socks

I don't get what the problem is over this letter of Craig's. Whether this was a perfectly justifiable corporate call for solidarity or a loyalty call for spiritual fidelity the result's the same. If you didn't want to stay, you left. I don't think the Way International would have righted itself simply by more people staying longer. (but then I don't think it was in great shape anyway) Some people stayed longer and it didn't right itself. We can't change history. A better chance, OM? From this armchair, slightly better but let's face it, it was time for some of us to go if we were going to be honest. Things change. If the goal is to make sure the Way continues successfully, sure, everybody stay, the more the merrier. But Craig made sure that anyone who DID stay got cleaned out if he didn't think they were up to snuff. So one way or the other most of the people in the Way were going to leave. Craig's illicit and insane "standards" were in a growth stage all through the 80's. 100, 000 people weren't going to change his direction.

Tom, I'm going to review chapter two from the PFAML book and syllabii. I don't want to slow the nurturing down though so if Bluz has the news and is ready to fly, let it be! There's so much.....!

Wow, so much love on this thread! Amazing Sea Monkey Love!!! I am now 4 days in to my journey to find the Great Sea Monkey! Preparations were hasty, and slightly delayed by the arrival of an unusual package in the mail. Wrapped in plain brown paper, the small parcel contained a single photograph, old and faded and smudged by what appears to be...jelly. Grape jelly...??? It's hard to tell. It's an image that must have been taken from the road somewhere, perhaps from a car. The landscape is wide, small hills, looks like summer with the open fields beyond all yellow and burnt. Filling the center of the picture is a road side billboard, old and gray and weathered by many years. It's an advertisement for ... a restaurant? or store, perhaps a gas station, can't make out the image it's so old and faded on the sign. Across the face of the sign in irregular spacing are these letters...words...???? Li Shri Bu He --> Scrawled across the bottom border of the photo are these words in red ink: What doesn't remain the same must change.... I've packed the photo in my backpack, in plastic to protect it. I'm not sure what it means, but it seems to remind me of something...something long ago....????? there was no return address or name, and when I chased down the postman to try and see where it was sent from, the guy I found on the next street over said he hadn't been to our street to deliver....yet. But I've already encountered several troupes of MOW's!!! They're hot! Gave two of them a ride to Lake Tahoe in Northern California. They were so excited when they saw the lake! They hopped out and tossed me a 10 dollar bill. "Get gassed!" the one laughed and they scampered off. It was amazing!!!! The Missus is saying it's time for bed, so we're going to turn in. Tomorrow's another exciting day of MOW!!!

Awww, Momhood ROCKS, ex10. :)--> Most things would become insignificant if I knew I was 50 breaths away from my last. Everything else fades when we see the first one being taken, too. It never really gets any better than that, does it? You were workin'! :)--> There's that movie "City Slickers". Curly's big line about the secret of life. "Just one thing". "That's what you have to figure out" he says. It's sappy, but it's true I think. Whatever that one thing is that really fulfills us, that we live for, give for. That's it. I know I found mine and everyday since has had one of those silly goofy smile moments when it hits me again. It's like time stops and I feel as if I'm living forever. :)--> My children have a lot to do with it. As if! :D-->

ex10 sed: Yikes!!!! You were busy, Mom! Give this woman a Cold One. :)--> That just made me think how inconsquential and miniscule so much of this crap was. Loyalty letters. --> I got yer loyalty letter. Greater loyalty hath no man or woman than to the woman who gave them birth. Socks 5:2b. Take THAT and stick it where the zip codes don't shine, WAY!!! It really reminds me what a load of self-gratifying pigwash I was in to. It makes me ashamed. *clink* Cheers to LIFE!

In the '89 letter LCM says he'll listen to anyone who has something specific to say from the bible. Time and again, he blew people off who tried. His later description about being in a "fog" was part right. Basically he was afraid, and filled with guilt and self-doubt. So he clammed up. For 3 years, he really didn't lead the Way ministry, he let it lead itself. His responses that I was aware of were thinly disguised put offs. If you weren't in the "inner circle" of the Way Nash or had some access to it, you really didn't know what was going on. But not much was going on. He didn't really ever put together a coherent response or plan from the whole POP piece. Frankly, it didn't have much substance to it anyway, but the impact of the events of 86 required a response and some work. Ignoring that seemed to me to indicate a strong denial of reality. That's not to say that everyone who approached him or communicated with him in one way or another did it well or even had LCM's or the Way's best interests at heart. There were enough efforts to satisfy me that he had virtually shut down from any practical standpoint to coordinate the ongoing activities of the Way. 3 years is a long time. Life goes on. One of the things I think he failed to recognize was that during that period he cast a clear blanket of doubt over his ability to be the acting president of the Way. Even at that point, it doesn't make him a bad man because he couldn't it would just mean he needed help, help he says he was open to but for whatever reasons never got through to him. It also pointed out how the entire leadership structure of the Way was wanting. As we see he started in 1989 to "step back up" to the plate but his position allowed him to do so without any accountability for his actions. He was "the man of God". The fact that he'd been mentally mailing in his job for 3 years was swept under the carpet. IMO, no one in their right mind could put much trust in him.

OLM's, new peop's, faithful brinesters, I'm off to find the Grand Monkey! and find the Answers to Life. I know it will be amazing! :)--> I hope to bring back good news! Watch the PH levels!

Circling....Circling...

Coool, Krys. I just got it set up recently and I'm finding just about everything I look for. Need a bigger music budget though! I was going to kick in a couple cents worth on the music discussion. Diazbro mentioned Ted F's postings awhile back and he noted how his idea for music in the Way was to keep it a separate entity, involved with The Way but not directly under VPW's direction. A "music ministry". That idea of a "ministry" is really at the heart of the concept I think. Ministry being a type of service. The Way had a self-described ministry of research, teaching and fellowship. By definition, those would be specific kinds of service, service to all people and the broader body of Christian believers. One example I use is of a General Contractor who has individual contractors within his company who do specific things to help build a house, say. Plumbers, carpenters, roofers, etc. Each trade does a part of the work to contribute to the construction of the building. Service is done by people, for people and for what they need. The best I understand from the bible is that ministries of all kinds work similarly, such as they are and when they exist, under the direction of God, through Christ "the foundation". No single ministry is separate to itself. They'll be potentially as rancorous as The Way was, single minded and focused on what they're doing. The best thing for a ministry of any kind is IMO to have to work with others of different kinds and focus, so that there's balance. When one wants to say it's the most important (we're the Hands and the Hands rule!) there's usually another saying the same thing. Everyone has to be reminded time and again that all are needed. Balance doesn't come easy sometimes, but it can be maintained through effort. (" Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.) :)--> But if you flip everybody off and go your own way, you lose that broader context of working together. It's like marrying your own sister. She may be cute, but it's kinda weird. Anyway, that idea of a music ministry is an interesting one. Music is something to be enjoyed! From what I've experienced pre-Way and post-Way, it requires a great deal of freedom and discipline. The kinds of music aren't as important as working in cooperation with one another. If you have one guy waving the wand over the whole thing, declaring what's right and wrong, you don't get that whole benefit of all the "contractors" working together. You need diversity or you end up with a house built by a plumber. Sinks and faucets everywhere, no light fixtures! Focusing on one kind of music over another ("country and western is godly...!" "Metal is devilish!" is stupid. All ages and backgrounds produce music of all kinds. Personally I like and listen to all kinds of music. Some of it is kind of extreme, and I like it because what the music and lyrics say is true when they rant on the hypocrisy and hatred that rules so much of the world. I like to be reminded of that sometimes, that the comfy world I live in isn't enjoyed by the majority of people on this planet. To quote a favorite lyric of mine, by Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails: god money's not looking for the cure god money's not concerned about the sick among the pure god money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised god money's not one to choose no, you can't take it no, you can't take it no, you can't take that away from me head like a hole black as your soul i'd rather die than give you control bow down before the one you serve you're going to get what you deserve bow down before the one you serve you're going to get what you deserve Amazing! I bet he's into Sea Monkeys! [This message was edited by socks on March 17, 2004 at 23:10.] [This message was edited by socks on March 17, 2004 at 23:12.]

Sun Zoom Spark, papajohn! speaking of secular muzak, in the wake of the RIAA's campaign to grind out the free exchange of music, I've turned to Rhapsody.com as a great service. For 10 bucks a month you can listen from a library of 400,000 + songs. You can test it and find out more at LISTEN DOT COM. You can also download songs for 79 cents a pop. (if they're in the library) :)-->

Hmmm, I expected a flood of responses to my challenge. I could reduce the standards of decency, honesty and common sense. How about: "anyone who bribed someone to get The Way Nash to make a substantial change in policy, practice or doctrine, on a ministry wide level and actually saw the change...please come forward anonymously". Or same as above, with "but left after their bribe was taken but no action resulted"... Sumpin'?

wow man....color....i'm seeing colors....it's amazing...!

Wordwolf, I agree. The TC holds a great deal of authority and responsibility in The Way. TWI doesn't call them employees, but there are clear expectations and if they're not met, they're "fired", relieved of duty, terminated. If I volunteered for something, say an activity for XYZ charity...and in the course of volunteering they asked me to do something that was...let's say harmful to another person....and I said no, and they said then you can't volunteer for us....and so I went ahead and did that it....I would think that I and the charity would be liable for what I did. Somebody somewhere started all this 3X5, record keeping crap. If any Way leader knew about it and either ignored it or encouraged it, and harm came from it - how could they be free from responsibility? That's the trouble with the Way. They're there and taking credit if something they like goes right, but if it goes wrong they say it's your fault, or they didn't know. For an organization that sells "power" and "abundance" there's sure a lot they don't know about. People doing all kinds of things, but they don't know nuttin'. Or they did and couldn't do anything about it. Not much power in that.

Ah, but done with taste and class. Notice the ballet-like movement, the serenity, the peace, the love. It's aht! These monkey's be's ahtists!

Probably a stupid suggestion, but have you cleaned the heads? Several times? I had an old VHS deck that I wanted to keep and it kept fouling out tapes. Got a new one. Kept the old one and kept poking at it to try and bring it back. Finally completed about 5 cleans with a simple tape cleaner, starting stopping and voilah. Got a few more months out of it. You might also try a manual clean of the heads if a tape just won't load.

According to the Way's own site, their classes are for those who "faithfully" attend their fellowships and who desire to know, etc. To me that implies a committment beyond interest and desire, and carries over to measurable activity. What's "faithfully" reall mean? IMO The Way has played fast and loose with this for many years, leaving it up to anyone who wants to to shoot their mouth off about anyone or anything without consideration to what their moral, ethical and "spiritual" responsibilities are. They've back pedalled more times than you can count. Didn't know, didn't see, didn't say, etc. etc. So if nobody knows nuttin' and everything's just SWELL, who's running the ship when you find out things have gone wrong? I guess the answer of choice is "NOT ME!!" ;)-->

Hmmm, wouldn't be surprised! I wonder how much information is legal for a church to maintain about it's members? The Way isn't a "church" supposedly, and have no members. The average fellowship coordinator is in an exofficio capacity. They're probably not being paid, but they do represent the Way, it's policies and guidelines. Paid employees are responsible to and for the organization. Sooooo, if a fellowship is still in a self-governing, self-propogating and self-financing status and it's all just folks doing what folks do, I wonder how that all fits? They're not technically "independent" because to be a fellowship coordinator, you can't offer or provide non-sanctioned Way materials, teachings or activities. There is a level of "faithfulness" that's required. They can't run other churches or ministries classes instead of The Way's. Or can they? I guess what I'm getting at is that if the FC is actually bound to an agreement to only offer and present Way materials, calendared events, etc. in order to be a Way FC, their relationship to the Way seems like it would fall more in to a formal capacity. They COULD do whatever they want, but they DON'T in order to maintain their status with the Way. If a person in a formal capacity for a church keeps detailed information about another person, without their knowledge or permission for the purpose of "counselling" them, is that legal? Is it legal if they publically make the private information known, such as when a person leaves the Way and negative facts are distributed? [This message was edited by socks on March 16, 2004 at 13:36.]

Hmmmm, 3 X 5 cards. Think what they can do with computers. Spreadsheets. Databases. Reports. I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

Speakin' of love, here's a link to an amazing! video on the Sea Monkey Worship site. It's titled Sea Monkey Mating! Check it out! I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

Shaz, this line from your Tormentor bears repeating: the "Doctor never wanted there to be a Recognized Corps" - uh huh. Right. Yeah, let's find out what DOCTOR REALLY wanted and then we'll REALLY be on firm ground. As an adult looking back, "Doctor" didn't know jack about what he was doing with married couples, marriage, families, children and the Way Corps. To him, there was always a reason why something didn't work when it didn't work, and it was never his fault or the fault of his plans and programs. Jamming couples together in tiny trailers at the New Knoxville location was endurable, for awhile, even when they didn't have water, or air conditioning in the summer and they baked in the winter. We were COMMITTED, and could get past that right? ;)--> But over the years, he kept jamming people in to smaller quarters and reducing privacy. Basically, it lacked dignity. Instead of building slowly, everything was a rush to get it up, get it going. In a word, "cheesey". All the while intoning "we want everything just the BEST for you". Bull$hit. Trailers 6 and 7 at the Way Nash were separate trailers for single women and single men. It was like a year round camp out, no space. He used to say that those trailers were "really what the Way Corps was all about". AS they expanded, the idea that people could go back to their trailer rooms and be ALONE always seemed to rub him the wrong way. I can't blame the guy for everything, but the number of divorces in the Way Corps historically says something about the program. True, some people would have regardless, and some people perhaps never should have gotten married to begin with, but you're not doing anyone a service running a Christian Leadership program by abusing people. I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

:D--> :D--> Bramble, I was sort of guessing on my list. I was in a pre-reporting era, but it sounds whacky!!!! Shaz, me??? Flexible?????? I suspect you are FAR and away superior in that category. I had to make up for it with vigorous, sustained, and aggressive effort. :D--> I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

The saddest thing about writing letters to the Way Trustees or anyone in their employ is that a lot of people think when writing, "Well, I've been in the Way a long time. I've supported them, even through thick and thin. Hey, I'm one of the good guys! They'll respond to me". I challenge anyone reading, posting, lurking or drooling over this board who has contacted the Way International in the last 5 years about a significant and substantive suggestion or question in doctrine, practice or policy OR a complaint in regards to the conduct or policies of it's employees, AND subsequently been engaged in a dialogue that produced change............................to come forward and post now. Document it, please. We have some people that visit this board who will likely know if what you say is true. No "we had cookies on Tuesdays instead of Fridays, and that really meant a lot to me!" please. Statements made by Trustees in court under penalty of jail time for perjury don't count. I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

Was the reporting like this? :)--> Dear Diary, Weekly Time Report: 8/2, 11:05 am, "winked at wife" 8/2, 11:06 am, "wife winked back" 8/2, 11:07 am, "Area Boss called, scheduled meeting to review Happy Household Laundry report". 8/2, 11:10 am, "wife & I reconvened in bedroom for weekly Personal Time. 8/2, 11:11 am, "see attached polaroids and diagrams for details-used Approved positions # 2, 4 and variation 2 of #5". 8/2, 11:12 am, "interrupted by corps couple in next bed having argument over proper use of #9 in an enclosed area. ***Note - ended Personal Time to notify Area Boss by phone of the problem***" 8/2, 11:14 am, "returned to complete mandatory 30 minute Personal Time in bedroom. 8/2, 11:45 am, "Personal Time completed. I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

:D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> :D--> Excellent! I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea

A now out of print newsletter named "All the Brine That's Fit to Float" had an article last year about "Finding Nemo" and the important role that the Amazing Sea Monkeys! played in it's production. Sea Monkeys acted as advisors on the film, providing important input on environmental issues. They also helped in the initial modelling phases, assisting in getting the lifelike movement that was so amazing! in all the littlest sea critters. It seems everywhere we look we see the benefits of MOW!!! I was lost in the deep and darkest night. No direction, not a single hope in sight When I saw a fire burning brightly through the storm that raged above In the shadows of your warm and tender love. Chris Rea