X-RAY FAITH 1-6: REDEMPTION HOUSE

X 1 THE BROCHURE FOR REDEMPTION HOUSE

January-April, 2013   Redemption House   Palestine, Texas

I. BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY MINISTRIES

Milton and Joyce Green started ‘Be Fruitful and Multiply’ Ministries in the nineteen eighties. Joyce continued the ministry after Milton’s passing. Joyce was a righteous lady who loved God. I have heard  ‘Jesus loves me’ all of my life. Joyce once said that during a phone conversation and it had the impact of a hurricane. Joyce was a force of nature and her nature was to reach out to those who needed reaching. The house on Court Drive was always busy with people doing things. That gave it life and life is happy when people are doing good things. I loved visiting my brother there and it had always been a desire to be a viable part of that ministry. I met Joyce because she reached out to my brother and I had remained in their orbit. The reputation was impeccable and this is how we connect through six degrees of separation. 

Joyce had a penetrating mind, a deep heart, vision, courage, leadership, and a moral authority that never veered into the domineering and pompous. She remained humble, authentic and this made her unique. You could be at odds with Joyce and still love her. Love was what it was all about and that embodied her. Her influence was amazing. She passed away in 2008. 

I consider Lynn, Jan, David, Cindy, Andy, and a few others as Joyce’s protegees. Lynn has been a rock for me. She became the heart and soul of the ministry after Joyce had passed away in 2008. David arrived around 1996 and met his wife, Cindy through the ministry. The character of an organization tends to mirror the integrity of its leader. Be Fruitful and Multiply Ministries was an outstanding organization under Joyce Green. 

II. SOLACE

It is January 12, 2013. I first talked to David a  few days earlier because Lynn was out of town when I had called. My family just placed the luggage on the hospital parking lot and drove off. David and Cindy retrieve me and I am talking in warp speed and expunging a barrage of information. Upset, broken, and assuming that everyone else also likes the details and epic picture given to them all at once. This is a bad day because my family now hates me for reasons that I have yet to understand.

Eventually, the obvious will clue me in. I suddenly realize that this is the last place on the list. Within the past year, I have been behind the doors of every ministry and charity that received my continued support. It is telling that I pray for this place to be on the straight and narrow. David is telling me that all of the residents are all parolees. I am relieved to hear this. One more ‘good’ person could possibly do me in. He wants to keep me separate for a while. He is looking out for them and I understand that. I wish to be alone as well. I unpack the laptop and stay in a trailer. I am happy at that moment. I meet everyone else the next morning. 

III. GLOSS AND SPIN

David is the Director of Redemption House. It is a prison ministry and halfway house for parolees in Palestine, Texas. He works a day job and at night he goes into prisons to teach Bible classes and hang out with the inmates. He seems to have a good rapport with those locked up. He is serious about prison ministry and the consistency of his visits would seem to prove it is his life.

Like many in prison ministry, he was once incarcerated. Many say that they want to give back, but David has been following through with this promise for years. Cindy is his wife and the two of them live on the grounds of Redemption House. They sold their house and land to get here. They have kept the place going for quite a while. A few years ago, Redemption House came on hard times. David and Cindy were the driving force in revitalizing the place. David and the parolees carried out the construction. Expenses were paid through donations and money out of their own pockets. Once, they allowed parolees to move into their home. This is a bigger place and more parolees can come there to live. All of the parolees are Born Again Christians. There are no locked doors here.

There are various buildings on the grounds. There is a wood shop, storage buildings, a house, and a few trailer houses. The main residence is  a rectangular building. David and Cindy have their home and offices in the front. This is connected to two long hallways that open to various rooms. Most of these rooms are bedrooms. The parolees have their own rooms. There are two large bathrooms and a laundry facility in the rear of the building. Some of the rooms are used for storage. After months of renovation, they officially moved in at during the latter part of 2012. Behind the main residence is the Fellowship Hall, which has the central kitchen. During the week, it serves as an expansive living and dining room. On Sundays, Church services are held there. It is also used for Wednesday night Bible Study and the daily five-thirty a.m. Bible Studies. There is a television set, but there is no cable. All of the television viewing comes from watching VHS tapes. No movies with an R rating are allowed. There is also an abundance of Joyce and Milton’s teaching tapes. 

Those in prison ministry are devoted and many travel extensively. It is not unusual to have a traveling minister to come by and stay overnight on a consistent basis. These services are provided at no cost. It is an understanding among brethren. They may rest, shower, eat, and do laundry before they go back into another prison. There are a lot of prisons and many have their own circuit. Those in the various prison ministries and the parolees have known each other for years.

Gloss is applied to cover a blemish, to make something more attractive. It spins in the washing machine to make it clean and perfect. Persuasion is a contorted sheen, a political spin to sell an idea, a marketable flair of seduction that is uniquely American. Now, all of the cheer and scrubbed innocence is ending and mirrors are also shiny.

1 THE BROCHURE FOR REDEMPTION HOUSE

X-RAY FAITH 1

LEAGUE OF DREAD

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X2 REDEMPTION HOUSE DOLLARS

January-April, 2013   Redemption House   Palestine, Texas

IV. CONTROL AND SURFACE MONEY

As 2013 began, David told Andy that he needed free reign to run the place his way. Absolute power was granted and it is no secret that all decisions are made by David. I never received a definitive answer about who served on the board of directors. No true form of accountability appears to be set in place for David. That would go against Scripture and historical precedence for churches and ministries. Allowing one’s desires to have free reign would also go against common sense.  

On Sunday mornings, Church services are held in the Fellowship Hall. The tithes and offerings are one means to support the place. Selling Joyce and Milton’s tapes are another method of receiving income. However, no new tapes shall come from them. The resident parolees pay sixty to seventy-five dollars a week to live there. All of this is the apparent money trail. 

I once offered David the rest of my studio’s recording gear so that he could transfer and duplicate Joyce’s tapes. He declined because he wanted new gear. He did go on to build an office in which the walls were lined with Joyce’s material and that area is most coveted. 

V. OTHER PEOPLE’S DOMESTIC MONEY?

David had always claimed that he sacrificed to run Redemption House. He sold his house, land, and whatever else. He kept the money from those sales. That is not sacrifice. He and his wife live there with the parolees. That is only a nominal increase in electricity and water bills.

David and the parolees renovated Redemption House. The work took months and the parolees did not get paid. This would seem to violate the labor laws. 

Those that struggle realize that such things are typical. In America, if you have no money, you have no voice and fewer rights.  If one desires to get his life in order after serving time, then money would be one of the necessities. 

Later on, one of the parolees got a new set of teeth from an anonymous donor. Still, Christians are supposed to aspire to a higher ideal, a better sort of behavior and intent. 

On Monday nights, the parolees and I volunteered at Global Heart Ministries in Fairfield, Texas. Global Heart gave its volunteers food for their  work. They were very generous to Redemption House. A lot of the food that we received was also given out to people in the community. All of this was done on the way home. 

One parolee would make things to sell in the wood shop. He told me that David got a cut of the sales. Are not ministries supposed to be about God and people. If there are attempts at making profits, then why do they receive tax-exempt status? The parolees and myself needed every dime that we could get.

Steptoe claimed that a lady gave him a few thousand dollars through the ministry. It was to be for clothes and things of that nature. He claimed that he received very little of the money. The men are also charged seventy five dollars a week to stay there. This became very evident to me when David began telling me that they have not been charging me. There would be no problem with this if I were working.

VI. MY DOMESTIC MONEY

When I arrived at Redemption House in January, I had three fundamental problems. In accordance with Matthew 18:16, I wanted to fix the family problems. The front-end of my pick-up was messed up and the alternator was bad. I also needed a job because I had just lost two jobs.

I was out of minutes on my phone and money for minutes would have helped. Try to get a job with no phone, no transportation, you live in the country, and you do not know a lot of people. Using other people’s phones rarely works. Near the end of my tenure, someone had brought up the fact that one of the parolees had a viable phone that he no longer used. It was too little, too late, and it is a typical manipulator tactic to suddenly recall things when it no longer matters.  

Once I had been there a few months, I was allowed to go and work with two parolees doing able various handyman jobs. I make no claim at being good at carpentry, welding, or anything else of this nature. I did my best and learned what I could. I work hard, do as I am instructed, and my work ethic has never been questioned. A parolee had instigated the whole work thing for me because Dee and Angie needed a floor replaced at Lake Richland-Chambers. I was grateful for the work and getting away from the place. More 

work started to come. Another parolee moved back to Redemption House and I started to go with him on jobs. I appreciate the patience that the parolees exhibited toward me.

One day, a parolee and I were to go do a job. David intervened and said that I could not go because we had to go to Court Drive to fix a roof. This would be for free. I was irked because we had already given our word for the job. I do not like manipulators vying for control. I want to be given a reasonable notice if the work is going to be charitable. Later on, David changed his mind and paid me for the work. This coincided with me being shipped to Fairfield in a few days.  

VII. INTEGRATION AND PARTICIPATION

Being informed about how the world work now would also seem to be a good thing. A parolee went to get money out of the ATM and that became a needless disaster. He was never informed about how banking works in this day and age? A little knowledge would have remedied this situation because he had been locked up for a while. Knowledge is helpful for the transition. This is obvious and I wrote it off as one the many ploys that manipulators use to keep you off-balance. That lack of balance insures control. 

I remember Joyce telling me that we are to be in the world and not of the world. How are these men going to thrive if they have no idea how the world works? Ignorance and isolation is a detriment to this cause. The isolation was the most difficult aspect during my four month tenure. Near the end of that time, David got a parolee a job through his employer. Before that occurred, the parolee did what I did; fix things around the place. Working on the property fended off the madding aspects of isolation. Money is a necessary tool and participating in society is a human need. Remove those two aspects and despair resides at the door.

VIII. THE LAND JACK

David would occasionally mention Jack and it became apparent that he was a thorn in David’s side. Jack would drop by to chat and give the parolees odd jobs. It is March, 2013. Jack started coming to church on Sunday morning. Few words had ever been spoken between us. One afternoon, it seemed important that I should work on the laptop in the Fellowship Hall. No prior arrangements had been made and what was truly on my mind is that I was supposed to meet Jack. We did not know one another and immediately we got down to business. 

Jack had done his research and I was enlightened. He knew how to get information and knowing who gossips hastens the pace. The particular gossip had a reputation for being an instigator and it is easy to assume that he told Jack quite a few things. David had mentioned that it was a mistake to bring that parolee here. It was a telling statement when David said that he and the parolee were too much alike. Like most narcissists, David telegraphs the delusions of his intent.

He had been collecting a paper trail of documents left by Redemption House. He gave me copies and Joyce’s will was among that collection. Joyce owned a considerable amount of land among other assets. Land had been on my mind since I arrived at Redemption Houses. I could not account for this matter until Super Bowl Sunday. We went to watch the game at a gentleman’s house that sat atop a large hill overlooking Trinity Valley Junior College. It is arguably the best view in Anderson County and I could not fathom why anyone would wish to sell this property. 

According to Jack, they have been making illegal land sales from Joyce’s estate. The property was being sold below market value. Their lawyer is Michael Deer, but Terry Thorn was used instead for the land sales. Andy Brinks’ signature sealed the documents. I believed Jack on this matter and I believe that Andy had been used by David to make these things so. I never had a chance to completely go over everything with Jack. About a week later, I would be shipped out to Fairfield because of the meeting with Jack.

2 REDEMPTION HOUSE DOLLARS

X-RAY FAITH 2

LEAGUE OF DREAD

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X3 METHODS OF POSSESSION

January-April, 2013   Redemption House   Palestine, Texas

IX. MANIPULATION

David often bragged about the collection of inmate letters he has received. This is where they want to stay once they receive parole. I would assume that part of the criteria for acceptance would come down to his ability to control them. In leaving one prison, they venture into another.

Influence is affective. Should one play along to get along, one becomes corrupt through the process. Imitating your master’s ways becomes a tragedy. Should one resist games of control, then they must deal with methods of soft retaliation such as gossip, slander, favoritism, isolation, and so forth. At any moment, a phone call can go to your parole officer and who is going to believe an ex-con? 

There was a parolee that had been incarcerated for child molestation. Shortly after getting out of prison, he arrived at Redemption House. He and David were running errands one day when David declared that they should stop by a friend’s house. That friend had children and ex-child molesters are not allowed to be around child molesters. The parolee mentioned this fact to David  as they were returning home. David said that he forgot about that and that he would not mention it to his parole officer. However, that parolee was honest and he did the right thing by informing his parole officer about the matter. The incident was resolved. If the parolee was not honest, this could have been something that David could have used against him at a later date. The gaining of control could begin with a momentary slip.

X. A DRUG DEALT BY METHOD 

Deep insecurities must be filled by excessive adoration. People have the ability to adore, they become a drug to a narcissist to form the Narcissist Supply. Debasing people down to a drug is a process that will also debase one’s self. Debasement stunts emotional maturity and compensation for that lack is to fill it with lies, strategy, and shortcuts. 

Adoration fills a need. The acquisition of people becomes the reason to maintain adoration and that is why the game commences. Manipulation is a game played for the sake of control. People are the drug that is kept around and that requires control. Control the people you keep and hone them to become better at what they do. What they do is ‘adore’. Being the object of that adoration requires programming and control. Better people want you to have adoration factories. You become better because they are becoming better people and you remain in control. ‘U’ is an exiled alphabet. 

They give the stimulus that you need and you need to feel good, functional, important, loved, better, complete, and all of this gets you high. Always wanting to feel good means always being high. People are the drug that narcissists crave and that acquisition requires manipulation to be the method of how the game is played.

XI. NARCISSISM

The narcissist personality will love and loathe the self. The dichotomy of opposition also extends into my two opinions of David: I like him and I have no wish to see him because he is bad for me. I am a magnet for these personality types and they are kryptonite to me. The previous year had been spent dealing with narcissists, sociopaths, manipulators, and passive-aggressive personality types. That crash course in human nature has honed me into a seasoned pro.

David is an ex-drug dealer that got Saved. If someone declares that they are Saved, then I accept that because judgement is God’s domain. Christians sin and that sin will cause one to drift into a seasonal darkness. The depth of the human heart exceeds our perception. We are simply inept to discern such matters and that is why judgment and redemption should be placed at the feet of Mighty Love Himself.

Narcissists maintain surface reputations while the big underneath looms ugly. They maneuver just outside the reach of law. Being evil is not illegal. Crime occurs when evil strays into the range of the obvious and tangible. There are no laws against throwing fits, gossip, lies, procrastination, manipulation, and getting inside of your head. If there were such laws, then our prisons would be filled with politicians, beauty shop housewives, and hyperactive, five year old boys. Given enough time, allowed compulsions drift near that pristine surface and illegal acts begin to occur. Money, power, pleasure, ego, adoration, and the need to keep it all covered up becomes the field of play within any game. 

Surrounded by your clique is a drug dealer trait retained by David. To narcissists, possessing minions equates into arms and legs possessing your  favorite drug. The true buzz within a twist through the brain is the lowest common denominator exuding the utmost pleasure. A divided posse is unstable and easy to rule. It is as if one is tortured into becoming his next best friend. His moods are volatile and the next moment could  explode and then veer into a tangent. 

XII. CONTROL

In time and because of circumstance, David stood at the top of the ladder. Some claimed that David had earned his way to that position because of all the time, money, and effort that he had put into the place. The problem with good and evil is that evil is a good imitation. The time, money, and effort could be equated with passion.

People complained about David and were relieved when he left Court Drive. One could also say that he was allowed to purchase the pulpit through means of annoyance and attrition. David got on their nerves and that need for relief became a generic approval. They did not deal with the problem and thus the buck was passed. Power was acquired through means of becoming a headache contagion. The failure to deal with the mess was passed on.

XIII. PROPHET MODE THING 

Sometimes when it was just David and I, he would enter into this ‘prophet mode’ thing. There are six aspects to going into prophet mode.

The first aspect begins with his eyes would getting dreamy, distant, and ethereal with a distant look. His voice changes slightly and he always made sure that he was facing you. His head is tilted back and from a frontal perspective it appears as if he is looking down at you from an eye level position. This is the set-up and then he claims that God had been telling him things. Naturally, one is about to become enlightened.

On the third aspect, if one changes the frontal perspective to a side perspective, then matters can be played for absurdity. A side shot with his head tilted back and talking to you would blow the whole theatrical effect. It becomes you talking to someone with a sore neck and they can only use their peripheral vision. 

Those ‘alone’ moments were chock full of confessional things. It was stupid to state that Joyce did not want him overseeing Redemption House. Stupidity usually leads to incrimination. Joyce had a strong personality and her death made it easier to edge his way into the director’s position. There were others to carry on the ministry, but they lacked the ego to feed and fears to appease. This gave David the substitute for ambition where none was needed.

XIV. MY TWILIGHT

Manipulators and those of that psycho lot give me insomnia. So I began cleaning the Fellowship Hall between one and three a.m. It is a four hour job and it is usually finished when Andy arrives at six a.m. I look forward to our time to talk on Sunday mornings. That Sunday, he arrived and David also came into the Fellowship Hall. I was exhausted so I left and plopped on the bed without shutting the door. A while later, someone walked into the room. It is creepy to have someone staring down at you with pure contempt. You feel every burn and every blade. I did not have to turn around to know that it was David. Later that day, Andy approached the parolees and I after church.

Andy is the minister who conducts the Sunday Services. He is part of the  Circuit Riders and one of Joyce’s proteges. Andy seems to be a good man and an outstanding minister. Even if I were not isolated, I would still look forward to seeing Andy on Sunday mornings. One Sunday after Church, Andy wished to speak to the residents at Redemption House. I am a tourist because I have never been in prison. I am here because I was in a bad spot at the time.

Andy had known the other men for a number of years. His talk with them seemed to be good natured. I have been there almost four months and I do not know Andy that well. It became spooky when Andy approached me. His demeanor changed, his eyes were different, he became angry and aggressive. Then he shocked me, he was using David’s words about people wanting to tear down the ministry. He restated that David needed absolute control so he could run things his way. Then he asked me what I told Jack. 

My reply was that I told him nothing. Jack knew everything that I knew. 

It is out of character for me to lie. At first, I believed that I did lie. Then I realized that Andy had asked the wrong question. He should have asked what Jack told me. Then he should have asked which parolee had told Jack these things. Is anyone catching on to how gossip permeates this place? This is soap opera gone bad. 

All the while, David sits within listening distance as a scheme . It was as if he was watching a scheme falling into place like clockwork. This verified a suspicion that I would toy with. David not only had a room in Andy’s head, he also occupied the head space of the other proteges. This theory began  one day after chatting with Lynn. There was a blur in her eyes and she seemed off. Later on, Lynn would succumb to one illness or another. I had told Lynn and Jan that David is manipulating them. He is in their heads as if it were a form of human possession. I do not think that they bought this idea. 

XV. SWEPT AWAY

About a week later, David had asked me to sign a contract if I intended to stay there. He was back in prophet mode again because ‘God told him this or that’ preceded things. As usual, these prophet-mystic communiques to me came whenever we were alone. His mood would get all dreamy as he spoke. I have come to doubt people when they tell me that God directly told them something. A lot of church goers in East Texas have honed this into another means of manipulation. I do not doubt that God talks to people. I just do not think the Almighty ever pretends to be Charlie Brown. From all that I have read and experienced, He seems to have consistency down pretty well. Being wishy-washy has never seemed to enter the scene. About a week after that, I was shuffled off to Fairfield. It was in Fairfield that I fell again into a similar situation. After David, Fairfield was almost child’s play. David is not stable and this is typical behavior for a divided mind. A single whim can change things.

Jack had spooked them. A few days later, there was a hustle and bustle to the place. People were coming in. They were trying to put the surface of things in order. David said that his wife was ‘updating the board meeting notes’ from the last three years. After all, they get a lot of tax breaks in being a ministry. David had Andy going to the courthouse to file all of the necessary documents needed for a ministry. David is not going to get his hands dirty. It was easier to manipulate Andy. I could be wrong, it could be the inverse. It is sometimes hard to tell with manipulators because they also attract other manipulators.

3 METHODS OF POSSESSION

X-RAY FAITH 3

LEAGUE OF DREAD

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X4 VIGNETTES OF HYPOCRISY

January-April, 2013   Redemption House   Palestine, Texas

XVI. COMIC BOOKS

I had a serious comic book collection in my storage unit. I tutored my nieces when they were in second grade. During the course of that year, I promised to give them my comic book collection. I would either give it out right or through my will. I do not care if they like comics, I just want them to have the money. I somehow paid my storage fees every month. It amazes me that people in ministry would seek angles to obtain the collection. Although it is a manipulative back door to theft, they are also stealing from children. David and Redemption House was not the only ministry that made these attempts, they were just the first.

On one occasion in which a parolee dropped me off at my storage unit. I spent the day there. I called Redemption House to request a ride. David was sitting next to the parolee when I called. He had also been in his head and now the parolee was irked with me. No one came.

The next three to four hours were spent walking seven of the eleven miles back. Two parolees just happened to drive by and they picked me up, stopped at a store to get me some water, and then they took me home.

I returned and began eating. David came in and told me that he was sitting beside the parolee when I called. I let the comment slide and continued eating. Then David started going on about how comic book prices rise and fall. It may be worth something one day and half that price on the next day. I get that. I also get that these general conversations about the stupid comic books also occur about once a month. Coincidentally, it always seemed to occur near the end of the month. There were quite of few of these conversations. Manipulators believe that avoiding direct comments will maintain clean hands. 

Dee and Angie are either with or closely affiliated with Redemption House. In time, a glorious month would be spent at Lake Richland-Chambers. Dee picked up where David left off on the comic books. I would see her from time to time after I got away from the lake and the comic books still came up. Once she asked if I would let her borrow a comic book so she could shop it around. She had no idea how these things work. There is no inner geek in her.

The lady that runs my storage unit is very aware of me and my situation. I appreciate her and her husband going out of their way for me. When I was living in Fairfield,  I gave the gossipy parolee some money to pay for my storage fee. Then he just happened to go out of town and so David went and made the payment two weeks later. I can not recall if he tried or not, but numerous people have tried to angle their way into my unit. Keeping me from making payments so that they can bid on the unit at an auction is not an original nor can it be proven that so many people can ‘just forget’ these things.

XVII. HYPOCRISY REQUIRES AN AUDIENCE

The next day at Church, a guest minister’s sermon was about the contrast of doing good things. Some men do good things so that others may see them and that is wrong. Men should do good things so that only God may see. After the service, David, myself, and others were sitting in the lobby and talking about the sermon. I was thinking about yesterday’s walk when a friend of David’s called with car problems. David made a production about going to help him and then he left to do that. It reminded me of him fixing my alternator and the production that came with that. The alternator is useless if the front end deters you from driving. Favors seem to come easier if there is an audience. 

4 VIGNETTES OF HYPOCRISY

X-RAY FAITH 4
LEAGUE OF DREAD

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X5 KITCHEN OF THE GODS

January-April, 2013   Redemption House   Palestine, Texas

XVIII. GODS OF WOOD AND STONE

When David would tell you about his vision for the place, it involved constructing buildings. The main building that he desired was a mechanic shop. I found this ironic considering that my truck had stayed there for four months and very little had been done. His vision never seemed to include people, it was the buildings themselves, another typical but modern form of idolatry. 

After Church services, he and a few others worked on the additional room on to the kitchen. They had already remodeled a pantry. This project was flawed from the start, the structure was not square. David had framed it and now it was something to work around. According to David, they were doing this for his wife. So much for doing God’s work.  

XIX. BEHEMOTH

The kitchen became a monster. Rooms were added, freezers were exchanged, things shifted to fill in whatever glyph occurred. While all of this was going on, Cindy had removed everything from the kitchen and placed them on the tables in the Fellowship Hall. She wanted to clean and organize everything and thus all dishes, food, utensils, and whatever else was taken out of the kitchen. Everything was categorized and every table was filled.

Then it became a succession of Zen moments. Cindy would come out and stare at the beast of dishes, utensils, boxes, food, and anything else that was in the kitchen. This happened periodically over a great length of time. She was seriously thinking about these matters. She wanted to do it once and be done. I could relate to that quirk. She had to see everything in order to think things through. Matters had to be perfect. Naturally, she had to clean the kitchen and all else before they returned to their proper place. That was still down the road though, for now, things resided in Fellowship Hall.

In the end, she did a good job on the kitchen. The problem was that this was in the Fellowship Hall for months. Seating for Church was worked around this endeavor. It was the invisible beast that raised its head. Except that this beast had tablecloths thrown over it. On Sunday mornings, someone always remarked about snow-capped mountains or Casper the Friendly Ghost. You would be listening to the sermon and your eyes would rove over the erratic contour of tablecloths. I wonder if the cereal is on that table?

This became a stigma. No one directly approached Cindy about the matter. David passed the buck on the matter. It gave everyone else something to gossip about. It never bothered me. David had once tried to pass Cindy’s problem off to me. I thought about it and later on we both determined that it was a bad idea. It was his wife, not mine. He agreed. What else was everyone else going to gossip about? 

I liked Cindy’s drawn technique of cleaning the kitchen. Something interesting had manifested itself. Everyone’s reaction was funny as it was telling. The whole matter was like performance art. 

While all of this went on, some had to offer their ill-conceived theories on why she was doing this. Everyone is a knowledgeable shrink whenever they have nothing better to do. The premises ranged from her hating men to demonic possession. Sometimes I would go and stand near her when she was in one of her Zen moments. As she looked over the artificial snow-capped mountains, so would I. It was kind of relaxing. All that bothered you could be seen and placed before you. I understood her quirk and I stated that to her. She made things interesting and I kind of missed it when the kitchen was finished and everything had returned to its place.

XX. WHEN GODS SNACK 

Then came the (P)sphincter X-9000. It was a beast of a faucet; smartly designed, pricy, chrome, and very Euro. This was a serious water spigot for the kitchen sink. Getting a glass of water became a solemn moment. The artificial mountains are gone. The X-9000 has come to fill that void. Ommmmmmm.

Cindy was into the health food thing. The room that had been built was for this food. Naturally, when one was truly hungry, then someone got fast food to go. Freezers came, were exchanged, and finally matters were settled. This was like an homage to the history of yuppiedom that was crossbred to a shrine of having the ultimate health food pantry. I spent some time wondering if it was okay to touch anything. In fact, that was a strange experience. Organically grown fruit was shipped to her. She went to some market in Jacksonville to pick up organic food. She bought a lot of it. She then brought it home and arranged it in the new and un-square, air-conditioned, food room. Then the fruit was able to engage in a long and slower process of rot. The vestibules are filled. Maybe the gods shall be kind. Ommmmmm 

One parolee went around telling everyone that she is going to force us all to become vegans. Then he would follow it up by saying that it was all demonic and David needs to learn to control his wife. Gee whiz, give David a break. He is already busy trying to control you, others, and me.   

Cindy was my saving grace. Eventually, I became her assistant. My job was to keep the kitchen clean, unload the dishwasher and that sort of thing. I did not mind doing that. I had the job that nobody else wanted. 

I had also taken it upon myself to clean the Fellowship Hall for Sunday Morning Services. Since my insomnia had gone rampant, I cleaned things between one and six a.m. on Sunday morning. I did a lot of cleaning there. I also cleaned up the wood shop, the back yard, and so forth. It is just in my nature to place things in symmetry, order. 

It was by fiat that I became her assistant. Whenever I dealt with David about my medicine, he would scream, procrastinate, cut it short, and so on. The first time that this happened, he passed the buck to Cindy. I got along with her. She spoke my language. She was direct, she explained the parameters, and so forth. That was something concrete. I could deal with that. I knew what to expect. It was mutually agreed upon that I would pay all money back. We had a system that determined my debt and payments. It was a good thing. 

5 KITCHEN OF THE GODS

X-RAY FAITH 5

LEAGUE OF DREAD

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X6 STEPTOE AND THIBODEAU

January-April, 2013   Redemption House   Palestine, Texas

I had learned through second hand information that Kevin Thibodeau and Johnny Steptoe were returned to prison. I was at Redemption House when Kevin went AWOL. I was not present when Steptoe was returned while under the Reverend Mike Daniels in Fairfield, Texas. Steptoe’s personality changed drastically under Mike. I do not know the full story. Whatever reason caused their return, I doubt if the law received the full story either. 

I have experienced David, Mike, and how they manipulate. This causes me to believe that Kevin and Johnny were probably nudged a bit. I realize that there is no law against manipulation because of its elemental nature in human behavior. Manipulation has its good, bad, and pathological sides. The pathological seems to fit Mike and David. I do not believe that my statements exonerate them for whatever they did. I merely wish that my statements be taken into consideration. A learned prejudice causes me to think that David and Mike may have omitted some details of the truth. I think that they are manipulators and that probably the pathological kind. They damaged me and most likely Johnny and Kevin were damaged as well.

I state with a shameless prejudice that David and Mike need to stay away from prison ministry, halfway houses, or any endeavor of influence over other people. I do not claim to be a psychiatrist or anything of that nature. I do claim a gifted amateur status in matters of human behavior. There are no credentials, but I have experienced the mind numbing effect of being under these two charlatans. 

I believe that if all of the facts were presented, Kevin may not have been returned. Johnny and I were friends in Palestine and in Fairfield we became enemies (in a manner of speaking). Mike was so far in Steptoe’s head that every warning was dismissed. I understand Johnny’s position, it was as if he was bribed without his own knowledge. I did not think of Johnny as an enemy and I accepted the fact that he viewed me as an enemy. The contrast between friends and enemies gives the reason for my defense. There were numerous occasions when I angered Steptoe and there was not even a motion to cause me harm. He could easily leave me as mincemeat. We were doing yard work on one occasion and we started arguing. I did not realize that I was still holding a machete until Johnny pointed it out. I immediately dropped it. Words were the only exchange and I never felt threatened. Despite our friction, Steptoe earnestly tried to be good. He should have never been exposed to Mike. I still consider Johnny and Kevin as friends. Even if Steptoe were considered to be an enemy, this would still be placed before you. 

Getting this to you has taken a long time. Occurring circumstances and the effect of being under Mike, David, and few others had a troubling effect on me. You can throw in my own ineptitude if it appears as if the buck is being passed. 

I had originally came to David under adverse circumstances. I was seeking to regain my life. I had three fundamental problems upon arrival. Those problems were never solved and escalation has filled that wake. David tired of me and passed me off to Mike. I have never been to prison and this is stated to illustrate that my situation was much easier to fix. Instead, my life declined as a result of meeting Mike and David. That is not high praise for alleged ministries. All skepticism and questions are welcome. I pray that  I have not been too late in aiding these two gentlemen. All concerned have my apologies for the tardy nature of this matter. I have never been unwilling, it is the jarred mind set of these past few years. 

  

6 STEPTOE AND THIBODEAU

X-RAY FAITH 6

LEAGUE OF DREAD

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