWI yet. One guy went to the locals and we were allowed to use some old glorious white church for our classes. Cleaning it was a pain. The point is we were all kids and now we had a church!!!! Joe Guarini would walk up to anyone and just start talking in love. He loved everyone. He was a character, a handsome wonderful character of love. But speaking of stupid things: I once dropped a glass pan on my foot which shattered and a huge piece stuck in my foot. I began to rebuke the devil! If anything I should have prayed for my foot while pulling the glass out! Don't cha think?

Ex The hogs are running out of gas you better go ahead and tell it. Def59 I think that John Todd tape may have been the one I gave to THE WAY! I got it while I was out witnessing from a guy. I made copies of it and it became a big kinda hush-hush deal. If it was that tape -- it was a bit enlightening! Frightening as well.

While I was typing a bunch of people posted ALL HAVE GREAT THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT! Hang in there! Freedom is a wonderful thing. MAy I ask why you would even consider going back? Lonely? Many here were lost to friends and family when we left. Stick around. There will be new people that you will meet who will LOVE you!

http://64.26.1.249/ If you choose to be a unitarian this group is such. Also Tom is VERY right! Stick around, you will be shocked at some of the lies or mistruths we learned. Some still regard TWI as "the truth" while many others have found a lot wrong with what they have taught. May I suggest a few talks with Rafael...

Most of us know how you feel. It is a jolt to the system to realize all you gave to an organization - doesn't it? Hang around. I am looking for this one place I know of, that you might like. I think it was called grapevines or something. I will be back.

Welcome - You may want to do a search on Unitarian churches. The freedom of being gone, is worth more to me than over looking a few things I do not agree with in church. I love Joyce Myer but she believes in the trinity. But she seems to be kind to people unlike TWI. So, I just try to find a place CLOSE to what I believe in. If they are kind and love God -- it means a lot.

Here is Nick http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574...t_Nicholas.html But none of these sites say what Ace said about Nick or the "w" dude. I am interested in getting Ace's book to read what he found. Anyone have it?

http://www.pitt.edu/~eflst4/wenceslaus.html Okay, so he was not a king but a nice fellow, yes?

Shoot, I am glad you showed up I would have NEVER gotten that spelling correct!!!!

Cool! Did you hear about the gold coin in the sock? Isn't that the wildest? (Steve, I am also one of your biggest fans! Thank you!)

Ace Collins Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas I heard this guy interviewed on the radio this morning. I am certain I have some of what he stated jumbled but I wanted to share this. He said that people did not celebrate Christmas in the USA from the late 1700?s thru the early 1800?s. The reason was that Christmas was just a pagan celebration of winter solstice. And that people got drunk and woman and children were not safe on the streets during the wild celebrations. This was a worldwide problem and so the USA did not celebrate. He said there were two things that changed how we celebrate Christmas. One was the publication of ?'twas the night before Christmas?? And something else maybe the King thing I will share in a minute, I forget. Then, Christmas became about children. He said Saint Nicolas was a monk (I think he said monk). One night, he visited the home of this very poor family. The family had beautiful daughters that would not be able to marry, as they were too poor for a dowry. So, St. Nicholas went by the home and tossed a gold coin in through the window. Well, their stockings were hanging by the fireplace to dry and behold the coin went into a stocking! The next night everyone in the village hung their stockings hoping for a miracle coin to appear in their sock! Also, Good king Winslow (Winslat? Cannot find it on Google) anyway the guy in the song, (actually I think he was a king in Germany) he started to give gifts to children on Christmas which helped to change the tone from riotous living to one of kindness toward children. OH OH OH OH Ohhhh! I recall! The second thing that really helped to change things was the Charles Dickens Book A Christmas Carol. The story was suppose to shed light on how the people of England would work hours on end with little pay and were sorely poor. But instead, it helped changed the attitude of Christmas from wild parties to one of "giving to others" (Zixar, you know I am one of your fans as you are so smart ? Do you know where Winslow came from?) Funny where this stuff comes from, isn't it? Anybody else? [This message was edited by Dot Matrix on December 10, 2003 at 16:11.]

Also loading up on garlic and echinacea. I have been adding garlic to many dishes in the past two months and I drink echinacea tea at night.... But I still got the shot.

I got my shot today, the nurse told me the media is overplaying things.... I think she was in a bad mood because of all the shots she had to give.