Why do Greasespotters greasespot?

[WordWolf]

Why do the posters at the GSC tell the stories they do-

stories about vpw, twi, and so on,

and Momentus, ces/stfi and so on?

[rascal]

I don`t suppose the people who want the secrets kept/can`t bear to hear the truth will believe or understand our motives ever.

It is a lot easier to villify the person who speaks up, than to come to grips with the disturbing implications of the truth.

Edited March 21, 2007 by rascal

[FullCircle]

Because the truth always comes out sooner or later, internet or not.

[RainbowsGirl]

These are the Reasons that I am here at The Grease Spot Cafe, Why I post the things I post, and Why I continually read and mull over as many topics and documents from both the present and the past as I can. I Love the coffee and the company is superb!!!!!!:

1. To find out what really happened and what is true or is not about TWI and the offending parties within it's machine; In order to be able to answer and understand all the why questions that I have.

2. I believe we tell our stories to support and undergird one another in loving ways.In order to be able to if we can help each other sort it all out in a safe enviroment and to then learn new and better things and grow in the process; All while possibly gleaning what we can or want to hold on to from the past.

3. To help each other heal, rebuild and grow past the injuries Then perhaps to fill the void that I have been left with... with something better, stronger and more durable and trustworthy. Something that truly honors God.

3. To help discover and to dismantle the destructive effects we acummulated in our affliliation with the TWI....which may warn the ones who don't know or understand the TWI machinery and its methodologies.

4. To help rebuild my life and help anyone who I can help...on the basis that they really want help.

5. I also enjoy the opportunity to share from my own unique perspective and life situation.

6. One of the most outstanding reasons is that I have very deeply missed the love and friendship that is only available in this unique circumstance of our affiliation with TWI.

7. This is the closest place to heaven on earth that I know of today....Just because You are all You and You all hang in here with me! Thanks for all the love Everyone! I wonder if we truly can know just how fortunatue we all are to be here... and to be together with some of the most wisest, most invincible, most knowledgable, most valliant and most incrediably loving people who have ever graced this earth!!!??? Thank You All!!!

Love You All, RainbowsGirl

[FullCircle]

Besides, on a whole, from all the places I go to on the net, which isn't many, grant you but still..I find the people at Greasespot on the whole a hell of a lot more intelligent than most.

[Ca_dreaming]

Ditto!!!!!!

RainbowGirl

[QuietThinker]

I agree, FullCircle...

additionally, I would add, as well...

I've got friends here.

and

I've learned a great deal about more than just twi, here.

Oh...and have I ever mentioned that PurpleCow fixed my computer?

Actually, I think WordWolf has a good idea as to why I'm here, too.

Yours,

~QT

[rhino]

I came here after being out almost 20 years. But I have connections with people that were in that groovy time with me, mostly the ones that were as delusional as I was about doing something for God. :)

But it is also intersting as a case study of human nature. A lot of the submission and power structure is exhibited in corporate America or in other dominant dynamic relationships.

Also chat is fun with all the lovable babes ...

[polar bear]

I am here because I, uh, well, whatever RainbowsGirl said. Gotta love that girl.

[sprawled out]

Besides, on a whole, from all the places I go to on the net, which isn't many, grant you but still..I find the people at Greasespot on the whole a hell of a lot more intelligent than most.

if we're so smart, how come we all got suckered? :P

[rascal]

Maybe we are smarter now BECAUSE we were once suckered??

[excathedra]

i get lonely

[Bumpy]

Bumpy arrived via a recent google search wondering what happened to twi, and GS came up? Then I stumbled into this world of people here and what I went through with twi at Cal. all started to come back.

Basically, the people I met in the mid ‘70’s, and what has since transpired here has been sort of a dream of trying to remember the past and the people who were apart of the twi organization. I remember often being reprimanded for not conforming or “living” with a girl who they desperately wanted to be in Emporia.

Meeting VP a few time, the last time smoking cigarettes and yakking about this and that in Oslo. Being “managed” by Chris Geer in Sweden and Denmark, trying to build fellowships and once visiting him in the UK, all until that unfortunate “event”. Actually it’s so many years ago, it is almost off my radar screen. I think I was really lucky not to have been more involved judging by the pain threshold I read here.

But I think as I’ve said before, there is an amazing amount of God loving hearts at GS which meet here instead of twig. Some probably just wish to forget but find solace in the common experience. I’m so glad I didn’t go Way Corps, my life has been so much more interesting in so many ways. I guess I’m just lucky and God watched out for me!

[excathedra]

well why the hell didn't he watch out for me ? big ;)

Edited March 22, 2007 by excathedra

[Bumpy]

well why the hell didn't he watch out for me ? big ;)

Ex, I forgot to say, I am sorry you feel lonely. I think all of us feel that way, it's not good. Your question isn't easy for me to answer. I just had a lot of resistance inside of me through years of boarding school in the '60's and early '70's. I had to become a survivor or you paid the price through physical confrontation with your "mates"! Whenever people get too close to me in business or for some thing that feels "strange", I take a few steps back. People in the way gave me that sort of creepy feeling that "I needed to belong". Right away I head out in another direction. I remember listening to the Moonies try and convert me at Berkeley with their offers of dinner (rice), but their eyes were always "glazed". They gave me the creeps!

What I liked about fellowship were some of the girls and learning about the Bible. It was a good experience but I always had other things to do, like play tennis or ice hockey, squash, ski and meet some of the real smart people who worked at the university.

Please, feel free to come to Dakar. I will meet you at the airport and you will have a good time with Andree, my wife and moi. Get your shots, be prepared to be "shocked", but I promise not to kidnap you and sell you to the natives! We stay here until the end of June and then back by car via Mauritania, Morocco, Spain...to France. I said before, every person you meet in life is a miracle, and it's true. You have a friend in Senegal, and thanks for the hugs. You're the only person here that has shown me personal kindness until recently! Love Bumpy!

[excathedra]

thank you so much for your reply, bumpy

love,ex

[waysider]

I came here via a similar route as Bumpy, through a google search.

I throttled back to local involvement in the early '80's and then finally drifted away in the early '90's when family commitments took precedence. I had no desire to go back to the "organization" but still felt a love for God and his Word. I continued to talk to people about what I thought I knew about The Word and frequently lent out materials. When my last copy of PFAL came up "mia", I started looking for a replacement and, of course, I thought The Way would be a logical place to get one. That's where my journey here started. I lurked for a while, astonished to find out how much I had been oblivious to the real essence of TWI. When you talk to outsiders, you have to start on page #1. Here, you can skip right to chapter #10 and and still understand each other. Ironically, I currently have a co-worker who went through many of these same experiences in a cult that I had never even heard of. When we talk about some of these things, we can skip to chapter# 10 as well. We have some great conversations.

Another thing I think many of us have in common is that we experienced communal living. How many people are you likely to meet in this lifetime whose opinions are tempered with the experience of living in a commune? I think I may start a thread on this subject.

And to be honest, some things here are just plain fun, like talking about music and TV shows and silly jokes.

I also like to visit the prayer thread and offer up my prayers, though I don't usually make my presence known.

Sure, I have some regrets about what life might have been like had I never stumbled on TWI,but, what's done is done.

I think, in some respects, that I was fortunate that my experiences were not as extreme and damaging as some I have witnessed here on GSC. I hope that doesn't have a disrespectful or gloating tone to it.

All in all, it's a comfy place to "let your hair down" and enjoy life in this cyber world we live in.

[doojable]

I was wondering where all my friends ended up after all these years. Also I was wondering if twi was still able to sustain itself since I had heard some horror stories from the ninties and i couldn't imagine anyone joining voluntarily. So, yes, I googled and found the cafe.

I started a thread that was ......ummmmmmm....long and controversial....to say the least. But I even though I have told some stories, I personally don't have any real horror stories to tell. I stick around hoping to help, post recipes, play pictionary, and mostly to keep meeting friends and making new ones. I also hope to make folks laugh and heal.

Came looking for some coffee and stayed for the company...

[GrouchoMarxJr]

Im here to hit on women...

.

.

.

.

.

.

. . . . . .just kiddin' :B)

Edited March 25, 2007 by GrouchoMarxJr

[excathedra]

hit me baby

just kiddin2 :)

Edited March 25, 2007 by excathedra

[frickafrack]

[Through the Looking Glass]

I recently left TWI and one thing I'm dealing with is shame or guilt by association. I don't feel like I can admit to anyone outside of the experience that I was involved in a cult. Maybe it is, to some extent, the same reasons rape and/or abuse victims often don't come forward? I might feel judged or critisized by telling co-workers or church members that I've just left a cult. I find comfort reading the posts here. I know none here will be casting stones, because we all were in that glass house called TWI.

[Son of the Master]

I went through the shame and guilt, too. For quite awhile. I got active in non-denominational churches and found out people dont really care if we were in a cult. I chose to hang out with Christians who were into being spiritual and not carnal. I told a pastor once in a conversation that I was with TWI. He replied, "thats ok, I was a Baptist".

[excathedra]

awwwww (((((((( hugs through the look ))))))))

i tell people people all the time now, you know when it comes up, whatev. it's hard not to because i'm talking about my life and all the years, etc.

but it too me QUITE a while

once they've gotten to know me, it seems okay, you know ?

--

ps. i didn't JUST leave a cult. i left, when did i leave, late 80s ?

so see it did take me quite a while

ha

[Listener]

Hi Through. I relate to your post. For many years I was deathly ashamed of TWI and that I was involved with it. It just takes time to heal. Don't fret about it. You don't need to advertise that TWI was part of your life. Think of it as a bad bout with an illness that has been treated, and that you are now healing up from. Hang out here, do some searches on topics that interest, or concern, you. Lots of love gets poured out in these pages...go find it...it will help the healing process. Want some prayer? Just ask. It's awful nice to know you've found people who understand what you are going thru, and are willing to help, or just listen.