God will bless you when you obey your leadership even when the leadership is wrong, or evil. Of course they "wrest" Samuel and Eli to support this as doctrine.
In fellow laborers, all fifty of us ate dinner together every night. There were, i think, eight tables. Each table had a host and hostess. The hostess ran the show. You stood behind your chair until the host seated the hostess. Then, the hostess would say "Gentlemen, please seat the ladies." Next, she would say "Gentlemen, you may be seated." At this point, you were seated with your hands folded on your lap. Someone would be called on to say grace for the whole group. After Grace, the hostess at each table would start the meal by saying something like "Joe, would you pass the potatoes, please? Bob, would you start the wilted endive, please?" (always to the right) you were to take one spoonful and pass it on. You sat with your hands folded until everything had been passed around the table. The hostess would signal it was ok to start eating by placing her fork on her plate. You took one bite and placed your fork at the top of your dish while you chewed. The hostess initiated "seconds" in the same manner. After seconds, you were permitted to ask the hostess for more. No water. It was supposed to be bad for digestion. At the end of the meal, the entire group sang "Roll Away", complete with hand motions. The whole process was a long series of no-nos
It was a no/no to have certain books or items in your home...devil spirits ya know....when I think of all that vinyl I trashed! My first album ever... :(
Burn the chaffe still burns my ***...he wasn't MY Uncle Harry.
In fellow laborers, all fifty of us ate dinner together every night. There were, i think, eight tables. Each table had a host and hostess. The hostess ran the show. You stood behind your chair until the host seated the hostess. Then, the hostess would say "Gentlemen, please seat the ladies." Next, she would say "Gentlemen, you may be seated." At this point, you were seated with your hands folded on your lap. Someone would be called on to say grace for the whole group. After Grace, the hostess at each table would start the meal by saying something like "Joe, would you pass the potatoes, please? Bob, would you start the wilted endive, please?" (always to the right) you were to take one spoonful and pass it on. You sat with your hands folded until everything had been passed around the table. The hostess would signal it was ok to start eating by placing her fork on her plate. You took one bite and placed your fork at the top of your dish while you chewed. The hostess initiated "seconds" in the same manner. After seconds, you were permitted to ask the hostess for more. No water. It was supposed to be bad for digestion. At the end of the meal, the entire group sang "Roll Away", complete with hand motions. The whole process was a long series of no-nos
Oh, and never discuss the food. Big no-no.
Thanks, Waysider. I have to say that of all the things I've read on this forum, few sound as "cultish" as that dinnertime routine.
I imagine that there weren't many overweight people in that Fellow Laborers program, huh?
Didn't anybody ever break out, get a little crazy and say, "Wrong! Water is GOOD for digestion!"?
In high school I hated having to ask permission to stay home to do homework (which I had a boatload of and really needed to do) instead of going to fellowship, which was every #@$%! night.
College was only worse, since college is a waste of time, and your professors are lying to you, and you need to understand that you just tell them what they want to hear, since you already know more truth then them . . . and never miss a ministry event, it's more important . . . or we'll call your family . . .
To make all of the scheduling madness worse planning and preparation was said to be the highest form of believing....go figure ?
OMG does that bring back the legalism. Were were in the heighth of it being on Staff at HQ. The worst part was married couples who had different Dept coords with different rules. Some were more stringent, and others recognized the bullshirt and weren't so stringent. So much for speaking the same thing.
To add to Waysider's excellent though chilling account of dinner time at Fellow Laborers, you also had to eat the food that was set before you. Our first year there, a bumper crop of endive and mustard greens had been produced and it was served frequently, not as a side dish but as THE meal, after which we had to work in the garden, participate in the fun and games of the never-ending cleaning projects, etc. About 9:45 PM or so on a work night, we would be rounded up, tools cleaned and replaced, and we would head back to our apartments about 10 miles or so away for twig. By 11:00-11:30 PM we were ready to fall into bed until 5:00 AM when we had morning fellowship, announcements and ran "to the big tree and back" to arrive back at our apartments for a delicious breakfast of healthful, nutritious, homemade familia. I think for some of us the only decent meal we got was lunch on our own.
There were few who had weight problems, and those who entered the program with overweight soon became skinny FLO-bots on a diet of familia and wilted greens. When available some of us would congregate at restaurants and fast food joints still open in the wee hours to get some real nourishment to prepare for the next round of exciting FLO-adventures.
To this day, the sight of mustard greens or endive makes me sick. And don't even mention Swiss chard!
Jesus Criminy!!! I hated that crap! Here I am trying to watch a movie in a group of wayfers and without fail one of them has to demonstrate their super sharp spiritual perception by saying "You know, the adversary works just like that, you can just see spirits of such and such moving in the way that they...blah blah blah!!!" ITS A F$%CKI!NG MOVIE!!!!
I remember having a date with a WC lady who was leading a family of WOWs in Houston. We were watching on of the first episodes of "Star Trek the Next Generation" when Deanna Troi "senses" some other character's feelings. Whend the young lady pointed out the "spiritual" nature of that, I said, "Right. You've got no problem with Vulcans reading minds, but a Betazoid sensing an emotion is a problem?" We both got a laugh out of that.
George
P.S. And, more on topic, it was a no-no for "regular" wayfers to date WOWs or even do joint Way-things with them. :blink:
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waysider
Oh, I could go on and on about dinner table manners. You could never just relax and have a fun meal together.
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soul searcher
Do tell.
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OldSkool
God will bless you when you obey your leadership even when the leadership is wrong, or evil. Of course they "wrest" Samuel and Eli to support this as doctrine.
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waysider
OK
In fellow laborers, all fifty of us ate dinner together every night. There were, i think, eight tables. Each table had a host and hostess. The hostess ran the show. You stood behind your chair until the host seated the hostess. Then, the hostess would say "Gentlemen, please seat the ladies." Next, she would say "Gentlemen, you may be seated." At this point, you were seated with your hands folded on your lap. Someone would be called on to say grace for the whole group. After Grace, the hostess at each table would start the meal by saying something like "Joe, would you pass the potatoes, please? Bob, would you start the wilted endive, please?" (always to the right) you were to take one spoonful and pass it on. You sat with your hands folded until everything had been passed around the table. The hostess would signal it was ok to start eating by placing her fork on her plate. You took one bite and placed your fork at the top of your dish while you chewed. The hostess initiated "seconds" in the same manner. After seconds, you were permitted to ask the hostess for more. No water. It was supposed to be bad for digestion. At the end of the meal, the entire group sang "Roll Away", complete with hand motions. The whole process was a long series of no-nos
Oh, and never discuss the food. Big no-no.
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potato
that's because by the time you got to eat it, the most polite thing that could be said is "this bratwurst might be good if it were still warm".
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geisha779
It was a no/no to have certain books or items in your home...devil spirits ya know....when I think of all that vinyl I trashed! My first album ever... :(
Burn the chaffe still burns my ***...he wasn't MY Uncle Harry.
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Human without the bean
No taking notes during PFAL.
No talking during PFAL.
No getting up during PFAL.
No free thinking during any class of any kind.
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soul searcher
Thanks, Waysider. I have to say that of all the things I've read on this forum, few sound as "cultish" as that dinnertime routine.
I imagine that there weren't many overweight people in that Fellow Laborers program, huh?
Didn't anybody ever break out, get a little crazy and say, "Wrong! Water is GOOD for digestion!"?
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Bolshevik
In high school I hated having to ask permission to stay home to do homework (which I had a boatload of and really needed to do) instead of going to fellowship, which was every #@$%! night.
College was only worse, since college is a waste of time, and your professors are lying to you, and you need to understand that you just tell them what they want to hear, since you already know more truth then them . . . and never miss a ministry event, it's more important . . . or we'll call your family . . .
Never never miss a fellowship.
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WordWolf
I saw MOST of those, and I have no doubts that "no taking notes during PFAL"
was MANDATORY in some places, when and where I took it, it was recommended that NEW students
NOT take notes in pfal THE FIRST TIME THEY SAT THROUGH THE CLASS.
When I took it, I was a "professional student" who knew what worked for me best,
so I had a Bible, syllabus, and notebook all on my lap. I juggled all 3 during the first
segment, and shifted through them to take notes and follow along as if I did it all the time.
At the end of the first segment, the class coordinator recommended I just take the notes
direectly into the syllabus, which would free me from juggling a 3rd book.
So I did. My continued note-taking helped me focus on the material.
I wasn't the only "professional student" who put his notes there, either.
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Human without the bean
No dark movies. And nothing good ever happens after midnight. So don't stay up past midnight.
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Nottawayfer
OMG does that bring back the legalism. Were were in the heighth of it being on Staff at HQ. The worst part was married couples who had different Dept coords with different rules. Some were more stringent, and others recognized the bullshirt and weren't so stringent. So much for speaking the same thing.
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Watered Garden
To add to Waysider's excellent though chilling account of dinner time at Fellow Laborers, you also had to eat the food that was set before you. Our first year there, a bumper crop of endive and mustard greens had been produced and it was served frequently, not as a side dish but as THE meal, after which we had to work in the garden, participate in the fun and games of the never-ending cleaning projects, etc. About 9:45 PM or so on a work night, we would be rounded up, tools cleaned and replaced, and we would head back to our apartments about 10 miles or so away for twig. By 11:00-11:30 PM we were ready to fall into bed until 5:00 AM when we had morning fellowship, announcements and ran "to the big tree and back" to arrive back at our apartments for a delicious breakfast of healthful, nutritious, homemade familia. I think for some of us the only decent meal we got was lunch on our own.
There were few who had weight problems, and those who entered the program with overweight soon became skinny FLO-bots on a diet of familia and wilted greens. When available some of us would congregate at restaurants and fast food joints still open in the wee hours to get some real nourishment to prepare for the next round of exciting FLO-adventures.
To this day, the sight of mustard greens or endive makes me sick. And don't even mention Swiss chard!
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GeorgeStGeorge
I remember having a date with a WC lady who was leading a family of WOWs in Houston. We were watching on of the first episodes of "Star Trek the Next Generation" when Deanna Troi "senses" some other character's feelings. Whend the young lady pointed out the "spiritual" nature of that, I said, "Right. You've got no problem with Vulcans reading minds, but a Betazoid sensing an emotion is a problem?" We both got a laugh out of that.
George
P.S. And, more on topic, it was a no-no for "regular" wayfers to date WOWs or even do joint Way-things with them. :blink:
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OldSkool
ROFL!!
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