1976.1.30
Little Rock, Arkansas
We had a very, very interesting trip down from New York. Before we even got across the Tappan Zee Bridge we blew a tire. While we were waiting for Doug to come back with a spare a wrecker came to push us off the bridge, but as we were changing lanes we got hit by a car-carrier truck, which almost did push us off the bridge -- into the Hudson.
We finally got on the road again and stopped in Winchester, Virginia, at McDonald's for dinner. When I was in the high school marching band, Winchester was where we used to come every spring for the Apple Blossom Festival Parade.
The parade was always secondary to our desire to party. Some guys would sneak liquor from their parents in Listerine bottles, and almost everyone would buy fireworks because they were legal in Virginia. Then back at the motel we would take little nips of Southern Comfort from the mouthwash bottle and fire bottle rockets at each other around the motel pool. The chaperones would sometimes yell at us to quiet down, but they never seemed too concerned, as long as they didn't catch anyone doing anything really out of bounds.
It was on the Winchester trip during my junior year that Leslie, who was a freshman and also played trumpet in the band, and I first started going together. We had gone out a few times before, but I had been through a very hard break-up the year before and I wasn't too eager to get too involved again. But Leslie was very pretty and sweet and I liked her and I could tell she liked me. One night at the motel we were alone and started making out. After that we were together all the time.
So I had some memories in Winchester, but the McDonald's we were at was out near the interstate and not anyplace I recognized. It looked like just another commercial strip in America. We could have been anywhere. After we finished eating we all piled back in the van and got back on the highway headed toward Texas.
About 200 miles later someone noticed that a brother named Bruce wasn't in the van. Our Abel figure for the trip, a brother named Jack, didn't want to call New York. I think it was because he knew he'd get yelled at by Mr. Kamiyama, who is head of the national MFT. Maybe Jack was hoping nobody would find out if we just went back and got Bruce. I also think it was Jack's first leadership responsibility and he was anxious not to fail.
So Jack told the driver to turn around and we drove 150 miles through the night back toward Winchester before he finally stopped about 3 o'clock in the morning and called New York. We lost a whole day driving the extra 300 miles. It turned out to be a wasted trip. Bruce had waited about an hour at the McDonald's and when we didn't come back, he called New York and they wired Bruce money for a bus ticket. A short time later he was on a Greyhound to Dallas. We had probably passed him in the dark on our way back. We also found out in the phone call that our destination had been changed to New Orleans.
We arrived in New Orleans yesterday and went fundraising almost right away. But Mr. Hayashi, the commander, decided to send me to an MFT team in Arkansas. At first he was going to send me to New Mexico, but I guess HF changed his mind. This made me really happy because the captain of the Arkansas team was Richard Panzer. He was famous on MFT as one of the top sellers in the country. To be assigned to his team was a huge blessing.
So Mr. Hayashi put me on a plane in New Orleans that took me to Memphis and then to Little Rock. Richard picked me up at the airport a couple hours later and immediately dropped me off with some candy to go fundraising. We didn't even go to the apartment where the team lived to drop off my suitcase and sleeping bag. It was great. I was officially on MFT. I thanked God for allowing me to follow Father's indemnity course.
Immediately I noticed the people here were not like people in Long Island. These were good, simple Christian folks, salt of the earth. Most of them weren't rushing around. They would stop and talk to you, even if they didn't buy. Every time someone said no, I repented to HF for not being able to love them enough to make them give. I felt certain that in time I would be able to crush Satan here and bring a high result for heaven.
At the end of the day we went back to the MFT center, which was really just a cheap efficiency apartment with no furniture. Every place I had lived in the church so far had had at least some sparse furnishings. A sofa and some chairs, maybe a few tables and lamps. But this place was completely bare, right down to the wooden floors. There were no dishes or silverware in the kitchen or anything to cook with. Only some paper cups. To anyone else it would have looked vacant.
We counted the day's result -- $787.12, almost $400 of it made by Richard -- and made a prayer offering it to God. Then Richard helped me with my selling pitch, making my spiel shorter and coaching me on how to make my delivery more effective. He demonstrated for me. It was amazing to watch. His face suddenly lit up, so earnest and smiling. He seemed overly excited, like a child on Christmas morning, even though he was a grown man with a 5 o'clock shadow.
When he spoke it caught me by surprise. He didn't yell, but his voice was louder than necessary, and his speech was very peculiar, almost sing-song. When he said "Arkansas," he put the emphasis on the last syllable so it came out as "Ar-kan-SAW!" It was hypnotic. He could instantly dominate another person's spirit with his voice, and yet because of his relatively small size and his joyful, childlike demeanor, no one could feel threatened. It immediately became apparent to me why he was so successful. No one could say no to him.
The other brothers on the team, Kent and Tim, watched Richard as he demonstrated his selling technique. But they didn't show any emotion. I guess they'd probably seen it many times already. To me they mostly just looked tired.
But I'm thrilled. Already I feel total oneness with Richard as my Abel, my central figure. If I can copy him and keep a vertical connection to God, which I know I can, I'm certain I can become a top seller too. I have no doubt I'll get the victory. I think I'm going to like Arkansas very much.
Turn the page: This Isn't So Hard
Heh...brings back memories of Howie, another little guy who was a super-seller. He was in my region when I was on MFT in Texas. He was so funny - he was like a little Robin Williams. He had a routine about Mexican jukeboxes, how he actually saw tears seeping out the bottom of one of them during a particularly passionate love song. He made phenomenal amounts of money. I, on the other hand, probably cost the church more money than I made - at least, I hope so. I had some good days, but on the whole I was terrible. I think I actually came within millimeters of having a nervous breakdown in Texas. I eventually left and took a bus back home to the Oakland family.
ReplyDeleteI did have some good experiences though. One winter night I was dropped off to go door to door in a trailer park. At a liquor store across the street, I bought a miniature bottle of that horrible Dutch chocolate liqueur for a wild rebellious treat, and as I started through the trailer park I met a dog, some kind of collie mix. Well, I like dogs and dogs like me, so he decided to fundraise with me. I whistled little tunes to him as we walked through the trailer park, and he kept me apprised of any bad dogs. I don't remember any people, or if I did well or not, but it was actually fun instead of the alternative.
http://wp.me/pvghq-2E6....take a look...the "Trial of Rev. Moon at the Emerald Table of Justice" .... has some information as well
DeleteHowie Comis. Phenomenal fundraiser. I was a sub-captain for him and two other "crushers" down in south Texas for a few weeks. I have a photo of the three of them by a tree, and Howie is hanging by a branch like a monkey. Pure Howie. I never knew Howie's secret, but humor was definitely part of his bag of tricks. Driving them was during my "dark" period, which I haven't gotten to yet in this blog, so I'm skipping ahead a bit in saying so. Would love to find out what happened to Howie.
ReplyDeletehttp://wp.me/pvghq-2E6 please read...it tells the tale...but there is more...of course
DeleteIt now seems likely we actually crossed paths in Texas. Looks like we were there around the same time.
ReplyDeleteHowie Comis??? read on....
Delete.......".....By attracting world attention and gathering the representatives of 60 nations,
the June 7 rally accomplished a physical victory on the worldwide level.
On the foundation of all our successes I could expand that substantial victory,
and so I returned again to America, this time with a different, heightened mission.
My previous mission in America had been on a spiritual level,
but in 1975 I came back to America to fulfill a physical mission.
You know what we have done in this country since then.
The first 3 years of the third 7-year course were 1975, 1976, and 1977.
You are the eyewitnesses of the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument campaigns,
which culminated in physical victory, on a worldwide scale.
Initially I had planned to have the Washington Monument rally in 1977, but we were even ahead of God's schedule.
The purpose of the Yankee Stadium crusade was to completely win American public opinion in support of us,
and to demonstrate our strength.
However, God was wiser,
and He gave us rain that day, thinking,
"Instead of being deterred by the rain,
I know Reverend Moon will be spurred on to do more.
I will give the rally a little sprinkle of water
so that he will even be inspired to work ahead of schedule".
That was God's plan...."
"...
Where the carcase is...there shall the vultures be gathered.......".....By attracting world attention and gathering the representatives of 60 nations,
ReplyDeletethe June 7 rally accomplished a physical victory on the worldwide level.
On the foundation of all our successes I could expand that substantial victory,
and so I returned again to America, this time with a different, heightened mission.
My previous mission in America had been on a spiritual level,
but in 1975 I came back to America to fulfill a physical mission.
You know what we have done in this country since then.
The first 3 years of the third 7-year course were 1975, 1976, and 1977.
You are the eyewitnesses of the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument campaigns,
which culminated in physical victory, on a worldwide scale.
Initially I had planned to have the Washington Monument rally in 1977, but we were even ahead of God's schedule.
The purpose of the Yankee Stadium crusade was to completely win American public opinion in support of us,
and to demonstrate our strength.
However, God was wiser,
and He gave us rain that day, thinking,
"Instead of being deterred by the rain,
I know Reverend Moon will be spurred on to do more.
I will give the rally a little sprinkle of water
so that he will even be inspired to work ahead of schedule".
That was God's plan...."
But that was not God's 'plan' !!!
This is where Mr. Moon lied to himself and left the Path; and satanically called the fierce and horrific storm which came as a Sign directly from God for not declaring he was John the Baptist reborn "a little sprinkle of water".
( continued)
ReplyDeleteThus the end for the Unification Church came for Rev. Moon ignoring what the Storm really was: a rebuke from God for Rev. Moon's rejection of God and His Christ, and an arrogant demonstration of his total betrayal of his mission and complete hubris in rejecting the Will of God.
This culminated in his decision to portray himself as the Messiah, when he never came close to that position in his fondest dreams: his marriage in 1960 was totally symbolic, and even then almost a blasphemous claim, in light of his not brought the Kingdom to the King or Messiah, but in the position of the Baptist instead said he was in the actual position already of the Messiah without having passed the final test.
This is because he knew that the Messenger stands in the position of the Messiah until the Messiah does indeed come: but this would be like as if John the Baptist had said he was Christ when still waiting for Jesus to arrive.
Moon decided that he would just pretend he was the Messiah and remove anyone who really had that claim or position from the Providence: and that is exactly what happened when he took the Blessing from the young man who cured him of his pancreatic cancer: and then destroyed him. That young man, Howie Comis, was the one of whom it was said;
".... and a little child shall lead them....",
who was indeed to have led the children of the Resurrection.
This sacrificial lamb, who Rev. Moon used to save his own life, died in poverty and exile 30 years later,
and his torso, headless, legless and armless, was found in a suitcase about two miles from Rev. Moon's New York Estate
......within the year in which Rev. Moon himself died.
Thus is it written
"......For where the carcase is, there shall the eagles / vultures be gathered...."
Thus in stealing the Blessing from My Generation and saving his own life Rev. Moon thought God would have to make him the Messiah: because now there was no one left on the field to challenge him: but he forgot one very important saying:
"...For he who finds his own life will lose it: but he who loses his life for my sake and the Gospel: the same shall keep it...
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world: but lose his own soul ???..."
......... Thus Rev. Moon died in the position of the one he himself had judged as being guilty of the death of the Lamb in his book "Divine Principle":
John the Baptist.