The following poem was written by a recently departed ex-member of COG-PKG and provided to Don't Drink the Flavor Aid:
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Poem to Ron Weinland
Your words full of wisdom
They made perfect sense
The warmth of your smile
The safety in participation with you
Growth in mind, in spirit
The reality of where we were headed
No fear, just anticipation
Our days were full of tomorrow, not today
Our loved ones feared
But we were not diffused
Tomorrow was what mattered
Most friendships passed away
New ones were forged
Our past was what shaped us
Our present was reforming us
Our future was set
If only we did not give up
To conform, to transform
To allow the change, to see the change
Our lives in the present, only to prepare
Prepare for the Kingdom of God
We were fed, we were clothed
Nakedness in mind and spirit was not experienced
Friendship and warmth in preparedness
We were not alone
We had each other
We were prepared, ever learning
Steadfast, immovable in our belief
We were special, we knew what was to come
Arrogance of mind, of attitude
Pride
We did not see it in ourselves, only others
It was all around us, never in us
Looking down upon others
Calling it something else
Knowing ‘The Call’ wasn’t theirs – yet
Hoping that day would come
Their eyes were shut
Ours were open
Their minds were closed
Ours were enlightened
They could not see
We saw clearly
They were in deception
We were in truth
Attitudes shifted, timelines changed
Things were suddenly unclear
Was this still the truth?
Did we fail to see?
We repented, we were wrong of course
We stood firm
We did not give up
We wanted, had to have, total resolve
Time went by
We adjusted our attitude
Looking forever inward
Knowing we must not doubt
Life went on
One day it hit
One day was all it took
To look into the eyes of others
The feeling of superiority suddenly recognized, obviously unfounded
It was shocking to see what we had become
Questions needed to be asked
Questions were not answered
We were told we could not longer see
That God was no longer with us
Friendships forged through separation from the world
Ended, were broken
No longer part of the truth, we were told
Suddenly, we were alone
We had the truth, we would not let go
It was only our leader
It was only our belief
He was not who he said he was
Looking for a teacher
Looking for food, finding none
The mess that was WCG
So many daughters, so who is really the whore?
The 10 is what we have now
The basic, the unchanging, Gods Law
The truth is what we seek
The truth is still not found
Time passed
Healing was slow
Time to recover
Time to awaken
The pain, the agony
True humbling took place
Brought to nought
The foundation was all that remained
A counterfeit is barely recognized from the true
First you must know what is true
Who is true
By what they say coming to pass, not failing
Twice
Acknowledging we believed a lie
Believed a witness, a prophet
Consumed with his own truth
A truth he believed was given, he was never giving up
A witness, a prophet
Believing his own self
Believing what was ‘given’
Until the end
We wish him no harm, no foul
Only wishing, hoping that no others are hurt
The hurt we carry with us,
The hurt we can hardly bear
What we saw in him as humility, became arrogance
What we saw as steadfast, became delusion
What we saw as the truth, was actually his own truth
What we saw as belonging, was actually being lost
Cursing who he believes as being the blind
To death
The mockers, the deceived
From his point of view, are not they too – potential Children of God under PKG?
Yet – they are cursed to die
True humility
Is admitting when you are wrong
Those of us who left, were humbled, we admitted our error
Those who remain, ignore their pride
Its harder to leave, than to stay
It’s harder to admit you are wrong, than stay in deception
We were taught pride is our ultimate enemy
We thought pride was far from us
Pride in fact, was what we lived, what we were, what we became
Leaving brought us true humility
True knowledge of Pride
Admission of being wrong
Not easy, not safe
Pride is what prevents
Acknowledgment of being wrong.
Pride is Ronald Weinland
We see you
We still love you
Just stop – let the people go
You are not the truth
You do not have the truth
You are wrong
You are false
The pain you have caused was not intentional
The agony you yourself bear is great
Just acknowledge you’re wrong
Don’t let your pride win.
Pride is what you are
Pride is what you became
Pride is you’re here and now
It will not be allowed to be your future
The End is nigh
That, we still believe
But yours must be closer
We forgive you
But this lie can not continue
Kirrily
May 6, 2009
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Thank you for sharing this, Kirrily. You are quite generous in spirit -- more generous than I or others would be in this situation. If only one particular person would heed your plea to reexamine what's going. I believe that you've communicated to me some the essence of your journey so far through this cult, although I won't totally understand it. Even though you're no longer a member, you may have a distance left to travel, but I hope the path gets easier as you go further along.
In keeping with Kirrily's generous spirit, there is a moratorium on mocking Ron in the comments section for this post. (Other posts remain open for that.) I believe that there is plenty to discuss about the effects of Weinland's cult on its members, and that's what this thread is for.
17 comments:
While I mostly liked your comment, I had to delete it in accordance with the commenting rules that were posted. No Anonymous Commenting. Sorry.
Kirrily:
WOW! Beautiful, heavy. Good that you're out!
You maybe have a long way to go now, but on the horizon is one word: FREE!
sorry mike....i tried to put my name in...todd
but it wanted a url...don't know what that is...what should i select to just put that in?
Hi Todd:
Just leave the URL box blank, and only put something in the name box. If the commenting directions could be made clearer and you have a suggestion, shoot me an email (address on the picture of the mail box on the right).
I have a copy of what you posted, and would repost it for you but won't be able to do that until this evening.
Just a heads-up, the new Blogger comment interface is unfriendly to Firefox. Or, my version of Firefox, at least. (3.0.9, but it acted the same way with 3.0.8.) I have to load the page in the IE rendering engine for it to work.
Man, that has to be the most honest expressing of ones feelings I've seen in a long time.
While I'm glad to see Kirrily escaped the hold, through true humbling, I hope he/she has not lost faith in the True God and our Lord Jesus.
(comment previously posted as "Anonymous" reposted by Mike using FF 3.08)
For me it comes down to this: Ron said he wrote the books so everyone would know who to listen to. There are so many preachers out there - who has the truth, who is right?
That was the purpose of his books - when things began, as he said, exactly as he said, people would know who to listen to.
Well, those things he has written, those things he has said has NOT come to pass - simple.
Therefore, we should NOT listen to him - no lie is of the truth - he is false.
People stayed, I stayed as long as I did because of denial. To admit you were wrong is agony. To leave people behind you love is AGONY. To have learned all we did in PKG - and a LOT of it was good - well, you have to question EVERYTHING. Back to square 1.
The pain in all this is INCREDIBLE.
To those who doubt what Mike is doing here - well, all I can say is that Mike has given his precious time to help people like me.
I have NEVER listened to one single sermon of Rons after I left, and I will never listen to another.
I mean it when I say I wish the man no harm, and I just feel for those who are still there - people I love, people I car for - including Ron himself!
I am just so very, very, very sad.
Yes - I am free - but free to do what? Believe what? I have the foundation - that will have to do.
But as for these 'mockers' - they have had the heart, the willingness to help ME, to be there for ME. These have been my SANITY.
To Mike and others - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
I am in the same boat as Kirrily since I have left Ron's group. I can truly appreciate this poem for what it is, an avenue for healing from the pain all of this has caused - to Kirrily, myself, and whoever else may have left but don't know how to deal with the heavy burden of not knowing where to go from here. Well done Kirrily! :-)
Kirrily:
My wife and I almost where in. Thanks to Mike we're not: that's as simple, for Rina and me, as it is.
Me and Rina only will try to understand what you folks are going thrue. Forgive me for my latest post in which I said: that's as simple.
It's not simple at all! I'm sorry, won't happen again.
Paul, I understood your 6:59 comment to indicate that you're lucky that you questioned Weinland and as a result didn't get involved with his church.
As you point out, we can't know exactly what others who've been involved are going through. And even Kirrily and Mike A who were in in COG-PKG are not having the same exact reactions.
"I have the foundation - that will have to do."
That's right. I hope you realize that your foundation is Jesus Christ. That's it. When I understood that, I was able to escape the apocalypse mindset.
Kirrily
Very beautifully said. You may not be the world's greatest poet, but you have done the poetry world a favor by posting this.
I was never part of a cult, but I have had my fundamental beliefs challenged. The process IS painful, to admit your core beliefs were wrong. I have been on a spiritual quest for over 30 years - and the only thing I can say I know without doubt, is that I know nothing at all.
Keep seeking. You may not find the ultimate answer, but it is the journey, not the destination, that molds us as God's beings.
This is a very nice poem, I can say amen on this.
Fine words, meaningful, empathic.
Allthough never a member, not even a sympathizer of Rons "truths", these words express in a Christian way what I understand you feel when leaving a group like this.
I have 2 friends in this cult, wish they could read this, how to show without hurting them?
Rolf BLS de Jong, COG friend/member, Holland.
P.s. Good work Mike!
Try to keep up the friendly tone as you know:
"a soft answer etc", greetings!
Good Evening All.
I haven't been here for awhile, but E-mail Mike every now and then to say Hi. Just received an e-mail this morning from "Hayhouse.com, saying that THE END is 12/21/2012, "myth or reality?"
It's obvious that everything Weinland said, when I was so "intrenched" has NOT come to pass. His "followers" don't get that, yet?
Hi Stephanie:
Seems that Weinland's followers don't have eyes to see nor ears to hear that Ron's prophecies are failing. Maybe if they wait long enough, one of them will come to pass, but it's already too late -- Ron has demonstrated himself to be a false prophet over and over.
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