socks

Pax - can you give some of the background from the book that supports the author's conclusions? For the sake of discussion it would be good to know what the book says. Based on the web page content I think there's a lot of assumptions being made - like this: In "The Same-Sex Triptych of Jesus," he not only mentions three gay and lesbian couples, but he completely accepted the gay and lesbian relationships, and would have endorsed Marriage Equality had it been around in those days. "...mentions..." - not sure that's what's really going on there. "would have endorsed" - strong statement. Jesus didn't "endorse" very many things. In fact he stayed out of some areas of life that he was questioned about. Likewise when Goethe says Jesus "completely accepted" it - that's a very heavily baggaged statement, for some reason it's perplexing to me. Maybe it's just me. I'm not sure what that would mean or if I really see it anywhere in the records about Him. In fact, I would postulate it differently from the records to be honest - that He completely accepted who He himself was and He understood others in light of that. Jesus was once asked about the status of a man and woman in the Kingdom of God, following a life where there had been multiple spouses. He responded that there is neither male or female in that realm and that the marriage relationship in this life wouldn't be a governing factor in their relationship then. In the future, procreation doesn't appear to be an activity that's going to happen - at least for the purpose of "replenishing" or increasing the population in the Kingdom of God. The relationships read different too, based on the new experience of the relationship with "God". We know there's male and female in this realm, and important ingredients of that relationship include procreation, "family" groupings, and a unified supportive interaction one-to-one. When we expand the relationship out we get a lot of diversity, though, "marriage" isn't the only kind of relationship. One other thing in relation to those verses that are being dealt with in Matt and Luke is that the different 'greek" versions don't seem to support the kind of translation and understanding that R Goethe is coming up with. Same with the context in Luke. So I'm curious about some of the major points covered, if you get a sec. Thanks.

Can you reference a theological or historical source for the claim that it's a forgery, and the history on the development of the actual verses themselves? The bible does have variances in the various books, and I can't remember the history on that section you're quoting. Thanks. I've read your phrase "spirit teaching" and I confess I don't quite grasp exactly what it is or what differentiates it in Christian doctrine with or without it -in other words, what is it and what changes in biblical doctrine do you see occur with it and without it.

I agree chockfull. Penny wise, pound foolish. The process we used back in the 60's and 70's would have been appropriate for an informal arrangement, "amongst friends", kind of a family style co-op arrangement. People share, it's gathered together, it's used for a variety of purposes. Not for a non-profit class running teacher supporting meeting hungry machine like The Way. Formal business process was need and appropriate. Trying to maintain the aw-shucks-peepul personnae didn't work well. IMO. Kinda like Wal-Mart pretending it's just some ol' folks makin' good deals on your behalf, daggnabbit. I was there for both ways and that's why I feel it didn't work well the way we actually executed the entire process. I think people feel more "right", more "officiated" when it's handed over, given to someone and it's someone else doing the processing. When it's just us we think - well, it's just us. We think that's not "Church", that's not godly and can't be good or right enough. Nothing could be further from the truth. The profit margins for the classes, books and various gee-gaws were never big enough to totally fund The Way's work when factored back into the entire budget. There was never enough people in a single year attending classes to fund the growth plan VPW executed. ABS and short term bank loans accounted for the largest part of it . ABS was really a small percentage of regular tithers and some large gifts and sharing that would be made each year. Once the stack got large enough and no short term debt was outstanding (emporia, rome city, planes, buses, etc.) it accumulated pretty quickly. I'd imagine. I like pennies though. Spends quite nicely - my daughter got this big cup deal that has a battery operated counter slot in the top - you put change in and it tallies it up for you as it goes. Takes about 60 bucks or so on average when full. Sweet! Love feeding it. Jars work too. All of those who would prefer to get rid of their pennies can send them to me for fast processing and I do promise they'll be handled correctly. Send that coin to SocksDigsLoveMoney@SlotMachineReligionInc.com. Happy to do that for you, you're welcome.

No problem or offense taken, dmiller man. We buy things off the shelf, unwrap them, read the instructions and go from there. Usually the goods are good to go as is, some are less than what's advertised and still others, disappointing. Some things are downright destructive especially if used counter to their intent. When I get to the "things of the spirit" I might wonder how a loving Father could give something bad to a child. Therein is a single strand of reality that efffects our lives, I believe - that we often don't know exactly what we need. (We barely make it through life recognizing to our own satisfaction who we really are, what we should really be doing and where we will ultimately end up) We do to a degree but not always completely and as in other things, we don't know...what we don't know. So we are faced with a series of moments that are always poised in a balance that will go either way - we think. How would we know, how will we know? How can we? Followers of religious traditions speak of "faith" as something unseen and therefore unknowable in memory. Without recall we have no context to properly evaluate our present knowledge. If we were explorers setting foot on this terrain for the first time we'd be learning everything fresh and new. "What's this??"...."I don't know - what is it???" Through the remembrances of others though we have a shared knowledge. In reality my faith is based on fact, somewhere at some time, be it events or the revealed images of the future. So I can in fact understand my faith in things I haven't experienced directly - through the shared knowledge of others. We do that in every realm of our lives. Is it so unusual that we would do that in other things, "spiritual" things? (he asked). "Trust" is a first step towards enlightenment, a corny word these days but one that we desparately need in our vocabularies more than ever. Jesus said if our eye be filled with light than our whole bodies too! The eyes of understanding being enlightened - understanding is different than knowledge. And in fact Ephesians quotes to us that following understanding a whole range of knowledge will open up to us. Yet, we typically reverse that - that through an abundance of knowledge we will piece together understanding and then we will "walk with all power" and be hmmm, all we can be. People want to know know know and it seems there's never been a lack of people to teach teach teach, and so it goes. Me-Help books pile high only to be shoved aside to make room for more, the latest and the greatest, the last-one-you'll-ever-need-to-buy books, volume 1. Reserve your copy of vol. 2 now! Knowledge is necessary but without understanding we only have part of the whole. One first, then the other and out of it all, wisdom, a past, present and future that is coherent. Or something close to coherent at least would be nice. The power, whatever it is, is always there. It's never the goal. Out of it all comes the open vision of life as it really is and will be. Simple trust. It's no more complicated than that, that a loving Father will behave and relate to us as He has in the past with others, now with us in our own individual lives. So I speak in tongues.

Regular sleep is probably one of the most basic elements of health, like being hydrated and breathing. When we're young, in our 20's, we're bullet proof (or think we are). We can stretch the limits and bounce back fully loaded and ready to go. That recovery time changes over our lifespans as we age. Still our bodies work with what they get and given all the hereditary factors that load into making us who we are we're able to manage a lot of variances in our environment. I went through a period of a few years where I loved to jog and "run". I ran quite a bit in the 70's and reached a point where I could go out on a Saturday afternoon and run from The Way Nash driveway for 5-6 miles, as a "fun run", keeping a slow easy pace of 7 minutes a mile or so. I felt like I could keep going for another 5 easily and often just ran for time - an hour or so and then stop. I ate "healthy"and if I binged on a burger or a pizza here and there, it never mattered, it burned up and off. That changed. My shins gave out, "shin splints" set in because I didn't manage the running and adjust as I aged. Speaking in tongues changed too - in fact, I found it more of an effective means for private prayer and "meditation" for want of a better word, as the years went on. It's contributed to what I would call my own personal "insight" and awareness hugely. In my youth I tended to (thinking back now) to have a lot of other things going on when I would speak in tongues, not giving that practice the room emotionally that it needed to fully expand into my whole "soul life" and authenticate itself from other activities. I know many of you don't see any benefit to it and relegate it to wasted activity but I don't. Still, I can't fully transfer my own experience to anyone else so I accept it for what it is, for me, and leave it at that in relation to this board. I can see now though that managing our own basic health routines factors greatly into how we think and our own perceptions. When we're tired and grouchy, piqued by this or that, we react one way. Rested and ready, another. Somewhere inbetween, a balance is achieved as we juggle the realities of day to day life. My first advice to anyone seeing the visage of one change into another would be - get some rest. Particularly to those tired souls so whipped and battered by the Geer/Martindale parade. Look at how it affected Craig. He characterized a person on one long emotional merry go round, making one bad decision after another, unable or unwilling to disconnect, breathe deep and give it a rest, literally, for a time to evaluate and just live. Hindsight = 20/20. Applied in real time today - "gold".

There was an IRS reason for not allowing us to write a check for the cash in ABS. They were afraid someone would claim that amount as a tax deduction. Not altogether unreasonable. For a business. And The Way straddled the fence on that issue for many years. If it's a simple, friendly and ex officio function of the fellowship leader (as was advertised) there's no need for any of that. If however, income is being collected by formal process for a non-profit business then some form of controls are required by law, some minimal levels of record keeping and accounting for the money being collected, sent and spent. it would have made much more sense looking back, to have local operations of the non-profit teaching and fellowship franchise to have accounts set up where deposits could be made into accounts and money rendered back into the Way Nash once a month, or at some regular interval, weekly, whatever. That way everyone knows what's going on all the time. I'm not saying it would have been the greatest idea but - hey, if you quack, walk and fly like a duck - be a duck. It was a business. I'm not saying that's right or that's what everyone who got involved thought it was but rather, that's what was going on with this aspect of it. To treat it as otherwise doesn't make sense. But once treated as such there are issues that have to be dealt with and the "blue forms" method wasn't much of a method. I once had a whole month or so of ABS that turned up in an envelope, in a branch I had been in, where it had never been mailed in. It created a lot of hassle getting it worked out, and at the time the Finance Dep't. at The Way Nash were extremely helpful and patient working through it. So I don't pretend to say that there's no "good way" to handle any or all of the possible variances and issues that might occur once you go down the road of embracing the business side of this. But being in the middle and kinda sorta being a business- it doesn't work. Not to mention that this ABS flow was, in fact,the primary income stream for the Way International for many years. I mean - come on. As an adult lo these many years now, I chuckle at the whole thingie, deal, stuff of it all. And stuff. But for those who give and claim the IRS tax credit - fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't expect the "blessings" of God to roll out the window so huge you're drowned in greenbacks. Ain't gonna happen. You got your reward. Enjoy it.

Hmmm....kind of like when CES promotes their personal prophetic revelatons with "spiders coming out of" people's noses. The reaction shouldn't be ... "Wow is that really prophecy?" The reaction should be .... "Wait.....did you say you see spiders coming out of someone's nose....????" I too have read here, but never heard from a live warm human being, that Craig and others said they saw Geer's facial features change into VPW's. Never heard it from their mouths mind you, just second hand, and here. Years ago VPW had a thing about cutting back on his sleep. In fact, late in life he was going over a list he'd made at one time, of things he'd do differently over his lifetime. And one of those things was, get up an hour earlier everyday. He'd added up the number of "days" that would have added to his actual lifetime and it was significant. Quality of life comes to mind n that regard, though - and health. If you only average 4 hours of sleep a night, which was what he proposed, you'll likely experience ill health as a result. It was and still is popular in a lot of circles to sleep less and get more up time. But you will go through some very strange mental, physical and emotional challenges if you do that over a long period. And 5 hours a night isn't healthy either. Some people or for awhile, perhaps - on average, no. Which may account for people their seeing changes like this - seriously now, I'm only half-kidding. Sleep deprived and under extreme pressure Craig sees someone's facial features change. No one should have wondered .... wowzzaa! something spiritual is going on.....they should have backed up slowly towards the door.... "Duh!!!" Maybe him taking some time off, geting some rest and doing a personal - what were those? - "Check up from the neck up"...might have helped a little too. But in general - "shape shifiting" as it's called in other circles is absolute b.s. Not to be confused with the lesser strength but completley effective normal B.S., the absolute stuff is pret-ty pungent.

I don't recall a penny-rule in the Way but others may. Really though - you're right. Money's money. It all spends the same. Ministers generally prefer money that swishes though, not 'clinks'. The like the green not the brown stuff. Jefferson's - funk the coins. Tall dough, come ooooooon Big Stack !!!!!! Bringing pennies? -why.....that's just.... non cents.

Rule like what? No pennies? No getting mad? I'm curious, what mission was that and where was it? Do you remember about what year it was? How mad did your "dude" get? Really mad, yelling, waving his hands, shaking his fist, shouting - that kind of mad? Or just irritated, like "great - gotta go to the bank now...." What made you think he was a "nut" for not wanting pennies? Were there other things about his behavior that were nutty? Or did it just bother you that he didn't want pennies? I'm just interested, that's all. No biggie.

Hey There Pal - what are these you're writing here? Just curious, they keep showing up in this forum and I'm not sure if you're thinking they really end up somewhere else.

Groucho, on that particular topic - gosh. You took me back - another couple and we drove up for one of the AOS shows the first week they ran it, rented a car for the trip and made it a kind of get away weekend. Went up, got rooms, spent the night. There were people that knew we were coming. I wasn't expecting a reception but I expected to be welcomed by old friends and see the New Place. It was a s--thole for want of a better word. Let's stop being nice about it. ::biglaugh: (as if) Oh it was clean enough but it had that cheesey put-on feel that said home grown. People had given money, raised money, sent money, shared money - I mean there was a gravy train of buck biscuits going up there for a good year before it finally got moving. Then we get up there and we're still trudging all over the place to get inside the entrance, and many poor souls marching all over the property further than we did. It felt - old, already. And the production was - well, we know what that was, that horse is so dead the flies won't even lay up for a rest stop on it anymore. It was like a five pound hammer trying to knock a marshmallow into a cricket's mouth. We visited for awhile aftterwards and found the whole place to be kind of dark and dingy feeling, as you say. And best of all - after all the years I'd worked in Way Productions - it was like I was expected to ooh and ahh at the privilege to see the backstage, which was a complete mess and looked far more half baked than I would have expected. I was underwhelmed to say the least. As usual though I could see the technical people were on it and working their but ts off. We left that night so we'd get back Monday mid-morning. So we're driving along, kinda chatting and then after an hour or so, we got to talking about the production and it took a couple minutes of yeah this was nice and that was good and then finally one of us (don't remember who of the four) finally said it - "It didn't seem right, something about it...." and we spent the next couple hours driving along in the early wee hours of the morning going over the whole thing. We were all honest about it. It simply didn't really leave the viewer with an elevated, glorified view of Christ and our relationship together in the "body of Christ". He wasn't "absent" but He wasn't present either. He was just sort of talked about. Certainly it's a difficult concept to illustrate on a stage but the opportunity was completely missed. I realized what a sophomoric level of understanding AOS depicted. The idea of putting all the emphasis on the people and the "man of God" as empowered with the "9 manifestations" didn't have enough context and content to balance it all out. I called a friend at Wayfer Central the next week and mentioned a couple things, wondering if there was any plan to revisit the content and direction of the production and the answer was nope - it was pretty much a done deal but there were others who had had similar thoughts on it too. Makes me sound like a real pug - "what would you have done different, O Genius?"..........not being an architect I don't know but it would have been better than that, I guarantee. It represented perfectly the gnarly back stabbing dark hole that The Way Nash had become, so on that count it was perfect. Old fish wrapped in old newspaper and left out in the sun I know but there it is - sits like duck. ”From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD. Jeremiah 6:13-15

Good luck. Martindale kicked a lot of people out, every month, every year, every decade he had the kicker for it. Different day, different reason. I'm sure you'll find one. "That Rosie chick" didn't need the auditorium or the productions to "make a move"....given enough time and rope he was going to fail, he was a shallow chatter box who thought he thought the thoughts of God every time his scalp itched and he never met a thought he wouldn't happily share with his adoring audience of feckless followers. It was the Perfect Match. Until he met a bigger bully and once confronted by his own reflection in the form of Geer he clearly experienced what many others already had - and it was scarey enough to send him running for the bedroom to pull the covers over his eyes and hope it would go away. Unfortunately for all, it didn't. I don't dislike the guy, he was a pretty nice guy at one time. Just callin' it like I saws it. All that "Rosie Chick" had to do was stay present and accounted for. She too is protecting her interests and tryin' to keep it close to home. Her day of reckoning has already come and gone and those closest to the heat at the Way Nash know it's mostly smoke now. Trust me - they do. And they don't care. They're not sitting around thinking about what they can do to help the world or what great things might be done with their lives, they're just getting by.

I don't see it that way teach. It sounds like there's some sort of dark, evil plan. Craig didn't "power-grab" anything. He was the Prez of the Way Nash. The head CEO, capo dei capi These are, were, garden variety average people involved. If it hadn't been Athletes of the Spirit, it would have been something else. I don't see it as a series of moves and plays and "aha" moments that explain something that is evident on face value and doesn't require an explanation. The Way Inc. was a business organization, one that in the best of all worlds was organized to support a teaching and outreach ministry. It was a tangible collection of people and "stuff". Christianity requires none of that, at most a little bit goes a long way. The Way Inc. could have been here one day and gone the next and the Church of Christ wouldn't have been lost or damaged irreparably. Life goes on, until it doesn't. God has a deep bench, there's a long history being lived out throughout all of this. The endless machinations of men and women in and around that to "do good" by their own intentions always causes the kind of results we can expect when men and when hmmm, "machinate", if you will. Some of it's worthwhile, we think. Some not. It's like that old joke about jokes - was it funny? Did anyone laugh? No? That answers that question. But what's of value and worthwhile in this life is measured by the occupants. Other eyes are watching though. We would all do well to consider that perspective. People plan, succeed, fail and accumulate a lifetime of what they hope will stack up to something, only to find what they already know - that when we leave this life for whatever comes next we leave it all behind. Whatever continues we hope and pray will have some value in the future but we are acutely aware that at that time we will have no control over the measurement so we do well to plan circumspectly. It's an interesting perspective, viewed that way. . The auditorium? Power grabs? Does anyone really care or give a rats asz? These were little people doing little things viewed through eyes that magnify what they chose to see. It's the way of man. I don't begrudge you or anyone else the time spent trying to postulate what this meant about that and what it meant to something else and how that caused whatever. Looking back what if it was northing more than some mad scrum gone crazy. Whoever got the ball in the end - fine. Y'know? It's not my game. That's just my .02, for what it's worth.

What was the hype for the auditorium to be built for in the first place? There was no "hype". The original BRC was basically a double-wide modular building, and a back extension was added in the 60's for more seating and held a Bookstore and small "A/V" room. It was small and overpacked the first time I visited there with friends from the West Coast, in '69. In fact, the local attendees were an entirely different crowd at that time - that's another story but it was over crowded already. Building a larger meeting facility wasn't rocket science or particularly spiritual, on face value. Any similar organization would want to.do the same thing. Having been involved as a participant and contributor in many meetings and activities throughout those years into the 70's it was always obvious that The Way needed a permanent facility to do what we were attempting to do in piece meal form, constantly setting and resetting space for each meeting in cramped quarters, with no infrastructure and a grit-and-spit support philosophy. . Other facilities were used for some things, like the "church" in New Bremen The Way bought. The Way Production concerts, coffee houses and recording studio were all there but The Way never used it for regular meetings. Parking was a factor, as it clogged the entire area on Saturday's and other days when there'd be events held there. I think the "Sydney House" was used for certain kinds of receptions and what-not but on average no one really gave a crap about that unless they were invited. The entire process that produced the "new" auditorium out on The Way Woods property was something I wasn't involved in so I can't speak directly about it. Unfortunately it never became what I would have envisioned such a facility would be, looking towards the future in the 70's. I remember being on the periphery of some of the early discussions, hearing the progress, that kind of thing and it always seemed like a lot of hot air and reinvention of something that should have been very simple to do. A lot of p.r. was done around the a/v install for instance and the company that put it all in. Odd - looking at it today on their videos it makes one wonder - "so where'd the time and money go?" The stage design is kind of "theater 101" and leaves a lot to be desired by all appearances considering what it's primarily used for. Hearing there was a shortage of bath rooms is hysterical, although my sympathies go to those who had to go. What The Way did isn't unusual for churches though - versions of all stripe and type build huge monstrosities as testimonies to Their Great Brand of God so they can gather and feel good about their own wonderfulness, reflected in architectural grandeur because naturally it makes their gods happy. Somehow it seems completely true to form though that a great Place for Worship would be built without consideration for those might have to pee inbetween oblations. Reznor sang it best: 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. Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve. And that goes for everyone.

I like the way you think newlife. Speaking of which... I doubt the average member of the Way of average intelligence and education, y'know, the average guy or gal, feels they've given up their free will or is brainwashed or secretly wonders about their fellowships shrinking. If they're involved in the day to day's they know what's going on in their immediate realm. If they accept it, they're fine with it. If they wonder "why" this or that they would only need to ask and if they're rebuffed in a manner they find offensive or dishonest, well there you go, process started. I always recommend to people in general and it would apply here - it's healthy to remain somewhat independent from the influence of others, while allowing open range for relationships and learning. I've always been that way. It works - you can be as tight as blink in an eye with someone else and still be your own person. I do agree, if I read you right - telling them someone else did something 30, 20, 10, 1 year ago may have little or no impact. Whatever matters to people most is what matters most - they're immediate affairs and what impacts them and those close to them. I'm a big fan of leaving people alone - something that Americans have a hard time doing despite our death-grip on what we loosely call "freedom". It can be hard as hail though to actually find people who will do that. We all think it's in everyone's best interests to be bugging the crap out of each other, for our own good. We mean well, we want the "best" for everyone but isn't that.....well, doesn't it sound familiar in a reverse kind of way? ..... "This is in your best interests because if you only knew better you'd be better off. Like me." The idea of making a decision "on their own" - they already have. If they're happy they're happy. You're right (li'l joke there) - it's completely useless to impose a bunch of moral issues in a theoretical vacuum and hope anyone's going to care. Some maybe, to some extent but really, there's no solid outcome you can expect from it and if there is it's accidental. Try asking the person what their own impressions are and their own feelings and thoughts about their participation. Then respond to that. If they're within the laws of the land and accceptable social norm's for the society we live in and aren't harming small animals, I don't get into other people's shorts unless - important caveat - I feel they're/our/mine health and safety is at risk. I concede there's some subjectivity to that call. That being the case I proceed respectfully, as you are, remembering to not impose my own highly enlightened and obviously superior ideas on them. Well, not at first anyway. I wait till they like me, than I bomb them. :biglaugh:

Sorry that's the case citygirl - myself, I can't pick one of those choices as I don't find that all those in the Way today fill those descriptions, certainly not the folks I know that are or still have a level of involvement. People lie for a lot of reasons. Some people leave the Way and lie about what happened to them, I know that for a fact. Others sympathetic to their situation encourage them to lie about what happened or surpress facts that reflect favorably on the Way or don't support the "story" they'd like told. Unfortunately it's how it goes on all sides of the discussion. B---S--T knows no boundaries.

Hmmm....check this out. Situational ethics were a hot topic in certain Way circles in the 80's. There's an inherent conflict there though between SE and core Way teachings. Well, maybe not - but many of those in Way leadership roles have been very 2 dimensional thinkers and have difficulty seeing "principle" in application. The idea of pursuing a greater good requires a great deal of thought and consideration and isn't served well by flippant, shallow thinkers. As to "lying", SE was flirted with in that context by at least some of the Way's leaders at one time, even those who disagreed with the idea on face value and likely wouldn't have called it that. For instance, to "not tell all you know" is commonly accepted as a wise thing to do, and certainly it could be practical. However, to not tell something or provide information knowing that could cause harm to another wouldn't be right, most would agree.

I agree one's personal finances are hmmm, "personal". So I have a couple questions (which may be in the doc's and I missed it): 1. How did the Way know about these settlements to begin with? Was it common knowledge and publicly known what had happened and how it was being handled? I assume it was but wonder if anyone knows how the details were known by others....? 2. If Peeler disagreed with the Way's advice/coercion on the matter of tithing why did he comply? Or is it that he agreed at the time he complied and then disagreed later? If someone says "do that and I won't be your friend anymore"....you have to make a decision. If you have to go ahead with what you're doing you're going to be less one friend. That's hard but that's the way it goes, if you need to do what you're doin' and there's no way to work it out. I know all of this isn't that simple but it does apply IMO as a general rule of thumb and always has. Choices have to be made. If you said: "God won't bless you and you can't come to fellowship or take our classes" if I don't do such and such..... Fine. That sux, not because I can't come or take, but because you're going to be such a dik about it all. But fine. Anyone who was "tithing" money to the Way to get things back from them was giving for the wrong reason anyway, same thing for the Way collecting "tithes" on their own behalf. It's like with Donna M. going on years ago about the people killed in that plane crash and taking it back to blame the father who'd left The Way. Come on - sure there's some who believe that but across the board there's been very few instances of those kinds of things befalling those who left the Way during the time when her husband had degenerated into a wad of used gum who couldn't keep it in the wrapper anymore. Unfortunately she's the one who got screwed, not me (figuratively speaking it would appear) - She lost her husband, family and any sense of self-respect that might have come to her in her later years. Everyone knows now what was going on between her and Craig at that time and it's not a pretty picture once you think about it a little - so she would be far better off focusing on the home front and family instead of pointing blame. They on the other hand - Donna M, Rozary, the rest of the clan are all looking kind of sickly, pale and pudged out, ankles the size of logs and feet like pineapples. Age comes to us all but dang - I'd think all of that protection and blessing would produce a product that would present itself a little better than what I see on their website. No offense intended - I'm no Sean Connery here but I do think it would make their case much stronger if they could point to themselves in all humility and say "See? Good things do happen if you stand with the Way's Word." I mean, really - where's the witness? I should talk. But then I'm not making myself out to be anything other than exactly what I am, and I don't promise anything if you give me money either, least of all the privilege of being able to come to my house so you can give me more while I bore you to diahrea with regurgitated tripe. Well, there is eternal happiness and a big stack, but that's for the few who respond when I make it available. Not to worry, another Season of Giving Love-Bucks to Socks is scheduled for the fall. Start saving now to guarantee a good spot in line.

Beats the alternative.

Nothin' beats txt for simple elegance, that's for sure. Bigger bars! In a world of high technology nothin' beats a little bit o' tape!

I'm sure it meant a great deal to him that you confided in him and trusted in him. The trust that others invest in us helps us to define ourselves as we become the one worthy of that trust. You gave him a gift that was powerful, perhaps more than you knew at the time.

My pleasure Ham. Your description of doing the opposite and letting Word correct that - priceless. The AI in most programs is - not so good yet. Although Adobe Photoshop is scarey good in it's current version. This entire thread has been illuminating - lots of good stuff.

You gon' wanna configure that stuff in MS word or it will indeed drive you nuts. Not make you nuts but actually tranport you to Nutzville. To get out of Caps He ll - go to TOOLS > AUTOCORRECT and in the Auto Correct tab de-select "Capitalize first letter of sentences". Works like a champ in Word 2003 and all versions have a version of that in them, or long time now. Course if we all had the newest iPhone 4 it would read our minds, transfer that info via satellite to every IP address in the world and automatically configure all programs to our current mood as we use them. Only if you're on a MAC OS and of course, own the iPhone 4 and don't own any Flash media or app's - in that case you will actually lose functionality in the brain upload and your mood will be adjusted by MAC headquarters so that your settings will reflect the needs of someone with lows standards and no creativity.

So am I getting it right - that proofers/editors aren't using something like MS Word and the tracking edit/changes and comments feature? They're making hard copy and scratching on it? Hey, wuddever works. It's a minor point in the bigger picture of issues like who vacuums The Way Woods.

Spell check is a great point. It doesn't make "lazy" writers as many contend. The same people who couldn't spell before can't because they don't use the dictionary and of course the real problem being more basic - how does anyone know a word is missspeld if they write what they think is correct to begin with? Other eyes are required, "editors", proofers. Spell 'em checkers. Same deal all the way around. Questions questions questions. Just remember - there are no stupid questions, only stupid people. (that's a joke. ..... . ..... or is it????) :unsure: