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  Mark Johnston September 30, 2013 at 3:14am

  Only 10? oh my? well at least they can have manifestations in meetings?? wouldn't want to be on that grounds crew
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  Ian Valentine September 29, 2013 at 11:58pm

  WOW
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  Sandy Peoples October 4, 2009 at 3:42pm

  What a great question to ask! wow!
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  Mickey Dodson June 29, 2009 at 10:34am

  The future's already here regarding dvds....Flash drives. Tiny and cool. I have two 4mg flash drives that hold everything a whole box of dvd discs would hold. And you can add, delete, re-sort, whatever, without even having to have an application. And, yes, you can store movies on them. Being a computer engineer geek, I was very impressed the first time I saw one. I remembered my first computers that took up whole rooms and had to be on elevated floors for all the cables (oops I just aged myself).
  
  I bought flash drives for all my secondary school kids (just 2mg) so now they carry their work with them and we don't have to worry with clogging up our lab computers (most of them are old with small hard drives). The kids love the flash drives mostly because it looks very cool to wear one hanging from your neck. (At least here in Nicaragua the kids think its cool).
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  Mickey Dodson June 29, 2009 at 10:05am

  Ron, your words are spot on. I think my corps started with 300 and graduated about 50 less than that, but the person who graduated and affected my life the most was me. Every morning when I step into the cold shower, I thank God for my corps training. Without it I would not have survived this decade plus in the third world. I think about chopping wood at Gunnison, and how my hair, wet from the shower, froze on the walk to breakfast, and how none of that even bothered me at the time. It was and is all about listening to God and knowing we can trust Him. It's a great way to live.
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  Vicky (Calderon) Torrey June 28, 2009 at 8:19am

  Very interesting! I agree with you --- it does not hurt to imagine, or consider the possibilities.
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  John Richeson June 28, 2009 at 6:27am

  "His "ministry", often misunderstood today by his critics, was different than that, even if he didn't fully understand it himself at times."
  
  John, I have to agree with your closing statement. (Sorry critics.) But I believe he had a ministry for sure. And I also believe it was bigger than he understood. For whatever reason he reached some of us who were unreachable at the time. We needed it. It helped us. That's all I wanna say about that for now. Some of it I still do not understand.
  
  Your persepective on public presentations is insightful and from much expereince I know. I had forgotten how many thousands of people you have been in front of on stage. You have seen things most of us never will. Thanks for that insight.
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  John and Janet Ruiz June 27, 2009 at 3:15pm

  Thanks John. There were clearly 'great moments' in larger settings, like that one. The key to that kind of delivery, big or small, was rhythm and timing, serving the content. You can have great things to say and gum it up with awkward rhythm and timing. Vice versa, nothing to say but great presentation skills.
  
  With the Bible there's a double headed hammer - the records have incredible potential if allowed to speak for and reveal themselves. It's difficult to do that unless you have a respect for them going in. If a person feels they have to dress them up, "repurpose" them, they lose their significance. As is - well, look at the "Lord I believe" record, the blind man healed, etc. I've heard that taught many times over the years by teachers/pastors outside of the Way. Left to speak for itself, it never fails to go deep and long. There's an opportunity for that stuff to sink in and do things in a person's heart and mind if - if - it's allowed to sift down and setlle, and that requires time, moments, seconds between words, verses, comments, etc - and an awareness of what's going on in the room with the people listening.
  
  When all of that comes together it is indeed, electrifying. If it's "God's Word" we have to allow for the Owner to speak, is what it bo'ls down to.
  
  That's where the Light Shined brightest for me - in the smaller settings. That same thing can occur and does in larger settings too - of course. It's a great thing to see, observe, participate in and if possible, to learn.
  
  The Way turned out and probably still turns out decent speakers, funny, and capable. His "ministry", often misunderstood today by his critics, was different than that, even if he didn't fully understand it himself at times.
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  John Richeson June 27, 2009 at 1:18pm

  I always felt and still do, that Dr. Weirwille's best presentation mode (when we look at the context of PFAL and "teaching" in general) was live, in a small to mid-size group. Maybe no more than 50. He was IMO as good as any speaker I've ever seen over the years and better than most at getting a point across in a way that allowed the listener to take it personally - he had a way of opening up space in a presentation, for the listener to think and react.
  
  Excellent insight John. And some of you earlier Corps groups would know. That was an everyday occurence for you.
  
  On the other hand, what is your thought about his presentations like the one on the ROA 1972 video? "Lord, I believe!" You coulda heard a pin drop at that presentation. Quite captivating. But I guess that was more a preaching style as opposed to a group of 50 or so. Maybe both had their place.
  
  Like him or not, I always looked forward to hearing what he was gonna say next and in what manner especially at the BRC or even in Emporia with larger audiences. (I did not like the insanely huge presentations like PFAL 77 or AC 79, though.)
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  John and Janet Ruiz June 26, 2009 at 10:32pm

  Yeah, I think I posted that link on GS a year or two ago myself. It's a good overall statement of the history. At the time the Way was looking at this, we were beginning to look at a photography business and purchased video filming and editing equipment. The beta/vhs movement was consumer oriented - length time was a major factor in production of product. But for the creation of original product and duplication it was really a moot point if length wasn't a factor as the copy quality completely depends on the original. I worked interning for a couple PBS station directors and learned Beta and/or VHS copy quality of 3/4 inch video was basically the same and dependent on the condition of the playback equipment - a badly aligned and dirty set of heads and your image quality would degrade on any format. Not to mention the quality and adjustment of your monitor(s). 1/2 inch tape format had the least effect on quality - it "was what it was" and it's never been great. A high quality film original, properly and carefully duplicated and played back on Beta or VHS was about the same, all other factors being equal and appropriate for playback.
  
  Historically I think the media revolution will be seen more in the context of portability and availability - putting the means of production in the hands of those closest to the output, "us". The technological march of progress has focused on those two factors, and quality comes up to support it along the way.
  
  Quality is relative and defined by the requirements of a consumer - what's the need, not the greed, if you will. (a "good" meal doesn't have to cost a 100 bucks or take 3 hours to produce, etc) Look at religion - generations required a huge church and an expensive and complex orthodox tradition to manufacture a religious experience worth having. We know (as have many throughout history) that it only requires an open table of the human heart for God to produce high quality life - as only He can provide.
  
  Having an entire TV studio in a small hand held box that can be transmitted around the world the same day it's been made - as Doc said to Marty in "Back the Future" - "I see why your President has to be an actor...he has to look good on TV". Except the media progression has become so portable and available that regardless of how we look - we're likely to end up on "TV" at any time!
  
  I love the fact that we were in the movement early on, in a tangible practical way through the production of PFAL from film and audio tape, to video. The format stuff is inconsequential to me on a practical level, when I consider that at the time we were busing beta tapes and players all over the country to run classes, we participated in the ground level roots of what we see today.
  
  But then I think - I always felt and still do, that Dr. Weirwille's best presentation mode (when we look at the context of PFAL and "teaching" in general) was live, in a small to mid-size group. Maybe no more than 50. He was IMO as good as any speaker I've ever seen over the years and better than most at getting a point across in a way that allowed the listener to take it personally - he had a way of opening up space in a presentation, for the listener to think and react. Not always, over the years I felt he got stiffer and more prone to repetition. But in his day there, he had the Stuff going on. The video stuff never replaces the potential of live one-to-one peer communication. It's good for a certain range of purpose though, no question about that.