Dennis On: "So...What Have I learned From All This Drama?"

So...What Have I learned From All This Drama?

While I know this site is not given to rehabilitation from past religious and theological stress, behaviors, beliefs or experiences, it is a major waste of life energy to merely rage against the machine.  

There are several ways humans react to disappointment, feeling betrayed and disillusionment.  We can rage on and on only changing from topic to topic but never growing past the repetative nature of our rage.  We can rage for a time and feel that asking, eventually, "and how does this serve me?"  is probably a question in our lives worth answering.  We can be in denial and cover up those things too painful for us to bring forward into the light of day.  We can feel blame the great Satan who we know has us in his crosshairs and only finding the right , true and final real Church of God will save us.  We can live and burn.  

I can't speak for what others have learned from this all.  I just know in my soul and without the need for any other human being on this planet to agree with me, I was sincere in the search , compassionate in the administration and believing in the message for as long as I could be and then wasn't.  I have made mistakes both small and large.  I have stomped my feel in ways that helped and ways that didn't. I have said things I wish I had never uttered and uttered things I wish I had not said.  I sat down when I should have stood up and I stood up on the inside when I was appearing to sit down on the outside.  I have lost things that I cannot get back.  I accept responsibility for all of it.  My choices were my own even if in a fog of hurt, pain and disappointment along with a healthy dose of fear and passive aggressive anger that I was taught growing up was not appropriate to express.  When you don't express it properly we end up treating ourselves for depression and anxiety.  Don't worry, neither you nor I invented this reaction to life stress. 

But why reinvent the wheel?  Why said poorly perhaps what has already been said brilliantly on this topic of learning and living with our pasts.  We all have and I suppose you only get  a past loaded with experience if you are lucky.  I know we only get older if we are lucky having buried way to many children along the way. 

When it's all said and done, the following observations by others who also had life experiences are worth noting.  Everyone has a story.  With one decision different here or there along the way, all our stories that did happen would have been merely stories that could have happened but didn't. We would have had a different story. Their stories may have been different too, but the choice to learn from it is universally the same.  

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“You realize that our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor

“It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.”
― George Harrison

 

“People are all over the world telling their one dramatic story and how their life has turned into getting over this one event. Now their lives are more about the past than their future.”
― Chuck Palahniuk

“Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.”
― Dan Brown

“Your past is always your past. Even if you forget it, it remembers you.”
― Sarah Dessen

“When you understand," Brandy says, "that what you're telling is just a story. It isn't happening anymore. When you realize the story you're telling is just words, when you can just crumble up and throw your past in the trashcan," Brandy says, "then we'll figure out who you're going to be.”
― Chuck Palahniuk

“No man is rich enough to buy back his past.”
― Oscar Wilde

“My past is everything I failed to be.”
― Fernando Pessoa

“How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?”
― R.A. Salvatore

“You go on. You set one foot in front of the other, and if a thin voice cries out, somewhere behind you, you pretend not to hear, and keep going.”
― Geraldine Brooks

“You couldn't erase the past. You couldn't even change it. But sometimes life offered you the opportunity to put it right.”
― Ann Brashares

“My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me.”
― Steve Maraboli

 

“The past can teach us, nurture us, but it cannot sustain us. The essence of life is change, and we must move ever forward or the soul will wither and die.”
― Susanna Kearsley,

“I’ll tell you another secret, this one for your own good. 

You may think the past has something to tell you. You may think that you should listen, 

should strain to make out its whispers, should bend over backward, 

stoop down low to hear its voice breathed up from the ground, from the dead places. 

You may think there’s something in it for you, something to understand or make sense of.
But I know the truth: I know from the nights of Coldness. I know the past will drag you backward and down, have you snatching at whispers of wind and the gibberish of trees rubbing together, trying to decipher some code, trying to piece together what was broken. It’s hopeless. The past is nothing but a weight. It will build inside of you like a stone.
Take it from me: If you hear the past speaking to you, feel it tugging at your back and running its fingers up your spine, the best thing to do—the only thing—is run.”
― Lauren Oliver

“These things...they are who you are. They brought you here. To this day. You didn't give me a chance to understand that ever the unattractive parts of you, the messy parts, were something I could accept.”
― Laura Dave

Life is what it is and does what it does.  While we have the appearance of control at times, we control nothing.  We make our choices and only learn as time unfolds the nature, wisdom and outcome of those choices.  We can long for the past all we want but only have the present moment in reality.  The past is merely a present moment gone by and the future one that has yet to arrive at which time it will simply be another present moment. 

Earth School is a hoot.  Sometimes in life there is nothing left to do but have a good laugh....

Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Apostle Malm: I Am Hated For the Work I Do

The apostle one step closer to being  martyr for the truth.  All of his writings and work has led to him being mocked, ridiculed and hated.  I doubt anyone here hates the guy.  In fact, I have  feeling that most here feel sorry for the guy.  He has so deluded himself with his grandiose writings that he no longer sees the beauty in the world or in grace.  The apostle is  a perfect example of what happens when one puts the law above everything else.  It is more important to have rules than freedom.

I can say most sincerely that this work that I do, I do out of love that all God’s children might be saved.  I know that I am hated and despised for what I do now; as a rebellious child hates his parents for correcting them; yet I have faith that in the end all things will work together for the good and the saving of the saints. And we shall all rejoice together before the Father’s throne!

Dave Pack and the City of Wadsworth: It's All About The Money

The Wadsworth Post: Restored Church of God holds groundbreaking for new complex

"Certainly it is my privilege to be here on behalf of the city," she said. "What an exciting day and exciting time for your church and quite frankly, for the city of Wadsworth. This is quite a project and it has been much anticipated ... Wadsworth is a wonderful community and I know that you have enjoyed being here as we have enjoyed having you here. I didn't fully realize the economic impact your employees bring to Wadsworth, and from what I have seen tonight, I anticipate that many more will be moving here as the years go on. The one thing that sets Wadsworth apart is that we really are a community of faith. We have multiple congregations with individuals who are dedicated to their faith. They provide many good works for the community and they also influence others around them to improve their lives. ... So once again I just want to congratulate you for your efforts and congratulate you for all that you are doing."

Special greetings and letters of congratulations were also received from U.S. congressional representative and former Wadsworth mayor, James B. Renacci; Ohio's governor, John R. Kasich; and William G. Batchelder, the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. After several personal comments, Pack conducted a "virtual tour" of the new campus.

Ron Weinland Tax Trial Starts: Bought Son a Car and then Shipped It To Him In Germany

The trial for failed prophet Ron Weinland has started.  This is what one news story had today:

Credit cards at center of evangelist's tax trial

COVINGTON — Internet evangelist Ronald Weinland and his wife lived a lavish lifestyle in Union off the donations of his followers from around the world, federal prosecutors said during the first day of the man’s tax evasion trial.

“Just by the credit cards alone, the evidence will show you, from 2004 to 2008, the Weinlands had over $500,000 of personal expenses paid for by the church ...,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBride said during opening statements on Monday. “That in and of itself isn’t really good business practice, but it isn’t inherently illegal. The crime here is mostly evading income taxes.”



McBride said Weinland failed to pay $244,000 in federal income taxes from 2004 through 2008.
“While Mr. Weinland was no tax expert, he was no tax neophyte either,” McBride said, adding that Weinland never missed a legal deduction allowed for ministers.

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McBride said Weinland purchased diamonds and gold for his family with church money. Webb said those were not lavish gifts but liquid assets so his followers had something to barter with when the financial system crashed.“The Weinlands carried the diamonds and gold with them when they traveled far abroad,” Webb said, “because they believe time was going to end – that Jesus Christ would return.”

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Much of the government’s case appears to be built on credit card charges. McBride said Weinland commingled personal expenses and church expenses on his personal credit cards that were paid off in full each month from church assets.


Some credit card charges were for Weinland’s wife to travel with him on mission trips. McBride alleged one of the trips was actually a vacation to Germany for Weinland to celebrate his daughter’s marriage.
McBride said Weinland even used church money to pay the utilities and mortgage on his $381,000 home in the Triple Crown subdivision. Webb said that was a legitimate business expense because the church is operated out of a one-room office of the home and that the basement was converted into a mini warehouse to fill orders from for Weinland’s books.


McBride said Weinland was even more brazen when he began paying the utilities and mortgage for the condominium of his daughter, Audra Little. Church money was also used to purchase Weinland’s son, Jeremy, a car – and then ship it to Germany where the son lived, McBride said.

Other expenses questioned by prosecutors were for a security system at Little’s home and school tuition for Jeremy.
Webb said those expenses were all perks for the work Weinland’s children did for the church. Little was the bookkeeper and Jeremy did computer work for the church.

Andrew On : "Dining With The Devil"

Dining With The Devil

One of the arrogant beliefs that religious people who evangelize hold, regardless of their religious persuasion, is that everyone ought to want what they want. Everyone ought to want what they believe their god is selling. Those who don't are considered deceived or evil, not necessarily because they've done anything "wrong," but simply because it's a wide world, and not everyone in the world likes the same things, wants the same things, or has the same needs. If you ask them, this is definitely a bad thing.

It's like going to the grocery store, and instead of having thousands of different items for differing tastes, they only sell milk. The reason why this grocer only sells milk is because he believes that milk is the best food in the world. Babies can live exclusively on milk, because it has everything the body needs. Besides this, you can tell if milk is good or bad just by smelling it. If it's sweet and delicious, then you know it's pure. Why risk eating or drinking anything else? This is far from being completely true, but that's irrelevant, because this grocer believes it so completely that no one can persuade him otherwise.

Within the narrow mind of this grocer, if anyone's diet consists of anything other that what he's selling, you're not only courting disaster, but are slowly committing suicide. Even if your diet consisted mostly of milk, if any other worldly nourishment were to pass your lips besides milk (specifically HIS milk, of course), then you are cheating on god, flirting with the world, and dining with the devil.

Maybe, however, let's say you happened to be lactose intolerant, and you don't do so well with milk at all, so you don't buy from this grocer's limited offerings. Far-fetched, I know, but bear with me for a moment. Because of this, he becomes offended. "My milk is as good as any milk in the world," he reasons, "so there must be something wrong with YOU!" (There is, it's called lactose intolerance, but this is not what he meant.) "Fine," he says, as he writes you off to suffer what he believes will be a slow and agonizing death, "go for a swim in the chaos and confusion of the bazaars, the farmer's markets, and meat markets of the world, where you will find every sort filth, disease, and contamination. When you're upon death's door with pestilence, you'll come back to me, desiring the pure, sweet milk that alone brings health and life!" In his mind you'll be off carousing in every wretched hive of scum and villainy, filling your wanton belly with nothing but spinach contaminated with E.coli, fish loaded with toxic mercury, beef with mad cow disease, and the list goes on and on.

"You have to understand" he preaches incessantly, "that mankind was created with an evil appetite. Proverbs 21:23 says, 'Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.'" It sounds so reasonable at first, the way he misquotes scripture. "James 3:6, 'And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell!’ The righteous man will not yield to the pleasures of the tongue and the tempting flavors of the world. Sweet, salty, and sour: they all lead to bitterness in end! With no end of greasy chips and turkish delight, the devil will always be more than happy to supply you. These are all evils of the world, of which we must not be partakers. Garlic, spice, and savory all make god's stomach curdle! The righteous man is repulsed by even the smell, limiting himself to just the pure, unadulterated milk. Why, they even take the wholesome milk and corrupt it to become cottage cheese, yogurt, and sour cream!" (Heavens!)

If you get right down to it, religion invariably results in some form of aceticism. To religious people, in one way or another, living a boring life is equated to purity and therefore righteousness. Leading a life denying oneself of this, that, and the other thing, not because something bad will happen, but merely because a single verse in a holy book written thousands of years ago, from another culture, in another language, could somehow be construed to prohibit these things. A life lived in strict adherence to such a theory will not make you better off. At best, it makes you crazy, stupid, or both.

How come our supermarkets are filled with so much variety and choice? It's because different people need different things and have appetites for different things, and that is okay. Variety is the spice of life and eating the same thing all the time is boring. In the supermarket, nobody judges you for what you like, or for what you don't like, or forces you to eat things you're allergic to. Why should they do this in religion?

I am not lactose intolerant, but if I were, this fictional mad grocer would condemn me to the char-broiling fires and red-hot barbecue sauce of Satan's Rib Shack. Promise? Mmm. That's the kind of evil I have an appetite for. Not to say that we can't overdo it. Too many meals of greasy burgers, fries and soda pop can damage your health, but then I don't want that for every meal any more than I would want to go on a milk-fast diet. But once in a while some spicy barbecue ribs, a greasy burger and fries, and yes, even some milk, isn't going to kill you. Also, I suspect that the reason why this grocer is so hard on everyone is because he's going bankrupt, and this is how he keeps his little milk shop afloat. What he doesn't realize is that his business is failing because he isn't providing what people need. Trouble is, browbeating others with guilt-trips and imaginary virtues isn't a real solution to his financial woes.

Religious people think that everyone else in the world should want the culture they're comfortable with, the lifestyle they're leading, and the concepts of virtue and heaven that they've embraced. If you don't there must be something wrong with YOU! After all, it's only a matter of time until god forces the same thing down everyone's throat anyway, right? According to these people, god is going to assimilate us all, forcing us to all be yellow pencils in a yellow pencil heaven. If “heaven” were to wind up being anything like the churches, the only thing to eat there will be one-menu-fits-all cafeteria food, but we’ll be told that it’s five star cuisine.

I find most christian ideas about what heaven is going to be like are claustrophobic and generally contrary to rest of their supposed values. Invariably, the early-adopter always believes he will be the most important yellow pencil in the box. They're merely willing to be passive in the short term in exchange for the right to lord it over everyone else for the rest of eternity. The more devout religious people are, the more layers of self-deception they have. They haven't got a clue how to get a clue about what even their own values really are. No thanks, I've lost the patience to play such games and the desire to believe in such schemes. I don't want any part of that. You can't make me believe I should want it.

But this “package deal” is the only product on the shelf of their "supermarket." There are many other marketplaces and bazaars in the world, too. There are other cultures and other ways of living. There are other churches, other religions, and even the religion of no religion at all! Yes, it's true, those other markets have lots of shelves with lots of different products on them, just like a real supermarket does. But within the narrow, religious mind, choice is equated to confusion and chaos, and this makes a supermarket little more than a den of iniquity. To be clear, I am not espousing a new cultural revolution of sex, drugs, and rock & roll. What I am saying is that the Pilgrims came to America seeking religious freedom, which is a freedom that many religious people in America today do not want others to seek, especially not those in Armstrongist cults.

Maybe I don't want the one and only product that Armstrongism is selling. I don't need that religion, lifestyle, and afterlifestyle. In many ways, it never worked for me. Maybe I actually have an allergy to it. Maybe your kool-aid, er, I meant, milk, is contaminated with E.coli. Whatever the problem, it's been making me sick. There's a lot of people who can't understand that because their minds are too narrow. The truth is, not everyone wants the same things or has the same needs. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a hankering for some spicy barbecue ribs.

Andrew