kbyrne Wrote:

> When Gary and Marilyn became an item, that pretty
> much sealed the deal for me. That just seemed
> wrong. And I couldn't understand what Donna
> Hargrave (and his little girl) had done to deserve
> that. It just did not seem right.

My recollection of Donna was that she was sweet, fun and good-natured. She didn't use her 'position' (pastor's wife) to put trips on people. My wife babysat, on occasion, for her little girl...who now is a grown adult, and appeared for a brief time on the old cult site (factnet). While there, someone immediately put her on the defensive, and treated her rather cruelly, and she eventually left. I have my suspicions of who that might have been.

kByrne you aren't alone in feeling like you don't fit into another church. A number of posters have expressed that. It's ironical that JRS said rather arrogantly that the LW had ruined us for anything else. I think JRS meant that he gave us pure unadulterated truth when in fact much of what he gave us that came from his own personal so called revelations was false. And that in itself, getting people to believe all your words are God's truth when they are not, can ruin people emotionally and psychologically creating deep trust issues. I recall an Anaheim service in which JRS was on the platform crying crocodile tears and saying, "I've tried to keep this thing pure." I bought into it and yet around me strange and highly unethical things were happening.

I learned here that Mary left (Blix girl) and went on to become a lawyer. She has a website too. I think Shannon left right before JRS married Marilyn. I think Wendy is still in. I think you are correct that many of those girls were fragile. One of the Blix girls was attempting to get me to commit to work full time in accounting as I helped out there briefly for a short time. I knew Marilyn's history about how she strictly ran things and knew enough about myself that I was kind of slacker. I'm thankful I never got sucked into that life of serving JRS.

I also bottled things up for decades before making an effort to look at what happened. I think it is helpful to share memories and stories among people who pretty much may have experienced similar circumstances. Thanks for sharing.

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SouthGate Wrote:
>
> > I remember Gary denying in South Gate that he
> was
> > going to marry Marilyn.
>
> Interesting...but not surprising. Didn't this guy
> once have some integrity?


I'm really in no position to be questioning anyone's integrity. The whole cast the 1st stone comes to mind in my situation. LOL! I just wanted to share what he said.

I just wanted to clarify my last statement. I've cast the 1st stone and many other stones my whole life. I've used my miserable yardstick on so many others all the while a yardstick couldn't measure my own shortcomings.

SouthGate Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just wanted to clarify my last statement. I've
> cast the 1st stone and many other stones my whole
> life. I've used my miserable yardstick on so many
> others all the while a yardstick couldn't measure
> my own shortcomings.

Yeah, I think it's a common malady. Lately, I've been using my miserable yardstick daily...mostly in respect to our president :)

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SouthGate Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I just wanted to clarify my last statement.
> I've
> > cast the 1st stone and many other stones my
> whole
> > life. I've used my miserable yardstick on so
> many
> > others all the while a yardstick couldn't
> measure
> > my own shortcomings.
>
> Yeah, I think it's a common malady. Lately, I've
> been using my miserable yardstick daily...mostly
> in respect to our president :)


Oh, to be young again and not even pay attention to politics. LOL

Ex-members can feel uncomfortable in a church and not even realize it may have to do with trust issues. Wow, kbryne, members at Shiloh with psychiatric problems. Under surveillance. Doesn't surprise me a bit. I drove across country with a Iowa born and farm raised young man. Really good guy. He was sent to the hospital with a brain tumor. His mom flew out. At the time and having just left Shiloh, I had so much inner turmoil. I couldn't bring myself to visit him in the hospital. I'm not proud of that now.

Changeagain, do you really think that post from Gary's daughter was authentic?

Kbyrne reminded me of something. I remember hearing often when I was new in the Walk this admonishment: "If you hear anything that you don't understand, just put it on a shelf. God will reveal it to you later."

I had so much on my shelf, I think it broke and feel down. That statement is a big red flag to me now, looking back on it. It's so obvious to me now.

NickkleandDimed:
<Changeagain, do you really think that post from Gary's daughter was authentic?>

Yes, I do. I wish I could locate the posts now, and share them (through PM). Of course, she had the basic facts correct, especially about her Mom. But it went far beyond that. I sensed that the person who attacked her, did so because she/he knew that she was, in fact, who she said she was. She didn't hide the pain, BTW, of him deciding not to be a part of her life.

My name is Ron Deming. I was in what was then called The Walk from about 1971 until a year or so after JRS died in 1983 when TLW went through a mass reorganization that most certainly did not resonate with me (Hargrave dumping his perfectly faithful wife to be with Marilyn), so my wife and I stopped attending. It has been interesting reading all these posts. I still have family (in-laws and their progeny) in TLW. It is of great interest to me that TLW is romancing the Catholic church, especially considering that JRS considered it to be the Great whore of Babylon.

Also, is it really true that Gary says he hears Marilyn speaking to him from the dead, or is that just lighthearted hyperbole? And if so, why has JRS never provided guidance from the other side of the veil? Cults are very interesting organizations to say the least.

It will be interesting to see if I know any of you all. Perhaps we shared adventures back in the day. Cheers!