Rocky

Indeed, it passes the time, productively I believe. We (your readers here at GSC) know of you what and how you have shared of yourself. We know that you engage in meaningful ministry to people who might seem hard to reach for many people. Reading what an anthropologist has to say about how people die may one day (or many) inspire you on how to reach into the heart and soul of the people you meet. Same when reading about the customs and practices of Punjabi women. That you enjoy those authors and their writing only makes it seem like entertainment. It's active learning. I think about the blurb I wrote for Charlene Edge's book. “Undertow is a gift to young people and their families who want to understand the inner workings of fundamentalist cults. Charlene Edge’s experience parallels much of my own twelve years as a follower of Victor Paul Wierwille’s ministry. Undertow sheds light on the decisions, questions, and longings that she encountered, and ultimately worked her way through. In the words of Canadian author Matshona Dhliwayo, ‘Books are kinder teachers than experience.’ May Undertow be a kinder teacher to you than Charlene’s seventeen years in The Way International were to her.” Couple that with insight from T-Bone's comment above and you've got lots of benefits to reading books, whether memoirs and fiction stories.

Novels aren't meaningless, even though the plot and characters might seem like it. Humans (you included) are all about storytelling. Pick stories by the storytellers you like best and you're bound to learn something about telling your own stories in ways that will interest more and more people.

I'm told by JavaJane, whose brother had done an artistic project related to AOTS, that the video production is 2 hours.

BREAKING: The 29th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season has just been named as #Theta. 2020 now has the most named storms in a single season on record! Fortunately, not aiming anywhere in the US. The Weather Channel tweeted this evening.

Basically, your previous comment summed up the thesis of Buber's book. I and thou as opposed to I and it. "I and it" is how he described a person's relationship with others when the person (Wierwille) only considered the other person as a thing to be used. Rather than a person to be respected, honored, loved.

WW, you're probably familiar with Martin Buber's book, I and Thou. At least, it sounds from your comment above, that you're familiar with it. I couldn't agree more.

TUVM T-Bone.

Yes.

Well before I first encountered twi, I was involved with "charismatic" fellowships in Biloxi, MS while in Air Force tech school. I wanted to SIT then but could never get started. Part of it was peer pressure. I was 18 or 19 yo at the time. It wasn't until PFLAP session 12 when veepee explained to just start babbling (or however he said it) that I did it.

Rebekah Powers was 11 when members of her faith group, the People of Praise, gathered around as she sat on a chair and laid their hands on her to pray. Powers’ sister had shown a gift for speaking in tongues, a defining trait of the followers of the small charismatic Christian community, and Rebekah was expected to do the same. But after what seemed like an eternity, she proved unable to produce a sound. “I couldn’t get it, and I stayed there an hour and a half before they gave up and finally said, ‘You just have blockage. You need to just work on your sin and be more open,” she said. The 41-year-old had a rebellious spirit and left People of Praise when she turned 18. It has taken decades of therapy and hard work to overcome the intense feelings of shame and fear of damnation that she said marked her childhood. The Christian faith group, based in South Bend, Indiana, dominated every aspect of her early life, she said. ### This thread can remain focused on the high profile nature of cults. I hope it does.

Wish you all the best on your journey of recovery, Grace.

The closest thing to medicinal value might be placebos. Nevertheless, it's still not substantial in and of itself.

I did finish The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd shortly ago. Here's a review I saw on Goodreads. I thought Glennon Doyle's thoughts were particularly poignant. Why I love it by Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed Sue Monk Kidd, the brilliant, beloved storyteller who gifted us with The Secret Life of Bees, has done it again. Her most recent treasure, The Book of Longings, is the first book that has literally taken my breath away. As I read, I had to close it and breathe deeply, again and again. Both a radical reimagining of the New Testament, and an homage to all untamed, trespassing women, The Book of Longings is right on time for this moment. The book tells the story of Ana—a brave and ambitious woman who rails against her repressive society, fighting to express herself and realize her full potential. As the daughter of a wealthy politician, Ana is expected to marry a man chosen for her, and not the penniless carpenter named Jesus she meets in a chance encounter. What follows is a stunning and universal portrayal of women’s longing, silencing, and awakening. I read The Book of Longings right after my own book Untamed made its way into the world, and found Ana of Sue Monk Kidd's masterpiece to be a breathtakingly untamed woman. I will carry The Book of Longings in my heart forever, because it reflects what was always there. I invite every trespassing woman to find her own journey in Ana's story—and to finish this novel mesmerized, encouraged, and emboldened. -- 30 -- As far as what Kidd does with Jesus, even though he's only a secondary protagonist here, he comes to life in ways that simply reading the Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (as well as the Acts of the Apostles) alone cannot do for readers. No matter how immersed in religious traditions the reader may have been as a child. I attended Catholic grade schools for six years. To accomplish this, Kidd doesn't re-write the Gospels, she imagines and explores the undocumented years between ages 12/13 and 30. What would he have been doing according to the culture of the day? True or not, as only stories can, for the reader Jesus becomes more real in her/his mind. I cried throughout the last 30-40 pages.

I got the impression from something T-Bone said on another thread a few days ago that he may have taken this as that I gave a reading assignment. Well, I don't have a teaching degree. I don't give grades or course credit... and hardly consider myself qualified to teach anything related to literature. But I love stories. I hope that when I share my impressions of a book, it might stir some curiosity about the book in those who read the comment. That's as far as it goes. Btw, I'm 90 percent through The Book of Longings. I expect to finish it later today. I'll probably post a review on goodreads and amazon. When I do, I'll share it here too... just in case anyone might be interested. Btw, is this the Sunday twi celebrates an anniversary? I forget.

I also posted this in the thread about The Book of Longings. A brief excerpt from the Book of Longings. Ana, now the wife of Jesus, speaking with her friend Tabitha, who had earlier in the book been raped. Because of the culture at the time, it was not acceptable for a woman to respond as Tabitha did. She was roughly 15 years old at the time and after the rape she was angry and shouted in the streets naming her rapist. Tabitha's father cut her tongue out and sold her into slavery. It was the only disturbing episode in the book up to this point (I'm 42 percent of the way through it). Ana and Jesus found her near death on the road to Jerusalem for the Passover. She had run away from abusive slave owners. Ana and Jesus rescued her and took her to Jesus' friends house (Mary, Martha and Lazarus) where Tabitha was nursed back to health and given safety. When Ana and Jesus left to return to Nazareth, Ana said the following to Tabitha. "Years ago, after that day I came to your house, I wrote down your story on papyrus. I wrote about your ferocious spirit, how you stood in the street and cried out what happened to you and were silenced for it. I think every pain in this world wants to be witnessed, Tabitha. That's why you shouted about your rape on the street and it's why I wrote it down." She stared at me unblinking, then pulled me to her and clung there. That is what GSC does for people, though cultures now are not the same as during that era.

A brief excerpt from the Book of Longings. Ana, now the wife of Jesus, speaking with her friend Tabitha, who had earlier in the book been raped. Because of the culture at the time, it was not acceptable for a woman to respond as Tabitha did. She was roughly 15 years old at the time and after the rape she was angry and shouted in the streets naming her rapist. Tabitha's father cut her tongue out and sold her into slavery. It was the only disturbing episode in the book up to this point (I'm 42 percent of the way through it). Ana and Jesus found her near death on the road to Jerusalem for the Passover. She had run away from abusive slave owners. Ana and Jesus rescued her and took her to Jesus' friends house (Mary, Martha and Lazarus) where Tabitha was nursed back to health and given safety. When Ana and Jesus left to return to Nazareth, Ana said the following to Tabitha. "Years ago, after that day I came to your house, I wrote down your story on papyrus. I wrote about your ferocious spirit, how you stood in the street and cried out what happened to you and were silenced for it. I think every pain in this world wants to be witnessed, Tabitha. That's why you shouted about your rape on the street and it's why I wrote it down." She stared at me unblinking, then pulled me to her and clung there. That is what GSC does for people, though cultures now are not the same as during that era.

I hope for those who want to be enlightened to be able to endure the purge without substantive emotional damage.

It might get some attention, but I don't think Colorado officials would appreciate the distraction it might be to drivers.

Yes, they are associated. You need not wonder why or how, as answers abound in the historical record here. It may take a bit of patience, but you can find/figure it out.

Again, why might you think there's reason to reassess anything when the whole idea is to let people tell their STORIES? If you don't want to tell us your story, that's no skin off my back.

Do you really assume/surmise that telling the stories people tell on GSC are about "trying to get someone to settle their differences with someone else? Why might you have a hard time grasping that telling one's story or stories is about anything other than telling one's stories?

Btw, it appears you've not had any significant contact in your life with journalists or historians. Of course, I could be wrong. However, journalists and historians tell the stories of what has happened. Humans are ALL about STORIES. What has been your experience with stories? Are you still IN twi? Just askin' ...