Podcasts about hindu god

This week, the energy is deep, transformative, and undeniably potent in February 2025. With Maha Shivaratri, the Pisces New Moon and intuitively the archetype of The Tower from the Tarot; woven together, we're stepping into a space of dissolution, surrender, and necessary rebirth. In this episode, we explore how Shivaratri, the great night of Shiva, invites destruction of illusion and devotion to truth. The Pisces New Moon amplifies this by dissolving what no longer serves, asking you to trust the unseen currents of your soul. And The Tower? It arrives as the catalyst—shaking the foundations you thought were stable, clearing the way for something truer. Expect reflections and a practical guide on letting go, trusting collapse, and allowing the unknown to guide you forward. Because sometimes, the breakdown is the breakthrough. Resources from today's episode Work with Phi Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Phi here. Apply for 1:1 Coaching with Phi here. Book a Human Design Reading with Phi here. Phi's book; The Great Unlearning: Awakening to Living an Aligned and Authentic Life. Flow - Vietnam Retreat May 2025 Recharge and Renew - Bali Retreat August 2025 Message Phi on Instagram Email Phi A big energetic week end of February 2025 Hello my love, welcome back to the Grow Through It Podcast. We have a big week energetically coming up ahead with two significant things happening. First of all it's Shivaratri, Shivratri is a Hindu festival honouring Shiva, an Indian deity, celebrated with fasting, prayers, and night-long vigils to seek his blessings for transformation, inner peace, and spiritual growth and we have the Pisces New Moon. So what does this actually mean for you? I'm going to translate this energy for you as a practical guide to the week. What is Shivaratri and what's it got to do with The Tower in Tarot? For those listening to where I'm based in Sydney, Australia, Shivaratri takes place Wednesday February 26th 2025 4:38pm to Thursday 27th February 2025 2:24pm. Shivaratri means Great Night of Shiva. Shiva is the Hindu God that represents destruction which says a lot about the energy that is taking place this week. This time last year I was blessed enough to be in India during Shivaratri and it truly activated a of necessary destruction in my life including within my previous relationship and living situation - the cracks, what was not working really started to show leading to the ultimate demise 6 months later. Cyclical truly! Now this is not something to be scared of but aware think of it like when you see the tower card pop out when doing tarot (more on that later). I know you know, who hasn't seen that card and put it back in to reshuffle or have fear and wish you didn't pull cards haha I certainly have an am really practicing this year not to jump to conclusions with the cards I see coming out. Who is Lord Shiva? Shiva the deity In India at one point there was a celebration or significant spiritual moment everyday because I guess they wanted to celebrate every day of life and the different purposes of life which is a fun fact. Nowadays truly it Shivaratri is one of the most significant events in India's spiritual calendar. In Hindu tradition, Lord Shiva represents destruction and renewal—the force that clears away the old to make way for the new. He is often depicted as sitting in deep meditation, symbolising inner peace and awareness. Shiva's Origin Story Shiva's origin story is vast, layered, and deeply symbolic, woven into Hindu mythology as a representation of transformation, destruction, and divine stillness. He is known as the supreme yogi, the lord of time, and the force that dissolves what is no longer needed so that new creation can emerge. Unlike other deities, who are often depicted in palaces or adorned with riches, Shiva is an ascetic who meditates in the mountains, covered in ashes, with matted hair and a third eye that sees beyond illusion.

Today we call upon Vishnu, the Hindu God, and consort to Lakshmi the Goddess of Abundance. It may be easy to say yes to the beautiful and abundant flow of Lakshmi, but as many of us have overdosed on the suffocating structures of the patriarchy, we often resist creating the sacred structures needed for the qualities of Lakshmi to truly flourish in our life. Inviting the noble integrity and loving commitment of Vishnu into our lives can help us reframe our associations of structure as limitations, and instead recognize it as love in action.   Lakshmi Immersion self-study course: https://awakeningwomen.com/abundance-grace-self-study Submit your questions and suggestions to Yoginiteam@awakeningwomen.com Follow Awakening Women on Instagram This podcast is produced by Shann Vander Leek. PodcastBath.com

#INDIA: PM Narendra Modi dedicates a new temple to the Hindu God Ram on the site of a burned down mosque in 1992 & What is to be done? Sadanand Dhume, WSJ AEI https://www.wsj.com/articles/modi-ayodhya-and-the-fall-of-nehrus-secular-temple-election-sectarian-religious-strife-092f43a8?mod=hp_opin_pos_2&mkt_tok=NDc1LVBCUS05NzEAAAGQ0HHbJlErfPwjl-we-zb72f7k6Ey1BLozB8w7-XEsH52IgfnDh2pqRlDipoHad5nwevwJHYGgT21R_ay0wef_SzV0LsvRn6Aeh_nxqMyDezvzUA#cxrecs_s 1865 Kolkata

Legends from the Pacific: Book 1 is available on Amazon. Get your copy today. https://amzn.to/3CIYo6m (Amazon Affiliate link) Who is Kubera? Kubera was once the Hindu lord of criminals and chief of evil spirits. But became the God of Wealth.  Discover the Hindu deity who went from being worshiped by thieves to the keeper of treasures.  Featured Song: "The River Runs", by John Cruz, courtesy of HI*Sessions Join our email list https://legendsfromthepacific.ck.page/32ca50bd23 *We respect your privacy. We will not share your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Visit our store: https://legendsfromthepacific.com/store Theme Song: "Mystery" by Tavana, courtesy of HI*Sessions Sound Effects: Sound Effects Factory Music Coordinator: Matt Duffy AKA DJ TripleBypass Link to this episode on our website: https://legendsfromthepacific.com/141-kubera Please give us a rating, write a review, subscribe, follow us, and share us with your friends and family. ***** Join our email list and claim your exclusive unaired episode today: "Hawaii's Faceless Ghost - Mujina" (Unaired Episode) https://legendsfromthepacific.ck.page/32ca50bd23 *We respect your privacy. We will not share your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Listen to unaired Hawaiian stories, and Kamu's paranormal experiences by becoming a Patreon supporter today: https://www.patreon.com/legendsfromthepacific Send your unusual Pacific experience to be shared on a future episode. https://legendsfromthepacific.com/feedback  Visit our Fan Art Section: https://legendsfromthepacific.com/fan-artwork Instagram: legendsfromthepacific Twitter: LegendsPacific Follow Legends from the Pacific wherever you listen to audio. → Follow via Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-from-the-pacific/id1501091122 → Follow via Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/search/legends%20from%20the%20pacific → Follow via Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qhdkYUl8R7hSw6OZYJLye → Here's our RSS feed: https://legendsfromthepacific.libsyn.com/rss www.LegendsFromThePacific.com

Welcome to "Spiritual Seeker", the podcast channel that delves deep into spiritual and mystical traditions. In this episode, we will explore The Divine dance of Lord Shiva and the significance of Maha Shivaratri. Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of destruction and transformation, is known for his cosmic dance, the Tandava, which represents the eternal cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction. Maha Shivaratri, one of the most important festivals in Hinduism, is celebrated in honor of Lord Shiva. It is believed to be a potent time for spiritual growth and transformation, as devotees offer prayers, perform rituals, and fast in reverence of Lord Shiva. Join us as we embark on a spiritual journey to understand the mystical and symbolic meaning behind Lord Shiva's dance, and explore the profound significance of Maha Shivaratri. Welcome to "Spiritual Seeker", the podcast channel that seeks to enlighten and inspire seekers of the spiritual path.Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at @voiceofgiridhar for more updates, exclusive content, and to join the conversation. Thank you for listening! Tune in to "Celebrating Hinduism with Giridhar" for more enriching discussions on Hinduism and how it can enrich our lives!

“The word urukrama means ‘the one whose activities are glorious.' Krama means ‘step.' This word urukrama specifically indicates the Lord's incarnation as Vamana, who covered the whole universe by immeasurable steps. Lord Vishnu is powerful, and His activities are so glorious that He has created the spiritual world by His internal potency and the material world by His external potency.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.7.10 Purport)

0 (0s): Church worship this morning. God, we're grateful to be in your house. We thank you that we can lift your name. There's no, our, 1 (3m 4s): Our, our thank 0 (4m 2s): You that 1 (4m 3s): You're here. 0 (4m 10s): I'm on the God of 1 (4m 16s): Jacob's 0 (4m 19s): And oh God, my God, you things are I'm 2 (6m 6s): But I've got 1 (6m 18s): You. Oh 0 (6m 36s): God, my God. Oh God, my God need 2 (7m 15s): Heard your, you hear your children. Now you are the same guide. You are the same guide. You answered prayers back then any you'll answer. Now you are the same guide. You are the same God 1 (7m 42s): You're providing 0 (7m 44s): Men. 1 (7m 45s): You're providing 0 (7m 49s): You're the 1 (7m 50s): Same God, you're the God, 0 (7m 58s): God 1 (7m 59s): Moving power. 0 (8m 1s): Now 1 (8m 2s): You 0 (8m 2s): Are the same. 1 (8m 4s): God, you 0 (8m 5s): Are the same. 1 (8m 7s): God, you are heal. You are the you, 0 (8m 19s): The, 1 (8m 21s): You 0 (8m 23s): Save. 1 (8m 25s): You're save you. God, you, I, 2 (9m 54s): You free the can is then you are freeing hearts right now. You are the same God, you are the same. God, you touch the, feel your touch, right? You are the saying the I'm dear river, 3 (11m 25s): Holy spirit and, and, and dying and so dark. And what is going on in this world? Spirit within this flow untouchable, the hearts of 5 (12m 1s): Lord knows and there's power to, 4 (13m 38s): I have been by the grace of God. I have been raised, do a future without I eyes on a true in loyal friend. The one whose life I'm hidden. The 1 (14m 15s): Love 4 (14m 19s): Us, you for us, Jesus of, oh, 1 (14m 52s): In the family of my God will be named when the saints go marching on he to the glory who glory is people shouting victory through generations. 1 (16m 31s): Jesus, Jesus, Jesus love she's 6 (17m 20s): Lord. We honor you this morning. God, we just invite your presence here. Jesus. We ask that you do what you want to do this morning. God, we are submitted to you. God, we are absolutely desperate without you, Lord. We look at the world around us and we know that your only hope so God just, I just asked that you'd fill this place that you'd fill each heart. Fill each mind, Lord that you would align us to your spirit, that you would align us in ways that we've come off. Course Lord, in our mind, in our, our hearts, God just align us to yourself. And we just ask that we would be faithful and that we would be obedient to, to listen to you. Jesus, we love you so much. 6 (18m 0s): We just wanna honor you this morning in Jesus name. Amen. All right. If you'll take your seats, that would be great. Eight. And also if there's some seats around you, we've got some people in the back that are coming in that still need to be seated. So if you want to come up, if you've got like a couple seats around you, you can raise your hand. We've got some seats down here. Yeah. So just filter in. Don't be shy. So I just wanna welcome you all to harvest church. We're glad to have you here. Oh, if you wanna sit on the front row, there's some spots up here too. Yeah. It's great to have you here. I'm Curtis. And just wanna extend a special welcome to you. If you are new here for the first time, just wanna let you know that there's an info center at the back. 6 (18m 43s): There's a really beautiful woman Manning the info center. She's my, my wife. So she'll take good care of you. 7 (18m 51s): Yeah. 6 (18m 55s): We just got married. That's why that's yeah, we don't. That doesn't happen every time, but I'm expecting it from now on. So Yeah. So we've also got coffee out on the patio there and then bathrooms down these hallways. You'll see the signs there. That'll lead you right to 'em. We've got a few things coming up. The first thing is the Bonko for the baby's event. This is really special because the whole purpose of it is to bless lifeline pregnancy center. We've supported them for a long time. And so this is another great opportunity to do that. The registration for the event you'll need a sign up online or at the info center, but the registration is bringing an item to donate to lifeline. 6 (19m 36s): So it's gonna be a big blessing for them and for a lot of moms and young, unexpected pregnancies in the area, we just wanna bless them. So if you want more information on that, head back to the info center, that's gonna be on September 30th. Also we have our harvest festival parade outreach this every yeah, the last few years we haven't had it. The harvest festival has not been here and we thought it might never return, but here it is. And we're stoked about it. So we are gonna be handing out balloons and free waters to people coming up and down grand just to bless them, make a connection with them. And yeah. So if you wanna be a part of that, you can also sign up at the info center. 6 (20m 16s): And then just one more thing. We've got a new life group that's joining on a little bit late, but it's gonna be amazing. Dr. Stacy Harmon is leading this life group and it's about Christian ethics. He's a medical doctor. He's got great insight to these things and it's gonna be on Thursday. So if you want more information, you wanna sign up for that. You can head back to the info center. We'd really encourage you to do that. So now we're gonna just get up and meet somebody you haven't met before fifth and sixth grade is gonna be released at this time. But junior high and high school are gonna be in cuz Jeremy's gonna be preaching this morning. So let's get up and mingle and Jeremy be back in just a minute. 9 (23m 34s): All right. Well good morning, everyone. Welcome. Welcome. I love it. Y'all rowdy this morning. Huh? That's great. Yeah, it was a surprise to see. First service was really rowdy as well. I don't know if it's the weather or what, what it is, but glad to see you guys awake as well. It's gonna be a great message. Pastor. Steve had a vacation this week and so he was gone. And so he asked me to come up and teach today and, and I showed him my outline earlier in the week. And he said, that sounds like it's a two-parter. 9 (24m 14s): So this, this will probably, well, this is going to extend into next week. So instead of one week, he got me two weeks. Sorry about that. Steve will be back after that. But my name is Jeremy. I'm the youth and family pastor. Hence the youth are staying in service. I'm glad to have them here. I, I realized the weight of, of today. I remember what I was doing 21 years ago. It was my college roommate's birthday and the phone was ringing off the hook. We, we, we thought that she was simply just trying to get ahold of him to wish him a happy birthday. When he finally picked up the, the phone and the kind that was attached to the wall, or we, we realized that the world had changed. 9 (25m 1s): And I spent that day with eight of my other college roommates staring at the TV, wondering how this would change the, our, what would this would change. And it did our, our, our world. Our nation has not been the same ever since on that day, the twin towers were attacked using our own commercial aircraft. The Pentagon was attacked and then flight 91 crashed in a field because of some brave men and women who decided they were gonna sacrifice their lives to bring that, that plane down to field and not into our capital building or into the white house. 9 (25m 46s): So that would start all this, this, this morning and with a, with just a moment of silence, as we, as we remember the, the brave men and women who rushed into those buildings that were on fire, the brave women, men, and women that stopped the airplanes from going where they were intended. We can remember them right now. 9 (26m 25s): Well, we thank you for the sacrifice those men and women paid to at least attempt the saving of li other lives. Lord, we think of that day that our world changed forever. When over 3000 people on American saw were, were, were killed because of the acts of a, a few evil people and how that's marked our world ever since Lord, where we thank you for those brave men and women that that kept evil at bay. 9 (27m 8s): We remember them now, Lord and Lord. Ultimately, we look to you, Jesus, because you, by your death and given of your life gave us freedoms in ways that we do not deserve Lord. So Lord, thank you for this morning, pray that we would open up your word and, and receive some truth. Lord Jesus made me pray. Amen. So we're taking a break, a short break from Peter this morning, and we're gonna look at, and we're gonna get ready for some verses that are to come in. 9 (27m 48s): Peter and that's maybe today is a little bit of a warmup for that, a little bit of, of getting ahead of the curve, but I'm gonna, I am gonna recommend that you get a note card out. I'm gonna be thrown out a lot of verses for you to mole over this week. Some passages to write down, to think through. And I want you to be like the BES and acts 17. You see the BES, Paul praises them because they heard what Paul had to speak. They heard Paul preach and then they went home and they searched the scriptures themselves. So some of the things I might say this morning might be new to you. 9 (28m 29s): It might be a little strange. And so I'm gonna encourage you to take what I have to say. Don't just take it from my word. Look at the scriptures. Look at these passages, look at our culture and we'll go from there. I also wanna do recommend that this, that there is some mature content in this morning's message. So I've tried to keep it a junior high level and above, but it, there will be a little bit of mature content, but I've labeled this message as the veil is getting thinner, you know, and when they unveil a new car, any car fans out there, you either go to the shows or, or, or, or you watch online and, and, and they're gonna be showing this new car. 9 (29m 10s): And so they have this veil covering the car, and then they, they say like, like the Tesla, the cyber truck, they pulled back the veil on that thing. And you're like, oh, what is this thing? It's, it's, it's it's crazy. Or that veil that was on my 13th, I think it was my 13th birthday bike. You see, I was getting into mountain biking and the Kmart huffy white Hawk was no longer doing the job. And I really, really wanted this Bianchi NA bike, but it was a little bit out. My, it was outta my price range and a little bit stretched to budget for my parents. 9 (29m 50s): And so that morning I woke up and there there's my birthday present. It's underneath this sheet. My parents had put a sheet over it and I'm like, oh man, is it gonna be another K-Mart bike? Or is it gonna be the Italian stallion, the Bianchi Nala? And because the sheet was thick, I couldn't see through it. But then my parents, they pulled it back and there was my dream bike, the Bianchi Nala, which I have some good, painful stories to tell on that bike. But had that sheet been any thinner I could have seen right through it. And I wouldn't have need to that veil wouldn't have need to be pulled back. I would've just known what it was. And I believe that in our culture, we're, we're, we're starting to see that the veil is getting thinner. 9 (30m 32s): We're starting to see a mixing of strange, strange things, a mixing between the natural and the supernatural in, in ways that steams like strange bed bedfellows, you know, movies. We think about when movies first came out and even movies in my childhood have changed a lot to movies. Now you think about all the supernatural movies that are coming out, you can think of even child children, children's movies like Moana. Right? Great movie. I was, I, I enjoy watching that, but what is it about it's about a demigod, a half band, half God being who comes and rescues the world, or he stole something. 9 (31m 16s): He guys put it back, or you look at the Marvel movies and how intense they're getting and how much superpower, superhuman strength. These, these things are being given. And, and it's, it's, it's getting strange to me. Our culture is being warmed up to the fact of this supernatural. And that makes sense because as we get closer and closer to the second coming of Christ, things will get more warmed up and more warmed up. The veil will become thinner and thinner. If you think about revelation, chapter 11, and that's maybe a verse to go back and or chapter to go back and look at revelation, chapter 11, we have the two witnesses in Jerusalem at the temple. And these two Jerusalem, these two witnesses were given the power that if anyone wanted to attack them, fire can come out of their mouth. 9 (32m 4s): They're given power over the water that they can either cause droughts or they can cause the water to turn to blood. That's weird. How do we go from right now where we're at in our culture, in our world to that to two men who can have fire come out of their mouth and not bat an eye, the world, doesn't take that into account the world. Doesn't like, oh my goodness, people gonna shoot fire mouth and, and, and repent. Or what about revelation 14 where there's three different angels flying in the, in the, in the heavens and the skies proclaiming different messages. And the world seems they turn a deaf ear to it. 9 (32m 47s): They're proclaiming the gospel. They're proclaiming the watch out for the mark of the beast. And yet the world's still marching the same way. How do we get to that place in the future? Where the people can be. So insensitives to these angels flying in the heavens. And that's because I think over the centuries, we've lost our supernatural biblical worldview, right? We think of angels and demons, but really Those are just cartoons, right? Those are those little things on the shoulders that get like speak into our ears. Is that really what angels and demons are? 9 (33m 28s): Or what about my friend's house? Who his mom had these chubby baby angels everywhere. Nothing to be fair. They were plastered everywhere in their house. Really cute, but I don't think that's a biblical angel. I don't see that picture and think, oh my goodness. And, and, and wanna fall down and this, whoa, I'm not, I shouldn't be here. The Shepherd's out in the field when that single angel comes to proclaim them a message. They all were just fallen down with fear. And the angels have to say, don't worry, don't fear. So much of our worldview right now is spent trying to explain everything naturally that we've lost the ability to understand and see what's the world around us. 9 (34m 15s): And as Christians, we're called to be a light to a broken world. And so how do we look at the world around us and bring the gospel? We see weird things are happening, weird things are happening. One of my favorite places growing up as a kid was the Woodlake hardware store. And it had a long history of being there. And I've, I, I think the employees must have thought we were CRA. We would go there days on end and just wander the aisles, just to look at every knife, every BB gun, every, every rope, every, just we as a kid. 9 (34m 55s): And I still do. I still do this every day. I walk into a hardware store. I just kind of catalog in my mind where things are at, if the, okay, if the faucet home breaks, this is where I can go to get that part. I just, I love wandering the aisles of hardware stores. And in a way I feel like that's kind of what I'm doing now is, is you look at culture and you start to pick up clues. Like what, how does this fit in with, with the Bible? What about this? Why is our government releasing data on UFO sightings by our military government report admits true UFOs. Aren't manmade. That's weird. 9 (35m 38s): That's weird that these, these airplane pilots, these military airplane pilots are reporting these things that, that forest surpass anything, any speed that we're capable of as humans, anything, any technology that we've ever made, and the ability for these, these crafts to be traveling super fast and then make these right hand turns out of nowhere without slowing down without curving, without any. And then these CRE they've they've reported in some of these, these reports that these crafts have either flown above, or they go under the water into the ocean. They're just, they're just, we it's weird. If you really dig into these things, how does that fit in with the Bible? 9 (36m 19s): Or what about stories of, of people who've come back from near death experiences? You know, those experience, those, those times where somebody dies on a ho operating operating table, either from a heart attack or something, and they report going to someplace and seeing something or having an out of body experience, Or what about those? Like those, those stories where people seem to come out of their body, hover over their body, hover over the operating table while their people are working on them, operate, look around in the room. They're, they're witnessing all these things going on to their own body, but yet their soul is detached. And yet, while their soul is attached, people have come back and reported that they've can remember, or they can retell the serial numbers on the back of the machines that were in that operating table or operating room knowledge that they had no prior understanding beforehand. 9 (37m 12s): Or what about the person that came back from this near death experience, this death, where they, their heart rate was dead and they came back and they said, well, I saw sh there's these shoes up on the hospital. There's so there's certain colored shoes up on the top of the hospital. How, how do we explain that as Christians strange? What if you encounter someone on the street who says that they've lived three previous lives and they can explain those things in detail and they explain in a way that's very historically accurate. Are they outta their mind? See, I think the Bible, I think we have a way in our Bible of explaining these things and that's what I want to kind of get at. 9 (37m 57s): But those are strange things out in the world. What about the strange things in the Bible? There's some strange passages in the Bible. Yes. Let's look at a few. And these are maybe just, we're just gonna, I'm just gonna highlight a few, throw a few at you kinda like spaghetti on the wall. Look at Genesis chapter six, when you get home, write that down. Genesis chapter six. And we're gonna break that down just a little bit more later on Genesis chapter six caused about talks about the sons of God and the NELI, the giants, the mighty men. That's strange Daniel chapter three talks about a hand of God coming and writing on the wall. 9 (38m 38s): And it wrote me. Faron was Daniel chapter three, Daniel chapter 10 has these dueling superpowers in the heavens that Daniel started praying. And for 21 days, he kept praying and fasting, praying, and fasting. And he got no answer from God until an angel finally came and said, I was held up by the prince of the kingdom of Persia in the heavens. And it wasn't until Michael, the arc angel came and released me fought against that superpower, that king kingdom, prince of the kingdom of Persia and released me. So I can come bring this to you now, Daniel, 10 (39m 16s): That's 9 (39m 17s): Strange. What about first King's 22, the prophet Makaya, and yawe having a council or a cohort, and then aligned spirit, a spirit coming forth and, and saying, I will be a lion spirit in the mouth of those 400 priests and Macias stood apart from that that's weird Reed, first Kings 22 this week, or then you get to sections like Psalm 82, where it's like God and his divine council Elohim stands in the council of the mighty, the L. 9 (39m 57s): And he judges amongst the El hems, the gods that's 82. Isaiah 14 is a strange one as well. Is it a, is Isaiah 14, a prophecy against a king? The king of Babylon? Or is it a prophecy against Satan? It would almost seem like both because he's talking at one point to the king of Babylon, but then another point he says that you were in the garden beforehand and you were a mighty chair up. So is he talking to the king of Babylon or is he talking to Satan? What about Ezekiel 28? Same thing, human king of tire, or is he talking about Satan? 9 (40m 37s): Then we have passages in the Bible that we so often just, just floss over like the, the, the Virgin birth of Jesus. That's a supernatural thing. What about Jesus' dealings with the demons? How, where do we categorize that? Where is that to be put? Or what if finally, about the, what about the resurrection from the dead Lazareth called out of the grave? After three days, four days, three days, he stumps. He stunk. He stunk by that time called out of the grave or Jesus. When he died the streets, they said the tombs were opened and men began to walk about the streets. 9 (41m 22s): That's weird. These things are weird, but if the Bible is strange, what about the world around us as well? Thing, weird things are happening. As we all know, science is, is, is stuck in chasing after this philosophy of the, or this theory of the big bang, the theory of how we came into bean 13.8 billion years ago, there was a sub atomic particle and it blew up. And then this whole world came into, into be well, right now in se Switzerland is one of the largest machines in the world. 9 (42m 3s): It's called the large Hadron Collider. It's a sub sub atomic Parto particle Collider. And what it is, it's a 17 mile tunnel underneath the ground, about 300 feet under the ground. And it shoots out subatomic particles at near the speed of light. And these, these particles that what they're trying to find is how the universe was created. So they're trying to figure out how these things collided and how the big bang happened. Okay, They're looking for this, God particle the Boston Higgs particle, but strange things are there because it's not just science. You see, in between those buildings, you can find a bronze sculpture of the Hindu God Shiva, the Hindu God of destruction. 9 (42m 53s): And that is said, that is balancing unifies, ancient mythology, religious art, and modern physics. Why do you need a picture or a depiction of the Hindu God Shiva in the middle of a very, the world's biggest science experiment, where the scientists are saying that weird things are apparitions are happening as their, as these particles are colliding. In fact, there's many atheist scientists that were, that were calling up great warnings. We do not know what we're doing by colliding these things. One of those guys names is Neil Tyson. Degos another was Steven Hawking. 9 (43m 34s): They're like we are messing with things with forces, with powers, with things that we do not know, but going back to that, That sculpture, why, why have a sculpture of the Hindu God Shiva? This is what a postdoc student working there. His name is Aiden Randall Conde. He wrote this speaking about that statue. So in the light of day, when CERN is teaming with life, Sheva seems playable reminding us that the universe is constantly shaking things up and remaking itself and is never static. But by night, when we have more times to contemplate the deeper questions, Sheva literally cast a long shadow over our work. 9 (44m 17s): A bit like the shadows on Plato's cave. Sheva reminds me that when that we still don't know the answer to one of the LAR the, the biggest questions presented by the universe. And then every time we collide the beams, we must take the cosmic balance sheet into account. They're looking for something beyond science and they're finding it. What about if that is looking at the most ultimate, smallest particle and trying to find the origins of that? What about the, the galaxies recently, we just launched the James web space telescope, and it was a, it's an upgrade to Hubble. And this, this looks into the deepest universe, as farther than we, we can ever see. 9 (45m 0s): And if the images that are coming back are pretty phenomenal, but their discoveries are not matching their data or what they predicted or what they thought they would say. It's caused a lot of panic among scientists going there's things that we're witnessing or that were seen out there that we sh we, we didn't think we, we have to kind of rewrite the, go back to the drawing board in some sense, it's because there's trying to track down this big bang theory. So those are strange things. What about athleticism? What does athleticism have to do with worship? 9 (45m 41s): You see every, every two years, or it's held every four years in between the Olympics, there's this thing called the Commonwealth games. And this year was held in Britain. And at this opening ceremony, it was one of the strangest open ceremonies that you, you could ever imagine. I'd recommend going back and watching that. But here's a cl this is a, a, a still image from that Commonwealth games, athletic games. And what you see is a woman holding a fallen star. And that phone star is the way that she can then communicate with that beast. This, this bowl that is being shackled. 9 (46m 25s): At one point, the woman then gets to ride the beast. And if that doesn't give you a revelation, prophecy, it's, it's just wild, but she can communicate with the bowl because she has a fallen star. She then rides it. That's weird. Why, what does worshiping a bowl have to do anything to do with the athletic games? What about building projects? You think building a physical thing would just be just doing that, just building a physical thing. Well, in Switzerland as well, they built one of the large largest, longest tunnels in the world. 9 (47m 5s): It's called the Gohar tunnel and the Gohar tunnel as well. And the opening ceremony was one of those bizarre things you could watch in which there was a Satan, a, a literal Satan that showed up And they were dancing and worshiping this, this Satan. It goes a lot back to the, the, the history of the area, but it was it's strange. I don't recommend watching it creepy stuff. What does it have to do with building a tunnel, going back to what, what, what is our government, why is our government releasing this UFO and how the most important question is, how do we look at this from a, a biblical worldview? 9 (47m 49s): There's four different worldviews as I see it. So I made this, I made a little quadrant in the top left. You have this supernatural, a biblical worldview. So they are against the Bible. They do not believe in the Bible, but they believe in the supernatural. And those are people like that, that you would find in ancient mythology. The ancient mythology believed that there was gods and they created the worlds and they, they, they, well, you can, you can study mythology. Mythology will, will give you a supernatural, a biblical world view. 10 (48m 30s): It's 9 (48m 31s): Strange that even scientists are starting to head in that direction. Richard ha Richard Dawkins. One of the, a staunch atheist is now looked at the probability and, and more, more research that comes out about the, about our world that we know, and the probability that life could not happen without some outside force now says that he believes that aliens might have seated the, our, our race here on the world, because he's not willing to believe in a God, Jesus. He has to go and believe that maybe aliens seated our planet. So that's strange, but in the bottom left the naturals, a biblical world, you would, you would have your, a, your evolutionary believers that things have always continued as they were. 9 (49m 15s): Nothing's really changed. There's no God to just dance to your DNA down at the bottom, right? We have men like Charles Darwin who had a, who held a degree in theology. He tried to have a biblical worldview, but he looked around and tried to make it like it was a natural progression up on the top, right? As I, I believe the view of the, of the biblical authors and the view, I'm trying to steer us towards the supernatural biblical world view. And often that starts right in the beginning of the Bible, Genesis one through 11 Genesis, one through 11, not viewed as poetic, not a story, but a literal account of the things that happen. 9 (50m 7s): How did Jesus view Genesis? And I would question you, do you have the same view of Genesis that Jesus did see our biblical worldview includes this supernatural, like things like God calling into the universe, calling the world and universe into existence, created from nothing bar, nothing. And our biblical supernatural worldview hinges on two passages. The first I'd like to go to is Genesis three, Genesis three. And if you look at Genesis three, we'll look at 4, 3, 14 and 15 God handing out the consequences of the fall to the serpent. 9 (51m 2s): He says, because you have done this, you are cursed more than the cattle and more than every beast of the field and on your bell, you shall go and you shall eat of the dust all the days of your life. And I will put nity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. So in the same way that Isaiah 14 talks about a human king, but also Satan, who's controlling that human king the same way as Ezekiel has talked about another human king, that's being controlled by Satan. God is now addressing first, the serpent and then the power behind the serpent. 9 (51m 46s): So addressing the power behind the servant, he's talking about a cosmic battle that is to come. I will put enmity. I will put war between you, between the serpent between Satan, between you Satan and the woman between your seed Satan and between her seed. He shall bruise your head. So the coming Messiah shall bruise your head, serpent, Satan, but you shall be allowed to bruise his heel. That is the first message of the gospel. It's called the proto Evangelion, the first message of the coming Messiah. 9 (52m 27s): And that was the start of the cosmic battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan. Now, as time goes on, we've come to another big event in the Genesis narrative. And that is found in Genesis chapter six, after giving the genealogy in Genesis chapter five, the Tola dot of Adam. We now come to this strange passage in Genesis six, about a worldwide flood and the need for it. And the flood was accepted up until the mid 18th century. 9 (53m 8s): It was a man by the name of George Von, who, who then looked at the world. And he said, well, things have always consisted. And they began to weed out that a global flood happened and they began to explain, like, things have always just continued the way it is. And so even George Beon got away from the world, a biblical worldwide flood, but going back fur further before him, the early church fathers, the biblical writers, they all believed in a worldwide flood, a global worldwide flood. Jesus himself believed in a global worldwide flood. Matthew 24 says, but of the day an hour, no one knows not even the angels in heaven, but my father only, but as the days of Noah were so also the coming of the son of man will be for as in the days before the flood, there were eating and drinking Marion and given marriage until the day that Noah entered the arc and did not know until the flood came and took him away. 9 (54m 10s): So also will be the coming of the son of man. Jesus is looking forward to some coming events, but he's using that. And he's looking back at the story of the flood as the days of Noah. He didn't say as in the days of the stories of Noah, Noah, as in the days of Noah, that's what it's gonna be like before my second coming Luke 17, he also says this as well as it was in the days of Noah. So it'll also be in the days of the son of man, they ate, they drank, they married wives and were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the arc and the flood came and destroyed them all. 9 (54m 50s): If it was a regional flood, God could have just told Noah to move your family out of the area. I'm gonna flood the area there's wickedness there, but God didn't, God had him put into a safe place, had him made an arc. The only way of salvation in an arc that would then float above the waters during this time of global upheaval in which all were destroyed. So that's what Jesus believed. What do you believe? Genesis six is one of the strangest verses in the Bible chapters in the Bible, Genesis six, read the, we will read through one through four. 9 (55m 42s): We'll spend some time breaking it down a little bit this week, and maybe next week as well, Genesis chapter six, one through four says in now it came to pass. When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and the daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful. And they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, my spirit shall not strive with man forever free is indeed flesh. Yet his days shall be 120 years and there were giants or Neelum on the earth in those days. And also afterwards, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them, those were the mighty men of old men of renowned, strange verses might be about the strangest verses in the whole Bible. 9 (56m 34s): So we have to ask ourselves who is this group of beans, who is the sons of God? And I'll tell you there's been three major theories throughout 10 (56m 47s): Christianity. 9 (56m 51s): First is that they're fallen angels. The second theory is that their royalty that their, they took multiple wives and had hers. The third theory is the, is the Sethy theory theory. And that there's the descendants of the lineage of Seth marrying with the ungodly lineage. Those are the three main theories, but I'm not interested in theories. I wanna know what the Bible has to say. That's where we look at hermeneutics, the study and the art of interpreting the Bible. The most important is that scripture always interprets scripture. 9 (57m 31s): So we have to go and we have to look at where else this phrase, sons of God is, is used in the old Testament twice. It's used here in Genesis six, and then twice more it's used in the book of job. So job chapter one, verse six, he says that there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came with them. Also, we know that job was brought up in that conversation. God said, look down at my people. And they found job as an excellent man. Once again, they, they, they corral back up job chapter two, verse one. And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to prevent, present himself before the Lord. 9 (58m 22s): So we see that these sons of God come in a way to God, they're able to present themselves. And it says that strangely, that Satan came also. So you look at other passages of scripture and you see that Satan was a fallen angel as well. And so here we have a little, a little bit of knowledge, but let's look at job chapter 38. This is the last time it's used. God is then questioning job in job chapter 38, Joe job, you know, struggling with why he's doing all this. Why, why is all happening to him? 9 (59m 4s): And God begins to then ask questions to job. In, in this section in chapter verse six and seven, he's asking, asking them specific questions about creation. So in verse seven, he says, what are when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, Joe were there when the, the stars sang together. When I created the world and the stars began to sing. And it's, and, and were you there when all the sons of God shouted for joy? So we see that the sons of God, and this, this section are used as angelic beans, divine beans that were there witnessing the creation of the universe. 9 (59m 46s): And they were there shouting for joy. So what we deduce from those passages and that is that the sons of God actually refers to angels. In Genesis six case. We look at the sons of God, refers to fallen angels, and we'll get to that in a bit. This whole thing about the sons of God becoming, becoming were descendants of Seth was a, a later theory in the early church, the early church always all believed that the sons of God were angels or angelic beans. But that then that the, that, that theory that the sons of God were the descends of Seth was introduced by Julius Africanists and later codified into the Catholic church by St. 9 (1h 0m 35s): Augustine, they took a natural biblical worldview. Now I know there's some pushback on this fallen angels theory in that, you know, there's a passage in mark chapter 12, when Jesus is talking about what the resurrection will be like, remember the stages he were arguing about, well, you know, Jesus, this, this brother dies. And the, his, his wife has to marry the next brother and that brother dies. And the wife has married her. He goes down, which, which husband is, is she gonna be married to in heaven? And so Jesus answered mark 12 and says for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. 9 (1h 1m 21s): And see that's the angels in heaven. Doesn't say they cannot, but what, they don't see the angels in heaven, obey God, the fallen angels have left their place. And I have new Testament evidence for that as well. See, we pray in our Lord's prayer Lords here on earth. Like it is in heaven in heaven. God has his will. God has his way, but here on earth, we're praying. And we're called to give the gospel. We're called to pray that God's will be done here on earth. There's also some pushback because Genesis chapter six, when the new king James says, they took wives for themselves, it actually should be more like took women for themselves Because that word in the Hebrew word, that word Esau, it could be for a woman married or single. 9 (1h 2m 14s): So these sons of God took and that it took is a euphemism for sex. It's that same Herman word. You can study. Humanics. Judah took his wife, took his sister Tamar as in, he raped her. These angels left their place and they took women for themselves. That's weird stuff. So why do we need to know this? And you're probably asking me that question. Why do we need to know this? Why are you bringing this up? Because we're gonna be coming up on some strange verses in the new Testament, some strange ones coming up in first, Peter, and then in Jude, I love Steve pastor. 9 (1h 2m 59s): Steve. He's been, we've been working our way through, through the new Testament and we're in we're normally we've been in first, Peter, and we're gonna get come to these verses. In fact, first Peter three, we can look that up first, Peter three 18 through 21 says for Jesus also suffered once for all sins, the jest for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the spirits by whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison who were formally disobedient when once the divine long suffering waited in the days of Noah while the arc was being prepared in that, which a few that is eight souls were saved through water. 9 (1h 3m 43s): You look at 20 verse 21 is a strange one as well. There is also an anti type, which now saves us baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but an answer of a good conscience towards God through the resurrection of Jesus. So the question is in first, Peter three, who are these spirits that were held in prison? We know they were disobedient when the divine long suffering Waited in the days of no. While the arc was being prepared, those 120 years that God said, my, I will not strive with man for this. I'm gonna put a limit to his days that wasn't a limit of years of life because their Abraham lived longer than 120 years, but it was the limit that God would put on the way that humanity was headed in 120 years, God said, I'm gonna bring the global worldwide flood. 9 (1h 4m 37s): And the only people saved would be those aboard the arc. So God had divine patience, divine long suffering, while he was waiting for Noah to complete the arc that his Noah and his family who were perfect, who had good DNA waiting for them to be saved. And there was only one way of salvation during the flood. And that was on the arc. What about second Peter chapter two verses four and five. It says for God, do not spare the angels who sin, but cast them down to and deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment. 9 (1h 5m 22s): And he did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah. One of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly. So God sent a global worldwide flood and only saved Noah and his one of eight people. But before that, there were angels who sinned. Well, who were those angels who sinned. Those were those angels from Genesis chapter six that took women for themselves. They deliver them in a special place of chains and darkness to reserve for judgment. What about Jude chapter one, verse six or Jude six, cuz there's only one chapter, right? 9 (1h 6m 6s): Jude six says the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode. He has reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness for the judgment of the great day, those angels who left their proper domain, the angels, the sons of God who came in and took women, thereby creating a superhuman race, giving us the myth, the legends that we have in Greek mythology, Roman mythology, strange things, but it's biblical. 9 (1h 6m 54s): Now next week, I'm gonna get into the difference between angels and demons because there's very, very difference. It's a big difference and what I didn't do first service, but maybe I'll try this service is, is, is there any questions so far? I I'll be open to a couple questions. I know we're a little bit over time, but are they, is anything just pressing so far that I've said Things to study. I want you to take these things home to study. Don't just take my word for it. Go and study these things. But I think there's, if there we are wrestling, not against flesh and blood is what Paul said. 9 (1h 7m 38s): And that's why God is talks about Ephesians. Why God gives Paul the instructions that put on our full armor of God. And as I look at the full armor of God, I always, I always question, maybe you have to the boots. Why does somebody's feet need to be shawed with the preparation of the gospel of peace as a Roman soldier would put all their armor on as they're ready to go out to battle. They've been trained, they've been prepared. They would put on their last thing. They put on their boots. Boots. Things seems to be a strange thing for me in my mind that that Paul had mentioned. But then once you begin to learn what boots are to the Roman soldier, you learn that these boots not only had protection had covering, they had these two inch spikes in the bottom. 9 (1h 8m 23s): And that was, if you were in town, if you were like in your, in a parade, you'd wear these boots that had two inch spikes in the soul. But when going to battle, you would wear these spike. These spikes, your shoes that have were up to six inches long. And that's because the Roman soldiers viewed their, their shoes as a weapon. It was offensive thing because the Roman soldiers wanted to be, they knew they had to be hand to hand tight combat. They had shorter swords so they could swing them easier. They wanted to be up close in person. And one of the things they want on the tactics that they want to do to their enemies is they want to knock 'em to the ground. And then you just take a spiked boot right into their body. 9 (1h 9m 7s): To us. We hear the, the, the preparation of the gospel piece. That sounds so nice to us. Oh, wow. Yeah. I want to, I want my feet to be beautiful, like up on the mountains, like Isaiah talks about, but you have to remember from the perspective of the enemy, when we have our feet, shawed with a preparation of the gospel, peace that's peace to us and we wanna bring peace to others, but that peace comes at a cost to the enemy. The enemy know what that means and saying. So we have an enemy, Like Elijah said, when he, when he looked at his servant, a servant came in, gave him a report, oh, we're surrounded by the armies. Elijah's like, oh Lord, open his eyes. 9 (1h 9m 48s): Let him look up. And he saw above him a multitude of the heavenly host, just waiting to go to battle lately. I just finished the book, the pie in this darkness by Frank Peretti and this pastor who was just on his knees and prayer and the, and the, the damage, the, the darkness that was unfolding on the town, around him. As I wonder what that darkness is in the spiritual realm, around our church, around our community. Right now we need people who know what they're headed, the kind of battle that they're headed into and are prepared for that. So the more we know about our enemy, the more we can be prepared to fight that fight. 9 (1h 10m 31s): Dday was not one by sending one ship or two ships sent by rose and rows and boats and boats and lives and lives to storm that beach and to win it. It's because they knew the fortified city, the fortified beats that they're headed into and there came of cost. Next week. We're gonna jump into the difference between angels and demons and how those things influence us even now. And just as a precursor, I didn't give this to him. I'm gonna give you guys a clip of Joe Rogan next week. And I'm gonna show you how he has opened himself up to demons and how those demons are communicating with him. 9 (1h 11m 19s): That'll be next week. Let's pray, Lord. I know by your word that we are facing a battle, we are facing an enemy Lord. And there, there are people souls around us that are being held captive by the evil hosts, the evil armies, Lord, God, you have given us a, a gospel. That is good news. It is good news to us because we've believed it and we've taken it Lord, but is not good news to our enemies. 9 (1h 12m 1s): Lord, put on us the full armor of God that we may be able to fight against the wilds of the devil that we can go to battle for you. Lord, help us to understand the enemy and that what we're, what we're up against Lords. That was we, we love. And we preach the gospel to those around as family members, neighbors com people in our community, people in our schools that we can know that we are up against What you came to save and deliver from the darkness Lord. So we thank you Lord for this morning, Jesus name, we pray. 9 (1h 12m 43s): Amen. 4 (1h 13m 13s): Oh, my words, for sure. I can nothing new. How could I express? Oh my gratitude. I could sing these songs as I often do. Every song must praise you. 4 (1h 13m 58s): It, it's not much for singing. I've got, I've got one. 4 (1h 14m 54s): You and 11 (1h 15m 49s): Don't you get, I'll be lifted up lifts. Cause you got 4 (1h 15m 54s): Lie inside of those and praise the 1 (1h 16m 0s): Lord 4 (1h 16m 9s): Lift because you got my praise you again and again, he said for, 12 (1h 17m 46s): We just lay everything before you're thrown this morning and worship you, Lord, fill this with your spirit, shine through us. As we go about our week minister to our hearts, Lord, as we glorify you in Jesus name, amen.

The cohosts chat about how Evelyn was rude to Pasquale! The cohosts give kudos to Vanessa Bryant, Pasquale loves marshmallows, how Alexa is always listening, Evelyn explains the symbolism of the Hindu God, Lord Ganesh and Pasquale is a man about town albeit one that has to get to bed early. #pasqualeformayorofStamford! Like us AND SHARE on https://www.facebook.com/2newyorkers1000opinions/ and follow us on Twitter and Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/2newyorkers1000opinions/message

Summary by Peyton Smith Hour 1, segment 1: Mike gets things going with the latest on the longstanding issue of conversion therapy.Days ago, Canada approved a ban on conversion therapy. This ban could threaten ministers with up to 5 years in prison for preaching biblical gospel, which is a message of conversion in and of itself.What gives, and what is the ultimate goal with the ban?Mike goes very in depth on this.https://americanuckradio.com/breaking-news/thousands-of-churches-raise-alarm-about-scope-of-new-canadian-conversion-therapy-ban/-------------------------------------------Hour 1, segment 2: (AUDIO) The FDA has allowed nano particles into our food supply, according to another stellar report from Greg Reese.-------------------------------------------A recently released op ed by one Joe Mathews says that California should abolish parenthood in the name of equity.Mike tears this nonsense into shreds.Read it below:https://americanuckradio.com/breaking-news/joe-mathews-california-should-abolish-parenthood-in-the-name-of-equity/---------------------------------------------(AUDIO)A doctor from the UK says that the worldwide vaccination program is going to stop, and recommends no one get boosters. ---------------------------------------------(AUDIO) Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General, gives a textbook example on how to do the lambada around answering straightforward questions.----------------------------------------------Enjoy all this, and more, in an info packed hour 1 from Mike.Hour 2, segment 1: (AUDIO) Is Russia setting up a false flag attack on themselves, and then planning on blaming Ukraine?Yes, that's what the painted leg crossers at NBC are peddling.Mike fully analyzes this comedy.---------------------------------------------(AUDIO) CNN is falling in line and reporting the same Russia "false flag" flippity flop.---------------------------------------------Experts are saying that predicted supply chain shortages will hit Eastern Canada much more sharply than in the West.https://americanuckradio.com/current-events/crossing-delayed-monday-at-manitoba-u-s-border-as-truckers-protest-vaccine-mandate/---------------------------------------------Hour 2, segment 2: Russia's top diplomat rebukes U.S. claims on a false flag operation, which is more than reasonable.https://americanuckradio.com/current-events/russia-dismisses-us-allegations-of-plans-for-false-flag-operation-as-pretext-to-invade-ukraine/----------------------------------------------China is blaming the lone Omicron case in Beijing on mail from Canada, via the U.S. and Hong Kong.Congrats to China on an excellent, steaming pile of fake news.https://americanuckradio.com/current-events/china-blames-mail-from-canada-for-omicron-case-in-beijing-report/------------------------------------------------Theresa Tam has come out and said Canada was completely wrong on the pandemic.https://americanuckradio.com/current-events/tam-we-got-pandemic-planning-wrong/------------------------------------------------A Russian father suspected of killing a pedophile who abused his 6 year old daughter avoids murder charges.https://americanuckradio.com/current-events/russian-dad-accused-of-killing-pedophile-who-abused-his-6-year-old-daughter-avoids-murder-charges-report/------------------------------------------------A three eyed cow born in India has been declared a divine miracle. A rebirth of the Hindu God, Shiva. https://americanuckradio.com/world/rare-calf-born-with-three-eyes-and-four-nostrils-as-people-queue-up-to-worship-cow/------------------------------------------------Joe Biden omits his friendships between George Wallace, Robert Byrd, and fails to mention his racist 1993 crime bill during his sleepy MLK day address.https://americanuckradio.com/uncategorized/joe-biden-omits-his-close-friendships-with-kkk-kleagle-byrd-and-george-wallace-and-his-racist-1993-crime-bill-speech-in-todays-mlk-jr-address/-------------------------------------------------Enjoy all this, and much more, in a splendid hour 2 from Mike

Episode 93 In part 4 of our mental health miniseries, we talk about psychosis in general and schizophrenia in particular. Why does Hollywood continually misrepresent schizophrenia, and what does it actually mean to experience a psychotic break? Is it always a bad thing to hear voices or see visions? Did many of our hallowed religious heroes live with schizophrenia? If so, does that change how we should think about their words? Let's talk about it!    Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/ produced by Zack Jackson music by Zack Jackson and Barton Willis    Transcript  This transcript was automatically generated by www.otter.ai, and as such contains errors (especially when multiple people are talking). As the AI learns our voices, the transcripts will improve. We hope it is helpful even with the errors.     Zack Jackson  00:00 Hey there, Zack here. Just a heads up. In this episode we're going to be talking about psychosis, schizophrenia, hallucinations, and how we've encountered them in the media, in our religious traditions and in our own lives. As Kendra says in this episode, being a human is weird and complicated, and I want to acknowledge upfront that even though we are trying our best to be sensitive to all experiences of humanity, we will likely fall short. So if you'd like to head over to the down the wormhole conversations Facebook group, we'd love to hear about how you have experienced schizophrenia psychotic breaks hallucinations, or have interacted with those who have. Are there people in our scriptures who can help us to see these disorders in a new light? Let's talk about it. Well, let's talk about it in about an hour or so. You are listening to the down the wormhole podcast exploring the strange and fascinating relationship between science and religion. This week our hosts are Zack Jackson UCC pastor in Redding, Pennsylvania, and if my life were a movie, I would hire Paul rent to play me.   Ian Binns  01:08 Ian Binns Associate Professor of elementary science education at UNC Charlotte. And if anyone could play me, I'd probably pick Ed Helms,   Rachael Jackson  01:18 Rachael Jackson, Rabbi at Agoudas, Israel congregation Hendersonville, North Carolina and if I have someone play me in a movie, I'm gonna ask Sir Patrick Stewart, because he's just the best.   Kendra Holt-Moore  01:33 Kendra Holt-Moore, assistant professor of religion at Bethany college and Lindsborg Kansas, and if I had to get someone to play me in a movie, it would be Kathryn Hahn. I'm trying to remember who that is. She plays Jen Barkley in parks and rec She most recently what I saw her she's a witch Agatha. Oh, yeah, Vision Agassi's it was   Zack Jackson  02:01 also a young a young Laura Dern. I think what would be great as Kendra   Kendra Holt-Moore  02:07 Oh, yeah, people have said that to me, too. Yes. Young, large earner like Lauren's daughter something.   Adam Pryor  02:14 Prior, I work at Bethany College in Lindsborg Kansas. If someone were to play me in a movie. I think it would be Statler of Statler and Waldorf.   Zack Jackson  02:25 Having a muppet play You bet.   Rachael Jackson  02:29 That's perfect. Actually.   Kendra Holt-Moore  02:36 Oh, sorry. I don't really know who the specific Muppets are. I know who the Muppets are, but I don't know   Adam Pryor  02:43 that there is one   Kendra Holt-Moore  02:46 who heckles besides like Miss Peggy? Yeah, no.   Adam Pryor  02:49 Guys who hackles   Zack Jackson  02:51 Statler and Waldorf. Yeah,   Ian Binns  02:53 yeah, I can see that. I could definitely see that. Yeah, that's totally you, Adam.   Kendra Holt-Moore  03:00 Yeah, so today, we're continuing in our series on mental health and we are talking about psychosis today. Pardon? So, we're talking about psychosis, but we're actually talking like more specifically about schizophrenia. And, and so, psychosis, like more generally speaking, is there a lot of different ways for someone to experience a psychotic break, have a an episode of psychosis, and that can look a lot of different ways. But it it like the main, the primary characteristic of psychosis is like a major break from reality. And so it is, you know, understandably, very disturbing, and very destabilizing of the individual who experiences psychosis and psychosis. Different disorders of psychosis are are often like, not very well miss. Not very well understood. And, and so that makes them both kind of, like frustrating and also intriguing to clinicians and like to the popular imagination, there's just like something about, you know, psychotic disorders that are, you know, the way that they get represented in, in film, and in TV. They are usually portrayed to be, you know, a little a little scary, like, not scary from the inside of like the person who has experienced a psychotic break because obviously, that's frightening, but also frightening to people on the outside watching what's happening. because it's hard to understand or like, connect with someone who has a break from reality and in how do you how do you care for a person or include a person who is just seemingly in like a totally different dimension of time and space in a lot of ways, then then what you are experiencing in your more like grounded reality. So that's generally like, what psychosis is. But to talk more specifically about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is, again, like we, we understand more about it, like we're learning more and more. But it's, there's still a lot that we don't know. For example, we don't, we don't really understand, like, what causes schizophrenia. And we can make some observations about schizophrenia. Such as, like, if you have someone in your family with schizophrenia, like if you have a parent who has schizophrenia, you have a higher risk for developing it. But that's not necessarily indicative of it. Like it's not, it's not a fact that you will have schizophrenia at some point in time. And we, we know, you know, we've observed that schizophrenia tends to happen, roughly equally, between women and men. We, you know, we know that like, kind of stereotypes of schizophrenics are that they're dangerous and violent. But, you know, we have observed that that's actually not true. Short, like, anyone can can be violent or aggressive. But that is not, that's not a general or fair characteristic of schizophrenic people. And schizophrenia, there's also different types. So like, I guess I should, you know, maybe say, like, what exactly this is, because, you know, we have, again, I think people probably have associations of, of what it is from, like media representations, but it's a brain disorder, again, not entirely sure, like what's going on in the brain, but a brain disorder that can create a lot of really disturbing symptoms, such as hallucinations, which can be visual hallucinations, or auditory, like sound hallucinations. And it can make people delusional. And so you know, believing in something very adamantly, that is just not true. So, you know, some delusions might might look something like, like, someone who's delusional might think that they are like a savior of some kind, and they have to, like, save the world. And they might think that, like, the FBI is sending the messages that are about information that only they would know, because they are destined to, like, save the universe. Like, really, you know, some of these delusions can be very grand, delusional thinking. And other symptoms could be like trouble just thinking concentrating or communicating. There are a lot of, you know, especially people who work with schizophrenics, in a clinical capacity will tell stories about, you know, speaking to someone who's schizophrenic who has symptoms that disturb communication, they might just like string a bunch of words together, but those words don't actually make any sense whatsoever. Like, there's not a comprehensible sentence there. But something is happening in in the in the brain, like the communication pathways where whatever that person may or may not want to say, it just doesn't come out. And likewise, someone who's schizophrenic, who is listening to another person talk, they may hear different words than the words that are actually coming out of that person's mouth. And so that's another again, just like disturbance, that is a break with reality that they don't have control over and is it's it just makes it very difficult to navigate, like what should otherwise be pretty mundane, normal experiences for people. Other Other symptoms are just like a General, General flat effect, or, you know, a lack of expression, a sluggishness that just, you know, is is pretty severe. And so there are like, there, as you can see, there's like this constellation of symptoms that can appear. And, you know, usually people will have like more than one of these symptoms. But the ones that are especially disturbing are typically the ones that are the hallucination or delusional thinking type of symptoms, and hallucinations, you know, whether they're visual or auditory. Those are hard, obviously, because it's, it's, it's difficult to distinguish what is real and what is not real. And so those are, especially, you know, a lot of researchers are intrigued, by the way that people who are schizophrenic sort of interpret their hallucinations. And it's just kind of this really distinct, like qualitatively different kind of symptom then the like, flat effect, which is still troubling and disturbing in its own way. But so there's just something to note there about like, these, this constellation of symptoms that schizophrenics Can, can experience collectively, like, why this is disturbing. Like, it's clear why that's disturbing the break from reality. But what we're talking about mostly today are hallucinations. And, and, you know, maybe some delusions too, but especially auditory hallucinations in the sound of hearing voices. And so to say something just about, like hearing voices, that can, that can happen in a couple of ways. So, for example, you may hear a voice, maybe one person is saying something, but in like your schizophrenic mindset, you may hear that voice sounds like it's coming from multiple people, like there's kind of a lesion of something talking at you, but maybe you're having a conversation with one person. I mentioned already that, you know, another example is hearing words that are not actually coming out of the person's mouth, and they're saying something totally different. Another, another way of hearing voices is just noises in the environment that kind of morph into what sound like voices. And so that can lead to a lot of experiences of whispering and, you know, kind of chatter in the distance that can't quite make out what the voices are. But it sounds like voices. And so I there's, you know, an example of like a car sort of washing by down the street in the sound of the car wishing by that kind of like car wash transforms into a what sounds like a voice. So voices, wherever, whatever stimuli in the environment, or like in that person's head, that's creating the voice. You know, it may or may not be clear, like, there are ways that schizophrenic people learn to manage those symptoms. And, you know, I think my understanding is that some people can identify like, certain things as being real or not real, but sometimes it's hard, especially, I would imagine, if you were like just discovering that you are schizophrenic. It, there's no, there's no complete cure for schizophrenia, you can manage symptoms with anti psychotic medication, but it's, it's, it's disturbing. So this is, this is this kind of brain disorder is, again, it, there's something that's just, it's so severe, and it's transformation of a person's everyday experience that a lot of researchers and people have this interest in this the intersection between something like schizophrenia, and a person's, like, experiences of religion and spirituality. And that's not always relevant for like particular people. But, but it is something that comes up and there is there are a lot of, you know, social scientists, especially like psychologist anthropologists, and, you know, other other clinicians who are like asking these kinds of questions about like, what, what this intersection could be, and, and to say, Oh, one more thing, also that, like schizophrenia sometimes is mistaken for like multiple personality disorder, which is also known, I think, maybe more accurate accurately now as dissociative dissociative identity disorder. So, you know, those They're also like, their own kind of like disturbing, you know, experience of the world break from reality. But that's their distinct from schizophrenia, what we're talking about. So what is the intersection between something like schizophrenia, psychosis with religious or spiritual experiences? So, there? For one, there's a lot of people who asked this really interesting question about the history of shamanism, and people in in various cultures. Just just just code, like what we would call diseases or disorders, it's important to realize that, you know, that the the way that people experience not just schizophrenia, but a number of different conditions, there, there's a cultural element in the way we like code, others and our own experiences with these disorders and diseases and schizophrenia is no different. So, in in, in Western countries, like in the United States, in particular, it is a lot more common for people to experience schizophrenia in themselves as like madness, their people are much more willing and immediate in their response to say, like, this is bad, these voices that I'm hearing, if they have auditory hallucinations, they are disturbing me, they are frightening me, they are torturing me. And there's a generally speaking, a negative experience with auditory hallucinations. And, and people also typically, you know, just the, the way that we talk about something like schizophrenia, people are more likely to use the term schizophrenia as like a category like a word that describes this collection of symptoms that we see as disordered. And they're, you know, the solution is antis, psychotic medications are like being put in a mental mental institution, and, you know, various other clinical ways of managing something like schizophrenia. And so, people in the US, when, when researchers have like interviewed people, with schizophrenia, there's this language around it, that's much there's just much more negative experiences with voices. And, and, and what people find in other countries and other like cultural settings, is, it's not that people don't ever talk about schizophrenia, or that they don't ever feel afraid of their hallucinations. But, um, there's something pretty distinct about the contexts of other other cultures from the US context in which there's more flexibility in how other cultures sort of manage something like schizophrenia. And so there's an example of a group of researchers who kind of compared three different groups of schizophrenics in, in the US, in India and in Ghana. And what they found was, the US kind of fit that characteristic of people describing a negative relationship with their hallucinations. But when they looked at the, the samples in Ghana, and in India, they found that people were much more likely to describe the voices they were hearing as providing guidance. And sometimes people would say, you know, some like in India, there were a couple of people who had hallucinations of like, a particular Hindu God, or, you know, maybe have like a family member or like a famous person they'd read about in a magazine, like different manifestations of visual and auditory hallucinations, that they instead of, you know, it may be more frightening at first, but over time, they started to almost rely on them, like these voices actually helped me understand and remind me what I should do to be a good person. And in other instances, you know, they're, like, in the, in the India in Ghana samples in particular, people might feel like a kinship with those voices, that maybe there's like family members appearing in those hallucinations that are, again giving guidance and providing a sense of I mean, I don't know if like comfort is the right word here, but there was less fear and Like revulsion at those voices, and there was a place kind of created in the mind of these people. And so, you know, they, they realize that what they're experiencing was unusual compared to others, but there was still a coating of those experiences as something that was either instructive or, or supernatural. Definitely a relationship between voices, and supernatural deities or, or demons, that's not uncommon. And you know, that, again, it's not that people in the US, like, would never code their experiences as supernatural or demonic are from God in some way. But this was, the seemed to be a little more acceptable and common in, in the samples from India and Ghana. And, and so this is just an interesting, like, comparison, and I think is relevant to this broader question that other researchers are looking into, like, is shamanism is there a connection between shamanism and something like psychotic conditions like schizophrenia, where you learn how to manage voices and, and symptoms that you're experiencing that are different from everyone else, and instead of being in a mental institution, you are now sort of elevated into a, into this particular role in a society where you can still interact and function in a community by sharing what you have that no one else has. And it's a way there's, you know, it's a, it's, it's a way of thinking about something like schizophrenia, that's, that kind of normalizes it, or like, maybe not normalizes it, but it provides a place. So that's a person doesn't need to necessarily be like, isolated or feel like they are like, totally insane. And it's just really different and interesting that this is like, this is the interesting link between something like schizophrenia, these like psychotic disorders, and, you know, religious or spiritual interpretations of those disorders to be sort of functional for a community. And so that's, that's the, that's what I, you know, just when, when introduced here, so, like, how does that how does that land for any of any of y'all, and what do you? What other thoughts do you have? Like, what do you have any experience? Do you know, anyone with schizophrenia? Like, what do you what do you think?   Rachael Jackson  22:58 Yeah, so thank you for   Kendra Holt-Moore  23:00 sorry, no,   Rachael Jackson  23:03 you're good. You're good. Oh, good. Thank you for giving us this perspective. And I really like the interdisciplinary overview. I obviously am in the culture of America. So those that I know that have schizophrenia have definitely experienced it in that aggressive and fear based place. And it was lovely to read about these places in India, I was really fond of the one from India, where they were saying that this is really, I interpreted it as protective, and guiding, very almost nurturing and parental, which is very different than people that I that I know, with schizophrenia here, that it's very fear based. And it's, it's daunting, it's not just the break from reality, that's scary, which I think would be across cultures. But it's the how they're experiencing the the auditory. I'm not gonna say just voices, but the auditory sounds right. Well, that's redundant. What they are experiencing from sound is scary. And we don't we tend to our society tends to, to shun that to shun the differences. Our society tends to think that if you if you have this break, you're broken. And that was something that that has really stuck with me and trying to figure out how to encourage people to to acknowledge that they're not broken, um, has been something that we as a as a society and culture can fix, I think, even if the disease itself you know, we can't   Zack Jackson  25:01 So, my my first experience with this, even with schizophrenia at all, came from the movie, beautiful mind about the mathematician John Nash, played by Russell Crowe, who has a roommate that he lives with that assumes that everyone knows this roommate for years until he discovers that this is not a real person. And he's in his mind, and there's this whole world, and then they discovers he's got all these conspiracy theories. And it's, it becomes this sort of thriller. And that is how I imagined schizophrenia to be that there are people out there who just imagine that there are people with them at all times, and how terrifying that was. And they kind of, there was a, I think there's a scene in there where he does hurt someone. And it's kind of like, this guy is a danger. But I more, just lived for years terrified that this was actually happening to me. And that the people that I knew, like, I would be like, is this person real? Or am I imagining them? Am I having a psychotic break? Or is this person real? Can you see this person, and it made me really paranoid. And now that I'm, I'm a bit older, and I realized that that's not actually how it works. And that's just how it works in Hollywood. And that it's more like, a lot of these voices are internal. And people kind of understand that. I, I've seen it everywhere. In in my religious world, we tend to attract people who hear voices. And I get that all the time. Now. It's like, I heard a voice from God saying this. And it's usually something about how this person is uniquely qualified to save something or do something really important or dramatic. And then that is left up to me to decide if that is the voice of God or the voice of a psychosis or both, or neither. And I feel woefully unqualified to do that. And for the most part,   Rachael Jackson  27:14 I would second I would second that you are woefully unqualified.   Zack Jackson  27:19 Thanks, Rachel.   Rachael Jackson  27:20 You're welcome. You're welcome. I think I think clergy are often the first people to to recognize that there could be something amiss, and that's our job. And then to pass it along to the people that can go Oh, no, you're just having a faith experience? Or, oh, wow, you're really having a psychotic break. Right? And that we're the first persons to acknowledge that, yes, you can hear these voices. And sometimes it's a natural faith thing. And sometimes it's a natural brain disorder thing. But just just just just reaffirming that you are willfully unqualified as am I, as our most clergy. Sorry. No offense. Yeah.   Kendra Holt-Moore  28:05 I think that's a good point, though, about an in Yeah, it makes sense that clergy are in many cases, like the the first people to encounter people in which it's hard to tell what's happening, because there's some there's the shared language of people who are experiencing hallucinations, whether they're like, specifically schizophrenic or, or something else, saying, like, God said this to me, and how to distinguish that from other people who, you know, it might be unclear if they have something going on in terms of a brain disorder, but that's also just like common parlance to talk about, like, Faith experiences, or, you know, like, there's, there's a whole book actually one of the researchers who have participated in interviews with schizophrenic people. She also wrote a book about evangelical faith and the language of like, talking to God. And so that, you know, just like the recognition that there's shared language there, and you know, typically, I think it's, it's straightforward to tell when, like, what the difference is, but not always. And I think that Rachel and Decker, you know, right, that it's clergy who have to kind of make that first call sometimes.   Zack Jackson  29:35 Well, so here's an example. There's an elder at the church, who one day showed up to a worship service, stark naked, and ran around the parking lot, yelling about how this church had become corrupt, and how the pastor was in in league with the devil and was and with that Elder board was siphoning money. And we used to run around every day, every Sunday morning, when people showed up would show up naked streak through the parking lot and yell about how this church was going to hell did it for three years. Okay, so that didn't actually happen. But it happened in Isaiah chapter 20. And when Isaiah does it in Isaiah chapter 20, it's like wow, with this prophetic image, that God told him to remove thy sackcloth, and thy shoes and to even expose the buttocks for under three years to shame the Egyptians, as he went through the towns, prophesying to the people. And that sounds holy and righteous. But if somebody did that now, we'd be like, This man has a psychotic break, and he needs to be hospitalized. And should we have hospitalized? Isaiah? Yes. Yeah.   Rachael Jackson  30:58 Yes, no, I am. I'm being totally serious. I mean, I think that the hospitalization of people that have mental disorders or challenges, we need to fix that system. But the concept that Isaiah probably had some sort of mental illness, absolutely, I think our the Hebrew Bible at least I can't really speak to the Christian bible as thoroughly, really examples of the human conditions. And Isaiah is one of those that examples, schizophrenia. I just like when we talked about depression, and we can see it and anxiety like, I believe that the Hebrew Bible absolutely gives us reference to most of the brain diseases that we are uncomfortable with to this day. So yes, I think he should have been, but somehow positively. So then,   Zack Jackson  31:57 is Isaiah hearing the voice of God, or the voice of Isaiah? And if by hospitalizing him and treating his condition? Are we then stopping prophecy?   Kendra Holt-Moore  32:13 asking those tough questions,   Zack Jackson  32:15 that's what we're here for.   Rachael Jackson  32:16 Right? I think it's who's listening? Right? I think that if a person like Isaiah, minus the modesty issues, because let's remember that they had a very different understanding of being closed or not closed than we do in our semi Puritan American culture. You know, barring that piece, if someone's listening, and it makes sense, then yeah, that that person can still be a prophet. And whether or not that is the voice of God that Isaiah is hearing, in actuality, or the presumption of Isaiah that it is the voice of God, who Isaiah is speaking to his hearing as a as a prophet. And they're the ones that are listening or not listening. And I think we can absolutely have people that are prophetic nowadays. And it's really the difference of, you know, where is it God? Or is it an understanding of God? And does that even matter? So, yeah, I, I think, yes. It's that we have gone deaf, to people that are trying to show us show us things about our society that we don't want to.   Kendra Holt-Moore  33:31 I was gonna echo something similar that you said, Rachel was like, the question of a god or as an internal voice, that, yeah, like, does that matter? For one, the person who is hearing the voice, but also does that matter for people who are listening to the person, and for some people, that will matter, and for some people that won't. And so I think, with like, the authority of the or the origin of the voice, may affect the like, interpretation of the importance of what is being said. And that just kind of, kind of depends what's happening. I think, as to whether it's, you know, whether one, it depends on the context, in the content of what is being said as to whether I, for example, would think that person needs to be institutionalized. Or, you know, if I would maybe be likely to call them something like a prophet or a guide of in like a cultural moment. I think they're, it's just like the kinds of voices people hear or claim to hear are so varied. think there are absolutely some voices that I do not want to listen to and that I do not want you to have to listen to You know? So it's like, are you telling me to like, go jump off a bridge? Or are you telling me that like, society is corrupt? Because those are both examples of things that people can hear when they're hearing voices and claiming that it's coming from God or, you know, the devil or whatever. But, you know, it's, it has the interpretation of what to do with that information is contingent upon the community, cultural norms, a bunch of things. And so it makes it very tricky to kind of, I think, generalized about like, how to respond to those voices from the outside. And also like recognizing, I watched a, an interview one time with a person who's schizophrenic, and the interviewer was asking her questions, and started asking her questions about, like, the hallucinations, and she had visual hallucinations. And so the interviewer started to say, like, do you see the hallucinations right now? And where are they in the room? And she said, I'm actually not going to answer those questions, because I don't like to tell people where the hallucinations are in the room. Because when real people start interacting with my hallucinations, it makes it difficult for me to tell what is real and not real. Found. And so I thought that was really, really interesting to just like from, from that, like, another perspective of how to deal with what is happening.   Ian Binns  36:42 Yeah, so, you know, to echo what Zack said, the beginning, one of my first experiences with schizophrenia was the movie, A Beautiful Mind. And, you know, I'd loved that movie. And I, as we were kindred, as you're talking, I'd looked it up and was, I did not realize that when the movie came out that it was actually celebrated by some in the mental health community that had a somewhat accurate portrayal of schizophrenia, not that they didn't take liberties, but that it actually did somewhat of a decent job. But I also remember when that movie came out, it was a time when I was struggling with medication for my depression. And when I saw that movie, and saw that the, you know, John Nash, according to the movie, was able to overcome some of his, you know, issues with schizophrenia, by sheer will, that I remember thinking to myself, Well, if that's possible, why couldn't I and so I remember actually having those conversations with my counselor at the time, and she was saying that, even though the movie did a somewhat decent job, that there was a lot of pushback on that part of the film. And that's what the thing I read too, was that that's not accurate at all. Like it, that's not how it works. And so, so that was one thing. But the other thing too, when we're talking about voices, it just kept making me think about, like, who is it that determines that whatever voice someone's listening to is, right or wrong, right? Like, do you know what I mean? Like, how is it that that's determined that okay, this, this person clearly has a mental health disease, they need to be hospitalized versus not? So because if you know, there are a lot of people who say that I, that they speak to God. Right, but they're not coming back. Right, but then also to if they say that they believe this, that God is speaking to them. Is that an example of schizophrenia or not?   Rachael Jackson  38:50 So, if I may jump in here. I'm one of the I'm going to give a quick anecdote. There's a person that I knew that was taking a psychological test. And part of the psychological test was on a on a form, like on an actual piece of paper, this was before before computers, so on an actual piece of paper. And this person was smart enough to fool the test, and gave all of the answers to indicate that this person had a psychotic schizophrenia. And then the people that were evaluating this test, looked at it and went, Well, it's true. You showed us this, your paper is pristine. There were no erasers there were no, it didn't get torn up. The paper itself was perfectly fine. So this person was able to trick the system. But the challenge is it's not just a checkbox. So when we're talking about people that have hallucinations visual or auditory? I see things I can imagine something or someone sitting right here in my office, I can see them in my mind's eye right here. Right, I can vision. Am I hallucinating that am I hearing that one of the things that I think is challenging that we forget, his people that have not had this break in reality is in conversation with a person that is either currently going through or has had or is off medication, or whatever the situation might be. The flow of conversation is not the way that we understand it. So when I read Isaiah, or I read some of these other people that go, Hmm, there's something amiss here, they're still understandable of people that I have interacted with which at this point, you know, given that I'm a small town clergy, you know, I were numbering a couple of dozen people that I've I've interacted with that have this particular diagnosis, you cannot follow their thoughts. It is a thought here a thought there it is all over the board. And they think that they are making perfect sense. And that's the break, where there's a major disconnect, not just in the delusions of grandeur, like I, one of the articles that will link in, in today's show notes, has this idea of John hood, I believe his last name was who's who's talking about this, and then he thinks that he's a shaman. And he then he thinks that he's going to that he's married to two African princesses, and he's going to go live with them. And it's one sentence to another sentence. And the listener has no ability to follow these trains of thought. And we forget that. So A Beautiful Mind doesn't necessarily example that the other movie the soloist about I think his name was Nathaniel Ayers, a white ers, that has a little bit better understanding of the challenges of from the the person who is who's has this illness, about them what they really go through. So I just want to add that, but yes, we hear God and if someone says, oh, you know, God talked to me, but God made perfect sense to the listener. And they're saying, here's what God told me to do. And how was, you know, have a great day. And I hope you have, and it's cohesive. I think these are clues. So   Kendra Holt-Moore  42:43 I just want to follow up on what Rachel said also, that just real quick that, like hallucinations, it that like having a hallucination is not an automatic indicator that like you're schizophrenic, that some of the other like conditions in which you might have hallucinations, or things like Parkinson's disease, which I didn't realize, like hallucinations were part of that until recently, brain tumors, you know, sometimes like Alzheimer's, like there are different, like epilepsy stuff, stuff, stuff happens in the brain. And so there's other other like, you know, we talked in the beginning about the constellation of symptoms. And so that's just like, something to keep in mind too.   Adam Pryor  43:26 But I was gonna say, it seems like that idea of an integrated epistemic frame is really important, right? So like, if the pieces are integrated into a singular or cohesive worldview, then you have one sort of set of things. It's this moment where they no longer can be held together, but they have to be attended to simultaneously that that's this, like this break that occurs. So I can talk to God, but if it but if it integrates with the way in which that I experienced the world, you know, totally good.   Zack Jackson  44:16 So then religion offers that sort of scaffolding for these sorts of experiences, then on break pretty regularly. I'm thinking of like Joan of Arc, if she were in a different sort of situation. Would her her visions her voices have said different things if she were in South India instead of in France? Or is God speaking directly to Joan of Arc? And we are trying to diagnose the work of the Holy Spirit and trying to medicate away modern day prophecy and the presence of a living and terrifying and powerful God.   Adam Pryor  44:59 Like that Academy at all.   Zack Jackson  45:01 I know you don't you don't love dichotomies at all.   Adam Pryor  45:07 It feels like if I asked this feels like a full trichotomy,   Zack Jackson  45:10 this is. So this is the the tension that goes on inside of my head. Because I was, in my developmental years, I was told that, that a lot of these anti psychotic medications are there to suppress actual experiences with the supernatural, because there are some people in the world who are more sensitive to the presence of the supernatural, both good and evil. And the anti psychotics then suppress those natural abilities. Think like the first half of Captain Marvel, right? That that kind of limiting factor because we can't handle the spiritual world and the modern, modern world, because we have to be able to explain it, and domesticate it, and understand it in order to, for it to exist. And so that I still have that in there. And and now I think I'm thinking more about like, positive mental health, and how would you like to live? And we're understanding more about how the brain works. And we don't quite understand how this works. And I want to just have space open for that as a possibility. But I don't quite know what to do with it.   Adam Pryor  46:30 Don't don't want that space open. Oh, but   Zack Jackson  46:33 Adam, so many of our religious traditions are based on Revelation are based on divine revelations, in stories and in histories that have been passed down to us. If those divine revelations happened today, we would label them as psychotic breaks. I mean, if you just started talking to a bush, don't you think that we would say you're having a psychotic break?   Adam Pryor  46:57 No, they'd say, I'm walking around campus, but   Ian Binns  46:59 like, fight moment   Adam Pryor  47:03 point out, right. It's not actually the scientific side of this that bothers me. Right? It's actually the theological side where I want to go that bad theology, it is a bad understanding of the supernatural.   Zack Jackson  47:16 Okay, hit me with it.   Ian Binns  47:18 So yeah, you got to unravel that one.   Adam Pryor  47:20 I would argue that all revelation is contextual, insofar as it is a mode of communication. So it is, of course, going to change depending on where and when and how that revelation occurs, because the supernatural isn't something separate from the natural, as if it is in other realm that has its own structure of things from which it originates. It is something layered over the natural, you know, what super natural actually means on top of the natural. So it's just a deficient theological understanding as far as I'm concerned.   Zack Jackson  48:00 So there's,   Kendra Holt-Moore  48:02 it's I think that like Adams talking about a naturalist interpretation of Revelation, and Zach is talking about a supernatural right, but in   Adam Pryor  48:10 his supernatural, this version is bad. It's a bad understanding of supernatural.   Kendra Holt-Moore  48:15 Oh, I mean, I, I'm with Adam here, but just to like, describe what the different.   Zack Jackson  48:22 So there's two different types of revelation that we often talk about natural revelation, special revelation, natural revelation being the things that you can deduce on your own from the laws of the universe, in your experience of being a human on this planet. special revelation are those times that God speaks to a person and tells them a specific thing, right? Like, go set my set my people free, like that's, that's a special revelation. Jesus coming and and saying, Hey, God told me this thing. And I want you to know it. That's special revelation. And I'm talking about the special revelation, not the natural. Yeah, I'm still   Adam Pryor  49:03 on board. But special education is still contextually located. Absolutely, period. So it's gonna change no matter where it is that it's spoken to. It's only if you treat special revelation as though the supernatural othering world from which it comes, is so overwhelming, that it completely mutes the expectation of the receptive hearer, in such a way that that context no longer matters, that it creates a break with the actual place in which it is received and I want to go, that's not communication anymore. That's not even revelation anymore. Right, insofar as revealing is supposed to be a form of communicating. So, to my mind, like there's no sort of like articulation from a theological tradition that can defend that notion of special revelation on its own terms.   Zack Jackson  49:59 So, Paul, On his donkey horse, I don't remember his going to go do some some good old fashioned persecuting, and gets a blinding light falls off his horse, or donkey or whatever it was, and sees a vision of Jesus standing before him that says,   Adam Pryor  50:16 Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? That's what Paul told us. Right? But actually, that's his failure that all he saw was a blinding light. There's no God, and he's not actually an apostle. So shouldn't we just throw stuff out? I mean,   Zack Jackson  50:32 should we ever go in there today, Adam? I'm just talking about Paul, in Paul's words, Paul, in Paul's words,   Kendra Holt-Moore  50:39 great episode, I'm so glad that you had   Zack Jackson  50:41 a vision, he had a light, he saw light, he fell off his his quadruped head and hit his head. And then he couldn't see for a while until he was healed by this guy, this fella. And then he could see again, and he had this special revelation that feels a lot like he had a seizure. It fits a lot of the categories of that. And so when you explain it like that, like naturally, then you might just say, Wow, he had this break, he had this, this seizure, he maybe had some epileptic stroke. And he then attributed it to, I must have been doing something wrong when it happened, because God was punishing me. And then after the fact, put in his theology, and that's what's happening.   Adam Pryor  51:30 Kinder, you raising your hand?   Kendra Holt-Moore  51:33 Yes. I just wanted to jump in and say, Zack, you you've said a couple times, like, what I think like referring to the, what Adam called the dichotomy here between like, is a revelation or psychotic break. I don't think that calling like, I don't think that rejecting revelation leads immediately to describing something like the examples that you're giving as psychotic breaks, I think, like another way of, of naming that without going straight to like, psychotic mental disorder, would be to say, like, I think the way I would describe that, coming from, like, a more like social science II type framework would, would be to say, there's selective attention. Like, whenever you experience different kinds of, like auditory visual stimuli, especially in cases where there's like a religious or spiritual experience going on, there's selective attention happening where people, you know, the selective attention you give to light to sound to images, it affects the way that you code and remember those experiences, which sometimes are things like, you know, prophetic visions, or, like, whatever it is, it's not. And I think that this is, like, I think this is getting at some of like, what your concern is, is that it like, and I understand the concern also being about like reductionism, I think of, of like, spiritual and religious experiences. But I think that selective attention to our just daily experiences is just something that everyone does. But especially in, you know, these cases where it's like, extraordinary circumstances or experiences of certain kinds of stimuli. Our like, we each have selective attention that is informed by cultural, you know, biases and cognitive biases, you know, the way that we understand kinship, family, friends, spirits, minds, all of those, you know, cultural pieces affect the way that we attend to our experiences and, and that's not necessarily good or bad. It's just a fact of like being human and so that that's like a third option I want to throw in there as like, maybe revelation, maybe psychotic break, maybe selective attention, and all of those things, all three of those options can have meaning. And so I think, yeah, like, meaning is not mutually exclusive to any of these. Yeah,   Zack Jackson  54:35 yeah. In the, in the fear of reductionism, I think is where the, my soul wants to push back. Because if I am going to accept that an angel appeared to marry and told her something very specific, but then immediately dismiss that an angel showed up to John Smith in my congregation because of all he says a lot of training things that I need to second either second guess how I'm treating him today? Or how I am Reading my own religious tradition? And I think I need to be honest with that. I can't have it both ways.   Adam Pryor  55:13 Yeah, this this is where I think reductionism becomes a boogeyman, though. Like, it doesn't have to do the things that in some theological and religious circles people say it will do.   Kendra Holt-Moore  55:27 I mean, that's what I'm, I'm on board with that I like, reductionism is is the name of the Boogeyman. But the boogeyman is not really looking man   Adam Pryor  55:38 is just a nation sack.   Zack Jackson  55:40 Oh, man, you academics trying to trying to dismantle the argument instead of instead of coming straight at it?   Ian Binns  55:52 I'm just enjoying listening. So no, I really wish I had popcorn in this conversation.   Kendra Holt-Moore  55:59 No, but like reductionism. It is, I think, the primary concern that people have when when we talk about this, like religion and science intersection, and people who don't, who aren't coming at these conversations out of an academic context, like, like, it makes sense to me why that's a concern. But I like Adam, I I don't think that that. I think that the fear that people have about reductionism, my experience of that was only like an initial fear. And then, like, over time, a realization for me that, like, I just, I still Yes, I've like changed over time, in some significant ways. But I still think that there's a lot of meaning in experiences. And just because we like understand the way that the brain works, or, you know, like, the way the body works, I don't think that that means we can't also have this like layer of experience in human life, that is profound. And not just meaningful, but also really profound and spiritual. And, you know, all the other ways that we talk about those kinds of experiences. It's just also true that it probably like the way that I interpret that situation, that experience is going to be different than, you know, the way someone else interprets it in their own framework. But I'm comfortable with that. And I realized that that just inherently will make some people uncomfortable, the difference in our like, understanding of, I guess, like the ontological nature of those experiences. So yeah, I don't know.   Zack Jackson  57:50 Yeah, I think there's a, I'm there with you. I'm there with you, intellectually, I either I don't disagree with anything, I'll say that. I think my where I'm coming from as a kind of practical place in which I am on the regular in contact with people who have visions, and who have experiences and who are asking me to help interpret the Word of God that has come to them in a vision or in a moment of rapture, or in this data, the other. And I think, Paul says that we should discern every spirit that comes. And, you know, it's not so easy to tell if this is the spirit of light or of darkness. But that every vision, whether it comes from while you're Reading some textbook, or having some ecstatic moment of otherness, and experience, that all of those visions need to be tested against what your community holds as true, and what is good for human flourishing. And so I'm, I feel the fear of people, when, when I suggest I'm having this experience, actually right now, not like in this moment, I'm not having an experience. I'm, I'm with somebody now, who is having some a lot of these kinds of experiences. And she is extremely frustrated at every other pastor that she's talked to, because they all say, Wow, it sounds like you're having some mental distress. Have you seen a therapist? Are you on your medication, instead of meeting her in that space in that common parlance of like, Yeah, okay. I might personally think that she is having a psychotic break, but I need to communicate with her in this realm of of the spirits, as both as a common language so that we can actually get somewhere productive and also as a way of kind of intellectual honesty that I don't entirely understand the workings of the supernatural and the natural and ease I don't understand how magnets work. So I don't I don't know, maybe you are experiencing something that I'm I don't know. So I try to stay intellectually, spiritually humble in those situations. I mean, I do understand intellectually how magnets work, but I don't know how they work. Kendra, do you have any final thoughts first, as we wrap up?   Kendra Holt-Moore  1:00:26 Well, I just wanted to say in the sharing of intellectual honesty, I, I just I want to say that, like, my academic explanation of like, someone saying, God told them to do whatever it is, like I can talk about, like, selective attention and all of that. But if I'm talking about like, oh, energy healing, yeah, that I sure, um, oh, no selective attention. That's just that's just real. I like it. That's not to say that. Like, it's a different category of experience. Of course, like, you know, that. I don't even know that some people would feel comfortable, like comparing those two things. But just to say that it's not. People are complicated and have different kinds of experiences that they understand in different ways. And it's not that people who I don't I don't think it's fair to say that people who, who use academic jargon and and do maybe, like lean on, like reductionistic ways of thinking, which I actually I do not group, me and Adam into that category. Maybe y'all group us into that category. But I think that those people always have something that they don't talk about that's like personal and that is, it is like the bottom level foundation of like, their what, what is real for them? And it's just also like a SEP, like a separation issue of like, the academic and the personal when you're in like different settings. And I imagine that feels really different when you're like a clergy person. So yeah, people are weird, you know, people are weird. That's my final word.   Rachael Jackson  1:02:17 People are weird. People are weird. That's today's title. Oh, but Adam, Adam has   Kendra Holt-Moore  1:02:23 a big,   Zack Jackson  1:02:24 yeah, tagline   Adam Pryor  1:02:26 got a bit. I'm super excited about it, share it with,   Zack Jackson  1:02:29 you have a jingle.   Adam Pryor  1:02:30 We're working on that. So until then, I've decided to title my bit under the apple tree. In deference to the apocryphal phrase from one of the persons of my tradition, Martin Luther, who was said to have said, Even if I knew that tomorrow, the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. I mean, in all likelihood, he didn't actually say this, the earliest you can trace it back as about 1944. It's by a phrase from the Confessing Church, trying to ensure that it continued to do things in resistance to Nazi dictatorship. But you know, it feels better when it comes from the person who's ostensibly the founder of your tradition. And this gets interpreted a lot of ways. But generally, what you know, the sentiment was, was that even if things look like they're going to go terribly, if the world might end, you move one step at a time, so I thought, what better way to end podcasts than to rehearse the ways the world might end? So for today,   Ian Binns  1:03:32 tapping into your superpower.   Adam Pryor  1:03:38 I decided, well, it's one let's be clear, there are a whole lot of people writing about the ways this would occur. So I had a lot to choose from, but I decided I would go with supervolcanoes today. And the idea is that, you know, because we don't actually live on a nice, stable planet. In fact, we live on, like, rafts of rock floating over molten lava all of the time. At various points in the history of the planet. Those ruptures occur such that molten rock flows all over the surface of the planet, and four of the largest last 11 extinction events are all tied to when volcanoes erupt at the same time. Usually, it eliminates somewhere between 95 and 98% of species on the planet. Wow, on average, that happens every you know, 17 to 30,000 years, and it's been over 36,000 years since the last one. So we're overdue. overdue. So that should be occurring anytime now. And essentially what will happen is there will be so much carbon dioxide spewed into the atmosphere that it'll create a runaway greenhouse effect. And you can expect that all Plants will die, including plankton in the waters. And that spells real trouble for the rest of us. So, if you see volcanoes going off in chain sequences around the world, plant your apple tree,   Kendra Holt-Moore  1:05:19 don't bother running.   Zack Jackson  1:05:21 Don't bother planting an apple tree   Adam Pryor  1:05:22 know, the apple tree anyway, it's gonna die. It doesn't matter. You keep doing the thing, plant the apple tree,   Zack Jackson  1:05:30 throw the starfish back in the water. That's right,   Adam Pryor  1:05:33 it won't make a difference.   Ian Binns  1:05:37 So just carry on the way you're, you're going back.   Zack Jackson  1:05:40 Who cares about recycling your wind? Where are the super volcanoes?   Adam Pryor  1:05:43 So this is the interesting thing. They're actually like chained together, right? You can find these various volcanoes at major junction points between tectonic plates. There are 19 tectonic tectonic plates that we sort of move around on. So they shift a little bit, right. But we're familiar with these areas like so like the ring of fire in the Pacific, Pacific chains of islands. And if you want like an example of like where this has occurred, and history, India, like the entire subcontinent of Asia is just one large lava flow in terms of how it was produced, so that's the scale and size of which we're talking. All of these volcanoes erupting simultaneously. But yes, Yellowstone is a potential one. Although people don't think that that's actually there's some debated scientific evidence over whether or not it would be overdue for erupting so date. Yeah,   Rachael Jackson  1:06:42 I don't like when Adam goes.   Kendra Holt-Moore  1:06:47 The earth is weird. People are weird. Everything is   Zack Jackson  1:06:52 awesome. And at the end of the day, the horseshoe crab and the Nautilus will keep going.   Adam Pryor  1:06:58 I'm just saying like, I feel like Kendra and I can really lean into the jingle bit here. It's gonna be gonna be good.   Rachael Jackson  1:07:06 Yeah. Stay tuned for that.   Ian Binns  1:07:10 Yeah.

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In this episode, Main Bhi Muslim's producer and host, Mariyam Haider, spoke to Nazni Rizvi, Senior Reporter at Khabar Lahariya, India's only, all-women, feminist, hyper-local, video first news channel, reporting from within the country's hinterland. In this conversation, Nazni shares her story of belonging to the Muslim community in rural India where she fought social and religious prescriptions to leave an incompatible marriage, join Khabar Lahariya, train as a journalist, and over the years, cover some of the most pertinent issues including women's rights and equality, social justice, and organised crime, in Bundelkhand region. Nazni's reportage and her personal story deeply showcase the prejudices that women often face for making alternative life choices, not just from outside their social communities, but also from within, and how she has tackled them over the years. Her story also speaks for countless other Indian Muslim women who often live with community-prescribed gender and patriarchal expectations, failing to meet which can often lead them to become pariahs.This interview was conducted in Hindi and has been edited for clarity, but you can find the English transcript below. TranscriptMariyam Haider, Host - Thank you Nazni for joining us today at Main Bhi Muslim's podcast episode. I've been really excited to reach out to you and share your story through Main Bhi Muslim ever since I learnt about you. I want to deeply thank you for the kind of reporting that you've been doing through the years, especially on agendas that people do not wish to hear about and about topics that they are not open to understanding. It really motivates me, the kind of work you do, it's all a lesson for us. It teaches us about the kind of reporting that is essential and important today, and how we can express ourselves through our writing. Nazni Rizvi - “Mariyam, thanks to you as well because being a journalist our job is to bring out stories of other people, but sometimes even we wish to be heard, and that people get to know our story too. I've gotten my chance to be heard through this podcast at MBM, and I'm going to use this opportunity to open up and talk about the things that I go through, that often happen with me so that people realise that as journalists, we also go through a lot and have a story to tell.”Mariyam - First of all Nazni, let's start with your introduction. How did you start working with Khabar Lahariya, and what prior incidents of your life led you to Khabar Lahariya, which eventually turned tables for you & gave your life a new beginning?Nazni Rizvi “My name is Nazni. I am currently working as a senior reporter. My journey with Khabar Lahariya began in 2007. At that time, I was in a bad financial state. I had 5 little children. The notion of  belonging to a muslim family, and having to remain under the veil, kept me restricted. And to top it, I was also a woman. A muslim woman. There were a lot of difficulties. My condition was really bad and working outside was tough. My family was going through a tough phase. I was in desperate need of work. Because I have had formal education only till Grade VIII, I had never pictured myself as a journalist. I was ready for all odd jobs, and cleaning chores, daily wage-labour, or a petty job at any shop; anything but never a journalist.So, therewas this teacher who'd come to teach my landlord's kids Arabic. She informed me about an office at (Babu Lal Chauraha in Banda district ) that provided work to women, and was hopeful I too could get some work there. The lack of a basic educational background and no previous experience made me skeptical, but I gathered courage and went there from where I was directed to the Vanagna office. Because Khabar Lahariya had just recently launched, it wasn't very well known. When I reached the Vanagna office, Anita didi there informed me that because I was neither a graduate nor did I have any kind of prior work experience, there wasn't any work for me. She suggested I go to the nearby Khabar Lahariya office which had just begun functioning. She told me that Khabar Lahariya was training girls and women to be journalists. Even though I doubted I could do journalism, I mustered strength and went forward. Upon reaching the location after asking various people on the way, I saw two women - Kavita didi and Meera didi - my now Editor, walking in the scorching heat under an umbrella. I asked them if there was an office named Khabar Lahariya around there. One of them answered by asking me what work I had at the office, with a smile. I told them that I was looking for work. Hesitantly, they guided me upstairs. I thought they were leading me towards the office, turned out they were the office heads and unlocked the office welcoming me inside. They sat me down, asked about me, and told me about Khabar Lahariya. Then she asked me to write an application, and informed me that they weren't recruiting yet, but would get back to me once they started hiring. However, I told them that I was in desperate need of work because I had little kids to look after and was jobless. Two of my little girls had gone with me, one was still in my lap. When they understood that I really really needed a job, after learning about my financial condition, about my maiden family and my in-laws being unsupportive, Kavita didi asked if I could sell newspapers. She offered me to sell newspapers, keep its commission and deposit the sale proceeds at the office. She also assured me that they'd consider me for future recruitments. I did not think less of myself as a newspaper seller, it did not bother me. I just picked up the newspapers and that day onwards, I started selling newspapers. 2-3 months from then, recruitment started, and I applied. We had to undergo a 15 days' training programme. Out of the 35-36 females there, only 3 finally got selected, and I was one of them. From there on in 2007, I have been associated with Khabar Lahariya.Mariyam - Nazni, you've said a lot in your introduction itself. You've not only told us about your motive behind joining Khabar Lahariya, but also about your circumstances that guided you towards joining Khabar Lahariya.When we read your stories, we see that they cover many aspects other than just on-ground reporting. They also consider the domestic side of the women's story, that within their homes what are the women expected to do and how they fulfill their duty in society. But your story has been different. Like you said, you were in Moradabad after marriage and you were looking after your house and family, while you received no support from anybody. So when you are reporting now and you ask women about their perspective on life within their houses, do you see any changes where women see a possibility in having a life even outside their homes; do they get motivated watching you/ listening to your story?Nazni Rizvi - “Yes, there has been change, but a lot is yet to change. Some women go out to work, their husbands and in-laws support them, but there are still a lot of women who may have the freedom to go out to work but still have to come back to look after their households and families. Men are dominantly present in the journalists' circle. So when I meet people sometimes, they tell me that some fellow journalist brother told them about me and that I also travel to far off places, and some women take inspiration from these talks. It feels nice. Sometimes women do not want to move far from their places for training, but when they are told about me, these women agree to go for training programmes.”Mariyam - So how do you explain to people the concept of feminism? How do you tell women about their rights and their status of equality in society?Nazni Rizvi - “People talk about Islam and sharia each time we mention equality of women and men, but sharia also holds them equal. People don't believe in it. The law, the Constitution, both hold men and women as equal. It is on paper, and people merely talk about it; there's hardly any acceptance of equality. Each time I talk about feminism, people think that I am against men, I am talking ill about the masculine gender, and that I only favor females / women. Then I have to explain to them in detail that I have nothing against them, and that feminism only demands overall equality of men and women in all aspects, that women too should be allowed to wear and eat and do as it pleases them. Sometimes they understand, other times they argue.”Mariyam - From the videos that I have seen of you, you run two amazing programs with  Khabar Lahariya, and in one of them I heard your slogan ‘bolenge, bulwayenge, hans kar sab keh jayenge'. I love this slogan because it leaves no scope for argument. In that program, you question people, they answer, based on which you question again. There's a video in which you are talking about patriarchy and there's a young boy who said that ours has always been a patriarchal country considering all children are named after their fathers. While talking about paternal and maternal names, you mentioned that Kareena Kapoor has changed her name and talked about other renowned people that most of us know. Mariyam - During that talk, at some point the same boy said that now things are changing as they must, and there's no issue with women naming their children after themselves, they should if it pleases them. In that conversation of about 3-4 minutes, I felt as though the light talk changed at least one person's perspective. So, do you think that we can change people's mindset on such topics by bringing serious questions through these light talks?Nazni Rizvi - “The motive of the show was to allow people to talk out their hearts through funny talks. We wanted them to talk about what's in their hearts themselves. Usually our reports are on serious topics, which is why we kept this talk show funny.”Mariyam -  I'll now move towards the more serious topics. Some of your reports are based on such topics that people usually do not associate with women journalists. Women are usually thought to report on casual topics such as food and fashion. So can you tell us about some such topics which you reported on and what kind of an experience it was for you?Nazni Rizvi - “One of my reports is on Sadhna Patel who is a ‘daaku' (dacoit)'. Chitrakoot region is surrounded by a lot of dacoits and these areas are terrorised by their deeds. Such incidents are often mentioned in many well known newspapers and news channels. I have reported on them and their stories, about how dacoits often torment villagers and the police are troubled a lot by them too. So when I heard about this female dacoit in Chitrakoot, I had a weird feeling. I felt bad. I kept thinking about what could've possibly turned the woman into a dacoit. I accepted that she was a dacoit, doing wrong, but I wanted to know the story of her life, about what made her do so. I wanted to know how she became a dacoit. So when I learnt about the village that she belonged to, first I went alone. After searching here and there, I reached her house and talked to people around her place. Her house was far from the village, in the jungle under a mountain. She lived only with her mother and her uncle. After researching well, I put her story as part of our monthly plan. The story interested Kavita didi also, and she too decided to come along. We fixed a date, booked an auto (because it was a jungle area). When we got off the auto, the auto driver was so scared. He kept the auto's engine on all throughout the 2-3 hours that we were inside her house, so we could escape quickly once our work was done. When we entered her house, we met her ‘Mausi' (mother's sister) and ‘Mama' (mother's brother) who narrated her story to us. We then requested to meet her mother, who herself looked very young, we even thought it could be Sadhna herself, pretending to be her mother in a ‘saree'. We were even wondering what if this is Sadhna, and she pulls out a gun and lodges a few bullets in us? (laughs)Initially her mother expressed anger, she wouldn't tell us anything, or show us Sadhna's photo. But we eventually explained to her that we were there as women, other than just being journalists and we wanted to write a report on Sadhna's story from a woman's perspective, to understand why she joined the dacoits in the first place. Her mother then narrated to us that Sadhna had fallen in love with somebody who she later married, but was sold by her husband to dacoits for INR 50000. Somehow she came back and would loiter in the jungle. People and relatives saw her but outlawed her. Due to the lack of support from her family, she ended up being among dacoits again. She came back and this time her mother sent her to live with their relatives. There as well, she was sold to a group of dacoits. She was repeatedly being sold to dacoits, and she couldn't find a way out. By now, the police too had started troubling her. She then resorted to living in the mountains with the dacoits. We don't know who did what to her, but there were some who she had beaten up during nights near the village. She wouldn't beat up everyone. It's possible she did it because they had harmed her or because they didn't support her when she rescued herself from the dacoits. There must've been a story behind who she chose to beat up, her stories resonated with that of Phoolan Devi. We got her real photo, all other media reports gave file photos of her. When we wrote her story and published it, it created a stir amongst the media. They came to us asking for her photo and story. Nobody had talked to anybody from her family, they wrote only what the police told them. Even journalists from Madhya Pradesh called us for her details, but we had a fixed date for publishing our article and we decided to share the details with them after our report had been published.”Mariyam - So when people called you, they were only asking for Sadhna's details. It probably tells that nobody really had the courage to go to Sadhna's place.Nazni Rizvi -“Nobody went. We even gave them location details, but they all thought that her family wouldn't talk to them, or tell them anything about her. They didn't try. Getting to know about Sadhna made me feel like people just put women down, instead of trying to know what she was put through and why she turned out to be the way she did.Nobody was interested in really knowing Sadhna's story and why she became a dacoit. Mariyam - Within the Muslim community, how do poeple react when they hear about you going to various places and covering the less-talked-about topics in your reports? How do they see it? What have you heard, or what do you think they feel about your decisions?Nazni Rizvi - “I belong to a Muslim family. I am a “bad” woman among my relatives and those around me because I roam around without a ‘purdah'/veil, I wear a ‘bindi', I go places, and do not have a man by my side. There is a notion among Muslims that women must move around with a man, even if it is a small boy. I talk to anybody and I don't hesitate in asking any questions, hence a bad woman. Once I was at my Khala's (mother's sister) place, and we were talking about something and I mentioned that there had been a rape somewhere. My Khala got upset that I used a word as rape in the presence of so many men. During my early days, I wouldn't go out to my relatives, nor would they talk to me. But things are changing slowly. People do meet me now. However, they still expect me to wear a ‘chador' (large scarf) if not a ‘naqaab' (veil) during family events.”Mariyam - Like you said, people in your family, initially did not understand your work and wouldn't talk to you. But now that you've been reporting as a journalist for so many years and have submitted multiple amazing reports, in a manner that a lot of us have so much to learn from you, do you think you've now been able to change people's perspective about you in the Muslim community? On the outside, it often seems very easy, what you do. People think that all you have to do is listen and see and report, but that's not quite true. How do you gather the courage to report such issues with utmost honesty alongside maintaining a humanitarian approach? Nazni Rizvi - “Muslims who are not my relatives have been very supportive of me and are happy to see me grow as a journalist. Sitting beside them, I've often heard them proudly introduce me as Nazni Ji, saying I'm a journalist, who goes to various places for reporting and has done various amazing coverage. But sometimes I also hear people say that I should either wear a bindi or change my name. But this is completely my choice, I like to wear bindi and so I do. Earlier, when I used to post on Facebook, I'd receive messages and comments from people asking me why I wear a ‘saree' or ‘bindi'. But isn't saree too just another piece of clothing? Even if you believe that Allah or Sharia doesn't allow some things, back in those days, almost nothing existed, not even clothes. Should we all refuse to wear clothes then? These comments call for a lot of debates.”Mariyam - I can absolutely understand your arguments, because the reason behind me starting Main Bhi Muslim was to primarily present the meaning of Indian Muslimness through mine and other people's stories. I want to tell people that we, the Muslims of India, live and spend our lives in many different ways. Like you mentioned, you are expected to either wear a bindi or change your name, or how we aren't supposed to wear a ‘saree', people even outside the muslim community have a very generalised perception of us as Muslim women. They have a predetermined picture of how we are, and how we are not. So what you said actually represents the foundation of Main Bhi Muslim.Mariyam - As you said in our previous conversation, there are places where you'd go wearing a ‘bindi' and may not immediately give your name because that could be in a Hindu colony which may create some problems for you initially, but eventually they learn your name and accept it easily. Nazni Ji, please tell us a little about how you feel about your identity when you go to such places. Have you ever felt like you being a Muslim could be problematic?Nazni Rizvi - “I usually visit rural areas, backward areas, people are still of a conservative mindset. When I go to a Muslim or Dalit dominated area, introducing myslef to them is easy. But when I go to cover big news or to places where most people belong to the upper castes, like Thakurs, Pandits, and Patels, they immediately ask what caste I belong to. In Bundeli, they will say, “Kaun behni hoo?” Meaning which caste do you belong to? Seeing me wear a ‘bindi' and ‘bichiyas' (ornamental jewellery traditionally worn by married women) sometimes they suggest I should also wear ‘chudis' and apply ‘sindoor', assuming I'm a Hindu. But even if I'm wearing a ‘bindi' and ‘bichiyas', I still do not introduce myself and disclose my caste immediately. I first talk about random things, ask for some water even if I'm not thirsty and create an atmosphere. But because they are so habitual to knowing castes, they do not talk openly unless they know about one's caste. I then tell them that I'm a Muslim and explain to them that despite our differences, our blood is the same right. There are only two differences, men and women; you're a woman and I'm a woman, that's the community we both belong to. They then talk to me comfortably. Sometimes wearing bindi makes it easier for me, but because I like wearing it, I always do so.”Mariyam - I must say that your way of winning people's hearts and creating the atmosphere to talk is so interesting, I really think I should learn it from you. Sometime back you'd told me about a school whose story you'd covered, for which you also received a prize. Could you tell me more about that story?Nazni Rizvi - “I received a call from a group of trustees / local guardians of the Kendriya Vidyalaya (public school) saying that the dilapidated school building was risky for the students, especially after a cylinder burst in it. It could fall anytime. They had invited many journalists saying they were going to submit a memorandum to the DM. When I went to the school to report the issue, the teachers weren't ready to talk to me in the absence of the Principal. I asked for the Principal's number and upon receiving that I spoke to the principal who accepted that even though the building is severely damaged, they are unable to locate another building space for the school and that the guardians are deliberately troubling them. The guardians wanted them to at least try but looked like the Principal wasn't willing to shift the school building. We then went to submit the memorandum to the DM and we talked to him. The DM then came with us to survey the school building. A trustee then informed me about another school that had shifted to a new building, and was vacant. We, along with the DM, visited the vacant building and approved it for use for the school. I published news for the same, and interviewed the DM, principal, students, and the trustees/guardians. The building was then cleaned for use and was ready for a new beginning. The trustees organised a program where they honored me with an idol of Lord Ganesha. There was disappointment among other journalists as they weren't honored. However, the trustees awarded me for working on their story and getting it published. I hadn't noticed the idol too much and hung it as a showpiece in my house. When people from the Muslim community would come to my place and see the idol, they'd ask me if I had re-married a Hindu or changed my religion and often said that it's a sin to keep a Hindu God's idol in one's home. If a Hindu visited my place, he/she would say that the idol was of no use to me while some would be happy seeing that I also have a Hindu God's idol hung up. Seeing an idol which is usually seen within Hindu homes, makes some people including Hindus and Muslims link me with a Hindu person, that I might be having a relationship with someone in the Chitrakoot region. For me the Ganesh ji idol is a gift, and I respect the gift whatever it is.” Mariyam - What you just said is a matter of huge concern for me because this sense of discrimination is what drives me to raise questions as to why we cannot adopt other cultures that are practiced in our country. Muslims have been in India for centuries now and our cultures have a lot of similarities. Yes, we do have our own set of practices as Muslims, but that should not barr us from adopting practices from other cultures. Since you bring here an amazing amalgamation of Hinduism, Muslimness and womanhood, I'd like to ask you if you think that people's mindset pertaining to these Hindu-Muslim prejudices can be changed through any means?Nazni Rizvi - “I live in a Hindu dominated region. Here as well, there's a common practice of Hindus not touching Muslims and if they do, they'd have to bathe again. Not only Hindus but Muslims do such things. Recently, I was invited to my relative's daughter's wedding. It was a Muslim dominated place. I told my aunt that I don't wear a veil, how can I come? She asked me to wear a ‘chaadar', meaning I should have myself covered with something. We cannot do  everything completely as per our wishes. So when I went there, I saw that they wouldn't buy milk from a Hindu's store, they'd drink black tea instead. They'll search the entire market in they are hungry, but wouldn't eat if they can't find a Muslim-owned eatery or shop. There are a lot of biases, Hindu-Muslim biases and discussions along those lines that keep on occurring. I was with a cousin once who was travelling from Azamgarh to Raebareli. She (being an ultra-narrow minded person) wouldn't even drink tea, but only pre-packed cold drinks throughout the journey. Upon asking why, she said it was because it would be difficult to determine whether the tea was made by a Hindu or a Muslim. It amazed me how she believed that Sharia proclaimed pre-packed food as clean, which could have also been packed by a Hindu or a Muslim. It confounds me that people can believe in such actions as (wrongly) being part of Sharia, because all of these Hindu-Muslim shops didn't exist back in the times when Sharia was being written. What is all the cultural pretense for? Don't eat anything in that case then. I held myself back for a long time, but eventually ended up having an argument with the cousin over her discriminatory attitude.”Mariyam - I believe you've said this at a very right time, especially when Muslims in India are being targeted repeatedly. And these are happening at a level where we can clearly see that a campaign is being run to create resentment against Muslims among the Hindus. How do you try to clear such resentments in the larger community? Nazni Rizvi - “We try to convince people that we are all living in the same country and are Indians before being Muslims. We have a very old slogan saying Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, we are all brothers. So if we are all really brothers, all this bigotry is not right. Even Hindus don't eat from Muslim-owned eateries here. If we're going to bring religion into everything, who packed what food, whether Hindu or Muslim, it is going to be very difficult to bring about change anytime soon.” Mariyam - But change can happen?Nazni Rizvi - “Yes, it can. If every family gets one fighter like you and I, we can together bring about change.”Mariyam - Absolutely, if there's a Nazni Rizvi in every family, we can definitely change things. My second last question to you would be, how do you deal with the identity confusion where whilst you live within the Muslim community, they don't identify with you, and while you work outside this community they're still not able to understand and resonate with you. How do you feel about this? Sometimes I also face this confusion and it is part of the reason as to why I started Main Bhi Muslim, because alongside being women, Muslimness is part of our identity too, irrespective of our lifestyle. So, how do you deal with this confusion among people?Nazni Rizvi - “I want to add something to this. My identity has more layers to it. Even within Muslims, there are two communities. I am a Shia Muslim. I was married into a Sunni family. When I'm sitting among Sunnis, they think I'm a Shia and they make nasty comments about Shias. But when I'm sitting among Shias, they think I'm a Sunni and they pass comments on Sunnis. They slander Sunnis and tell my children that they do not belong to the Syyed family. This is also a kind of violence that I am fighting where I've been divided into 3 different communities. Because I come from a Shia family, I don't like those things where there is flagellation (during Muharram processions) and unnecessary bleeding.And when I call out such things, I'm considered an atheist among my family, I'm a bad woman. Saying so about Maula makes them think of me as deserving hell. The Sunnis ask if I offer Namaaz as many times as Shias do and vice-versa, whereas for me, I do not offer Namaaz (smiles). Neither the Shias kind nor the Sunnis kind. When I'm among Muslims, my ‘bindi' and ‘bichiyas' don't make me a Muslim and if I'm among Hindus, my name makes me Muslim. I'm not doing anything Muslim enough to be a Muslim, but that's what I am. I'm dealing with all these things. A lot of Muslim girls these days have started wearing a ‘bindi' for they do not think doing so is wrong.”Mariyam - We are learning from you. I think it's very important for us to have many examples like you within our community so that more girls, who want to pursue journalism, who want to make their own life decisions, have such inspiring figures that give them courage. It is essential they understand that they are not alone. So, what changes are required in the Muslim community which are necessary to bring about independence and maintain individuality in the identity of women, especially in rural areas where changing mindset is most difficult and time taking?Nazni Rizvi - “Within Muslims, the Purdah system and dressing restrictions need to first change, which are more common in rural areas. They have reduced in urban areas, but even today, Muslim women in Mumbai do not move out without a veil, irrespective of what they're wearing inside. For example, I allow my girls to wear all that they like. They wear shorts, skirts, jeans, and everything they like. They do not like wearing suits, but considering our society, I ask them to wear one sometimes so that they are habitual to it, that too because of what people in the community will say. But I never stop them from wearing what they like. We have a lot of dressing constraints, we are always asked to wear dupattas, even at home, even with our family. These things, the purdah system needs to change. It's not fair that if we are not under a veil, we are looked upon wrongly. In rural regions, even during big family functions, meals are also served in different places for both the genders, unlike in urban areas where everyone is just enjoying themselves together. During the ‘bidaai' of my cousin, not a single man or boy could come to meet her at the end, to bid her goodbye, not even her father, because the purdah system is so prevalent. It's very important for people to change their regressive attitudes towards others' religions. You're drinking black tea with lemon because the milk available is from a Hindu-owned dairy only. What if the lemon also comes from a tree owned by a Hindu?Mariyam - You are absolutely right, it's very important. And I see these things in your way of reporting too where you're able to talk to anyone because you ask the same questions to everyone. When you're making your videos, you ask everyone the questions pertaining to feminism, misogyny, biases within communities against others, and untouchability, irrespective of gender, and it is very important we all ask these right questions to ourselves and to everyone around us in order to arrive at the right answers. We cannot expect to change mindsets towards creating oneness and unity among all, unless we are asking the right questions.I ask all my guests: ‘Main bhi Muslim', what value do these 3 words hold for you? Nazni Rizvi - “It doesn't occur to me that I am a Muslim. What matters most to me is that I am a woman, an Indian. Whenever there's a match or a competition, it doesn't bother people much which country is on the opponent team. But if it is an India vs Pakistan match, Indian Hindus and Muslims have the same enthusiasm to support our country. Pakistan was indeed a piece of our once India, but India is where we are now, India feeds us, India is my nation. As Muslims residing in India, India should matter most to us. Yes, we could all have favorite players from any team around the world, but I don't feel any extra excitement each time that there's an India-Pakistan match, unlike most people. Hindus have this thing where they do not care about other matches or countries, all they want is that Pakistan shouldn't win. Neither Muslims, nor Hindus should think and act that way.”Mariyam -  I think, as a woman myself, this entire episode has helped me understand what topics need to be really talked about and must be resolved first, in order to bring about a change in the bigger picture, to change other things that are often talked about. We must get to the roots of all the issues that exist in our society, and here, the root is patriarchy. All issues must be talked about with a feministic perspective. Thank you, Nazni Ji. I'm really excited to release this episode. I'm really thankful to you from the bottom of my heart. Nazni Rizvi - “Sometimes, people do feel these things (patriarchy) but aren't able to say it out loud. When we ask people these questions, it forces them to think about it, and that could maybe trigger change. Deep down, they do understand that what they're doing is wrong and unfair, but aren't able to act on it. Therefore, it's very important to ask the right questions.”Mariyam - Thank you Nazni, for your questions, and I hope you'll continue raising the same issues and asking the right questions. I am confident that very soon, we'll have a Nazni Rizvi in every family in our society. With that hope and confidence we keep moving forward. Looking forward to seeing you sometime, somewhere. Nazni Rizvi - Thank you. :) ... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

Professor Francis Clooney had few lines in the film, but in our opinion, delivered them so powerfully that they rank amongst the most moving dialogue in the entire script. We are exceptionally pleased to offer this interview, which allowed Professor Clooney an extended forum to speak about the influence of Paramahansa Yogananda's commentary on the gospels: ‘The Second Coming of Christ' in today's interreligious world. 0:00 Meet Professor Clooney; 5:51 Involvement with the Awake film; 8:35 Influence of Christianity on Priyank and Chris; 10:32 The benefits of comparative religion; 17:52 “Because I am a believer, I can learn from all traditions where belief is important; 21:34 The Second Coming of Christ; 28:00 The Yogic approach to understanding the Bible; 33:07 The evolving interpretations of the Bible; 38:29 Baptism of Jesus, The Dove of Light descending from Heaven; 42:54 Christians Practicing Yoga ; 51:10 Yogananda's unique contribution to theology; 57:11 Churchianity vs the original Christianity; 1:02:24 Jesus the Man or Jesus the Christ; 1:06:08 Supporting good mental health amongst students; 1:14:41 Closing Prayer. Francis Clooney is an American Jesuit priest and scholar in the teachings of Hinduism. He is currently a professor at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has been a prolific writer on the topic, of particular interest to listeners will be ‘Hindu Wisdom for All God's Children' and ‘Hindu God, Christian God'.

Ganpati, also known as Ganesh, is the Hindu God of New Beginnings, Success, and Wisdom. Represented as an elephant, Ganesh is one of the most widely recognized Hindu gods. In this sound listen to the sound of gentle lapping waves on an Indian beach as heard right outside of a Ganpati Shrine in India. Learn more about the White Noise App Download the White Noise app for free! Download this sound to White Noise for free! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Hello!  Yes, this is an episode of The Modern Moron… and like an aging Snow Leopard, increasingly rare to find.  Does that increase the value of a Modern Moron episode… I’m gonna say no, we’re not like a snow leopard or a bitcoin. In this rambling episode, the senator is not in a good place… the news has him down.  But when does the news, by and large, ever have you up?  It always leads with the latest tragedy and ends with something on the lighter side so you don’t jump out a window after the broadcast.  But I think generally what has the Senator down is hypocrisy.  It’s latest example is Grandpa Joe’s infrastructure plan of over 2 Trillion Dollars.   So the Senator thinks it’s all hypocrisy, and he’s right to a degree.  However, what’s infrastructure to the ding dong Dems may not be to the rude righteous Republicans.  For example, and this is for the Senator in particular because I just looked this up… a good portion of Trumps infrastructure package included the category of National Security, which for Trump is the great homage to his ego, the border wall of Mexico.  Also, power and energy independence to one party is VASTLY different to the other party.  Trump still wanted to mine coal.  Need I say more?  No I don’t. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning this… Spending government money on infrastructure, however you define it, doesn’t just by roads, bridges, public transportation, renewable energy and so on… this huge amount of money doesn’t just buy those things, it also buys votes.  It takes a lot of people to build infrastructure and every single one of those people have a vote in 2024… unless you live in Georgia then you may or may not get recognized to vote… or so I’m told. So a good portion of this episode addresses the Stimulus package, but some other politicians get honorable mention as well.  The Senator mentions Governor Mario Cuomo, sometimes referring to him as ‘Fredo from the Godfather.  Cuomo has been under investigation for sexual misconduct.  I wonder how much sexual misconduct investigations there would be if government was run by women?  Something else would HAVE to take its place.  I wonder what it would be?  I digress… There is also a trio of Republican idiots who desperately want to take up the Trump flag and are trying their best to show that bad, outrageous indignant behavior can win votes.  The three stooges I refer to are Florida Governor Ron Desantis, the idiot from Texas, Senator Ted Cruz and finally Florida Representative Matt Gaetz..   The Senator is bothered by this idiot Matt Gaetz in particular, and he should be, but thankfully… with the absence of our former idiot in Chief I have found it MUCH EASIER to ignore politics with the new idiot.  So I have to start from square one with this used car salesman-ey looking Gaetz.  He looks like he could be one of Trump’s sons.  Am I judging a book by it’s cover?  You bet… isn’t that what book covers are made for?  To make them look interesting.  Well this guy definitely looks interesting … for an episode of to catch a predator.  This guy is actually representing the state of Florida in Washington DC.  He should be sitting right next to that spear-nosed idiot Ted Cruz.  Both of  those guys should seriously have their own versions of The Jerry Springer Show… by the way Jerry Springer was the 56th Mayor of Cincinati, Ohio… so you see? Politics is the perfect training ground to host Tabloid lowest common denominator talk shows.  The senator is just down on all the politicians in the news now and I bring up Stacy Abrams who was the Democratic nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, becoming the first African-American female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the United States.  She did not win, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing more of Stacey Abrams in the next elections.  I really like Stacey Abrams right now and I make a sexist comment… shocking… regarding the electability of Stacey versus our current vice president because of looks.  I truly do hat e to say it but I think it’ s a factor.  For the record, I would take one Stacey Abrams over ten Kamala Harris’. We join the Senator who requested this recording session, and is not using the microphone I bought for him, nor is he using headphones… which are pretty essential for any podcast to have a decent sound.  What’s the name of this show again?... We’re Concerned Over Cuomo, Bummed Over Biden and Harangued about Hypocrisy on The Modern Moron.  Thanks for listening…  CLOSE - the only thing better than a couple of morons talking politics is two morons talking about a religion of which they know nothing.  Ganesh doesn't ride an elephant as the senator said.  Ganesh, is the elephant-headed Hindu god who rides a mouse, is one of the faith's most important deities and is one of the primary Hindu deities. He is the lord of success and the destroyer of evils and obstacles, worshiped as the god of education, wisdom, and wealth.  Isn’t that nice? I’d like to end on a lighter note, just like those depressing newscasts and this is right in our demographic: Who will be the next host of Jeopardy? This is turning into what I imagine is a great ratings grabber in and of itself.  The producers claim there will be a permanent host for Jeopardy next season, which starts taping at the end of July.  So far candidates have been auditioning for a couple of weeks at a time and the last host I saw was Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rogers.  He is all in on this and had prepared for it like he prepares for games by watching hours and hours of tape of Alex Trebek including watching episodes with the sound off and hosting in place of Trebek.  Other hosts so far have included Katie Couric, Doctor Oz, former Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings.  Slated to host-slash-audition in the coming weeks are: Savannah Guthrie from NBC’s Today Show, Mayim Bialik from The Big Bang Theory, 60 Minutes correspondents Bill Whitaker and Dr. Sanjay Gupta but not together… also, Anderson Cooper and even Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck, no thank you.  One tweet regarding Joe Buck as host summed it up best: “Can we not make Joe Buck the next permanent host of Jeopardy, he can barely make football interesting, let alone a gameshow.” There is even a grass roots petition being drummed up for Levar Burton.  I’d take Levar Burton over Joe Buck any day.   So there’s something trivial for you to occupy your mind for a half a minute, although if you’ve just listened to this podcast, you’ve probably reached your mindlessness quotient for the entire week.  Either way, have a great week, thank you for listening and we’ll see you next time… Ganesha, the Hindu God of Success   

Devdutt Pattanaik in his book 7 Secrets of Shiva unfolds many stories related to the Hindu God Shiva. I read a few pages from the book.

Lord Vishnu, one of the main gods or Deva of the Hindu mythology, and member of the Trimurti, the holy trinity of Hinduism alongside Brahma and Shiva the god of Destruction. He is the god of preservation and protector of good. Through his ten incarnations known as Vishnu avatars or Dashavatara, Vishnu maintains the universal order.

Welcome Back To season 2!! Happy new year!! In this first episode of 2021 we discuss a prayer, spoken publicly inside the House of Representatives, by Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver..... The quote in question is as follows... "we ask it in the name of the MONOTHEISTIC GOD, BRAHMA, AND GOD KNOWN BY MANY NAMES AND MANY FAITHS" we learn that Brahma, is i fact, a Hindu God, and we have no idea why an ordained methodist minister, is invoking his name in prayer.... also, educational point- Amen means "so be it" or.. " we are in agreement"... Amen, and a woman means... your'e an idiot... we also discuss the implications of such a prayer, and what the bible says about societies who call good evil, and evil, good... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blindpod/message

- Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I have no problem having everybody know that I had COVID. I don't I don't feel I don't feel that that is a reason for shame. After all, we are literally in the midst of a global pandemic and tens of millions of people have this and often through no fault of their own.   INTRO   Today, we talk about leadership and COVID, how the virus gives us a chance to model a different openness and acceptance-without-judgment and how throw-away comments can trigger cycles of shame and judgment.  My guest today is Arwen Widmer-Bobyk, She is Canadian, living in Los Angeles on assignment with the Canadian government as the Consul for Political, Economic, and Public Affairs at the Consulate General in Los Angeles.    I first met Arwen in that most 2020 of ways:  over a Zoom call.  I was kicking off a year of intentional trainings, teaching about empathy in relation to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the North American Candian MIssions. Arwen was part of an organizing task-force.  She was a warm smile and lots of red hair on the other side of the screen.  A few weeks later, Arwen was diagnosed with COVID, the first person in her consulate to get the virus.    Her story is one of poor responses, missing email links, uncertainty, and ill-considered comfort.  Yet, through it all, Arwen has seen the diagnosis as a tremendous leadership opportunity, to model a different way of engaging the virus.  Her perspective has take-aways for leaders everywhere.   But first, a little bit more about Arwen.       - Liesel Mertes Tell me about the origins of your name and like the Arwen.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Oh, so my name has become legendary even within my organization in which I work, which is Global Affairs Canada. So my name are when comes from the book The Lord of the Rings. When my mom was pregnant back in the mid 70s, she was reading The Lord of the Rings and she kind of had this feeling that she wanted to name her daughter after an elven princess.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so she chose ah. When the story at work, though, goes that there's a very, very senior manager in my organization who is actually now an adviser to the prime minister. And we were on a work together a few years ago. And he asked me he asked me, ah, when you know such an interesting name, do you have any siblings?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And I said, Yeah, I have a younger sister. And he's like, Oh, does she have an interesting name, too? And I said, Well, no, I think my parents kind of gave it all to me because her name is Rebecca Sarah. And he just thought that that was the funniest thing I've ever heard. And so he often tells that story like on national stages about how he had this colleague who had this great name and who was just Rebecca.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And my my middle name actually has a very, very funny story, too. So my middle name is Ganessa and Ganessa is spelled G-A-N-E-S-S-A and my mom always said to me, well, you know, so we had an elven princess as your first date. And, you know, your middle name is is the name of a Greek goddess, the remover of obstacles and the goddess of wisdom. And I was like as a young child, I thought that this was just the greatest thing ever.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And when I got older and the Internet became a thing, I kind of tried to, you know, look that up on Ask Jeeves and didn't I didn't come up with anything else. I was like just kind of weird. And then when, when I was a brand new mother. So, I had just given birth to my eldest daughter.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And it was the first time I left the house without her kind of to go on my own after I think she was probably a month and a half old. I left her with my husband to go see a movie. And I saw Eat, Pray, Love. And I don't know if you remember in the movie, but it was really like quite an outsized role for the Hindu God, Ganesh and the remover of of the God of wisdom and the remover of obstacles.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And I just had this, like, crazy epiphany in the movie that my mom just misspelled my middle name and got three completely wrong.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so I was like, oh, my goodness, that is a huge mistake. - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But I'm really glad my middle name isn't Ganesh. I like I'm kind of attached to Ganessa.   - Liesel Mertes The the epiphany moment, and I like it because it's resonant with me, I remember using Ask Jeeves and you have to be of a certain age to remember what that was like a player before the ascendancy of Google.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Yeah, I remember asking do use all the answers.  Where do he go? Where did he know you?   - Liesel Mertes He was the little guy that got smashed by the hegemon and just, you know, wandered off.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk He's probably in reformism, but I'm sure he is.   - Liesel Mertes Well, he's in the hospitality industry, so maybe he's indefinitely furloughed.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Good point.   - Liesel Mertes Tell us a little bit. I think that you mentioned in your bio that you married your college sweetheart. Is that correct? Or did you meet in the in the consular affairs?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So my husband is also a foreign service officer.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But indeed, we did meet the first day of class in our master's program, and it was a tiny little program for total international affairs nerds. We were studying international political economy, which is like, if you know, that has its origins in Marx or something like and there were eight of us in the class. And so I had moved from Vancouver to Ottawa. He had moved from Chicago to Ottawa to do this very niche program.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And I looked across the seminar table at home and I was like, Harvard, you know, interesting guy. And then I saw him later in the tunnels. And Carleton University in Ottawa is famous for its underground tunnels because the the climate is just so inhospitable that they needed to connect all the all the classrooms and all of the buildings, underground tunnels. So I saw him in the tunnel and I was like, yep, that's the one.   - Liesel Mertes So I knew really I knew that knowing this or did it take him awhile?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk It took him about twenty-four hours, the longest twenty-four hours of my life.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But no it was, it was so interesting because we were together and that was so that was twenty, twenty two years ago almost.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And we were together within the first week and all of our classmates just assumed that we had like relocated from different sides of the continent to finally be together.   - Liesel Mertes Well, you would get settled with one another.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Yeah. So we have been ever since and we've been we've lived many different places in the world and and we continue to to be the ultimate partners.   Arwen has worked for Global Affairs Canada for almost 14 years.  Like the US Foreign Service, it is a very rotational job, with moves every few years.  She started out in the Privy Council, supporting the Prime Minister, and is now in Los Angeles.  She moved ahead of her family to the new posting, before COVID hit.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk For the first 10 months I was actually here on my own, given the kind of issues with travel in the pandemic and my daughter is finishing their their school year. And then we were separated for longer than we had planned. But finally, my family is here in Los Angeles with me.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk We've been working since March remotely. So I have a small team that manages some really key files, political relationship with our territory, which covers Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, economics, security, defense, climate change, environment.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And then a big one for my team is all of our. Full cooperation with Hollywood and the connections between our cultural industries in Canada and and this mega media entertainment epicenter, so that's that's what I do.   - Liesel Mertes That sounds fascinating. So are you. Is your office like being consulted as they are portraying Canadians in films? Are you fact checking or are you resourcing? I'm intrigued by this.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So our role when it comes to cultural, cultural connections between the two countries is really to celebrate Canada's achievements in in the cultural industries. So everything from fine art to film to music to television and to make the connections and be a platform for making sure that Canadian artists and creators are able to access who they need to access in in Hollywood in particular.   Arwen particularly looks at her role through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  She has developed curriculum to incorporate women’s voices more robustly.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And the cultural industries, of course, is a target rich environment for expanding access for diverse creators from Canada into Hollywood. And so we're really putting a huge emphasis on highlighting to American producers and buyers the kind of rich tapestry of talent in Canada, which is incredibly diverse and inclusive.   - Liesel Mertes So I hear when you talk about what this last year has been, I hear a number of disruptive life events that in the language that I use within my consulting, you had a move, you had time without your family. This was all in the midst of being in a new city and in a new pandemic for everyone.   - Liesel Mertes Tell me about how some of those stresses and upheavals were percolating leading up to what we're going to talk about a little bit later, which was your COVID diagnosis as well.   - Liesel Mertes But even preceding that, it seemed like there were a lot of ups and downs in your year.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Definitely. It's been it's been a year of of the sense that I've that I've had a lot of the time, both personally and professionally, is just pushing a big boulder up a hill.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And the weight of the responsibility for me to to kind of manage getting my family here, eventually working through my department's H.R. processes and relocation processes and, you know, determining when it was safe to have them come from Ottawa to to Los Angeles and and, you know, trying to maintain connection with my two daughters who were also experiencing the stress of not being in school and going through kind of the newness of what this pandemic meant.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And then, you know, also maintaining connection with my husband, who was single parenting for 10 months while I was here and managing the girls and their.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Their stress and their worry about me being here by myself and, you know, the pandemic situation in Los Angeles has been not great from the very beginning. And so, you know that it was definitely a challenging year.   - Liesel Mertes And I know you have a parent, two girls, who are know as the parent of my own children who are close to your ages. I have a 13 year old and an 11 year old. Yeah.   - Liesel Mertes It can be kind of an all hands on deck time. And to be doing that from a distance and managing, you know, their schedules and people in their own uncertainty. I hear how that could feel really complex in the midst of just a new job and a new city.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Absolutely. And also managing remotely a team for the first time and, you know, keeping their motivation up and transitioning from a very in person type of work that we do, which is creating relationships and networks to a fully virtual maintaining virtual relationships and networks and still having the the pressures to produce and perform and promote and protect Canadian interests, even amidst this pandemic.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So when you put it that way, Liesel. Yeah, it's it's been a year. It's been a year.   - Liesel Mertes Tell us a little bit about when you got your COVID diagnosis.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Sure. So just for background, I'm the first person in the consulate to have a positive COVID diagnosis. So I was the the vanguard and the groundbreaker in that it happened the week of the election.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And of course, you can imagine in my position, the election was kind of a big deal. So we had a lot of pressure to do reporting and analysis. And then there was also the the concern about the potential civil unrest, which has been going on really since George Floyd's murder here in Los Angeles on a major urban center.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So that even more top of mind.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Yeah, so it was that week and it was the Thursday. And I was having a meeting and, you know, typical Zoom meeting. I try to avoid looking at myself in those meetings because it's just so weird. I'm sure that, I'm sure the listeners can relate. It's just very strange to be having a meeting, but also seeing yourself talk. But I did notice out of the corner of my eye that I looked white as a sheet like I did not look well.   Arwen made is through the next important meeting with the Canadian Olympic Committee.  But when she shut her laptop, she was exhausted.    - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And I thought, I hope I don't like the way this feels, just feels very strange, so I immediately texted my boss, the consul general, and I said, you know, I am not feeling well.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I am going to schedule a COVID test. It's funny how my brain kind of seemed to just tell me that this was not, you know, just tiredness. This was not maybe I you know, I was like, I don't even think that this is like a cold or flu. I'm also a person who who almost never gets sick. So I hadn't taken a sick day before this in well over a year.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So I, I told my family, you know, I'm not feeling great. I'm going to put myself in in my bedroom and have a rest. And then I had a COVID test the next day.   She was feverish and nauseous through the night.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So the two of us went to to get a COVID test at Dodgers Stadium. And I have to say that L.A. County really, really knows by this time how to manage large volumes of people getting tested. So is quite, quite efficient.   - Liesel Mertes Can I interrupt for a second? Are you feeling anxious at this moment? Is there a sense of dread? Are you taking just taking the appropriate steps and kind of on autopilot or like what's what's the swirl for you? I think that. There was a, there was a sense of almost disbelief that this was happening to me at that time, you know, I had gone, what, nine months of the pandemic without getting sick? You know, we were starting to hear that the vaccine was going to be available relatively imminently. I had felt just maybe a few days prior to that, that, wow, we did it. Nobody in my family got sick. That's fantastic.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And then and then to start getting sick, I was like, wow. So there was a little disbelief that there was concern. And really, right from the beginning, my biggest concern was not myself, but the health of my husband and my girls, particularly my daughters, because.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk My youngest daughter has a lot of food allergies, so her immune system is is kind of wonky to begin with, and then my older daughter has juvenile arthritis. So, again, an autoimmune disorder. And so I was very much mostly concerned about them.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I'm relatively young, although I did refer to Ask Jeeves, but I'm quite healthy.   - Liesel Mertes And and so I, too, am relatively young. And I know about ask, do you say you are relatively young. Exactly. And so and then and then, you know, as a as a parent you start thinking about and your mind goes down these rabbit holes of OK, well if I'm sick and my husband's also sick, who's going to take care of the girls? Actually, I came to the realization very quickly that the girls would be taking care of us and they're very, very OK with that.   Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But, you know, you do start to to go down those kind of anxiety holes of, you know, what happens if I get really sick. Right.   - Liesel Mertes And so also the complexity of parents in the midst of a pandemic at whatever stage, I mean, you're both aware of your own health and how it affects your work. But there are these people that you're responsible for and it's it's it's it's own.   - Liesel Mertes It's not easier, but it's a it's a luxury that parents don't really have to just focus singularly on their own, on their own health parents or just people with partners, other people in the house.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Absolutely. So so that happened. I was pretty much kind of laid out physically and then so that was a Friday, Saturday morning. I get a text from L.A. County and it's actually my husband's results. And I click on the link and it says Negative. And I was like, wow, what an incredible relief. A few minutes later, I so so I guess I would talk to him and I said, you know, you're negative. This is really exciting.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I'm sure I am, too. You know, I went into that phase of kind of denial, you know, I guess this isn't COVID. I guess I was just kind of jumping to conclusions and, you know, I'm sure I'm fine, too. So, you know, dodged that bullet, so to speak. And then I get another text about five minutes later and the link doesn't work.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk It's it's a broken link. And and so that was just incredibly frustrating to me. So, you know, I emailed their tech support ways to deal with tech support.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Women's rights waited for hours. Finally, they sent me a new one and the result was positive. And at that moment, I remember like my stomach, my stomach just sank. It was when it was then when I was feeling sick and really tired and then realizing that this was not going to be a quick road to recovery, likely that, you know, it kind of just very much hit me. And so I kind of took a few minutes to to let it sink in a little bit.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And then I went into, OK, now I have a whole bunch of things to do.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Being of a foreign diplomat here, I had responsibilities that I had to execute in terms of informing my boss about my diagnosis, but also informing our mission security officer who who deals with all of the kind of emergency management stuff.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And at that point, I was thinking solely about any potential exposure to my colleagues that I may have inadvertently perpetuated.   Luckily, Arwen did most of her work remotely.  She would only pop into the office occasionally.  Colleagues were notified.    - Liesel Mertes What what kinds of things were people saying or doing that made you feel well supported in the midst of all of this?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So it's very interesting because we plan and we plan and we plan for emergency situations and we think we know how we're going to respond and we know how we should respond.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But the interesting thing for me was that when you have it all written down on paper, the first thing and no one is not kind of, my goodness, how are you feeling? You know, it is it is kind of going directly into the kind of duty of care. Mode, as I like to call it, and so it's the primary responsibility of duty of care is to make sure everybody is safe, so, so safe from a physical perspective rather than safe from an emotional perspective. For example.   - Liesel Mertes So step one in the. That makes total sense of just this, the first step is process, not necessarily guidance in how to interact in this potentially very freighted, uncertain person on the other side who are dealing with a really complex, unknown disease. You don't really script out how to meet that person in that moment necessarily.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Precisely, which I hope to change soon. But for me, it was very interesting. So. The first question is always, where do you think you got this, like that's the most important question ever, you know, and I think I read a statistic later on that I think somewhere north of 70 percent of people have no idea where they've actually contracted COVID. For me, I was extremely careful, have been for the previous 10 months all through wearing a mask at all times in public. And I still I still caught it probably in the elevator somewhere with somebody who wasn't wearing a mask, but.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk You know, for me, that question triggered and I and I received that question from almost every single person that I encountered and told the question, triggered shame, like the answer that that was expected was, oh, well, that that one time where I was just, you know, floating all of the rules and and, you know, in an indoor restaurant, breathing in as much virus as I could, you know.   - Liesel Mertes Some Friday night where I said, screw it, I'm doing whatever I want.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Exactly. You know, so so that was that was interesting. My work was excellent in in kind of putting together the steps that were needed to take to notify anyone who may have been in contact with me. Thankfully, everyone was negative.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But then I learned a little later on after I talked to the contact tracers in L.A. County that really they're most concerned and really exclusively concerned with only the people who you had been in contact with 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And for me, that was only my family. So it was kind of out of an abundance of caution that my workplace initially was told, but I very quickly realized that it was an incredible opportunity for leadership, for me to   - Liesel Mertes Tell me more here.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So to destigmatize this, I felt very, very severe stigma about this, this diagnosis, and I really wasn't expecting that.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so I asked my boss to...   - Liesel Mertes Can I ask you a little bit more about that, because it seems it seems really important. So there, I imagine there's the the shame and the stigma of that first question, that sense of suspicion of like your irresponsibility or what you've done.   - Liesel Mertes What are some other ways that that stigma was being expressed and perceived by you?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So on the personal level. My I. I soon found out that my daughter had my oldest daughter had told her friends at school that I was positive. So within the first 48 hours they all knew. And of course, as a mom of a teenager, we thought, you know, how quickly word can get can get around. So I received an email from the parent of one of one of the girls. And remember, these are very, very new relationships for our family.   We had just moved to L.A. The girls had just started virtual school in September. And so very much brand new relationships and still establishing, you know, trust and and familiarity, I guess.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so the the email I received was just a visceral reaction to potentially having exposed. The family of this girl to COVID now, I had not been in contact with them for over two weeks and Grace hadn't been in contact with them for 10 days. And so it never even occurred to me to notify all of the families that, you know, I had seen in the previous three months, you know, but I really quickly learned that the reaction was very much based in fear, in the unknown of this disease, but also the unknown of the timeline.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I mean, teenagers are not really precise when it comes to kind of delineating the exact timeline of, you know, when their parents get sick.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so I just remember feeling intense kind of sorrow and shame and regret for not having informed these families, even though I was very sick at the time, I felt. Regret for not having thought through all of the potential people who may be afraid of my diagnosis, which seems very strange to me to say now, but it was it was just kind of a gut punch, so to speak. The email had used words like betrayal of trust, of, you know, putting our lives in danger.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so it was quite dramatic email, to be totally honest. But but I knew that it was just all very much fear based. And so I put my my mind I put myself into her shoes. And I could very much imagine, you know, a mother's instinct to protect her family. And and so I repaired the relationship. I wrote back and I and I and I copied all of the parents of the the very small study pod of four girls.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But I just kind of explained and I and the first sentence of my email, so you'd be proud of me was I can imagine how scary this is for you. Let me walk you through the timeline to reassure you.   - Liesel Mertes I am proud of you, not my pride. You know, it is the delineating factor, but, you know, one of the reasons that I really wanted when I first heard your story and just the high level of it to have you as a guest, because I just want to step back.   - Liesel Mertes That takes so much choosing towards empathy and choosing towards and I want to circle back. You began to say, you know, a leadership opportunity because, I mean, how how complex and hard is that like you were you're very sick at that moment. Like you feel terrible.   - Liesel Mertes It's this new relationship like there you're you know, the parents of your daughter, you know, that's just complex of like it's not like things are well known relationships.   - Liesel Mertes And you could feel attacked, you could feel defensive. You could feel like lashing out and saying, hey, you're not caring for me at all.   - Liesel Mertes Like I'm feverish and in bed. But to be able to process those things and still respond in a way that sees another person's emotion. Yeah, there's a lot of steps to actually executing on that maturity. To get to that point.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk It was really valuable. And I kept thinking about it. And, you know, I'm I'm one of those cheer, Cheryl. So I guess you could say in that I always look for a silver lining and no one does that apply to more than the situations that I find myself in. So you'll never hear me saying, at least to anyone, except for maybe myself. And so I was looking for the silver linings to this. And personal growth has certainly been one of those intentionality as well in the relationships that I have professionally, personally.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Another excellent silver lining. And keep going. Sorry. No, no, it's OK. So, you know, through through that very open, authentic and essentially raw message to to the other parents, I think that I, I there was leapfrogging happening. I was able to establish more trust than, you know, just 10 months of, you know, banal dialogue, you know, normal parental dialogue. Could have could have possibly established.   MUSICAL TRANSITION   We’ll return to Arwen’s interview in a moment.  This episode is sponsored by Handle with Care Consulting, my company.  The world went sideways in 2020 and it is hard to know if your people are feeling supported and engaged amidst all the challenges.  Empathy is THE leadership skill for our times, and Handle with Care Consulting can help build this skill into your people and processes.  Contact Handle with Care Consulting for coaching, keynotes, and certificate programs to create cultures of care.  And now, back to Arwen…   MUSICAL TRANSITION   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I have no problem having everybody know that I had COVID. I don't I don't feel I don't feel that that is a reason for shame.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk After all, we are literally in the midst of a global pandemic and tens of millions of people have this and often through no fault of their own.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, there's the shame and fear. Response cycles, though, are so powerful. You know, it just it puts us in such a defensive crouch. And you know what? What a true awareness that you're able to have of looking and seeing all these people are in their own fear cycle that is just causing them to act so defensively. And it's it's a good thing to tuck away to to be aware, like, oh, yes, I could suddenly be triggered to feel very concerned just about my own safety and things like that.   - Liesel Mertes But how will that actually inhibit my response? And and that comes through to someone you're talking to, like, oh, you, you know, are only thinking about yourself right now instead of having any care for me, which I imagine, as you said, is a tremendous opportunity, as you were the first within your organization to get this diagnosis.   - Liesel Mertes Tell me some about you mentioned using it as a leadership opportunity and wanting to cultivate and model something different. What things are you pulling forward that you're wanting to incorporate in kind of a different way of approaching people who get covered?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So I think like most large organizations, medical information, of course, is generally very confidential in a work setting. And so one of the initial first reactions of my organization was we must keep this super confidential. We have to keep your identity confidential. We can't tell anybody it was you.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk For me, that just felt totally wrong because I felt that that that lack of transparency, even if it was well-meaning and meant to protect me, would possibly lead to even more fear.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk For example, imagine I was one of the workers who who had been in the office and I was told that someone has COVID and that you may have been in contact with them and therefore you should get tested. I can imagine the amount of fear.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk That that would instill in someone, because you don't there's no certainty, right, you don't know if you don't know who this person was, maybe I actually only saw one person in the office when I went. And so the other 12 that or eight that would have been told to go get tested where I know we're at no risk whatsoever.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so I asked, I asked my my boss to include in his message to all staff that it was me that was diagnosed and that I felt provided an opportunity.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk To show that it is absolutely OK to disclose your diagnosis in the workplace in order to keep your colleagues safe in order, there's no reprisal. I wasn't sent home to Canada because I got COVID, which was something I was actually worried about.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And we can talk about that as well. But for me, it was an opportunity to destigmatize the diagnosis, to take away the shame, to not hide something that really, really didn't need to be hidden. Right.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, I hear that that that's a powerful signaling in that way. You mentioned an apprehension that you had. Tell me a little bit more about that.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Sure. So, you know, on the back end of things, we have a giant organization of of 15,000 or so employees spread across the world. So the background is that about a thousand of them, I think, were repatriated home to Canada due to their own health risks or the particular health infrastructure of the countries to which they were accredited. So that happened in the spring.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And when, when I was diagnosed, I texted a very, very dear colleague of mine who is still based in Ottawa and told him about my diagnosis. And he said he was somebody who still works in the in my former team in the North America Advocacy Division. And he said, ah, what can I tell the rest of the team? And I said, absolutely, 100 percent. And so he did. And then I got an email from my former director, so my former boss.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And he said, OK, well, there are some official things we need to do now are when I need to inform officially the medical infrastructure of global affairs. And so he's very sweet. He said they're very well meaning are when they're there, they can be. I've heard that they can be a little intense, but they're extremely well meaning.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so I was I hadn't even really thought at that point. Of what the potential implications were for the duration of my posting, the duration of my assignment here is should I have gotten really sick? And so I kind of sat in that fear for. A little while, I would say about 15 minutes, talk to my husband, I was asking questions like, well, what if I recalled what if I get really, really sick? And, you know, health care here in the United States is very expensive.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk What if they'd rather treat me in Canada? What happens if I go home and you guys stay here? And so there are all of these questions in my mind as I waited for that official notification of of you have now been assigned a file, so to speak.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And that notification came. A lot of people were copied on it. And the wonderful thing was that employee assistance program was copied on it. They reached out to me separately after and said, if you need any support, if your family needs any support, if you have questions, if you have concerns, reach out.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But also the kind of the chief medical officer of global affairs was copied and he was the one who then continued to follow me and to be in dialogue with me on a daily basis for the for the next month and. That having that support and that expertise and that person who I could ask medical questions of was was very, very helpful. I'm kind of a medical nerd myself. So if it wasn't political science, I probably would have been a surgeon.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so I very quickly kind of got up to speed about what I needed to do to give him the information he needed to assess my condition. And so I ordered myself an oximeter the next day and started measuring my my my blood oxygen levels. And that's kind of key for COVID. And that was something that helped him monitor my situation. At one point, and COVID is, of course, different for everyone, and I know that some of your listeners are dealing with diagnoses themselves, perhaps, or those of their family or friends.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And it's very different for everyone.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk For me, it really went in waves. And so. I would feel terrible for a few days and then I would rest and I would start to feel better and then I would overexert myself and then I would feel terrible again.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And at one point, my my oxygen levels were really, really not good. And the chief medical officer said, you know, Arwen, if if you don't rest and if you don't really, really take this seriously, I'm going to be ordering a medevac for you and you're going to be coming home to Canada.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And that was really the thing that scared me into. Resting, taking it seriously, and the realization that if I didn't, this could be a condition that I would have to deal with for a lot longer than I would have liked.   - Liesel Mertes Yeah, I hear I hear so many threads in the midst of that that are important, I hear the communication and the cooperation, whether that was from the medical staff or the EAP, of being able to really reach out to you on a couple of different fronts, to put it to deal with some of the fears that might come up to have information going back and forth here, the importance of rest.   - Liesel Mertes I also hear just harkening back to as you're dealing with like emails from your daughter's friend group, I'm thinking there's always so much going on that we don't know, you know, behind the scenes. Like they don't know that you're not only sick, but you're dealing with apprehensions as to whether or not you're going to have to be taken back to a different country. And how is this going to affect the continuity of your posting and all of your family situation?   - Liesel Mertes And that's just your particular complexity. But everybody's story has their own complexity as to how the diagnosis is playing out with their financial situation or their health care plan or their partner or their aging parents. And I I hope that it gives people more of a sense of pause before they just rush into an interaction. So there could be like there's the stress I know, which is a sickness. And then there are probably a dozen ancillary stresses that are attached to this that I don't know about.   - Liesel Mertes And I want to tread graciously and carefully because there could be a lot going on that I have no idea about.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Exactly. And it's just kind of layer upon layer. And then I have so much empathy for. People who are going through this and who are also, you know, high functioning professionals or in fact even, you know, like a grocery store clerk, the people who who can't take the time they need to get better because of financial considerations or professional considerations or family considerations. And I mean, you know, I'm very lucky that I had plenty of sick leave thanked.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But at the same time, this is an incredibly busy time for my for my program. And so prioritizing my health over the hundreds of emails that were flooding my inbox on a daily basis was really, really, really hard. And I was my worst enemy. I mean, I had a lot of support from my boss to to to disconnect, but I you know, I don't have any backup at work either. So it's it is it is not easy.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And and if you see someone who's just kind of. Struggling with it know that there are many, many angles of pressure happening at any given time.   - Liesel Mertes You mentioned, you know, needing to quarantine within your house burns that loomed large about the health of your children or your husband.   - Liesel Mertes What what is that like, the isolation or the uncertainty within your home? Are you having to have people bring you food? Like what is the life of quarantining within your house look like?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So absolutely. I was kind of at the at the whim of my my family to bring me food. Thankfully, they're very good at that after having been doing that for 10 months on their own anyway in Canada. But I was kind of isolated in my bedroom with a bathroom attached. I didn't leave that room at all. My husband generally would be the one to put the plate by the door. We'd all have masks on. He'd leave, I'd go get the plate, I'd eat, put the plate back.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk It was kind of like a bit like being in prison, actually in your own house. Yeah.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Yes, a bit like a prison, but maybe friendlier people that come by your door each day and better bathrooms.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk But I definitely went through many series on Netflix and I am fully caught up on the Queen's Gambit and what I would recommend highly recommend to anyone. It's a great, great piece of television. But there were there were times when when I felt really, really ill that.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I just kind of felt miserable, and I think the isolation made it a bit worse. And then there were the times that I felt more energetic and that was also really frustrating to, I think, one of the most heartbreaking moments for me, though, of over those two weeks of being isolated was just seeing my youngest daughter's face 12 feet away from me and and just knowing how much she just wanted to hug me. I think in follow up conversations after, you know, we've all been cleared and healthy talking to my girls about.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Their feelings when I was sick has been very illuminating for me because they were very worried. They were worried that I would get sicker and sicker and they were probably even worried about my mortality at times because this is an unpredictable disease that attacks all sorts of different systems within our bodies.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And so and and honestly, I think this is the first time I've ever been confronted with my mortality from a kind of a sickness perspective. And so it's it's hard on it's hard on those who love us to. - Liesel Mertes Yeah. You you've mentioned it throughout the episode, but just to keep you up to make sure we didn't miss anything. What would you say to someone who's listening and perhaps over the next couple of weeks they are going to interact with someone, whether that's in their family or their friend group who had a COVID diagnosis? I always ask on this podcast,   - Liesel Mertes What are things that you would say, don't do this like this, don't do this. This will be bad.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk So the number one thing that I think I alluded to it before is don't let your first question be. Where do you think you got it? Because rarely is that actually a meaningful question, I would suggest instead that your first response be how are you feeling?   - Liesel Mertes And on the positive side, what were things that you experienced that you would say this was so meaningful, whether it was in support of you or people who supported your wider family in the midst of that, what would you recommend to people who want to show care?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Well, interestingly, I've never been a fan of sending or receiving flowers. I find them so temporal and yet so expensive at the same time that it's never been my go to. But I have to say, being stuck in a room by yourself, having a beautiful bouquet of flowers or forms of flowers was just this wonderful visual kind of place. I could rest my eyes and concentrate on some beauty. And so interestingly, I would suggest flowers. I totally lost my taste buds for four weeks, so food would have been completely wasted on me.   - Liesel Mertes So no chocolates does make you more accepting of anyone who has to cook for you, though. You can just be thankful for whatever you gave me. Absolutely.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Normally I love hot dogs, but this one didn't taste like anything but from an emotional standpoint.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk The daily check ins, I received text messages from dozens of people a day checking in on me, and even if I didn't respond back right away, I would get another one the next day checking in on me. And that was very, very impactful for me. It meant to me that people were thinking about me, that they were wishing me well. I took a lot of the energy and I I accepted the responsibility of finally resting enough to get better because a lot of people were really concerned across the whole world.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk And and that was very, very impactful and very special. So it only takes, what, 10 seconds to send a text to somebody, but it can really make a big difference. Yeah.   - Liesel Mertes Is there anything else that you would like to add that you didn't get a chance to say in the course of the interview?   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk I think that, ironically, I'm really, really, really happy that it was me that got COVID in my social and professional network because I. I wouldn't have wanted anyone who didn't have the kind of agency that I have to have faced the shame and stigma of being that first person, and for me, not only has it been an opportunity for leadership, but.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk An incredible opportunity for her personal growth for me, and I'm I'm just very, very thankful and well   - Liesel Mertes And I I hear that something that touches on a note that we discussed earlier in the podcast, especially as COVID, is disproportionately affecting, you know, black and brown communities. And, you know, as as so many people from those communities are frontline workers and, you know, are disproportionately at risk that, you know, things that are already unfortunately and baked into so many interactions of like shame or blame or judgment or feeling like there's a power dynamic, that things that were inadvertently doing just unthinkingly as we respond to people with COVID could really reinforce some pretty toxic interaction cycles of people who have who tend to have less agency within the dynamics, whether that's interpersonally or at work.   - Liesel Mertes So, yeah, I hear I hear that aspect of what you're saying.   - Arwen Widmer-Bobyk Yeah, it's very that's very important to to think before we talk. Always   - Liesel Mertes They tried that in kindergarten and it remains an important lesson decades later.   MUSICAL TRANSITION   Here are three key take-aways from my conversation with Arwen…   Leaders, consider the unintended consequences of your policy about confidentiality in COVID cases.There can be many good and important reasons to protect privacy, but what are you inadvertently communicating with the shroud of secrecy?  What are ways that you as a leader can be proactive in dismantling stigma around COVID?  For Arwen, this was sharing the news of her own diagnosis.  What steps will you take? Go gently with people who have gotten sick.Remember that you always know only a portion of someone’s story.  Arwen was coping with concerns about having to leave the country, worries about her daughter’s health conditions, and a number of large projects that needed her attention…all of this on top of her COVID diagnosis.  The moms who sent frantic, shaming emails had no idea of this cascade of pressures.  When you hear that someone has gotten COVID, do not let your first response be “Where did you get it?”Most of the time, people do not know.  But on a deeper level, this shows a self-interested posture that fails to truly pay attention to the person who is sick.  Instead, try something like, “I am so sorry.  Can I send you a DoorDash or GrubHub gift certificate?   OUTRO

In this episode of World Trivia, we are going to talk about some very interesting Indian Inventions that have become part of the day to day lives all over the world, so much so, that sometimes we don’t even bother to think that where do they originate from? Let's start with the most ancient invention "0"( in words: zero). This number has no value in itself but surely gives weightage to another number when placed at last. This digit introduced to the world by the famous Mathematician Aryabhatta, who is well-known as "Man of Mathematician & Astronomical Talent”. The digit zero was formerly introduced in the Common Era and was used by Indians in their mathematical calculations. The next invention we talk about is by the famous computer architect, Ajay V. Bhatt. He invented the lifeline of modern day data transfer - Pendrive or USB (Universal Serial Bus). USB or Pendrive is the most efficient data transfer device which is easy to carry owing to its small size and with rapid technological developments, has sufficient storage space. Moving on to board games, this invention has been our true friend in the lockdown period of Covid-19. Be it chess or snake and ladders, they both originally invented in India. Chess, the game of intellectual was invented in the 6th century which was earlier called "Ashtapada" and Snake & ladders which is now also played digitally was introduced in the 13th century by a poet which was then referred to as "Moksha Patam". This game later became very popular in England during the British rule and got its English name too. Yoga, an art of healthy living and fitness was also introduced to the world by India. It is said that yoga credit for Yoga goes directly to Hindu God, Lord Shiva, who is considered the first yoga teacher. Yoga has even got itself a special day which is celebrated as International Yoga Day on 21st June every year. Did you know that the shampoo which we use to wash our hair was originally invented by Indians? Shampoo was invented in 1762 as “Champoo”, meaning massage, in the eastern parts of the Mughal empire and was used as a product for a head massage with no fragrance at all. But after several developments and several name changes, it came to be known as shampoo, as we call it today. www.chimesradio.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/chimesradio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vrchimesradio/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChimesRadio Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/chimesradioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a very interesting story of Hanuman, the powerful Hindu God who got Sanjeevani Buti, a kind of special herb from a mountain far off to save life of Laxman, brother of Lord Rama. This mountain was at the feet of Himalayas and Laxman was hurt in the battlefield at Srilanka.

A Hindu God worshipped in a Muslim attire? A Muslim princess having a shrine at a Hindu temple? Whenever faiths have been at conflict and politics in crossroads, mixing a portion of legend to existing facts has always helped bring communities together. Continuing with the theme of history spiced up with myths, unverified facts and conscious rewrites, in today's episode of Masala History, we are going to look at how an historic incident, coupled with a little of legend, gives us a beautiful example on harmony and inclusiveness. - something perhaps we could do more with in today's times. Listen to the story of ' Thulukka Nachiyaar' - history of a Muslim princess having a shrine in world's largest working Hindu temple. You can view & listen to podcast via Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and for those who prefer the audio version, we are available at Google podcasts, Spotify & Anchor. Please don't forget to subscribe the page. And if you have more questions than answers after today's episode, please feed back your comments. PS: A list of platforms where Masala History is available: http://linktr.ee/masalahistory #history #historybuff #historynerd #masalahistory #srirangam #hindumuslim #khilji #ghazni #ramanuja #melkote #thulukkanachiyar #podcast

https://www.lightingthevoid.comLive Weeknights Mon-Fri 9 pm, PacificOn The Fringe FMhttps://thefringe.fmLaird Scranton is an independent researcher of ancient cosmology and language. His studies in comparative cosmology have served help synchronize aspects of ancient African, Egyptian, Vedic, Chinese, Polynesian, and other world cosmologies, and have led to an alternate approach to reading Egyptian hieroglyphic words. His degree is in English from Vassar College.DJ Steezy Stevie https://www.steezymusic.com/Music by Chronox at https://www.chronoxofficial.com

Kanupriya is a narrative poem written in 5 parts from Radha’s perspective, who is the lover and eternal consort of Hindu God, Krishna. In each part it explores a woman’s joy, pain, sexuality, confidence and indispensability in love. #Hindi #Kanupriya #Dharmvir #Bharati #poetry #poem --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/amit-singh073/support

In this episode we discuss what it means to be a lightworker and how that relates to spiritual awakening. We also talk about the significance of finding your life's purpose and manifesting your life. Dr. Alex shares her story of taking a year and following the signs no matter how crazy...from her adventure in Nepal to meeting Oprah. I also share my story of ignoring the signs: my bike accident, and my unknowing relationship with Ganesh: The remover of obstacles, and Hindu God of wisdom, writing and travel. Guest quotes of the show "...there aren't any accidents, and any given time you are exactly where you are supposed to be." "...there is a place in life that you get where you have no other choice but to wake up." "..you are more than what you think you are in this world." I will also mention: My accident and what does it mean? What seeing 1111 is all about...spiritual sign you're on the right path Why Ganesh came to me...and who is he anyway? Acting from a place of love vs fear Vision boarding and manifesting Oprah Feeling spiritual af Why are we here?  Weekly Mantra “I deeply and completely love and accept myself.” Resources: My guest today on IG @MySmileSwag https://www.thelawofattraction.com/what-is-the-law-of-attraction/ (https://www.thelawofattraction.com/what-is-the-law-of-attraction/) https://sarahprout.com/signs-you-are-a-lightworker/ (https://sarahprout.com/signs-you-are-a-lightworker/) https://www.thelawofattraction.com/lightworker-7-signs/ (https://www.thelawofattraction.com/lightworker-7-signs/) https://www.ancient.eu/Ganesha/ (Ganesh, The Remover of Obstacles, God of Wisdom, Writing and Travel.)  I hope you enjoyed the show,and if you did please share the love with your friends and write a review. Also, check out my other episodes with some engaging guests discussing Lightwork, The Law of Attraction, CBD, Chakras, The LifeCo, Turkey and more. I want to hear from you and answer your questions on ANYTHING from Chakras and crystals to relationships, finding your light and plant-based diet...ask away at Michelle@MichelleSchoenfeld.com or DM me on Instagram @Michelleschoenfeldofficial  *Namaste: “The Soul [divine] in me, bows to the soul in you.”  A beautiful salutation in the ancient language of sanskrit to say, “I see you.”

Twitter: @1adamparadox Dawkins states that “religious faith … does not depend on rational justification” Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Bantam Press, 2006), page 31. https://www.bethinking.org/atheism/dawkins-delusions-faith-and-evidence 1. Horus (3100 B.C.) Horus was one of the many Egyptian Gods. He had 12 disciples. One was born of a virgin in a cave. Like Jesus, his birth was announced via a star. And three wise men showed up! He was baptized when he was 30 by Anup the Baptizer. He rose a guy from the dead and walked on water. Lastly, he was crucified, buried like Jesus in a tomb, and resurrected. 2. Buddha (563 B.C.) Healed the sick Walked on water. Fed 500 men from one basket of cakes. Taught a lot of the same things Jesus taught, including equality for all. He spent three days in jail. Was resurrected when he died. 3. Mithra (2000 B.C.) An ancient Zoroastrian deity with similarities to Jesus. Virginal birth on December 25th. Swaddled and laid in a manger. Tended by shepherds in the manger. He had 12 companions (or disciples). Performed miracles. Gave his own life to save the world. Dead for three days, then resurrected. Called “the Way, the Truth and the Light.” Has his own version of a Eucharistic-style “Lord's supper.” 4. Krishna (around 3000 B.C.) A Hindu God. Born after his mom was impregnated by a God. Angels, wise men, and shepherds were at his birth. Guess what gifts they gave him? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A jealous bad guy ordered the slaughter of all newborns, just as happened with Jesus. Baptized in a river. Performed miracles, including raising the dead and healing the deaf and blind. Rose from the dead to ascend to heaven. Is expected to return to earth someday to fight the “Prince of Evil.” 5. Osiris (around 2500 B.C.) Son of an Egyptian God. Killed and the resurrected after three days in hell. WTF? A common theme here! Performed miracles Had 12 disciples. Taught rebirth through water baptism. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theadamparadox/support

Starling Tribune - Season 7.5 Edition – “Séance and Sensibility” Review (A CW Network Arrow Television Show Fan Podcast) ST246   The Starling Tribune Reporters Chris and Michelle review the Legends Of Tomorrow season 4 eleventh episode “Séance and Sensibility.” The Reporters discuss the Bollywood number that Zari (and the rest of the cast) rocked, Hank's funeral and Nate's coming to terms finally with his father, Hanks' endgame plan to develop a magical creature park, how Neron's plans are starting to materialize, and all the news from San Diego Comic Con 2019. Catch Starling Tribune now on the Pandora App too!   Episode:            “Séance and Sensibility” [Season 4 Episode 11] Air Date:           Monday, April 15, 2019    Director:           Alexandra La Roche                         https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190597/?ref_=tt_ov_dr                         1x Riverdale / 3x Legends / 4x Flash / 2x Arrow / 1x Supergirl   Writers: Grainne Godfree                         https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3113826/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr5                         15x Legends / 7x Flash / 1x Arrow   Jackie Canino                         https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10485737/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr6                         1x Legends Promo: https://comicbook.com/dc/2019/04/08/legends-of-tomorrow-spoilers-season-4-seance-and-sensibility-tra/   Arrow   Episode # / Episode Title / Episode Air / Date  / Rating 01 Inmate 4587 15-Oct-18 1.43 02 The Longbow Hunters 22-Oct-18 1.18 03 Crossing Lines 29-Oct-18 1.15 04 Level Two 5-Nov-18 1.08 05 The Demon 12-Nov-18 1.26 06 Due Process 19-Nov-18 1.03 07 The Slabside Redemption 26-Nov-18 1.31 08 Unmasked 3-Dec-18 1.35 09 Elseworlds Part 2 10-Dec-18 2.06 10 My Name Is Emiko Queen 21-Jan-19 1.22 11 Past Sins 28-Jan-19 1.18 12 Emerald Archer 4-Feb-19 1.07 13 Star City Slayer 11-Feb-19 1.09 14 Brothers & Sisters 4-Mar-19 0.89 15 Training Day 11-Mar-19 1.02 16 Star City 2040 18-Mar-19 1.00 17 Inheritance 25-Mar-19 1.01 18 Lost Canary 15-Apr-19 0.71 19 Spartan 22-Apr-19 0.71 20 Confessions 29-Apr-19 0.64 21 Living Proof 6-May-19 0.63 22 You Have Saved This City 13-May-19  0.95   Legends Of Tomorrow   Episode # / Episode Title / Episode Air / Date  / Rating 01 The Virgin Gary 22-Oct-18 1.00 02 Witch Hunt 29-Oct-18 0.94 03 Dancing Queen 5-Nov-18 0.86 04 Wet Hot American Bummer 12-Nov-18 0.90 05 Tagumo Attacks 19-Nov-18 0.91 06 Tender Is The Nate 26-Nov-18 0.97 07 Hell No, Dolly! 3-Dec-18 0.93 08 Legends of To-Meow-Meow 10-Dec-18 1.10 09 Lucha de Aquestas 1-Apr-19 0.92 10 The Getaway 8-Apr-19 0.95 11 Séance & Sensibility 15-Apr-19 0.98 12 The Eggplant, The Witch & The Wardrobe 22-Apr-19 0.85 13 Egg MacGuffin 29-Apr-19 0.91 14 Nip Stuck 6-May-19 0.94 15 Terms Of Service 13-May-19 0.99 16 Hey World 20-May-19 1.05   Supergirl   Episode # / Episode Title / Episode Air / Date  / Rating 01 American Alien 14-Oct-18 1.52 02 Fallout 21-Oct-18 1.34 03 Man Of Steel 28-Oct-18 1.28 04 Ahimsa 4-Nov-18 1.23 05 Parasite Lost 11-Nov-18 1.16 06 Call To Action 18-Nov-18 1.13 07 Rather the Fallen Angel 25-Nov-18 1.15 08 Bunker Hill 2-Dec-18 1.26 09 Elseworlds Part 3 11-Dec-18 2.17 10 Suspicious Minds 20-Jan-19 1.04 11 Blood Memory 27-Jan-19 1.34 12 Menagerie 17-Feb-19 1.15 13 What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way 3-Mar-19 1.14 14 Stand and Deliver 10-Mar-19 1.05 15 O Brother, Where Art Thou 17-Mar-19 1.07 16 The House of L 24-Mar-19 1.12 17 All About Eve 31-Mar-19 1.06 18 Crime and Punishment 21-Apr-19 0.99 19 American Dreamer 28-Apr-19 1.14 20 Will The Real Miss Tessmacher Please Stand Up 5-May-19 1.05 21 Red Dawn 12-May-19 1.11 22 The Quest For Peace 19-May-19 1.07   The Flash   Episode # / Episode Title / Episode Air / Date  / Rating 01 Nora 9-Oct-17 2.08 02 Blocked 16-Oct-18 1.69 03 The Death of Vibe 23-Oct-18 1.87 04 News Flash 30-Oct-18 1.75 05 All Doll'd Up 13-Nov-18 1.73 06 The Icicle Cometh 20-Nov-18 1.60 07 O Come, All Ye Thankful 27-Nov-18 1.79 08 What's Past Is Prologue 4-Dec-18 1.78 09 Elseworlds Part 1 9-Dec-18 1.83 10 The Flash & The Furious 15-Jan-19 1.64 11 Seeing Red 22-Jan-19 1.88 12 Memorabilia 29-Jan-19 2.04 13 Goldfaced 5-Feb-19 1.89 14 Cause and 12-Feb-19 XS 1.71 15 King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd 1.67 16 Failure Is An Orphan 12-Mar-19 1.55 17 Time Bomb 19-Mar-19 1.64 18 Godspeed 16-Apr-19 1.31 19 Snow Pack 23-Apr-19 1.63 20 Gone Rogue 30-Apr-19 1.37 21 The Girl With The Red Lightning 6-May-19 1.45 22 Legacy 14-May-19 1.53   BLACK LIGHTNING   Episode # / Episode Title / Episode Air / Date  / Rating 01 The Book Of Consequences: Chapter One: Rise of the Green Light Babies 9-Oct-18 1.16 02 The Book Of Consequences: Chapter Two: Black Jesus Blues 16-Oct-18 1.02 03 The Book Of Consequences: Chapter Three: Master Lowry 23-Oct-18 1.18 04 The Book Of Consequences: Chapter Four: Translucent Freak 30-Oct-18 0.97 05 The Book Of Blood: Chapter One: Requiem 13-Nov-18 0.90 06 The Book Of Blood: Chapter Two: The Perdi 20-Nov-18 0.99 07 The Book Of Blood: Chapter Three: The Sange 27-Nov-18 1.06 08 The Book Of Rebellion: Chapter One: Exodus 4-Dec-18 0.96 09 The Book Of Rebellion: Chapter Two: Gift of the Magi 11-Dec-18 1.13 10 The Book Of Rebellion: Chapter Three: Angelitos Negros 21-Jan-19 0.86 11 The Book Of Secrets: Chapter One: Prodigal Son 28-Jan-19 0.93 12 The Book Of Secrets: Chapter Two: Just And Unjust 4-Feb-19 0.95 13 The Book of Secrets: Chapter Three: Pillar of Fire 11-Feb-19 0.94 14 The Book Of Secrets: Chapter Four: Original Sin 4-Mar-19 0.77 15 The Book Of The Apocalypse: Chapter One: The Alpha 11-Mar-19 0.75 16 The Book Of The Apocalypse: Chapter Two: The Omega 18-Mar-19 0.85   Part 1: The Plot, Themes and Characters What was the overall theme? What was the link to the episode's name? Seance - contacting the dead during Hank's funeral Sensibility - Jane Austen wrote “Sense and Sensibility”; Mona and love; Zari and love Time travel 1802 - Bath, England Wedding: bride confesses to loving the maid; the groom confesses to loving bride's mother; passions erupt Regency thing - walk around room while conversing Lord Remington - old man; his coachman has caused a stir Mona tries to convince Jane to keep writing by telling her about her future.  High on dust - Zari starts to sing, and the show bursts into a Bollywood number Waverider God sends his dust into the air and gets into everyone's dream Truth - Fugitive is Sunjay, born long ago, gathered Kamadeva's ashes Bollywood song infects the Waverider Fight scenes and stunts Mona turns into Wolfie Knocks out Charlie Goes to Jane Austen, blames her for wasting time on romance, her writing is all lies Jane Austen - I do believe in love Sara Lance / White Canary Smash someone else, and if thinking about person, you like them Ray Palmer / The Atom  Feels bad about being sweet on Nora while she's a suspect Bromance solid Hears sounds behind mirror; Nora tells him she's innocent Sneaks Nora onto the Waverider; has to hide her; hijinks ensue Sleeps in the chair Mick Rory / Heat Wave Stays at funeral; tells Nate the eulogy is for him, to get him to say what he needs to Zari Ladies try to tell her she likes Nate Gets it on with the coachman; figures out he is the fugitive; he's Kamadeva, the Hindu God of Love Resists his charms and cuffs him Romance isn't real; just for novels Takes dust with Sunjay John Constantine Notices praying aunt and covered mirrors Flashes of Hank's spirit Summons Hank's spirit into Mick Deal - unlimited funds for access to magical creatures; demon - Neron Image of self in mirror talking to him; punches mirror, it's Neron in Desmond's body Charlie  Wants Mona to go Wolfie Gideon DJ Gideon Mona Wearing Jane Austen shirt, names disappearing Just tell people how you feel Love overcomes any obstacle - Jane calls her a fool Romance is real; you should take a risk Tells Zari to wait for something real; then finds out Sunjay has a 1000 wives Nate Heywood / Steel  Father's funeral Tells team to go get fugitive Toast - talks about the bad; Mother - tells story about how trip to Disney World got canceled because Nate had to go to the hospital; Hank dressed up as Mickey Mouse Pulls Disney book and finds hidden door; finds true plans - an idea for an amusement park for magical creatures based on Nate's ideas from childhood - Heywood. At the end of the day, Hank was just as wacky as the Legends   ARROW NEWS:   Arrow Resurrects Two Dead Characters for Season 8 (Date: 12 July 2019) "Adrian Chase comes back in a different way than expected," showrunner Beth Schwartz said. "We're really excited about that because obviously he's one of our favorite villains." On the subject of Tommy Merlyn, executive producer Marc Guggenheim promised Donnell is "not coming back as the Tommy we know." https://www.cbr.com/arrow-season-8-colin-donnell-josh-segarra/ Arrow's Final Season Will Bring Back a Long-Dead Queen Family Member (Date: 23 July 2019) Susanna Thompson will be reprising her role as Moira Queen, Oliver Queen's mother, in some capacity for the premiere of Arrow's eighth -- and last -- season. "It's a love letter to the show; it really is," Guggenheim said of Thompson's return. "I was telling [executive producer] Beth [Schwartz], it felt a lot like the series finale, not the season premiere, in the best possible way, almost to the point where we're like, 'What are we going to do for the series finale?' I mean, we know, obviously, but it has that kind of resonance to it, and that's exciting." https://www.cbr.com/arrow-season-8-susanna-thompson-return-moira-queen/ Arrow Season 8: Chicago Fire Vet Charlie Barnett Cast as [Spoiler] (Date: 20 July 2019) Arrow‘s flash-forward family is expanding: Charlie Barnett (Chicago Fire) has joined the CW drama's eighth and final season in the series-regular role of John Diggle, Jr., aka J.J. https://tvline.com/2019/07/20/arrow-charlie-barnett-cast-john-diggle-jr-season-8/?fbclid=IwAR38EZ1T6AsKX59V8LdpCdZqjjo512nxnULM3ES3yeyhd5c4HArAqbqI8t8 Arrow Final Season Trailer Recaps Those Oliver Has Loved and Lost, Teases Returns (From the Dead?) (Date: 20 July 2019) The first teaser video for Arrow‘s final season emotionally revisits all those whom Oliver Queen has loved… and lost… over the years, before teases the familiar faces he will encounter while fulfilling his commitment to the Monitor. https://tvline.com/2019/07/20/arrow-final-season-8-trailer-tommy-merlyn-adrian-chase-return/?fbclid=IwAR2FvkAIgwlumJuJfswwApzkOKBxh1-9UubPADaJOjW-7IJQLKfUKgwcjZo Arrow Showrunner Reveals Episode 8x02 Title (Date: 23 July 2019) In a Twitter post, Schwartz shared a photo of the script's cover page alongside a Green Arrow statue. The title of the episode? "Welcome to Hong Kong". https://comicbook.com/dc/2019/07/23/arrow-season-8-episode-2-title-revealed-the-cw/   CRISIS NEWS:   Tyler Hoechlin & Brandon Routh To Suit Up As Superman For Arrowverse Crossover On the CW (Date: 19 July 2019) The producers of the DC franchise on the CW are planning a big stunt involving one of DC's most recognizable superheroes, Superman. Two actors who have played the Man of Steel, Tyler Hoechlin and Brandon Routh, will portray him in different time frames. https://deadline.com/2019/07/tyler-hoechlin-brandon-routh-superman-arrowverse-crossover-the-cw-1202649053/   Original Robin Burt Ward to Appear in Crisis On Infinite Earths (Date: 20 July 2019) During the Batwoman panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, it was revealed that Burt Ward has a role in the upcoming crossover, where he will debut in the Ruby Rose-led series. Ward played Robin alongside Adam West's Batman in the original Batman TV show. He has continued to lend his voice to the role over the years, but now he'll make an appearance in the Arrowverse. But, it is not confirmed that he will play his original version of Robin, an alternate version of the character, or a new character altogether. https://screenrant.com/arrowverse-crisis-on-infinite-earths-crossover-burt-ward/?utm_content=bufferb0c5c&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=SR-FB-P&utm_campaign=SR-FB-P Elizabeth Tulloch will return as Lois Lane in 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' crossover (Date: 22 July 2019) EW has exclusively learned that Elizabeth Tulloch will reprise her role as Lois Lane in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” which will also feature Tyler Hoechlin's Superman. Not only that, but we'll also meet Clark and Lois' child in the five-hour, multiverse-threatening event. https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/22/elizabeth-tulloch-lois-lane-arrowverse-crisis-on-infinite-earths/ The Flash's Cavanagh Will Play Another Classic DC Character (Date: 23 July 2019) "As part of 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' crossover, Tom will be playing Pariah as part of the crossover," The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace revealed at the show's Comic-Con International panel. "He works for the Anti-Monitor." "In the original miniseries, it's Pariah who is very much integral in releasing the Anti-Monitor," he continued. "For Tom to play such a pivotal character... it's just going to tear your guts out and make you cry." The first half of The Flash Season 6 will "lead up to a very, very big twist at the end of the Bloodwork case that launches 'Crisis.'" https://www.cbr.com/tom-cavanagh-crisis-on-infinite-earths-pariah/   SUPERGIRL NEWS:   Supergirl: Mehcad Brooks Exiting the CW Series Next Season (Date: 19 July 2019) Mehcad Brooks, who portrays James Olsen on Supergirl, is leaving the CW series in its upcoming Season 5. Brooks is leaving the series to shift his attention to work on feature films, developing a cable series and writing a book. https://www.cbr.com/mehcad-brooks-exiting-supergirl/ Jeremy Jordan Returning to 'Supergirl' for Season 5 (Exclusive) (Date: 18 July 2019) Jeremy Jordan, who departed Supergirl after season three, will be reuniting with the crew on the upcoming fifth season of The CW superhero drama as tech wiz Winn, ET has exclusively learned. Jordan is expected to appear in three episodes in the second half of the season, after the annual DC crossover event, though the context in which he comes back and additional storyline details are being kept under wraps. https://www.etonline.com/jeremy-jordan-returning-to-supergirl-for-season-5-exclusive-128853 Supergirl Season 5 Casts Veronica Mars Vet as Budding Superhero Acrata, Plus Several Other Intriguing Additions (Date: 20 July 2019) Two new faces are coming to Supergirl in Season 5 as series regulars — and they have very different plans for National City.  Julie Gonzalo is playing DC Comics character Andrea Rojas (aka Acrata), who has a mystical secret.” As revealed on the panel, Andrea will take over as the head of CatCo. Staz Nair will play as “hardened reporter William Dey, who's not interested in making friends, he just wants to get the story — but his ties to the criminal underworld could prove problematic.” Both characters will make their debut in Supergirl‘s fifth season premiere, airing Sunday, Oct. 6.  And here's another fun reveal: Jesse Rath's sister, Meghan Rath (Hawaii Five-0), will appear as a female Brainiac 5. The show also unveiled an official first look at Kara's new costume for Season 5 — Supergirl has pants! https://tvline.com/2019/07/20/supergirl-season-5-cast-new-characters-acrata-william-dey/?fbclid=IwAR0Sz1TpXFlRyhYlB1ujwTuxVzNGS-6B08LU_XdCYaRHFs1e0CICBOEgNz4 Supergirl Battles Lena Luthor in First Season 5 Trailer (Date: 20 July 2019) The first look at the fifth season of The CW's Supergirl was unveiled Saturday at Comic-Con International in San Diego. "One of our big bads this season is Leviathan, so we're bringing that into our canon this year... This season is going to be about how technology effects us," executive producer Robert Rovner explained. "We'll be seeing how our villains this season use technology against us and how our heroes bring us back." https://www.cbr.com/supergirl-season-5-sdcc-trailer/?utm_content=bufferadea7&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=CBR-TW&utm_campaign=CBR-TW     FLASH NEWS   The Flash Will Launch New Storytelling Format for Season 6 (Date: 23 July 2019) The Flash is trying something new for Season 6. Instead of one season-long story arc, Season 6 will be broken down into two chapters that feature their own individual villains. The first half will end in this year's five-show crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths," then pick up afterwards with a new story for the second half. https://www.cbr.com/flash-season-6-two-villains-chapters/ The Flash Season 6 Will Bring Back Wally West's Kid Flash (Date: 24 July 2019) Wally West will return to The Flash for Season 6. At Comic-Con International in San Diego, showrunner Eric Wallace revealed Kid Flash will be back -- and he will help his namesake take on one of their greatest villains yet. "Let's bring Wally West back," Wallace announced at the panel. "Why don't we do it this season... and have Kid Flash and Flash fight one of the greatest Flash villains." At the time of writing, it is unknown whether Wally will appear in the first half, second half or both   NEXT EPISODE   Link to Promo: https://comicbook.com/dc/2019/04/08/legends-of-tomorrow-spoilers-season-4-seance-and-sensibility-tra/ (Date: 8 April 2019)    Episode: “Séance and Sensibility” [Season 4 Episode 11] Air Date: Monday, April 15, 2019  Summary: When Mona discovers that her favorite author, Jane Austen, might be at the epicenter of a magical alert, Mona, Sara, Charlie and Zari find themselves in 1809. Director: Alexandra La Roche Writers: Grainne Godfree & Jackie Canino IMDB link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8312950/?ref_=tt_ep_nx Join The Starling Tribune each week as we stream live on Thursday Evenings at 7:30 PM eastern or 6:30 PM Central at www.geeks.live. Join the fun chatroom and interact with the hosts live. Contact us: @StarlingTribune - starlingtribune@gmail.com - www.starlingtribune.com - www.facebook.com/starlingtribune - 612-888-CAVE or 612-888-2283.   Starling Tribune is proud to be a member of the GonnaGeek network found at GonnaGeek.com. For more geeky podcast visit GonnaGeek.com.   You can find us on iTunes under ''Starling Tribune." We are very thankful for all of our positive iTunes reviews. You can find all our contact information here on the Network page of GonnaGeek.com Our complete archive is always available at www.starlingtribune.com   This podcast was recorded on Thursday July 25th, 2019.   Thank you for listening and we hope you enjoyed the show!   Audio Production by Stargate Pioneer of GonnaGeek.com.

In 1923, seventeen-year-old “Esther Grünspan arrives in Köln with a hardened heart as her sole luggage.” Thus, she begins a twenty-two-year journey, woven against the backdrops of the European Holocaust and the Hindu Kali Yuga (the “Age of Darkness” when human civilization degenerates spiritually), in search of a place of sanctuary. Throughout her travails, using cunning and shrewdness, Esther relies on her masterful tailoring skills to help mask her Jewish heritage, navigate war-torn Europe, and emigrate to India. Esther’s traveling companion and the novel’s narrator is Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu God worshiped by millions for his abilities to destroy obstacles, bestow wishes, and avenge evils. Impressed by Esther’s fortitude and relentless determination, born of her deep―though unconscious―understanding of the meaning and purpose of love, Ganesha, with compassion, insight, and poetry, chooses to highlight her story because he recognizes it is all of our stories―for truth resides at the essence of its telling. Weaving Eastern beliefs and perspectives with Western realities and pragmatism, Guesthouse for Ganesha is a tale of love, loss, and spirit reclaimed.

Mark got his willy out and it's far too soon for Ning...and for all of us really. Melissa is making the most her Fijian honeymoon with Dino by yelling at him for talking about the Hindu God, Shiva before 8am. And thank goodness this guy knows how to meditate because...ALL THE YELLING! Jessika is more interested in seeing how many more followers she's attracted since going on a reality dating show and Mick is starting to think she might not be here for love....DUH. The Married At First Sight couples have been matched, married and are now knee deep in their fake honeymoons. That means it's time to get this MAFS Chat party started with our resident experts/reality TV hostages, Clare and Jessie Stephens. READ MORE Check out the Twins Recaps... Ep 1: :https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-recap-jessika/  Ep 2: https://www.mamamia.com.au/married-at-first-sight-2019-recap/  Ep 3: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-2019-recap-ning/  Ep 4: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-recap-2019/  CONTACT US Hosts:Clare Stephens and Jessie Stephens. Producer: Amelia Navascues & Rach Hart Come join our Married At First Sight Lols group on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/groups/1613407402085696/ Share your feelings and fan theories on the pod phone is 02 8999 9386. Or flick us an email podcast@mamamia.com.au Want to listen to more great Mamamia podcasts? Head to https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/  

Mark got his willy out and it's far too soon for Ning...and for all of us really. Melissa is making the most her Fijian honeymoon with Dino by yelling at him for talking about the Hindu God, Shiva before 8am. And thank goodness this guy knows how to meditate because...ALL THE YELLING! Jessika is more interested in seeing how many more followers she's attracted since going on a reality dating show and Mick is starting to think she might not be here for love....DUH. The Married At First Sight couples have been matched, married and are now knee deep in their fake honeymoons. That means it's time to get this MAFS Chat party started with our resident experts/reality TV hostages, Clare and Jessie Stephens. READ MORE Check out the Twins Recaps... Ep 1: :https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-recap-jessika/  Ep 2: https://www.mamamia.com.au/married-at-first-sight-2019-recap/  Ep 3: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-2019-recap-ning/  Ep 4: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-recap-2019/  CONTACT US Hosts:Clare Stephens and Jessie Stephens. Producer: Amelia Navascues & Rach Hart Come join our Married At First Sight Lols group on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/groups/1613407402085696/ Share your feelings and fan theories on the pod phone is 02 8999 9386. Or flick us an email podcast@mamamia.com.au Want to listen to more great Mamamia podcasts? Head to https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/  

Mark got his willy out and it's far too soon for Ning...and for all of us really. Melissa is making the most her Fijian honeymoon with Dino by yelling at him for talking about the Hindu God, Shiva before 8am. And thank goodness this guy knows how to meditate because...ALL THE YELLING! Jessika is more interested in seeing how many more followers she's attracted since going on a reality dating show and Mick is starting to think she might not be here for love....DUH. The Married At First Sight couples have been matched, married and are now knee deep in their fake honeymoons. That means it's time to get this MAFS Chat party started with our resident experts/reality TV hostages, Clare and Jessie Stephens. READ MORE Check out the Twins Recaps... Ep 1: :https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-recap-jessika/  Ep 2: https://www.mamamia.com.au/married-at-first-sight-2019-recap/  Ep 3: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-2019-recap-ning/  Ep 4: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mafs-recap-2019/  CONTACT US Hosts:Clare Stephens and Jessie Stephens. Producer: Amelia Navascues & Rach Hart Come join our Married At First Sight Lols group on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/groups/1613407402085696/ Share your feelings and fan theories on the pod phone is 02 8999 9386. Or flick us an email podcast@mamamia.com.au Want to listen to more great Mamamia podcasts? Head to https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/  

J.P. And Beena Khaitan Visiting Fellows lecture Prof. Tony K. Stewart 27 Oct 2016 Satya Pīr has been for scholars one of the most puzzling figures in Bengali religious history: for Muslims a Sufi saint and for Hindus none other than Satya Nārāyaṇ. The index to their truly puzzling nature is the fact that in spite of their ubiquity—his manuscript and print literature in Bangla is second in size only to the voluminous output prompted by Kṛṣṇa Caitanya—there have been virtually no serious attempts to understand the religious and cultural work of these stories. For the last two centuries these boundary-crossing tales have been uniformly dismissed as derivative rubbish from the perspective of those writing the heroic nationalist literary histories that were secular in ideal, but Hindu in orientation; as heretical by the conservative reforming factions of Faraizi and Salafi Islam; as syncretistic confusion by both foreign and local Orientalists; and demonstrative of a bastard language called dobhāṣī (Bangla combined with Persian and Urdu) by prominent Bengali linguists—all of which served to relegate the tales to the Victorian and Bengali bhadralok élitist (and more recently Marxist) curio cabinet of naïve folktales suitable only as entertainment for the masses. The effect is to hide these tales from the official record of Bengal’s literary production, even though centuries later they continue to enjoy wide popularity and the enjoined worship is still routinely performed. Apart from the obvious contemporary sectarian chauvinism, the underlying key to this almost panicked rejection by élites is the fact that Satya Pīr is of fictional character. He appears nowhere in the historical record of Persian chronicles or copperplate inscriptions and only officially as a mythic figure in the British gazetteers. As a first step in making these tales make sense, I propose that we approach them for what they are: fictional hagiographies. The methodological strategies used to interpret hagiography or religious biography can be applied equally to these narratives of Satya Pīr and Satya Nārāyaṇ, but because of their fictional or mythic nature, the tales unravel something of the intractable problems all hagiographies present to historians of religion.  Prof. Tony K. Stewart specializes in the literatures and religions of the Bangla-speaking world, with a special emphasis on the early modern period. His most recent monograph, The Final Word: the Caitanya Caritāmṛta and the Grammar of Religious Tradition (Oxford, 2010), culminated a decades-long study of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava hagiographical tradition that included translating with Edward C. Dimock, Jr., The Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, Harvard Oriental Series no. 56 (Harvard, 1999). From the literatures of the Muslim–Hindu mythic figure, Satya Pīr, he published Fabulous Females and Peerless Pīrs: Tales of Mad Adventure in Old Bengal (Oxford, 2004) and is currently working on a monograph on the popular Bangla romance literatures of the pīrs. With prominent American poet Chase Twichell, he has published the first ever translations of Rabindranath Tagore’s pseudonymous Bhānusiṃha poetry titled The Lover of God(Copper Canyon, 2003). Stewart currently holds the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in Humanities and serves as a Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. 

Description: In episode 8.3 Bryan speaks with Joel Kane, seasonal park ranger and geologist at Grand Canyon National Park about how the Grand Canyon is one of the best geology classrooms in the world showing 2 billion years of geologic history visible to visitors.  Discussion includes the following: · How was the canyon formed and why are we able to see so much of earth’s history (2:35) · Vishnu basement rocks at bottom of the Canyon and why named after Hindu God (3:56) · Plate tectonics and recycling rocks s(6:01) · Colorado River and pace of erosion (7:34) · The rocks of the Grand Canyon tell a story including supercontinents Pangea and Rodinia (8:30) · Fossils at the Grand Canyon (14:54) · The Trail of Time interpretive exhibit (17:53) · Changes in Grand Canyon in human lifetime (20:38) · Joel’s special moment and Navajo Sandstone (24:35) Resources: Grand Canyon – Geology Grand Canyon – Geologic Formations Trail of Time at Grand Canyon National Park Everybody's National Parks Episode 3.4 Zion National Park: Geology Actions Subscribe to our podcast from our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/ Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks Support us on Patreon Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks

Robert argues politics with Andrew Torrez and loses.  Andrew also talks about Trump and the Johnson Amendment.  Robert tells us how to build a nuclear bomb and relates the philosophy of war with the Hindu God, Krishna.  Gigi tells us how we can help underprivileged students get an education.  (bonus blooper at the end)

It's nose, eyes and ears resemble that of a human. Read more >> http://bit.ly/2sx6pVW

Today’s podcast is our “Feel Good” show where we will be joined by Adriene Mishler who is the co-founder of the website findwhatfeelsgood.com, she also leads a Yoga community of over a million people on YouTube with her weekly class called Yoga with Adriene.   When we talk about herbs and extracts on the show we often talk about how it makes us feel. It’s important to have a sense of connection with your body and this goes for anything you do, whether it’s things you put into it or things you do with it.  If you have questions regarding herbal nutrition or are looking for a natural solution to something that ales you, please give us a call at 512 853 9005 and we will try our best to answer your question. This show is sponsored by Dr. Vim's Herbal Nutrition. Dr. Vim's herbal formulas are designed for men and women to mental focus, physical energy, stress reduction and a healthy libido. They use only filler free high potency botanical extracts. ensuring that every batch delivers a full dose of the most powerful phytonutrients on the planet.     Herbs make you feel good! The modern lifestyle can be overwhelming stressful. We end up overworked We are overstressed We are over-critical We are restless and sleep deprived. The result: Improper Stress Response Cortisol is out of balance -constant release of cortisol and fight or flight hormones can have harmful results: weakened immune response problems with sleep over-stressed mind general fatigue harmful inflammation.   Adaptogens and Nervines help you feel good: Adaptogens help us to decrease stress and fatigue, while promoting healthy levels of energy and boost mood. Herbal nervines can help calm the nerves allowing us to relieve stress and tension by calming the nervous system. Some nervines even act as nervous system tonics, strengthening and restoring the nervous system over time. Adaptogens - Rare herbs that are safe, non-toxic and generally normalizing to various systems and organs in the body. The help the body adapt to stress weather is be emotional, physical, or environmental. Nervines - Herbs that are nutritive to or generally support the nervous system with varying effects. Sedatives - Herbs that relax the nervous system and promote restful sleep. Tonic - Herbs that strengthen or tonify an organ or system in the body. Ayurveda - The traditional Hindu system of health and medicine, based on maintaining balance among the five elements earth, air, fire, water, and ether.  The word Ayurveda is derived from the Sanskrit words “ayur,” meaning life, and "veda,” meaning knowledge. Holy Basil (Tulsi) - Referred to as "The Elixir of Life", Holy Basil is a Ayurvedic herb famous for its ability to promote positive mood and relaxation.  It's and adaptogen associated with adrenal health, respiratory tract function, and celebrated for its ability to help the body cope with stress and inflammation.  It has a clove like aroma and makes a tasty herbal infusion. It's one of our favorite sipping herbs at the Power Plant podcast. Vana - known for its aromatic fragrance, Vana Tulsi is a powerful plant with green leaves and stem and white flowers. It’s been used for centuries and can be found in the Himalayas as well as India, Asia and Africa. Rama- Know for is sweet aroma and great taste, Rama Tulsi has been used for centuries to promote a calm, alert mind, promote relaxation, and to support strength and stamina. Krishna - known to be the most "medicinal" of the Tulsi family, Krishna Tulsi has an aromatic, sweet, and clove-like flavor. It is named after the blue skinned God, Krishna, because is dark purple leaves resemble the color of the widely revered Hindu God.   Adaptogenic Herbs that help combat stress and boost energy: Ashwagandha - A key herb in Ayurveda, the traditional medical system of India, that is known as a Rasayana or herb that gives strength. It is one of the most popular adaptogens on Earth because of its ability to safely improve the bodies resistance to stress, restore youthful energy, combat inflammation, and balance the stress hormone, Cortisol. Ginseng (American, Chinese, Korean) - There are 3 popular types of Ginseng used around the world; Chinese, Korean, and American. Chinese Ginseng (Ren Shen) is considered the "king of herbs" in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is celebrated as THE premier tonic herb. Ginseng's active compounds, referred to as ginsenosides, are known to restore qi (pronounced "chi") or energy levels and to support a calm, alert mind. Korean Ginseng has similar properties, of course the Koreans report that Korean Ginseng is more potent than Chinese Ginseng. American Ginseng, known as the ‘Yin Ginseng’, has similar ginsenosides to its Chinese and Korean counterparts, although is traditionally viewed as a gentler tonic better suited to people with excess metabolic heat, including but not specific to menopausal women.  It can also help promote a relaxed, calm attitude among those prone to stress and overwork. Rhodiola Rosea - A favorite among athletes and herbal practitioners, Rhodiola has a reputation as one of the world’s greatest mood and energy tonics. It's unique array of phytochemicals have been researched for their ability to regulate key neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. Rhodiola Rosea is a versatile herb that can help you manage stress, boost your mood, restore your energy, and invigorate your workout. Tongkat Ali - Decoctions of Tongkat ali roots have been utilized for centuries in Malaysia and Southeast Asia to support energy levels and mood. In modern times body builders and athletes love it for its ability to promote lean muscle mass. Although commonly taken by men, Tongkat ali can also support women’s libido, mood, and energy.   Nervine Herbs that promote GABA:   GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) - the main inhibitory or calming neurotransmitter in the brain, GABA influences our mood by reducing high levels of the hormones adrenalin, noradrenalin and dopamine. It also affects the neurotransmitter serotonin. Having sufficient GABA in our brain is linked to being relaxed and happy, while having too little GABA is associated with sleep problems, and feeling anxious, stressed, and depressed. Lemon Balm - a member of the mint family, this calming herb has been used in Europe, the Mediterranean, Northern Africa, and India for thousands of years because of its myriad benefits. The rosemarinic acids present in Lemon Balm are believed to boost levels of GABA, a calming neurotransmitter, in the brain. Chamomile - One of the most famous nervine herbs used to calm the nerves and to promote restful sleep. Passion Flower - A calming nervine that help relax the nervous system, relieving tension and restlessness and promoting restful sleep. It's also a common ingredient in herbal aphrodisiacs.  Magnolia - A calming nervine popular for keeping the stress hormone, cortisol, in check. In addition, Magnolia also promotes GABA making it a choice sleep aid as well. Valerian (Sedative) - Valerian is a potent nervine and a strong sedative. It is commonly used in herbal sleep remedies and formulas used to relieve tight muscles. There are some people that find Valerian to do just the opposite and act as a stimulant and cause paranoia. Passionflower – A nervine herb native to southeastern parts of the Americas, Passionflower is now grown throughout Europe and in the United States as well. It has been treasured historically for its' ability to allay anxiety, insomnia, seizures, and hysteria. It has also been used. It is believed that Passionflower works by increasing GABA levels. Other useful Nervine Herbs: Oatstraw – Although it is not a sedative, Oatstraw is a nervine tonic that is generally beneficial to the nervous system. It has also been used to gently restore vigor libido and acts as a restorative to the Adrenal glands. The amazing plant can get you through a stressful day or help you get a good night's rest. Lavender – A herb that's calming to the mind and uplifts the spirit. It's commonly used in Aromatherapy and is used in calming herbal infusions to relieve anxiety and promote restfulness. Some people refer to Lavender as "herbal valium".   Herbs that boost immune function and keep you feeling good in the long run: Astragalus Root – Adaptogenic herb made famous in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) that helps boost white blood cell count and helps to normalize immune function. In TCM it is also celebrated as a powerful energy tonic.  Lemon Balm - a member of the mint family, Lemon Balm is native to Southern Europe and India. It is classically used to calm the nerves, relieve anxiety, and to boost immune function. It's also used to treat cold sores, herpes, and shingles. Medicinal Mushrooms (Ex. Reishi, Corcyceps, Agaricus, Turkey Tail, etc) - Powerful adaptogenic mushrooms that boost white blood cell count and help normalize immune function. Don't get these mushrooms confused with the common variety store bought mushrooms. Button mushrooms and other hybridized mushrooms do not have medicinal value and could be toxic in some cases if not prepared properly. Adaptogens - in regards to long run immune health, Adaptogens work by normalizing the immune system. If the immune system is underperforming it strengthens it, but if it's over performing it normalizes it.   Herbs that help you feel better when your sick:   Oregano Oil - herb used to remedy the common cold, flu, and bronchitis. It's a versatile plant also used for ear aches, intestinal parasites, allergies and sinus pain. We at Power Plant prefer Wild Mediterranean Oregano in most situations. Echinacea Purpurea and Echinacea Angustifolia - an herb native to areas east of the Rocky Mountains, different species of Echinacea are used to fight the common cold, the flu, and other upper respiratory infections. Andrographis - plant native to Southern Asian frequently used for preventing and treating the common cold and flu. Thieves Oil - Legend has it that during the times of the Bubonic Plague that thieves went from house to house to rob those who had died for Plague. A special blend of oils to protect themselves from getting this deadly disease. The powerful blend of oils they used is known as Thieves Oil and continues to be used in modern times to support immune function.   Holy Basil Oatstraw Infusion recipe: Makes 32 oz. of tea   Ingredients: 1 Oz dried Holy Basil (Krishna, Vana, and Rama Blend) 1 Oz Oatsraw Pinch of Damiana Pinch of Passionflower Pinch of ground Vanilla bean Pinch of clove buds to enhance flavor   Instructions: Separate the Damiana and Passionflower into a separate teabag. Combine the rest of the herbs together and place them and the Damiana, Passionflower teabag into a quart sized ball jar. Pour boiling water over the herbs, and tighten the lid. Steep for 20 minutes, then pull the Damiana, Passionflower teabag out. Tighten the lid back down and steep the Holy Basil, Oatstraw, Clove Buds, and Vanilla Bean for an additional 6 hours. This is done to extract the valuable minerals out of the Oatstraw and to maximize taste! Chill and Enjoy!

Can the question of God's existence be settled by scientific evidence? If so, Who or What is the “God” the new science is rediscovering? Is it a Christian God, a Hindu God, a Muslim God, a Judaic God? Or none of them at all? In this episode, I interview Theoretical Physicist Dr. Amit Goswami. He's a pioneer of the new paradigm of science called “science within consciousness," and has appeared in the movies What the Bleep do we know!?, Dalai Lama Renaissance, as well as the award winning documentary, The Quantum Activist. A prolific writer, teacher, and visionary, Dr. Goswami is the author of several books such as The Self-Aware Universe, Physics of the Soul, The Quantum Doctor, God is Not Dead, and Quantum Economics IN THIS EPISODE, AMIT ANSWERS THE FOLLOWING: • Who or What is God? • Can the question of God's existence be settled by scientific evidence? • Is the new science rediscovering a Christian God, a Hindu God, a Muslim God, a Judaic God? • Is God personal? Can we talk to God and have a personal relationship with God? • What is reality? Don't we live in a material world, as many skeptics claim? • What is quantum non-locality? And how is it evidence for God? • Doesn't evolution demonstrate that there's no need for a Creator or an Intelligent Designer? • Why are you critical of biblical Creationism and the Intelligent Design movement. • How does the fossil data support the idea of God's existence? • How do you deal with the materialist scientist, the Western philosopher, and the Christian theologian? • How do we know God isn't just some brain phenomenon? • Doesn't quantum physics only apply to the micro and not the macro world? • What is consciousness? And what role does it play in our observation of things? • What phenomena cannot be explained away by material causes alone? • What are some of the questions materialists can't answer? • Is love a divine quality? Don't atheists and agnostics know how to love without God? • Isn't it still possible to have meaning without God as some materialists claim? • Are we separate from God? • Are we God? If so, why do we have such a hard time manifesting godly qualities? • Why did God create and evolve life? • If God exists, is there life after death? SUPPORT THIS PODCAST TO HELP KEEP IT RUNNING! • Please Support This Podcast by Making a Donation (any amount helps!) LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE • amitgoswami.org • quantumactivist.com • Amit's  book God Is Not Dead • Amit's  book Physics of the Soul • Amit on Facebook • Amit on Twitter

Introduction Turn in your Bibles to Matthew Chapter 9. We're looking this morning at Verses 35 through 38, the compassion of the Lord of the harvest. I remember I can still see in my mind's eye a harvest so plentiful that I wondered, being a city boy, how they were ever going to take it in. I used to drive from Louisville up to Grand Rapids, Michigan, through the corn fields of Indiana. I remember one farm so huge that it just stretched until the Earth curved, the corn was getting ripe, and it was almost time for the harvest. I remember commenting to the friend that I was driving up with, "How are they going to take it all in?" He said, “They have big combine machines.” I said, "What's that?" He said, "You've never seen one? They just kind of churn through and they're able to just harvest in an incredible way." I was overwhelmed that day. I was amazed and I was thinking, "How are they going to take in this harvest, how can it be done?" I think the same thing is true if you ever go to one of those huge wheat farms out in Kansas or in other places, you just see it as far as the Earth goes. The harvest is plentiful. How are they going to take it in? But I had the same feeling another day and it was on a mission trip when I was in the far, far western part of China in a city called Kashgar. It's an ancient city. It's right on the Silk Road where Marco Polo went. It developed and thrived in that time, but it seems literally in the middle of nowhere. You have to travel three days by bus on one of the most dangerous bus rides I've ever taken in my life. We were driving along a ravine and I looked down and saw a bus just like the one I was on at the bottom of the ravine 500 feet down. It wasn't even rusty yet. And there was the driver chugging along, sometimes falling asleep a little bit, and well, we prayed a lot and we were trusting God to get us there. We finally got to Kashgar. They told us that the bazaar was coming up. It was a monthly thing, and people would come from miles around to the big bazaar. We were excited. It was on a Sunday, and we went by donkey cart. We went and there were a couple hundred people at this bazaar. I said, "This is not that impressive." The driver said, "No, this isn't THE bazaar. You have to go downtown to the center of the city." Well, we went there and then we saw what they were talking about. Probably tens of thousands of Uyghur people. There are Chinese Muslims that were there, so many people that I was immediately overwhelmed. I felt like I was in a sea of humanity. I was overwhelmed first of all with feeling like I was a drop in an endless sea of humanity, and I thought, "How can it be true what David wrote in Psalm 139, “Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from a far.” How can that be true of all of us? How can you know us that well?" It boggled my mind and made me feel sick to my stomach. I thought to myself, "More than that, we are here as pseudo-missionaries, not real missionaries.” We were only there for a week. We couldn't really speak the language. We knew that the Uyghur people did not really know Jesus. They knew of a Jesus in the Muslim accounts, but they didn't know the Jesus who really is the creator of the ends of the earth, the savior of the world. They didn't know him, and they were lost. I stood there feeling overwhelmed, and I said, "How can you do it?" I guess, to some degree, I want to put that feeling inside you today. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask, beseech the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” We're supposed to feel amazed. We're supposed to feel overwhelmed, and then we're supposed to get on our knees, on our faces before God, and ask him to do something about it. The Comprehensive Ministry of Jesus First, we have to have a glimpse into the heart of the king of the kingdom of Heaven, Jesus Christ, because it all begins with compassion, doesn't it? Jesus has compassion. He looks out, he sees them in a way that no one else can. For me personally, it all begins with having the compassion of Jesus, and we only get it as we read in the scripture. We see in verse 35 of Matthew an assessment of Jesus' comprehensive ministry. It says that Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom of Heaven and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. Jesus is there ministering and it’s a comprehensive ministry that he's doing. We've been seeing in Matthew's gospel how Matthew has been giving us the credentials of Jesus Christ as the king of the kingdom of Heaven, that Jesus is fit to be king of the kingdom of Heaven. We've seen that in one of those summary statements after all the miracles that he's been showing us in Matthew 8 and in Matthew 9— the healing of the centurion's servant, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law from a fever, the stilling of the storm, the healing of the demoniac of the Gadarenes, so powerful he could break chains, iron chains, a legion of demons inside him, 5,000, 6,000 demons, and Jesus cast them out with a single word. We've seen the power of Jesus Christ, we've seen his compassion. After giving us all this evidence, he sums it up here in Verse 35, giving a glimpse of Christ's comprehensive ministry. Jesus did everything that the heavenly father wanted him to do. Isn't that incredible? Have you ever had a day in which you finished and you laid your head on your pillow, and you could say to the heavenly Father, "Father, I did everything you wanted me to do today. I didn't leave anything out. All of the work that you had for me to do today, I did it." Can you think of one day in which you could have said that honestly to God? Jesus lived his whole life that way. So at the end of his life, in John 17:4, he prays to his heavenly father, saying, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." Isn't that amazing? Not just a day, not a month, not a year, but a whole lifetime of works. And Jesus did them all perfectly. Comprehensive in Scope His ministry was comprehensive in scope in that he went to every town. Jesus was not sent into the entire world at that point, understand this. His ministry was focused. It was concentrated on the Jews, the people of Israel. He says in Matthew 15, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." He has a very concentrated focus. He knows he's not sent to the Gentiles at this point, but within His call, he was comprehensive. He went to every town. He went to every village. Verse 35 in the Greek, "he was continually traveling about, going from town to town.” He had an itinerating ministry. He didn't stay in one place. As a matter of fact, as I read through the gospel accounts, especially Matthew, Mark and Luke, I only find one time that people come to Jesus with a need and he chooses not to meet it, and that was a time that he began in his preaching ministry in Luke Chapter 4. Jesus goes out into a solitary place. The people in that town are looking for him and they come and say, "Come back in our town and stay here and preach." They wanted him as their private prophet, I guess. Jesus said, "I can't. I was sent by God to preach to every town and village and that's what I must do." And so he left that area and went to the next town. A comprehensive ministry, he was reaching out. Comprehensive in Content It was comprehensive also in content. What did he do as he went from place to place? He was teaching and he was preaching the kingdom of Heaven. We undervalue teaching and preaching today. There are certain types of churches that are getting away from preaching. They're getting away from teaching, it's too authoritative. People instead want entertainment, they want skits, they want videos, they want other things. Jesus did not undervalue teaching and preaching, not at all. As a matter of fact, in a parallel account in Mark's gospel, he landed at one point and saw a huge crowd. Let me read so that you see the parallel here. In Mark 6:34, "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began teaching them many things." Do you see the significance of that? Jesus's compassion flowed out through his teaching ministry. That's how he showed his compassion is by teaching them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, they needed teaching. What was the next thing he did in Mark's gospel? He fed the 5,000. Do you see the priority structure in Jesus? Give them the teaching first, the eating will wait. He taught them and then he fed them. We see the comprehensive teaching ministry of Jesus. Now, what was the focus? What was the content? It was the kingdom of Heaven. It was a comprehensive topic. What does this mean, the kingdom of Heaven? It's the place where God rules over willing subjects. The place where God rules over people who are delighted to have God rule over them. God is sovereign over the whole surface of the Earth, is he not? The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Everything belongs to him. But the kingdom of Heaven advances when people willingly, gladly turn and put their lives and subjection to his rule. That's the advancement of the kingdom of Heaven. And so it's the place wherever God rules over people who are glad that he's ruling over them. Are you glad today that Jesus is your king? If you are, you're a Christian. You're delighted that you have such a king as Jesus Christ. You want to hear more about him, you want to find out more about his attributes and his nature, because he is the absolute perfect king for the kingdom of Heaven, and you're part of it. Everywhere Jesus went, he preached the kingdom from the beginning. In Matthew 4:17, from that time on, it says Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near." Then in Matthew 4:23, Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom. He begins the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit or the spiritual beggars for," for what? "Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." He's preaching the kingdom. He warned at one point about the Pharisees. He said in Matthew 5:20, "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of law, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of Heaven." So the kingdom of Heaven is something you enter into. He said to people who are tempted to be anxious about what they eat and what they wear, he said, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all of these things will be added to you as well." The kingdom of Heaven was the focus of Jesus' teaching ministry. Later on in Matthew, in chapter 13, he's going to preach a number of parables and all of them are focused on the kingdom, aren't they? The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and then hid it again, and then in his joy went out and sold everything he had and bought that field. The kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl of great value. When a man found it, he sold everything he had and bought that pearl. All of these things were designed to teach us about the kingdom. It was the center of the content of his teaching. As he went about from place to place in Judea, he was preaching in all their synagogues, one place after another, the kingdom. Comprehensive preaching ministry. Comprehensive in Healing Power But it was also a comprehensive ministry in terms of healing power. Matthew tells us he was healing every disease and every sickness among the people. Not only did he teach them powerfully, but he did powerful acts, powerful miracles, the very likes of which nobody had ever seen before. The power of Jesus Christ. He just touches their blind eyes and instantly they can see. How many of you are worried about the West Nile virus? The Center for Disease Control will tell us all kinds of diseases that are incurable. Nobody knows what to do about AIDS, nobody knows what to do about Ebola or mad cow disease which people can get. And they don't know how to cure them. Jesus could cure anything, every disease, every sickness, there was never a disease he met that he couldn't cure. He could just touch an AIDS victim right now, just touch them and they're instantly cured. There was no limit to his healing power. It was comprehensive. He stresses it. Look at it again in verse 35, "Healing every disease, healing every sickness." There was nothing he could not do. The comprehensive ministry of Jesus Christ. And so we have a summary, a life of kingly power in word and deed. Comprehensive in Compassion In the world kings are known for their power, but our king is known for more than just power, is he not? He's known also for compassion, and to that Matthew now turns. It's a very interesting shift we get, because this is the end of a concentrated account of Jesus' teaching and preaching ministry. Later we're going to see how Jesus begins to involve his disciples in his worldwide work. The advance of the kingdom of Heaven is going to be done through other people. We are called on to advance his kingdom. He's going to involve them, first in the prayer ministry, and then he's going to send out twelve men in Matthew 10 to do ministry in his name. Jesus begins it all, though, with a compassionate vision. Look at verse 36: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” It all began with a specific vision that only Jesus had, an ability to look right down into your heart and see what your real needs are. He could look at a person and see things that no one else could see. In John Chapter 1 when Nathaniel comes to Jesus and Jesus says of him, "Now, Nathaniel, here is a true Israelite in whom there's no guile. He's not a con artist, he is what he appears to be.” "That's very interesting, Jesus. How do you know me?" "Well, when Philip called you under the fig tree, I looked at you. I looked at you and I knew you completely. I know your heart just by looking. In John chapter 2, it says, "Many people were acclaiming Jesus.” They were saying they believe in Jesus, but Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about what was in man, because he himself knew what was in their hearts. He knew who they were. He had a specialized vision, and when he looked out over that crowd, he saw things no one else could see. He looked with a compassionate vision. He looked at their souls, and he was torn up inside over it. John MacArthur says, "The divine eyes of Jesus saw infinitely greater need in their lives, a need that far surpassed a withered arm or a bleeding body, a possessed mind, blind eyes or deaf ears, far greater than that. He sympathized with their physical pains too and would have been deeply moved had that been their only afflictions, but in seeing the multitudes, Jesus saw the deepness and pervasiveness of their sin and the desperate plight of their spiritual blindness and lostness, and consequently he felt compassion for them as only God can feel. He cared for them because he was God incarnate, and it is God's nature to love because God is love." That's the compassionate vision of Jesus Christ. He could see things that no one else could see. It says he was literally moved with compassion. In the Hebrew mindset, the heart is the seat of the logic, it's the seat of the will, the seat of the choosing. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is. It was the bowels that were the seat of emotion and passion. We get an indication of that in the Greek, that Jesus was moved in his gut, as it were. He had a gut reaction, a feeling inside of compassion. It moved him physically. He was hurting for them. The ancient Greeks had their gods just up in Olympus, Mount Olympus, and they prized something about them which was their “apathea”, their inability to be moved by what was going on on Earth. They were just so far separate from mortals, they were up in the heavenlies. We get the word “apathetic” from this. The Greek gods were apathetic. They didn't feel anything. Hindu God's the same way, no compassion. Buddhism teaches that we have to get away from suffering and pain and so there's no desire whatsoever for compassion. Islam says that Allah is compassionate, but the trail of blood that Islam has left through history belies the fact. The fact of the matter is, however, our God is gracious and compassionate, is he not? He's a compassionate being. God said to Moses, "I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I'm concerned about them, about their slavery and their suffering. So I'm going to send you to get them out." What does he say to the Prophet Jonah about the Ninevites? "Nineveh has over 120,000 men who cannot tell their right hand from their left and women and children, and a great many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” Compassionate for the Jews, compassionate also for the Gentiles. So it is that when Jesus came as a perfect reflection of his father that he would demonstrate compassion as well. Christ stood over Jerusalem and wept. He wept in front of Martha and Mary at the death of their brother Lazarus. He was a compassionate being. He felt deeply. For that reason, I think Jesus was constantly touching people. He was touching their blind eyes, he was touching their withered hands, or their leprous flesh. He was touching them because he was compassionate. He was moved. He wanted to interact with them, that's the way he was, but what moves him here? It's the sheep's condition. Look at verse 36. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” People, in the Bible at least, are like sheep. Does that offend you? Does that hurt your self-esteem that God thinks of you like sheep? We were at a conference this week and one of the speakers said that sheep have 2D problem, they're dumb and they're defenseless. I would add a third, they are delicious. So you've got a threefold problem. They're very, very ready and fit for the prey right. The wolves are surrounding them and they're ready to devour them.There's nothing they can do about it, and meanwhile they're just following their nose to the next tuft of grass, just the next thing. They get themselves tangled up in briers or surrounded by packs of dogs or wolves and there's nothing that they can do, they're dumb and they're defenseless, and they're delicious. In this way, they need a shepherd. We are like sheep, are we not? God says so. David struck this theme again and again in his Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd.” What does that make you? It makes you a sheep. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” That's the Shepherd that we have, or Psalm 100:3-4 "Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Isaiah takes it to another level. He speaks about our sin in Isaiah 53, “All we like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned his own way and the Lord has laid on him, Christ, the iniquity of us all.” When Jesus died on the cross, when he was there, suffering and dying, when his blood was flowing out and when he was under the wrath of God, it was because we're like sheep going astray through our sinfulness and wickedness. Jesus took our wrath, our punishment on himself because of our sheep-like nature. If we're sheep that means we need shepherds. God provided that there would be under-shepherds; Israel's kings were called to be Shepherds. David shepherded God's people it says in one scripture. And so also the Levites, the priests were meant to shepherd the people through their hearts to a teaching of the Word of God. The problem was, for the most part, the shepherds of Israel failed them. The kings were wicked. The Levites and the priests were ignorant and wicked and selfish so the people were very frequently like sheep without a shepherd. Israel's shepherds were judged for how they shepherded the flock. In Ezekiel 34, "The word of the Lord came to me, son of Man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says, "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves.”’” This was a consistent repeated theme in Israel's history. God's response through the prophets was, "I'm going to raise up somebody to shepherd them in integrity of heart and it's going to be a son of David, David will shepherd them." Micah 5:2 says, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah though, you are least among the rulers of Israel out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Who is that? That's Jesus Christ, the son of David. In Jeremiah 23 Jeremiah says the same thing. "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture, declares the Lord," he says, "The days are coming when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, a King who will reign wisely and do it as just and right in the land and in his days, Judah be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which that Shepherd, will be called, the Lord our Righteousness." Jesus came to be a shepherd to people who had no shepherd, they were harassed and they were helpless. The NAS translation is very strong about this, "distressed and downcast”. The word “harassed” means flayed, like their flesh is being ripped apart. Imagine, if you would, briers that are long and dig into the sides of the sheep. If they move in any direction, it tears their skin, it tears their flesh. That's the picture that Jesus has. These are sheep that are tormented. They're tormented politically. The Romans dominate them and see them only as silent slaves to row in their galleys, perhaps, and as sources of tax money. They were tormented physically by disease and death over which they had no power. They were tormented religiously by people like the House of Annas. He was more like a mafia leader with his hands financially in every pot, and all of it was for his own wealth. That's why Jesus twice cleansed the temple, because the temple had been made into a den of robbers. They had no shepherd, they were tormented spiritually. If you could have seen in the spiritual realm, this large group of people had a demonic host around them like flies. They were harassed by demonic forces of evil, by Satan himself, harassed and helpless. More than anything, though, what was the greatest danger? It was the wrath of God. They were under the wrath of God for their sins. There was a record of each of their lives, so accurate and so careful, that nothing was missed, as as long as your arm and 50 times longer of each act of sin, each thought, each word. They stood under the wrath of God, and there was nothing that they could do. They were harassed and they were helpless, defenseless against the coming wrath. The apostle Paul puts it this way, in Ephesians 2, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts, and like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. Do you know what that means? As an object of wrath, you're designed for destruction. Like a lightning rod ready to be struck by the wrath of God, harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Two Harvests Jesus had that vision of their condition, but he didn't leave it there. He was moved by compassion and he spoke to his disciples in verse 37. By the way, I feel he's speaking today, isn't he? If you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, he's talking to you today. What is he saying? "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Realize Christ's strategy. He's not going to just come and die on the cross and be raised from the dead. A gospel is going to be preached, the gospel of the kingdom of God. Jesus says, in Matthew 24:14, "To every tribe and language and people and nation. And then the end will come." He turns very strategically in verse 37 to his disciples and says to them, "The harvest is plentiful." Do you see this key moment? It's not just me[Jesus]. When Isaiah says, "I've trodden the wine press alone." There were some things only Jesus could do, but in this matter, the matter of the ministry of reconciliation, he turns to his disciples and involves them. "The harvest is plentiful,” he says to them, “but the workers are few." From the very beginning, that's why he called them. In Matthew 4:19, walking by the sea, he sees Peter and John and James, and Andrew working by the sea, and he says, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Right from the beginning, this was his strategy and his intention. The Harvest of Wrath What does he mean when he says, "The harvest is indeed truly plentiful." What does he mean by that? There's two different themes in the scriptures about the harvest. One of them is the harvest of wrath and of judgment. In Joel 3:13-14, it says, "Swing the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come trample the grapes, for the wine press is full and the vats overflow, so great is their wickedness. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the Day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision." There is going to be a harvest of judgment in which God will visit on all the wicked, their sins. So also when John the Baptist is preaching about Jesus in Matthew 3:12, speaking of Christ and he says, "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering up the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with unquench-able fire," — the harvest of wrath. The Harvest of Souls I don't think that that's what's in Christ's mind at this particular moment. The scripture speaks of another harvest, a harvest of souls for eternal life. Do you remember the account when he is witnessing to the Samaritan woman at the well? Jesus has sent his disciples on mission. Their particular view point of the mission is, "We need to go into that filthy Samaritan village and buy some food fit for us to eat." That was their view of the mission. For them as Jews to go into the village and buy some food. They come back and said essentially, ”We got the food. Let's eat." This is a paraphrase, it's not really in the NIV translation but that's about what happened.”Master have something to eat," and he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." I could almost stick in the word, "I have food to eat that you apparently know nothing about." Why could I stick the word “apparently”, in there? Because of how they behaved. What do they come back from that village with? What did they bring back from that village? Food. What else? Nothing, they bought nothing back. The Samaritan woman goes into the village and what did she bring back? The whole town to come listen to Jesus. He said, "I have food to eat, you know nothing about.” "Could someone have brought him food," they thought. "Maybe he's got a food source. But then why did he send us then to that village to buy it?" “My food”, said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work. Do you not say four months more, and then comes to harvest? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields they are ripe for harvest.” What harvest is Jesus talking about there? Some people think that the village was coming out at that point and he points to them and he says, "Look at them, they're ready, they're ready." And they were ready, they came to faith in Christ when Jesus preached to them. There are thousands and thousands of people coming to Christ every single day. Some people estimate as many as 30,000 a day, 2,300 every hour coming to faith in Christ. Nobody really knows, 20 million a year, 40,000, a day, who can really say, but there's a vast harvest out there of people who will respond to the gospel, if somebody will just proclaim it to them. It's prophecy. Revelation 7: 9-10, "After this, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were crying out. Salvation belongs to the Lamb and all the glory of Jesus for salvation." That's what they're doing, they're standing around. How do they come to faith in Christ? In Romans chapter 10, "They cannot come unless they call in the name of the Lord, unless they say, ‘Lord save me.’” Who is the Lord? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So unless somebody goes and preaches to them, they can't be saved. That's the whole logic of Romans 10:14-15. "How can they call on the one of whom they've never heard and how can they hear unless somebody goes and preaches to them, and how can they preach unless they are sent." As the Scriptures says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news." The harvest is plentiful, but we have a problem. The workers are few. I saw a movie one time called “Places in the Heart” with Sally Field. It was a story of a woman who lost her husband and in order to try to survive during the Depression, she decides to plant a huge crop of cotton. Things are incredibly tight, and basically the only way she can save her farm is if she somehow manages to get the first bale of cotton to the gin before anybody else. Finally, the harvest time has come. She's there with her two little kids, a blind guy, and one worker. They're working steadily picking the cotton and putting in the bag, and then the camera just starts to pan back further and further, higher and higher and higher. There's this sea of white and by the time the shot is done, you can't see them anymore. That's what I think of when I think of this passage. There are some people out there, working for the Lord, but the work is so overpowering, so overwhelming, so great that they'll never get it done by themselves. The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the workers are few. At present the International Mission Board has 5,400 missionaries. What's exciting is over a thousand of them have been appointed in the last year. That's amazing, and so more and more people are coming but understand this, that 5,400 represents 0.03% of the total number of Southern Baptists in this country. That doesn't mean three out of every 100 or three out of every 1,000. It means three out of every 10,000 is a missionary supported by our churches. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. What does Jesus tell us to do? Verse 38 says, "Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into the harvest field." This is amazing. Christ first command, isn't, "We got to get going. You need to move.” There's a sense of urgency, a sense of desperation. “Don't you see that crowd out there? Don't you see those people. They're lost, they're dying, you better go.” That's not the first thing he tells them to do. What is the first thing he tells them to do? “Pray. Ask the Lord of the harvest, get down on your knees and why, because your praying is far more effective than your going. It is true, you will accomplish more on your knees, than going.” But,of course, they must go. Later we see that Jesus sends them out. But he says, "First we need to pray.” We Americans are so in love with our plans and our schemes, and our strategies and our promotions and our videos and all kinds of things. That is not what is going to get it done. So get down on your face and ask the Lord of the harvest to, “Thrust out, eject, evict workers into the harvest field.” Some people have to be ripped from their lives and sent out into the harvest field. I don't know what it's like, maybe it's like a harvest for yourself, where you're hanging on to them, you get pulled out and sent into the harvest field, he says, "Get on your face and begin asking the Lord of the harvest." Who's the Lord of the harvest? Did not God the Father send his son into the world? Yet, at the same time, Jesus said, in John 20, "As the Father has sent me even so what? I am sending you." So it could it be that Jesus at this present time is the Lord of the harvest. So we pray to the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, and we ask that he would send out laborers into the harvest field. Application Now what application can we take for this text? First of all, it would be wrong for me to read over this text and assume that every single person listening to me has trusted in Christ, all the things that I said about you, if you're not a Christian, you're under the wrath of God, you're a vessel of wrath and you must trust in Christ. Could it be that you are right now actually part of the harvest, that you've never given your life to Jesus Christ? You can't let today go by without trusting in Jesus. I heard it said recently that in every pew, there is a broken heart. Who's got the broken heart? I don't really know if it’s true but I tell you this, Jesus is compassionate. He is able to see your heart, he's able to look to whatever it is you're facing, whatever issue and he's able to minister to it, There is nothing that he cannot do, so I would urge you to come to the Lord of the harvest first for healing for a broken heart or for whatever issues you're facing. But now, I want you to get your eyes up off yourself. So much of the grief we face is because we're not in God's will, we're not living the way God wants us to live. Is it not clear from this text that God is calling us as a people? Calling this church, First Baptist Church, to be involved in the harvest that he's involved in? I've given you five steps. God has brought this church through a lot of things in last two years. I think it's all been about unity for the purpose of the harvest. As I think about it, it's been about unity for the purpose of a great harvest, a harvest so great that a divided church that isn't quite sure what to do with the word of God cannot do it. It's not about this or that or the other issue, it's about this harvest, isn't it? I want to challenge you to think again about your own life. I want you to think about your own contribution to the advancing Kingdom of Heaven. I want you to realize that God desires that each one of his disciples be involved in his harvest. What is your ministry to the harvest? How are you involved personally? What are you doing? It’s easy to stand up and say applications is always the same, missions. You don't even need to think about it, it is always the same application. Pray, give and go, right? Always the same. No, it's more complex than that now. We need the whole body of Christ, using all of their spiritual gifts in order to accomplish all the mission that God has for us to do. He's given us a comprehensive ministry as well. He's called us to minister to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. I believe that's a paradigm for how every local church should see its contribution to the advancing Kingdom of Heaven. What is our Jerusalem? We've got work to do right in this area. It could be that some of the broken hearts are because we're off of God's plan and we're not using our time and our energy and our money for what God would have us to do. Come and you give your strength and your gifts and your time to the Lord and you'll never regret it. You're on a winning team, it's in prophecy, you're going to win. If you come and help Jesus build his kingdom, every tribe and language and people and nation will most certainly trust and believe. What are you doing? Are you using your gifts? This church is like a grist mill by a river, and as the water runs by and turns that big wheel and it turns the other cranks, then wheat is ground into flour.The more water runs by, the more we can grind. If it's a drought, that wheel doesn't turn very fast, does it? And when we don't grind much wheat, we can't do many ministry projects, we can't do much. We need more water to flow by. So if we're going to keep the analogy going, I feel like that there's a bunch of blocks of ice further up and they need to thaw under the heat of the conviction of God. Then there's going to be water flowing down by that factory and it's going to and we'll be able to minister to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest field. Could it be that some of you sitting in these pews right now, right today, are called by God to go as a cross-cultural missionary to an unreached people group. Don't excuse yourself too quickly, because we actually had a family go out right in mid-career, bringing four young kids to go to an unreached people group. Right in the middle of a career. It can be done. Could be the college students who come thinking, "I'm going to do this or that," but God is calling him or her to a cross-cultural mission. Could it be that senior adults that have reached the point where they have more freedom than they’ve ever had in their lives before. God is calling you to be a cross-cultural worker, perhaps to support a missionary, or maybe even to go in a way that you could never have even imagined. Could it be that God is calling you to be part of the harvest? Might you say to God, "Lord, I feel that I've been like that block of ice, I have not used my gifts, my talents, my money, as would glorify your kingdom. I've not been sold out for you the way I want to." Pay for the harvest and for your role in harvesting.