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After another summer in the books covering all things Big Brother 27, Sharon Tharp is back in the Diary Room with us! We talk through some future-of-Big Brother speculation and pull another six names, covering all eras of BBUS! Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Frank and Jane are in love, and so is the rest of the world.
In this month's Fix It or Free It Challenge update, we focus on shoes. The pairs we swear we'll fix but never do. We explore what happens when we realize we're holding onto things that no longer fit our lifestyle, comfort, or identity. This episode dives into the psychology of decision fatigue and identity clutter, showing how letting go can be just as powerful as repairing.Whether you're decluttering your own “to-fix” pile or following along with the challenge, this episode offers a thoughtful reminder: fixing brings satisfaction, but freeing something can bring peace.In this Episode, We Talk About:How to decide whether to fix, donate, or let go of an item you've been hanging onto. The psychological side of clutter, including identity clutter and decision fatigue. Why letting go of something you thought you'd fix can be an act of self-awareness, not failure.Mentioned in this Episode:Fix It or Free It Challenge 2025: monthly mindful decluttering series Previous projects: workbag straps, Halloween figurines, jewelry, backpack repair Follow and share your updates with us on Instagram @theorganizedflamingoJanuary: Replaced workbag strapsFebruary: Turned a dress into a skirtMarch: Decluttered the fix-it drawerApril: Fixed office cart wheelMay: Repaired two necklaces, donated the restJune: Added anti-slip pads to heels, freed an old pairJuly: Sewed hiking backpack pocketAugust: Let go of uncomfortable headphonesSeptember: Fixed or released Halloween figurinesOctober: Let go of two pairs of shoes I no longer loveReview full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Description: Today's guest is someone whose work has touched millions of hearts around the world. You probably fell in love with her through her luminous debut memoir ‘From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home', which was later adapted into a limited series on Netflix and became a global success. Tembi Locke has held many roles: accomplished author, producer, screenwriter, actor, artist, caregiver, child of divorce, mother through adoption, and widow to cancer. It is through her experiences in all of these spaces that Tembi has honed her ability to write, speak, and live from that rare place where grief and grace meet—where we can hold loss and love in the same breath. Her newest work, Someday, Now, is an immersive, breathtaking, and deeply personal audio experience that takes us on a journey back to Sicily, a place layered with memory, love, and loss for Tembi, as she prepares to send her daughter off to college. Through reflection, family, and the beauty of place, Tembi invites us to consider what it means to re-nest—to reclaim identity, purpose, and joy in a season of profound transition. Whether you're launching a kid, starting over, or simply remembering how to listen to your own heart again, this episode will speak to you in this season. Thought-provoking Quotes: “Sometimes in sharing the hardest things, we actually feel less alone.” – Tembi Locke “Sicily is that place of myth and nectar for me. It's one of those places on the planet that is supercharged with the best of what nature has to offer: sun, wind, the sea. It's a beautiful place. It's the place I return to when there's something I don't quite understand and Sicily makes me have to listen to it.” – Tembi Locke “I think when you get to midlife, you need to settle into yourself, be more present with yourself in order to show up for the big moments of change that are happening. Try to anchor in and be as present as possible. Lean into the quiet spaces between the moments.” – Tembi Locke “How can we make space as families and really as mothers at this inflection point to quiet the noise and busyness of life? How can we slow down time, and really mark the moment and honor it?” – Tembi Locke Resources Mentioned in This Episode: From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke - https://amzn.to/47s3ZhN From Scratch on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/81104486 Attica Locke - https://www.atticalocke.com/ Someday, Now: A Memoir of Family, Reclaiming Possibility, and One Sicilian Summer by Tembi Locke - https://amzn.to/3LLKUyA Guest's Links: Website - https://www.tembilocke.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tembilocke/ Podcast - https://www.tembilocke.com/podcast Connect with Jen!Jen's Website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen's Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmakerJen's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen's Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmakerJen's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How are the federal courts faring during these tumultuous times? I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss this important subject with a former federal judge: someone who understands the judicial role well but could speak more freely than a sitting judge, liberated from the strictures of the bench.Meet Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.), who served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts from 1994 until 2011. I knew that Judge Gertner would be a lively and insightful interviewee—based not only on her extensive commentary on recent events, reflected in media interviews and op-eds, but on my personal experience. During law school, I took a year-long course on federal sentencing with her, and she was one of my favorite professors.When I was her student, we disagreed on a lot: I was severely conservative back then, and Judge Gertner was, well, not. But I always appreciated and enjoyed hearing her views—so it was a pleasure hearing them once again, some 25 years later, in what turned out to be an excellent conversation.Show Notes:* Nancy Gertner, author website* Nancy Gertner bio, Harvard Law School* In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, AmazonPrefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.Sponsored by:NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.Three quick notes about this transcript. First, it has been cleaned up from the audio in ways that don't alter substance—e.g., by deleting verbal filler or adding a word here or there to clarify meaning. Second, my interviewee has not reviewed this transcript, and any errors are mine. Third, because of length constraints, this newsletter may be truncated in email; to view the entire post, simply click on “View entire message” in your email app.David Lat: Welcome to the Original Jurisdiction podcast. I'm your host, David Lat, author of a Substack newsletter about law and the legal profession also named Original Jurisdiction, which you can read and subscribe to at davidlat.substack.com. You're listening to the eighty-fifth episode of this podcast, recorded on Monday, November 3.Thanks to this podcast's sponsor, NexFirm. NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com. Want to know who the guest will be for the next Original Jurisdiction podcast? Follow NexFirm on LinkedIn for a preview.Many of my guests have been friends of mine for a long time—and that's the case for today's. I've known Judge Nancy Gertner for more than 25 years, dating back to when I took a full-year course on federal sentencing from her and the late Professor Dan Freed at Yale Law School. She was a great teacher, and although we didn't always agree—she was a professor who let students have their own opinions—I always admired her intellect and appreciated her insights.Judge Gertner is herself a graduate of Yale Law School—where she met, among other future luminaries, Bill and Hillary Clinton. After a fascinating career in private practice as a litigator and trial lawyer handling an incredibly diverse array of cases, Judge Gertner was appointed to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts in 1994, by President Clinton. She retired from the bench in 2011, but she is definitely not retired: she writes opinion pieces for outlets such as The New York Times and The Boston Globe, litigates and consults on cases, and trains judges and litigators. She's also working on a book called Incomplete Sentences, telling the stories of the people she sentenced over 17 years on the bench. Her autobiography, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, was published in 2011. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Judge Nancy Gertner.Judge, thank you so much for joining me.Nancy Gertner: Thank you for inviting me. This is wonderful.DL: So it's funny: I've been wanting to have you on this podcast in a sense before it existed, because you and I worked on a podcast pilot. It ended up not getting picked up, but perhaps they have some regrets over that, because legal issues have just blown up since then.NG: I remember that. I think it was just a question of scheduling, and it was before Trump, so we were talking about much more sophisticated, superficial things, as opposed to the rule of law and the demise of the Constitution.DL: And we will get to those topics. But to start off my podcast in the traditional way, let's go back to the beginning. I believe we are both native New Yorkers?NG: Yes, that's right. I was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in an apartment that I think now is a tenement museum, and then we moved to Flushing, Queens, where I lived into my early 20s.DL: So it's interesting—I actually spent some time as a child in that area. What was your upbringing like? What did your parents do?NG: My father owned a linoleum store, or as we used to call it, “tile,” and my mother was a homemaker. My mother worked at home. We were lower class on the Lower East Side and maybe made it to lower-middle. My parents were very conservative, in the sense they didn't know exactly what to do with a girl who was a bit of a radical. Neither I nor my sister was precisely what they anticipated. So I got to Barnard for college only because my sister had a conniption fit when he wouldn't pay for college for her—she's my older sister—he was not about to pay for college. If we were boys, we would've had college paid for.In a sense, they skipped a generation. They were actually much more traditional than their peers were. My father was Orthodox when he grew up; my mother was somewhat Orthodox Jewish. My father couldn't speak English until the second grade. So they came from a very insular environment, and in one sense, he escaped that environment when he wanted to play ball on Saturdays. So that was actually the motivation for moving to Queens: to get away from the Lower East Side, where everyone would know that he wasn't in temple on Saturday. We used to have interesting discussions, where I'd say to him that my rebellion was a version of his: he didn't want to go to temple on Saturdays, and I was marching against the war. He didn't see the equivalence, but somehow I did.There's actually a funny story to tell about sort of exactly the distance between how I was raised and my life. After I graduated from Yale Law School, with all sorts of honors and stuff, and was on my way to clerk for a judge, my mother and I had this huge fight in the kitchen of our apartment. What was the fight about? Sadie wanted me to take the Triborough Bridge toll taker's test, “just in case.” “You never know,” she said. I couldn't persuade her that it really wasn't necessary. She passed away before I became a judge, and I told this story at my swearing-in, and I said that she just didn't understand. I said, “Now I have to talk to my mother for a minute; forgive me for a moment.” And I looked up at the rafters and I said, “Ma, at last: a government job!” So that is sort of the measure of where I started. My mother didn't finish high school, my father had maybe a semester of college—but that wasn't what girls did.DL: So were you then a first-generation professional or a first-generation college graduate?NG: Both—my sister and I were both, first-generation college graduates and first-generation professionals. When people talk about Jewish backgrounds, they're very different from one another, and since my grandparents came from Eastern European shtetls, it's not clear to me that they—except for one grandfather—were even literate. So it was a very different background.DL: You mentioned that you did go to Yale Law School, and of course we connected there years later, when I was your student. But what led you to go to law school in the first place? Clearly your parents were not encouraging your professional ambitions.NG: One is, I love to speak. My husband kids me now and says that I've never met a microphone I didn't like. I had thought for a moment of acting—musical comedy, in fact. But it was 1967, and the anti-war movement, a nascent women's movement, and the civil rights movement were all rising around me, and I wanted to be in the world. And the other thing was that I didn't want to do anything that women do. Actually, musical comedy was something that would've been okay and normal for women, but I didn't want to do anything that women typically do. So that was the choice of law. It was more like the choice of law professor than law, but that changed over time.DL: So did you go straight from Barnard to Yale Law School?NG: Well, I went from Barnard to Yale graduate school in political science because as I said, I've always had an academic and a practical side, and so I thought briefly that I wanted to get a Ph.D. I still do, actually—I'm going to work on that after these books are finished.DL: Did you then think that you wanted to be a law professor when you started at YLS? I guess by that point you already had a master's degree under your belt?NG: I thought I wanted to be a law professor, that's right. I did not think I wanted to practice law. Yale at that time, like most law schools, had no practical clinical courses. I don't think I ever set foot in a courtroom or a courthouse, except to demonstrate on the outside of it. And the only thing that started me in practice was that I thought I should do at least two or three years of practice before I went back into the academy, before I went back into the library. Twenty-four years later, I obviously made a different decision.DL: So you were at YLS during a very interesting time, and some of the law school's most famous alumni passed through its halls around that period. So tell us about some of the people you either met or overlapped with at YLS during your time there.NG: Hillary Clinton was one of my best friends. I knew Bill, but I didn't like him.DL: Hmmm….NG: She was one of my best friends. There were 20 women in my class, which was the class of ‘71. The year before, there had only been eight. I think we got up to 21—a rumor had it that it was up to 21 because men whose numbers were drafted couldn't go to school, and so suddenly they had to fill their class with this lesser entity known as women. It was still a very small number out of, I think, what was the size of the opening class… 165? Very small. So we knew each other very, very well. And Hillary and I were the only ones, I think, who had no boyfriends at the time, though that changed.DL: I think you may have either just missed or briefly overlapped with either Justice Thomas or Justice Alito?NG: They're younger than I am, so I think they came after.DL: And that would be also true of Justice Sotomayor then as well?NG: Absolutely. She became a friend because when I was on the bench, I actually sat with the Second Circuit, and we had great times together. But she was younger than I was, so I didn't know her in law school, and by the time she was in law school, there were more women. In the middle of, I guess, my first year at Yale Law School, was the first year that Yale College went coed. So it was, in my view, an enormously exciting time, because we felt like we were inventing law. We were inventing something entirely new. We had the first “women in the law” course, one of the first such courses in the country, and I think we were borderline obnoxious. It's a little bit like the debates today, which is that no one could speak right—you were correcting everyone with respect to the way they were describing women—but it was enormously creative and exciting.DL: So I'm gathering you enjoyed law school, then?NG: I loved law school. Still, when I was in law school, I still had my feet in graduate school, so I believe that I took law and sociology for three years, mostly. In other words, I was going through law school as if I were still in graduate school, and it was so bad that when I decided to go into practice—and this is an absolutely true story—I thought that dying intestate was a disease. We were taking the bar exam, and I did not know what they were talking about.DL: So tell us, then, what did lead you to shift gears? You mentioned you clerked, and you mentioned you wanted to practice for a few years—but you did practice for more than a few years.NG: Right. I talk to students about this all the time, about sort of the fortuities that you need to grab onto that you absolutely did not plan. So I wind up at a small civil-rights firm, Harvey Silverglate and Norman Zalkind's firm. I wind up in a small civil-rights firm because I couldn't get a job anywhere else in Boston. I was looking in Boston or San Francisco, and what other women my age were encountering, I encountered, which is literally people who told me that I would never succeed as a lawyer, certainly not as a litigator. So you have to understand, this is 1971. I should say, as a footnote, that I have a file of everyone who said that to me. People know that I have that file; it's called “Sexist Tidbits.” And so I used to decide whether I should recuse myself when someone in that file appeared before me, but I decided it was just too far.So it was a small civil-rights firm, and they were doing draft cases, they were doing civil-rights cases of all different kinds, and they were doing criminal cases. After a year, the partnership between Norman Zalkind and Harvey Silverglate broke up, and Harvey made me his partner, now an equal partner after a year of practice.Shortly after that, I got a case that changed my career in so many ways, which is I wound up representing Susan Saxe. Susan Saxe was one of five individuals who participated in robberies to get money for the anti-war movement. She was probably five years younger than I was. In the case of the robbery that she participated in, a police officer was killed. She was charged with felony murder. She went underground for five years; the other woman went underground for 20 years.Susan wanted me to represent her, not because she had any sense that I was any good—it's really quite wonderful—she wanted me to represent her because she figured her case was hopeless. And her case was hopeless because the three men involved in the robbery either fled or were immediately convicted, so her case seemed to be hopeless. And she was an extraordinarily principled woman: she said that in her last moment on the stage—she figured that she'd be convicted and get life—she wanted to be represented by a woman. And I was it. There was another woman in town who was a public defender, but I was literally the only private lawyer. I wrote about the case in my book, In Defense of Women, and to Harvey Silvergate's credit, even though the case was virtually no money, he said, “If you want to do it, do it.”Because I didn't know what I was doing—and I literally didn't know what I was doing—I researched every inch of everything in the case. So we had jury research and careful jury selection, hiring people to do jury selection. I challenged the felony-murder rule (this was now 1970). If there was any evidentiary issue, I would not only do the legal research, but talk to social psychologists about what made sense to do. To make a long story short, it took about two years to litigate the case, and it's all that I did.And the government's case was winding down, and it seemed to be not as strong as we thought it was—because, ironically, nobody noticed the woman in the bank. Nobody was noticing women in general; nobody was noticing women in the bank. So their case was much weaker than we thought, except there were two things, two letters that Susan had written: one to her father, and one to her rabbi. The one to her father said, “By the time you get this letter, you'll know what your little girl is doing.” The one to her rabbi said basically the same thing. In effect, these were confessions. Both had been turned over to the FBI.So the case is winding down, not very strong. These letters have not yet been introduced. Meanwhile, The Boston Globe is reporting that all these anti-war activists were coming into town, and Gertner, who no one ever heard of, was going to try the Vietnam War. The defense will be, “She robbed a bank to fight the Vietnam War.” She robbed a bank in order to get money to oppose the Vietnam War, and the Vietnam War was illegitimate, etc. We were going to try the Vietnam War.There was no way in hell I was going to do that. But nobody had ever heard of me, so they believed anything. The government decided to rest before the letters came in, anticipating that our defense would be a collection of individuals who were going to challenge the Vietnam War. The day that the government rested without putting in those two letters, I rested my case, and the case went immediately to the jury. I'm told that I was so nervous when I said “the defense rests” that I sounded like Minnie Mouse.The upshot of that, however, was that the jury was 9-3 for acquittal on the first day, 10-2 for acquittal on the second day, and then 11-1 for acquittal—and there it stopped. It was a hung jury. But it essentially made my career. I had first the experience of pouring my heart into a case and saving someone's life, which was like nothing I'd ever felt before, which was better than the library. It also put my name out there. I was no longer, “Who is she?” I suddenly could take any kind of case I wanted to take. And so I was addicted to trials from then until the time I became a judge.DL: Fill us in on what happened later to your client, just her ultimate arc.NG: She wound up getting eight years in prison instead of life. She had already gotten eight years because of a prior robbery in Philadelphia, so there was no way that we were going to affect that. She had pleaded guilty to that. She went on to live a very principled life. She's actually quite religious. She works in the very sort of left Jewish groups. We are in touch—I'm in touch with almost everyone that I've ever known—because it had been a life-changing experience for me. We were four years apart. Her background, though she was more middle-class, was very similar to my own. Her mother used to call me at night about what Susan should wear. So our lives were very much intertwined. And so she was out of jail after eight years, and she has a family and is doing fine.DL: That's really a remarkable result, because people have to understand what defense lawyers are up against. It's often very challenging, and a victory is often a situation where your client doesn't serve life, for example, or doesn't, God forbid, get the death penalty. So it's really interesting that the Saxe case—as you talk about in your wonderful memoir—really did launch your career to the next level. And you wound up handling a number of other cases that you could say were adjacent or thematically related to Saxe's case. Maybe you can talk a little bit about some of those.NG: The women's movement was roaring at this time, and so a woman lawyer who was active and spoke out and talked about women's issues invariably got women's cases. So on the criminal side, I did one of the first, I think it was the first, battered woman syndrome case, as a defense to murder. On the civil side, I had a very robust employment-discrimination practice, dealing with sexual harassment, dealing with racial discrimination. I essentially did whatever I wanted to do. That's what my students don't always understand: I don't remember ever looking for a lucrative case. I would take what was interesting and fun to me, and money followed. I can't describe it any other way.These cases—you wound up getting paid, but I did what I thought was meaningful. But it wasn't just women's rights issues, and it wasn't just criminal defense. We represented white-collar criminal defendants. We represented Boston Mayor Kevin White's second-in-command, Ted Anzalone, also successfully. I did stockholder derivative suits, because someone referred them to me. To some degree the Saxe case, and maybe it was also the time—I did not understand the law to require specialization in the way that it does now. So I could do a felony-murder case on Monday and sue Mayor Lynch on Friday and sue Gulf Oil on Monday, and it wouldn't even occur to me that there was an issue. It was not the same kind of specialization, and I certainly wasn't about to specialize.DL: You anticipated my next comment, which is that when someone reads your memoir, they read about a career that's very hard to replicate in this day and age. For whatever reason, today people specialize. They specialize at earlier points in their careers. Clients want somebody who holds himself out as a specialist in white-collar crime, or a specialist in dealing with defendants who invoke battered woman syndrome, or what have you. And so I think your career… you kind of had a luxury, in a way.NG: I also think that the costs of entry were lower. It was Harvey Silverglate and me, and maybe four or five other lawyers. I was single until I was 39, so I had no family pressures to speak of. And I think that, yes, the profession was different. Now employment discrimination cases involve prodigious amounts of e-discovery. So even a little case has e-discovery, and that's partly because there's a generation—you're a part of it—that lived online. And so suddenly, what otherwise would have been discussions over the back fence are now text messages.So I do think it's different—although maybe this is a comment that only someone who is as old as I am can make—I wish that people would forget the money for a while. When I was on the bench, you'd get a pro se case that was incredibly interesting, challenging prison conditions or challenging some employment issue that had never been challenged before. It was pro se, and I would get on the phone and try to find someone to represent this person. And I can't tell you how difficult it was. These were not necessarily big cases. The big firms might want to get some publicity from it. But there was not a sense of individuals who were going to do it just, “Boy, I've never done a case like this—let me try—and boy, this is important to do.” Now, that may be different today in the Trump administration, because there's a huge number of lawyers that are doing immigration cases. But the day-to-day discrimination cases, even abortion cases, it was not the same kind of support.DL: I feel in some ways you were ahead of your time, because your career as a litigator played out in boutiques, and I feel that today, many lawyers who handle high-profile cases like yours work at large firms. Why did you not go to a large firm, either from YLS or if there were issues, for example, of discrimination, you must have had opportunities to lateral into such a firm later, if you had wanted to?NG: Well, certainly at the beginning nobody wanted me. It didn't matter how well I had done. Me and Ruth Ginsburg were on the streets looking for jobs. So that was one thing. I wound up, for the last four years of my practice before I became a judge, working in a firm called Dwyer Collora & Gertner. It was more of a boutique, white-collar firm. But I wasn't interested in the big firms because I didn't want anyone to tell me what to do. I didn't want anyone to say, “Don't write this op-ed because you'll piss off my clients.” I faced the same kind of issue when I left the bench. I could have an office, and sort of float into client conferences from time to time, but I did not want to be in a setting in which anyone told me what to do. It was true then; it certainly is true now.DL: So you did end up in another setting where, for the most part, you weren't told what to do: namely, you became a federal judge. And I suppose the First Circuit could from time to time tell you what to do, but….NG: But they were always wrong.DL: Yes, I do remember that when you were my professor, you would offer your thoughts on appellate rulings. But how did you—given the kind of career you had, especially—become a federal judge? Because let me be honest, I think that somebody with your type of engagement in hot-button issues today would have a challenging time. Republican senators would grandstand about you coming up with excuses for women murderers, or what have you. Did you have a rough confirmation process?NG: I did. So I'm up for the bench in 1993. This is under Bill Clinton, and I'm told—I never confirmed this—that when Senator Kennedy…. When I met Senator Kennedy, I thought I didn't have a prayer of becoming a judge. I put my name in because I knew the Clintons, and everybody I knew was getting a job in the government. I had not thought about being a judge. I had not prepared. I had not structured my career to be a judge. But everyone I knew was going into the government, and I thought if there ever was a time, this would be it. So I apply. Someday, someone should emboss my application, because the application was quite hysterical. I put in every article that I had written calling for access to reproductive technologies to gay people. It was something to behold.Kennedy was at the tail end of his career, and he was determined to put someone like me on the bench. I'm not sure that anyone else would have done that. I'm told (and this isn't confirmed) that when he talked to Bill and Hillary about me, they of course knew me—Hillary and I had been close friends—but they knew me to be that radical friend of theirs from Yale Law School. There had been 24 years in between, but still. And I'm told that what was said was, “She's terrific. But if there's a problem, she's yours.” But Kennedy was really determined.The week before my hearing before the Senate, I had gotten letters from everyone who had ever opposed me. Every prosecutor. I can't remember anyone who had said no. Bill Weld wrote a letter. Bob Mueller, who had opposed me in cases, wrote a letter. But as I think oftentimes happens with women, there was an article in The Boston Herald the day before my hearing, in which the writer compared me to Lorena Bobbitt. Your listeners may not know this, but he said, “Gertner will do to justice, with her gavel, what Lorena did to her husband, with a kitchen knife.” Do we have to explain that any more?DL: They can Google it or ask ChatGPT. I'm old enough to know about Lorena Bobbitt.NG: Right. So it's just at the tail edge of the presentation, that was always what the caricature would be. But Kennedy was masterful. There were numbers of us who were all up at the same time. Everyone else got through except me. I'm told that that article really was the basis for Senator Jesse Helms's opposition to me. And then Senator Kennedy called us one day and said, “Tomorrow you're going to read something, but don't worry, I'll take care of it.” And the Boston Globe headline says, “Kennedy Votes For Helms's School-Prayer Amendment.” And he called us and said, “We'll take care of it in committee.” And then we get a call from him—my husband took the call—Kennedy, affecting Helms's accent, said, ‘Senator, you've got your judge.' We didn't even understand what the hell he said, between his Boston accent and imitating Helms; we had no idea what he said. But that then was confirmed.DL: Are you the managing partner of a boutique or midsize firm? If so, you know that your most important job is attracting and retaining top talent. It's not easy, especially if your benefits don't match up well with those of Biglaw firms or if your HR process feels “small time.” NexFirm has created an onboarding and benefits experience that rivals an Am Law 100 firm, so you can compete for the best talent at a price your firm can afford. Want to learn more? Contact NexFirm at 212-292-1002 or email betterbenefits@nexfirm.com.So turning to your time as a judge, how would you describe that period, in a nutshell? The job did come with certain restrictions. Did you enjoy it, notwithstanding the restrictions?NG: I candidly was not sure that I would last beyond five years, for a couple of reasons. One was, I got on the bench in 1994, when the sentencing guidelines were mandatory, when what we taught you in my sentencing class was not happening, which is that judges would depart from the guidelines and the Sentencing Commission, when enough of us would depart, would begin to change the guidelines, and there'd be a feedback loop. There was no feedback loop. If you departed, you were reversed. And actually the genesis of the book I'm writing now came from this period. As far as I was concerned, I was being unfair. As I later said, my sentences were unfair, unjust, and disproportionate—and there was nothing I could do about it. So I was not sure that I was going to last beyond five years.In addition, there were some high-profile criminal trials going on with lawyers that I knew that I probably would've been a part of if I had been practicing. And I hungered to do that, to go back and be a litigator. The course at Yale Law School that you were a part of saved me. And it saved me because, certainly with respect to the sentencing, it turned what seemed like a formula into an intellectual discussion in which there was wiggle room and the ability to come up with other approaches. In other words, we were taught that this was a formula, and you don't depart from the formula, and that's it. The class came up with creative issues and creative understandings, which made an enormous difference to my judging.So I started to write; I started to write opinions. Even if the opinion says there's nothing I can do about it, I would write opinions in which I say, “I can't depart because of this woman's status as a single mother because the guidelines said only extraordinary family circumstances can justify a departure, and this wasn't extraordinary. That makes no sense.” And I began to write this in my opinions, I began to write this in scholarly writings, and that made all the difference in the world. And sometimes I was reversed, and sometimes I was not. But it enabled me to figure out how to push back against a system which I found to be palpably unfair. So I figured out how to be me in this job—and that was enormously helpful.DL: And I know how much and how deeply you cared about sentencing because of the class in which I actually wound up writing one of my two capstone papers at Yale.NG: To your listeners, I still have that paper.DL: You must be quite a pack rat!NG: I can change the grade at any time….DL: Well, I hope you've enjoyed your time today, Judge, and will keep the grade that way!But let me ask you: now that the guidelines are advisory, do you view that as a step forward from your time on the bench? Perhaps you would still be a judge if they were advisory? I don't know.NG: No, they became advisory in 2005, and I didn't leave until 2011. Yes, that was enormously helpful: you could choose what you thought was a fair sentence, so it's very advisory now. But I don't think I would've stayed longer, because of two reasons.By the time I hit 65, I wanted another act. I wanted another round. I thought I had done all that I could do as a judge, and I wanted to try something different. And Martha Minow of Harvard Law School made me an offer I couldn't refuse, which was to teach at Harvard. So that was one. It also, candidly, was that there was no longevity in my family, and so when I turned 65, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. So I did want to try something new. But I'm still here.DL: Yep—definitely, and very active. I always chuckle when I see “Ret.,” the abbreviation for “retired,” in your email signature, because you do not seem very retired to me. Tell us what you are up to today.NG: Well, first I have this book that I've been writing for several years, called Incomplete Sentences. And so what this book started to be about was the men and women that I sentenced, and how unfair it was, and what I thought we should have done. Then one day I got a message from a man by the name of Darryl Green, and it says, “Is this Nancy Gertner? If it is, I think about you all the time. I hope you're well. I'm well. I'm an iron worker. I have a family. I've written books. You probably don't remember me.” This was a Facebook message. I knew exactly who he was. He was a man who had faced the death penalty in my court, and I acquitted him. And he was then tried in state court, and acquitted again. So I knew exactly who he was, and I decided to write back.So I wrote back and said, “I know who you are. Do you want to meet?” That started a series of meetings that I've had with the men I've sentenced over the course of the 17-year career that I had as a judge. Why has it taken me this long to write? First, because these have been incredibly moving and difficult discussions. Second, because I wanted the book to be honest about what I knew about them and what a difference maybe this information would make. It is extremely difficult, David, to be honest about judging, particularly in these days when judges are parodied. So if I talk about how I wanted to exercise some leniency in a case, I understand that this can be parodied—and I don't want it to be, but I want to be honest.So for example, in one case, there would be cooperators in the case who'd get up and testify that the individual who was charged with only X amount of drugs was actually involved with much more than that. And you knew that if you believed the witness, the sentence would be doubled, even though you thought that didn't make any sense. This was really just mostly how long the cops were on the corner watching the drug deals. It didn't make the guy who was dealing drugs on a bicycle any more culpable than the guy who was doing massive quantities into the country.So I would struggle with, “Do I really believe this man, the witness who's upping the quantity?” And the kinds of exercises I would go through to make sure that I wasn't making a decision because I didn't like the implications of the decision and it was what I was really feeling. So it's not been easy to write, and it's taken me a very long time. The other side of the coin is they're also incredibly honest with me, and sometimes I don't want to know what they're saying. Not like a sociologist who could say, “Oh, that's an interesting fact, I'll put it in.” It's like, “Oh no, I don't want to know that.”DL: Wow. The book sounds amazing; I can't wait to read it. When is it estimated to come out?NG: Well, I'm finishing it probably at the end of this year. I've rewritten it about five times. And my hope would be sometime next year. So yeah, it was organic. It's what I wanted to write from the minute I left the bench. And it covers the guideline period when it was lunacy to follow the guidelines, to a period when it was much more flexible, but the guidelines still disfavored considering things like addiction and trauma and adverse childhood experiences, which really defined many of the people I was sentencing. So it's a cri de cœur, as they say, which has not been easy to write.DL: Speaking of cri de cœurs, and speaking of difficult things, it's difficult to write about judging, but I think we also have alluded already to how difficult it is to engage in judging in 2025. What general thoughts would you have about being a federal judge in 2025? I know you are no longer a federal judge. But if you were still on the bench or when you talk to your former colleagues, what is it like on the ground right now?NG: It's nothing like when I was a judge. In fact, the first thing that happened when I left the bench is I wrote an article in which I said—this is in 2011—that the only pressure I had felt in my 17 years on the bench was to duck, avoid, and evade, waiver, statute of limitations. Well, all of a sudden, you now have judges who at least since January are dealing with emergencies that they can't turn their eyes away from, judges issuing rulings at 1 a.m., judges writing 60-page decisions on an emergency basis, because what the president is doing is literally unprecedented. The courts are being asked to look at issues that have never been addressed before, because no one has ever tried to do the things that he's doing. And they have almost overwhelmingly met the moment. It doesn't matter whether you're ruling for the government or against the government; they are taking these challenges enormously seriously. They're putting in the time.I had two clerks, maybe some judges have three, but it's a prodigious amount of work. Whereas everyone complained about the Trump prosecutions proceeding so slowly, judges have been working expeditiously on these challenges, and under circumstances that I never faced, which is threats the likes of which I have never seen. One judge literally played for me the kinds of voice messages that he got after a decision that he issued. So they're doing it under circumstances that we never had to face. And it's not just the disgruntled public talking; it's also our fellow Yale Law alum, JD Vance, talking about rogue judges. That's a level of delegitimization that I just don't think anyone ever had to deal with before. So they're being challenged in ways that no other judges have, and they are being threatened in a way that no judges have.On the other hand, I wish I were on the bench.DL: Interesting, because I was going to ask you that. If you were to give lower-court judges a grade, to put you back in professor mode, on their performance since January 2025, what grade would you give the lower courts?NG: Oh, I would give them an A. I would give them an A. It doesn't matter which way they have come out: decision after decision has been thoughtful and careful. They put in the time. Again, this is not a commentary on what direction they have gone in, but it's a commentary on meeting the moment. And so now these are judges who are getting emergency orders, emergency cases, in the midst of an already busy docket. It has really been extraordinary. The district courts have; the courts of appeals have. I've left out another court….DL: We'll get to that in a minute. But I'm curious: you were on the District of Massachusetts, which has been a real center of activity because many groups file there. As we're recording this, there is the SNAP benefits, federal food assistance litigation playing out there [before Judge Indira Talwani, with another case before Chief Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island]. So it's really just ground zero for a lot of these challenges. But you alluded to the Supreme Court, and I was going to ask you—even before you did—what grade would you give them?NG: Failed. The debate about the shadow docket, which you write about and I write about, in which Justice Kavanaugh thinks, “we're doing fine making interim orders, and therefore it's okay that there's even a precedential value to our interim orders, and thank you very much district court judges for what you're doing, but we'll be the ones to resolve these issues”—I mean, they're resolving these issues in the most perfunctory manner possible.In the tariff case, for example, which is going to be argued on Wednesday, the Court has expedited briefing and expedited oral argument. They could do that with the emergency docket, but they are preferring to hide behind this very perfunctory decision making. I'm not sure why—maybe to keep their options open? Justice Barrett talks about how if it's going to be a hasty decision, you want to make sure that it's not written in stone. But of course then the cases dealing with independent commissions, in which you are allowing the government, allowing the president, to fire people on independent commissions—these cases are effectively overruling Humphrey's Executor, in the most ridiculous setting. So the Court is not meeting the moment. It was stunning that the Court decided in the birthright-citizenship case to be concerned about nationwide injunctions, when in fact nationwide injunctions had been challenged throughout the Biden administration, and they just decided not to address the issue then.Now, I have a lot to say about Justice Kavanaugh's dressing-down of Judge [William] Young [of the District of Massachusetts]….DL: Or Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justice Kavanaugh.NG: That's right, it was Justice Gorsuch. It was stunningly inappropriate, stunningly inappropriate, undermines the district courts that frankly are doing much better than the Supreme Court in meeting the moment. The whole concept of defying the Supreme Court—defying a Supreme Court order, a three-paragraph, shadow-docket order—is preposterous. So whereas the district courts and the courts of appeals are meeting the moment, I do not think the Supreme Court is. And that's not even going into the merits of the immunity decision, which I think has let loose a lawless presidency that is even more lawless than it might otherwise be. So yes, that failed.DL: I do want to highlight for my readers that in addition to your books and your speaking, you do write quite frequently on these issues in the popular press. I've seen your work in The New York Times and The Boston Globe. I know you're working on a longer essay about the rule of law in the age of Trump, so people should look out for that. Of all the things that you worry about right now when it comes to the rule of law, what worries you the most?NG: I worry that the president will ignore and disobey a Supreme Court order. I think a lot about the judges that are dealing with orders that the government is not obeying, and people are impatient that they're not immediately moving to contempt. And one gets the sense with the lower courts that they are inching up to the moment of contempt, but do not want to get there because it would be a stunning moment when you hold the government in contempt. I think the Supreme Court is doing the same thing. I initially believed that the Supreme Court was withholding an anti-Trump decision, frankly, for fear that he would not obey it, and they were waiting till it mattered. I now am no longer certain of that, because there have been rulings that made no sense as far as I'm concerned. But my point was that they, like the lower courts, were holding back rather than saying, “Government, you must do X,” for fear that the government would say, “Go pound sand.” And that's what I fear, because when that happens, it will be even more of a constitutional crisis than we're in now. It'll be a constitutional confrontation, the likes of which we haven't seen. So that's what I worry about.DL: Picking up on what you just said, here's something that I posed to one of my prior guests, Pam Karlan. Let's say you're right that the Supreme Court doesn't want to draw this line in the sand because of a fear that Trump, being Trump, will cross it. Why is that not prudential? Why is that not the right thing? And why is it not right for the Supreme Court to husband its political capital for the real moment?Say Trump—I know he said lately he's not going to—but say Trump attempts to run for a third term, and some case goes up to the Supreme Court on that basis, and the Court needs to be able to speak in a strong, unified, powerful voice. Or maybe it'll be a birthright-citizenship case, if he says, when they get to the merits of that, “Well, that's really nice that you think that there's such a thing as birthright citizenship, but I don't, and now stop me.” Why is it not wise for the Supreme Court to protect itself, until this moment when it needs to come forward and protect all of us?NG: First, the question is whether that is in fact what they are doing, and as I said, there were two schools of thought on this. One school of thought was that is what they were doing, and particularly doing it in an emergency, fuzzy, not really precedential way, until suddenly you're at the edge of the cliff, and you have to either say taking away birthright citizenship was unconstitutional, or tariffs, you can't do the tariffs the way you want to do the tariffs. I mean, they're husbanding—I like the way you put it, husbanding—their political capital, until that moment. I'm not sure that that's true. I think we'll know that if in fact the decisions that are coming down the pike, they actually decide against Trump—notably the tariff ones, notably birthright citizenship. I'm just not sure that that's true.And besides, David, there are some of these cases they did not have to take. The shadow docket was about where plaintiffs were saying it is an emergency to lay people off or fire people. Irreparable harm is on the plaintiff's side, whereas the government otherwise would just continue to do that which it has been doing. There's no harm to it continuing that. USAID—you don't have a right to dismantle the USAID. The harm is on the side of the dismantling, not having you do that which you have already done and could do through Congress, if you wanted to. They didn't have to take those cases. So your comment about husbanding political capital is a good comment, but those cases could have remained as they were in the district courts with whatever the courts of appeals did, and they could do what previous courts have done, which is wait for the issues to percolate longer.The big one for me, too, is the voting rights case. If they decide the voting rights case in January or February or March, if they rush it through, I will say then it's clear they're in the tank for Trump, because the only reason to get that decision out the door is for the 2026 election. So I want to believe that they are husbanding their political capital, but I'm not sure that if that's true, that we would've seen this pattern. But the proof will be with the voting rights case, with birthright citizenship, with the tariffs.DL: Well, it will be very interesting to see what happens in those cases. But let us now turn to my speed round. These are four questions that are the same for all my guests, and my first question is, what do you like the least about the law? And this can either be the practice of law or law as an abstract system of governance.NG: The practice of law. I do some litigation; I'm in two cases. When I was a judge, I used to laugh at people who said incivility was the most significant problem in the law. I thought there were lots of other more significant problems. I've come now to see how incredibly nasty the practice of law is. So yes—and that is no fun.DL: My second question is, what would you be if you were not a lawyer/judge/retired judge?NG: Musical comedy star, clearly! No question about it.DL: There are some judges—Judge Fred Block in the Eastern District of New York, Judge Jed Rakoff in the Southern District of New York—who do these little musical stylings for their court shows. I don't know if you've ever tried that?NG: We used to do Shakespeare, Shakespeare readings, and I loved that. I am a ham—so absolutely musical comedy or theater.DL: My third question is, how much sleep do you get each night?NG: Six to seven hours now, just because I'm old. Before that, four. Most of my life as a litigator, I never thought I needed sleep. You get into my age, you need sleep. And also you look like hell the next morning, so it's either getting sleep or a facelift.DL: And my last question is, any final words of wisdom, such as career advice or life advice, for my listeners?NG: You have to do what you love. You have to do what you love. The law takes time and is so all-encompassing that you have to do what you love. And I have done what I love from beginning to now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.DL: Well, I have loved catching up with you, Judge, and having you share your thoughts and your story with my listeners. Thank you so much for joining me.NG: You're very welcome, David. Take care.DL: Thanks so much to Judge Gertner for joining me. I look forward to reading her next book, Incomplete Sentences, when it comes out next year.Thanks to NexFirm for sponsoring the Original Jurisdiction podcast. NexFirm has helped many attorneys to leave Biglaw and launch firms of their own. To explore this opportunity, please contact NexFirm at 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com to learn more.Thanks to Tommy Harron, my sound engineer here at Original Jurisdiction, and thanks to you, my listeners and readers. To connect with me, please email me at davidlat@substack.com, or find me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, at davidlat, and on Instagram and Threads at davidbenjaminlat.If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. Please subscribe to the Original Jurisdiction newsletter if you don't already, over at davidlat.substack.com. This podcast is free, but it's made possible by paid subscriptions to the newsletter.The next episode should appear on or about Wednesday, November 26. Until then, may your thinking be original and your jurisdiction free of defects. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidlat.substack.com/subscribe
"Someday, you'll find all who love are blind when your heart's on fire You must realize smoke gets in your eyes" - The Platters "Now you know nothing, before, you knew a whole fucking lot Your ass don't wanna get shot" - ODB
Your eyes are not deceiving you. Big Brother LEGEND - The Mastermind - America's Player - ERIC STEIN, is our guest on this week's episode! In what turned into our longest episode of the podcast thus far, we pick Eric's brain on all things Big Brother, and of course send three more players to round 2. Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to the podcast of Saint Patrick's Anglican Church in Lexington, KY. We meet Sundays at 4:30 p.m. at 200 Colony Blvd., Lexington, KY 40502. This podcast contains sermons and teaching for spiritual formation. Explore our church at www.saintpatrickschurch.org
We can look forward to a day when death will be no more because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin and rose again. Someday we'll be physically raised with him.
"Someday" is a myth that keeps you waiting. This episode helps you trade it for today and finally take that first step. I used to say "someday" all the time: someday I'll write a book, someday I'll slow down, someday I'll care for myself. But someday never came until I created space and just started. That's when everything shifted. This episode is a reminder that life isn't waiting for later. It's happening now. Action Steps: Spot your some days: Notice where you're delaying dreams with the word someday. Reframe the myth: Understand that perfect conditions will never arrive. Take one step today: Write a sentence, go for a walk, or block an hour. Choose presence: Replace waiting with courage and simple daily action. Build now, not later: Remember freedom is created in today's choices, not in tomorrow's promises. Join the email list for Take The Exit - Be the first to step inside the story! More from Megan YouTube | Website | Instagram
You know him, you love him, and you miss him every second of the Big Brother offseason... Taran Armstrong is back in the Diary Room! We talk all things "Behind the Mirror" - Taran's new book all about Big Brother, catch up on Big Brother 27 with the finale one month behind us, and pull six more players! Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
This may be the most heartfelt episode I've ever recorded. In this deeply human conversation, Maxwell Ivey: The Blind Blogger, and I talk about what it means to keep moving when life doesn't hand you easy options. Maxwell lost his sight as a child, taught himself to code, built a business, and learned to ask for help without shame. We talk about the quiet power of asking, the courage to act before conditions are perfect, and a rare take on gratitude-not as politeness, but as the willingness to use what's been given. Somewhere along the way, we find ourselves reflecting on The Four Agreements and how "don't take things personally" and "don't make assumptions" become essential mindsets in the world of disability and education. It's unpolished, honest, and full of wisdom that only comes from lived experience. Stay to the end to hear Maxwell sing his original song, Don't Wait on Someday. You can find Maxwell at theblindblogger.net.
The time has finally arrived for two monumental events. FIRST.... IZZY IS HERE! Big Brother 25 AND The Amazing Race 38 legend, Izzy Gleicher joins us this week! SECOND... Big Brother 27 is here! We watched all summer long and it's now time to throw all 17 players onto the wheel. Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Living for someday can make right now difficult when we become so focused on future hopes that we miss God's present provision. Like the Israelites who complained in the desert despite the daily manna sent by God, we often lose sight of current blessings while waiting for our promised land. The key is learning to invite others to share our burdens and finding contentment in what God provides today. Deserts aren't delays but places where God forges us into people ready for His promises. By recognizing the manna on the ground and walking in community, we can thrive in our present circumstances while moving toward God's future plans.
Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love
In this profound episode of the Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb delve deeply into the Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), exploring its implications for Christian assurance. Building on their previous discussion, they examine how this parable speaks to the mixed nature of the visible church, the sovereignty of Christ over His kingdom, and most significantly, the doctrine of assurance. Through careful theological reflection, the hosts unpack how true believers can find solid ground for assurance not in their own works or fruit-checking, but in the promises of Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This episode offers both encouragement for those struggling with doubts and a sobering challenge to those resting in false assurance. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Tares teaches that the visible church will be mixed until the final judgment, containing both true believers (wheat) and false professors (tares) who may appear outwardly similar. True assurance is not based primarily on good works but on the promises of Christ, the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit, and the evidences of grace in our lives. False assurance is a real danger, as many who think they belong to Christ will discover at the final judgment that they never truly knew Him. The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18) provides a helpful framework for understanding biblical assurance as the proper possession of every Christian. Christ's role as the divine Master of the house (the world) and Lord of the angels is subtly yet powerfully affirmed in this parable, grounding our assurance in His sovereignty. Good works are the fruit of assurance, not its cause—when we are secure in our salvation, we are freed to serve Christ joyfully rather than anxiously trying to earn assurance. The final judgment will bring perfect clarity, revealing what was hidden and separating the wheat from the tares with divine precision that humans cannot achieve now. The Doctrine of Assurance: Reformed Understanding The Reformed tradition has always emphasized that believers can and should have assurance of their salvation—a conviction recovered during the Reformation in contrast to Rome's teaching. As Tony noted when reading from the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18), this assurance is "not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation." This assurance rests on three pillars: the promises of God in Scripture, the inward evidence of grace, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit. What makes this understanding particularly comforting is that it shifts the foundation of assurance away from our performance to God's faithfulness. While self-examination has its place, the Reformed understanding recognizes that looking too intensely at our own hearts and works can lead either to despair or to false confidence. Instead, we're directed to look primarily to Christ and His finished work, finding in Him the anchor for our souls. The Problem of False Assurance One of the most sobering aspects of the Parable of the Tares is its implicit warning about false assurance. Just as the tares resemble wheat until maturity reveals their true nature, many professing Christians may outwardly appear to belong to Christ while inwardly remaining unregenerate. As Jesse observed, "The tares typically live under false assurance. They may attend church, confess belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical, it's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual." This echoes Jesus' warning in Matthew 7 that many will say to Him, "Lord, Lord," but will hear the devastating response, "I never knew you." The parable teaches us that this self-deception is not always conscious hypocrisy but often the result of spiritual blindness. As Jesse noted, referencing Romans 1, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians 2, the unregenerate are "not merely ignorant, they're blinded... to the spiritual truth by nature and by Satan." This understanding should prompt humble self-examination while simultaneously driving us to depend not on our own discernment but on Christ's perfect knowledge and saving work. Memorable Quotes "Assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions." - Thomas Brooks, quoted by Jesse Schwamb "When we are confessing, repenting, seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ, then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance." - Jesse Schwamb "The sacrifice and the service that a husband performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him, that is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it." - Tony Arsenal on how good works flow from assurance rather than cause it Resources Mentioned Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 7:21-23, Romans 1, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 2, 2 Timothy 3:5 Westminster Confession of Faith: Chapter 18 "Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation" Thomas Brooks: "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" YouTube Channel: My Wild Backyard Khan Academy: Educational resource recommended during "Affirmations and Denials" segment Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 466 of the Reform the Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. We're going back to the farm again. Can't stop. Won't stop. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. [00:01:02] Discussion on the Parable of the Tears Tony Arsenal: The last week's discussion was interesting and I think, um, it's gonna be nice to sort of round it out and talk about some things you might not think about, uh, when you first read this parable. So I'm, I'm pretty excited. Jesse Schwamb: Oh, what a tease that is. So if you're wondering what Tony's talking about, we're hanging out. In Matthew 13, we are just really enjoying these teachings of Jesus. And they are shocking and they're challenging, and they're encouraging, and they're awesome, of course. And so we're gonna be finishing out the Parable of the Tears and you need to go back and listen to the previous conversation. This, this is all set up because we have some unfinished business. We didn't talk about the eschatological implications. We have this really big this, this matza ball hanging over us. So to speak, which was the, do the TAs in this parable even know that they are tarry, that they are the TAs? And so in this parable, the disciples learn that the kingdom itself, God's kingdom, the kingdom that Jesus is enumerating and explaining and bringing into being, they are learning that it's gonna be mixed in character. So that's correcting this expectation that the kingdom would be perfectly pure and would have, would evolve righteous rule over all of the unrighteous world. And so it's a little bit shocking that Jesus says, listen, they're gonna be. Tears within the wheats that is in the world, the seed that God himself, the sun has planted and that they're gonna exist side by side for a long time. And so we, they have to wait patiently and give ourselves to building up the wheats as the sons of the kingdom and be careful in their judgment, not to harm those who are believers. We covered a lot of that last week, but left so much unsaid we couldn't even fit it in. This is gonna be jam packed, so I'm gonna stop giving the tees instead start moving us into affirmations and denials. [00:02:45] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: It's of course that time in our conversation where we either affirm with something really like or we think is undervalued or we deny against something that we don't really like or is a little overvalued. So as I usually say to you, Tony, what have you got for us? [00:03:00] YouTube Channel Recommendation: My Wild Backyard Tony Arsenal: I am affirming a YouTube channel. Um, I, I think the algorithm goes through these cycles where it wants me to learn about bugs and things because I get Okay, like videos about bugs. And so I'm, I'm interested. There's been this, uh, channel that's been coming up on my algorithm lately called My Wild Backyard, and it, it's a guy, he's like an entomologist. He seems like a, a like a legit academic, but what he does is he basically goes through and he talks about different bugs, creepy crawlies, looks at like snakes, all that kinds of stuff. It seems like his wheelhouse is the stuff that can kill you or hurt you pretty bad. Nice. But, um, it's interesting and it's. It's good educational content. It's, you know, it's not sensationalized, it's not, uh, it's not dramatized. Um, it's very real. There's occasionally an instance where he, he's not, sometimes he will intentionally get bit or stung by an, uh, by an animal to show you what it does. So he can experience and explain what he's experiencing. And sometimes he just accidentally gets bit or stung. And so those are some of the most interesting ones. So like, for example, just looking at his, his channel, his most recent, um, his most recent video is called The most venomous Desert Creatures in the US ranked the one previous was. The world's most terrifying arachni isn't a spider. And then previous to that was what happens if a giant centipede bites you? So it's interesting stuff. If you are one of those people that likes bugs and likes creepy crawlies and things, um, this is definitely the channel for you if you're not one of those people. I actually think this probably is the channel for you too. 'cause it kind of demystifies a lot of this stuff. Um. You know, for example, he, he will commonly point out that, um, spiders don't wanna bite you and they just wanna leave you alone. And, and as long as you leave them alone, even, even something like a black widow, which people are terrified of, and I think, right, rightfully so. I mean, they can be scary. Those can be scary bites. He'll, he'll handle those, no problem. And as long as he's not like putting downward pressure on them, uh, they have no interest in biting, they really just want to get away. So even seeing that kind of stuff, I think can help demystify and, and sort of, uh, make it a little bit easier. So my Wild Backyard, he can find it on YouTube. Um, he's safe for kids. He's not, he's not cussing even. I mean, I think occasionally when he gets bit on accident, you might, you know, you might have a beep here or there, but, um, he's not, he's not regularly swearing or things like that. And he does a pretty good job of adding that stuff out. Jesse Schwamb: What a great title for that, isn't it? This, yeah. Confluence of your backyard. That space that seems domesticated is also stealing its own. Right. Wild. And there's a be Yeah. Both those things coming together. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. It, it's interesting stuff and it's really good. I mean, it's really compelling videography. He does a good job of taking good photos. You'll see insects that you usually won't see, or spiders you usually won't see. Um, so yeah, it's cool. Check it out. [00:05:51] Discussion on Spiders and Creepy Crawlies Jesse Schwamb: What are you, uh, yeah, I myself would like to become more comfortable with the arachni variety. If only be, I mean, I don't know. It's, it's a weird creature, so my instinct is to be like, kill them all. And then if I can't find them and I know they're around, then we just burn everything that we own. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: They just can't sink into the ground fast enough. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. There's something about the way they move, like their, their bodies don't move the way you would anticipate them to. Right. And it freaks, it just weirds out human sensibilities, so. Right. Jesse Schwamb: They're also like, I find them to be very surprising. Often. It's not kind of a, a very like, kind of measured welcome into your life. It's like you just go to get in the shower and there's a giant spider. Yeah. Oh yeah. Although I guess that spider, he's, he or she's probably like, whoa, where'd you come from? You know, like, yeah. He's like, I was just taking a Tony Arsenal: shower. You know what's interesting? Um, I saw another video was on a different channel, um, like common jumping spiders. Yeah. Which there are like hundreds of species of common jumping spiders. Jesse Schwamb: True. Tony Arsenal: Um, but spiders and jumping spiders specifically, actually you can form almost like a pet bond with, so like the, that jumping spider that like lives in your house and sees you every day. He, he probably knows who you are and is like, comfortable with you. And they've done studies that like you can actually domesticate jumping spiders, so they're not as foreign and alien as you might think. Although they certainly do look a little bit strange and weird. And the way their bodies move is almost designed to weird out people like it just the skinness, like the way their legs skitter and move it, it just is, it's, it triggers something very primal in us to That's wild. Be weirded out by it. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: It's wild. I love it. That's a good, a affirmation. I'm definitely gonna check that out. I, any, anything? I really want to know what the, what like the terrifying arachni is. That's not a spider. Tony Arsenal: It's a, well, it's called a camel spider, but it's not really a spider. Oh, Jesse Schwamb: I know what you're talking about. That is kind of terrifying. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. They, they actually don't have any venom. Um, yeah. Check out the video. I mean, it, it was a good video. Um, but yeah, they're freaky looking and, um, but even that, like he was handling it No problem. Yeah. Like it wasn't, it wasn't aggressive with him once Wow. Once it figured out it wasn't, he wasn't trying to hurt him and, and that it couldn't eat him. Um, it, it just sort of like hung out until he let it go. So Jesse Schwamb: yeah, just be careful if you watch it one before bed or while in bed. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Probably not right before bed. Yeah. You'll, you'll get the creepy crawlies all night. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. But there's something somewhat. Like invigorating about that isn't there? Like it's, it's kind of a natural, just like kind of holy respect for the world that God has created, that they're these features that are so different, so wild, so interesting and a little bit frightening, but in the sense that we just draw off from them because they're so different than what we are. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And you know, again, there's places you would be happy to see them, but maybe your bathtub or like shooting out, like, you know, like where you live, the jumping spiders are legit and they will just pop out on you, you know? Yeah. You're just doing your own thing and then all of a sudden they're popping out. I think part of that is just that what, what gets me is like them just, you know, like I remember in my basement here, once one popped out from a rafter and then I was holding, happened to be holding up broom. My instinct just naturally was to hit it. I hit it with the broom and it went across the room and fell on an empty box and sounded like a silver dollar had hit the box. Like it was just a massive, I mean, again, like, it's like fish stories, like it's a massive spider. It was a big spider. Yeah. But you just don't expect to, to see that kind of thing. Or maybe, maybe I should, but anything that moves in that way, and again, like centipedes, man, forget it. We have those too, like in our basement. Like the long ones. Oh yeah. Yeah. That thing will come like squiggling down the wall at you, like eye level and you just wanna run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, you do run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. It's not that you want to, it's that usually you do. I don't mean like you specifically, although probably you specifically. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There's, yeah, you just react. Well, j Jesse enough freaking out. I mean, we're getting close to Halloween, so I suppose it's appropriate, but, uh, enough of that. What are you affirming or denying today? Jesse Schwamb: Once again, without like any coordination, mine is not unlike yours. I know you and I, we talk about the world in which we live, which God has created, and this lovely command, this ammunition to take dominion over that. And one of the things I appreciate about our conversations is I think you and I often have maybe not like a novel. Kinda perspective on that, but one that I don't hear talked about often and that is this idea of taking dominion over what it is possible to know and to appropriate, and then to apply onto wisdom. [00:10:27] Affirmation: Khan Academy Jesse Schwamb: And so my information is in that realm. It's another form of taking ownership of what's in the wild of knowledge that you can possess. And again, equal parts. What an amazing time to be alive. So I'm affirming with the website, Khan Academy, which I'm sure many are familiar with. And this website offers like. Thousands of hours. Uh, and materials of free instructional videos, practice exercises, quizzes, all these like really bespoke, personalized learning modules you can create for topics like math, science, computing, economics, history, art. I think it goes like even starting at like. Elementary age all the way up into like early college can help you study for things like the SAT, the LSAT AP courses, and I was revisiting it. I have an open account with them that I keep in love and I go back to it from time to time. And I was working on some stuff where I wanted to rehearse some knowledge in like the calculus space, do some things by hand, which I haven't done. And I was just like, I'm blown away at how good this stuff is. And it's all for free. I mean, you should donate if you. You get something from this because it's a nonprofit, but the fact that there are these amazing instructional videos out there that can help us get a better understanding of either things we already know and we can rehearse the knowledge or to learn something brand new essentially for free. But somebody's done all the hard work to curate a pedagogy for you. Honestly, this is incredible. So if you haven't looked at that website in a long time or maybe ever, and you might be thinking, what, what do I really wanna learn? Lemme tell you. There's a lot of interesting stuff there and it's so approachable and it's such a good website for teaching. And if you have children in particular, even if you're looking for help, either helping them with their own coursework or maybe to have like kind of a tutor on the side, this is so good. So I can't say enough good things recently about Khan Academy 'cause it's been so helpful to me and super fun to like just sit and have your own paced study and in the private and comfort of your own home or your desk at work or wherever it is that you need to learn it. To be able to have somebody teach you some things, to do a little practice exercises, and then to go on to the world and to apply the things you've learned. Ah, it's so good. Tony Arsenal: Nice. Yeah, I've, I've never done anything with Khan Academy. I'll have to check it out. There's, um, there's some skills of needing to brush up on, uh, at work that I am probably not gonna be able to find in my normal channels, so I'll have to see if there is anything going on there. Um, but yeah, that's, that's good stuff. And it's free. Love freestyle. It's, and of course, like Jesse Schwamb: things like this are legion. So whatever it is, whatever your discipline or your field of study or work is, there's probably something out there and, uh, might, I humbly maybe encourage you to, if you use something like that and it's funded by donations, it's worth giving, I think, because again, it's just an amazing opportunity to take dominion over the knowledge that God has placed into the world and then to use it for something. I mean, I suppose even if all it is is you just wanna learn more about, like for me, I, I find like the subjects of, of math and science, like just endlessly fascinating and like the computing section I was looking at, I, I don't know much about like programming per se, but there is such a beauty. Like these underlying principles, like the, the organization of the world and the first level principles of like physics for instance, are just like baffling in the most glorious kind of way. How they all come together. So having somebody like teach you at a very like simplistic level, but allow you to grasp those concepts makes you just appreciate it leads me to doxology a lot when I see these things. So in a weird way, it ends up becoming maybe not a weird way and the right way. It becomes worship as often as I'm sitting at my desk and working through like a practice problem on like, you know, partial differential equation or, or derivatives is what I was working on today. And ah, it's just so good. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one. I, it's not be super nerdy, but you, are you ever like at your desk studying something? And it might not be like theological per se, but you just have a moment where you're overcome with some kind of worship. Do you know what I'm talking about? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, um, this we're the nerdiest people on the planet, but let's Jesse Schwamb: do it. Um, Tony Arsenal: when I find a really fun, interesting. Uh, Excel formula and I can get it to work right. Uh, and it, and then it just like everything unlocks. Like, I feel like I've unlocked all the knowledge in the universe. Um, but yeah, I hear you like the, the Excel thing is, is interesting to me because, like, math is just the description. Like it's just the fabric of reality is just the way we describe reality. But the fact that we can do basically just take math and do all these amazing things with it, uh, in a spreadsheet is really, uh, drives me to praise. Like I said, that's super nerdy, but it is. Oh, you're speaking my language. Jesse Schwamb: I, we have never understood each other better than just this moment right now. We, we had some real talk and, uh, a real moment. Tony Arsenal: Yes. Welcome to the Reformed math cast. Jesse Schwamb: We're so glad that you're here. Tony Arsenal: Yes. We're not gonna do any one plus one plus one equals one kinds of heretical math in, up in here. Jesse Schwamb: No. Tony Arsenal: Well, Jesse, I have a feeling that, excuse me. Wow. Jesse Schwamb: We don't edit anything out. Listen, I'm choked up too. It's it, listen, love ones just so emotional. The moment Tony and I are having it. We're gonna try our best right now to pivot to go into this text, but it's, it's tough because we were just really having something, something special. You got, you got to see there. But thank you for trying to Tony Arsenal: cover for me for that big cough. Jesse Schwamb: This is like presuppositional editing. You know, we don't actually do anything in post. It's not ex anti editing. It's, it's literally presuppositional. [00:15:52] Theological Discussion on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: But to that end, we are in Matthew 13. This is the main course. This is the reason why we're here. There's lots of reasons to worship, and one of them is to come before and admire and love our God who has given us his specific revelation and this incredible teaching of his son. And that's why we're hanging out in Matthew 13. So let me read, because we have just a couple of really sentences here, this really short parable and that way it'll catch us up and then we can just launch right back into we're, we're basically like, we're already in the rocket. Like we're in the stratosphere. We're, we're taking it all the way now. So this is Matthew chapter 13. Come hang out here. It's in the 24th verse. And this is what we find written for us. This is the word of the Lord. He put another parable before them saying. The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, no less than gathering the weeds, you root up the weed along with them. Let both grow until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: That's good stuff. That's good stuff. Um, you know, we, we covered most of. I don't know, what do you wanna call it? The first order reading of the parable last week. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: On one level, the parable, uh, as Christ explains it, uh, a little bit down further in the chapter is extremely straightforward. It's almost out, it's almost an allegory. Each, each element of the parable has a, a, a figure that it's representing. And the main purpose of the story is that the world and specifically the church, um, is going to be a mixed body until the last days, until the end of time. And so there's, there's the Sons of God or the Sons of the Kingdom, uh, and then there's the sons of the evil one. And we talked a lot about how. These two figures in the parable, the, the, the weeds or the tears? Um, tears is a better word because it's a specific kind of, uh, specific kind of weed that looks very much like wheat at its immature stages. Right. And you can't actually discern the difference readily, uh, until the weed and the wheat has grown up next to each other. Um, and so, so part of the parable is that. The, the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the enemy, or the sons of the evil one, they don't look all that different in their early stages. And it's not until the sort of end culmination of their lives and the end culmination of things that they're able to be discerned and then therefore, um, the, the sons of the devil are, are reaped and they go off to their eternal judgment and the sons of the kingdom are, uh, are harvested and they go off to their eternal reward. What we wanted to talk about, and part of the reason that we split this into two episodes. Is that we sort of found ourselves spiraling or spiraling around a question about, uh, sort of about assurance, right? And false assurance, true assurance. And there is an eschatological element to this parable that I, I think we probably should at least touch on as we we go through it. Um, but I wanted to just read, um, it's been a little while since we've read the Westminster Confession on the show. So I wanted to read a little bit from the Westminster Confession. Um, this is from chapter 18, which is called of assurance of grace and salvation. This is sort of the answer to Jesse's question. Do the, do the tears know their tears or, or could they possibly think that their wheat? So this is, uh, section one of chapter eight. It says, although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presuppositions or presumptions of being in favor with God in the state of salvation. Which hope of their shall perish yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. And so we, in the reform tradition at least, which is where we find ourselves in the reform tradition, um, we would affirm that people can. Deceive themselves into believing that they're in proper relation with God. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Tony Arsenal: And so it's not the case that, uh, that the weeds always know they're weeds or think they're weeds. It's not even the case. And this was part of the parable. It's not even the case that the weeds can be easily distinguished even by themselves from, uh, from the weeds. So there is this call, uh, and this is a biblical call. There's a call to seek out assurance and to lay claim to it. That I think is, is worth talking about. But it's not as straightforward as simple proposition as like, yeah, I'm confident. Like it's not just like, right, it's not just mustering up confidence. There's more to it than that. So that's what I wanted to start with, with this parable is just maybe talking through that assurance. 'cause I, I would hate for us to go through this parable. And sort of leave people with maybe you're a weed and you don't know it. 'cause that's not right. That's not the biblical picture of assurance. Um, that's the, that's the Roman Catholic picture of assurance that like, yeah, there's no such thing as assurance and people might not realize, but assurance of salvation is actually one of the, one of the primary things that was recovered particularly by the Reformed in the Reformation. Um, and so I think we, we often sort of overlook it as maybe a secondary thing. Um, but it really is a significant doctrine, a significant feature of reformed theology. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. I'm glad you said that because it is a, is a clear reminder. It's a clearing call as the performers put forth that it is. Under like the purview of the Christian to be able to claim the assurance by the blood of Christ in the application of the Holy Spirit in a way that's like fully orbed and fully stopped. So you can contrast that with, and really what was coming outta Catholicism or Rome at the time. And I was just speaking with a dear brother this past week who. Grew up in the Catholic church and he was recounting how his entire religious experience, even his entire relationship, if we can call it that in a kind of colloquial sense with God, was built around this sense of deep-seated guilt and lack of true performance, such that like assurance always seemed like this really vague concept that was never really fully manifested in anything that he did. Even while the church was saying, if you do these things, if you perform this way, if you ensure that you're taking care of your immortal sins and that you're seeking confession for all the venial stuff as well, that somehow you'll be made right, or sufficiently right. But if not, don't worry about it. There's always purgatory, but there'd be some earning that you'd have to accomplish there. Everywhere along the way. He just felt beaten down. So contrasting that with what we have here. I don't believe, as you're saying, Tony, that's Jesus' intention here to somehow beat up the sheep. I, I think it is, to correct something of what's being said about the world in which we live, but it's at the same time to say that there are some that are the TAs is to say there are some that are the children of God, right? That there are some that are fully crisply, clearly identified and securely resting in that identity without any kind of nervous or anxious energy that it might fall out of that state with God that, that in fact their identity is secure. And as I've been thinking about this this week, I, I'm totally with you because I think part of this just falls, the warning here is there's a little bit of the adventures in Romans one here that's waiting for us, that I like what you said about this idea of, of self deception and maybe like a. Subpart to this question would be, are the, are the terrors always nefarious in their lack of understanding? So we might say there's some that are purposely disruptive, that the enemy himself is, is promulgating or trying to bring forward his destruction, his chaos by way of these tears. But are, are there even a subgroup or another group, uh, co-terminus group or, you know, one in the same hierarchy where there's just a lot of self deception? I, I think that's probably where I fall in terms of just trying to explain that. Yes, I think it was present here is a real quantity, a real identity where they're self-deceived. Imagining themselves to be part of God's people, yet lacking that true saving faith. And this just, I'm gonna go in a couple places where I think everybody would expect in the scriptures, if we go to like Ephesians four, they're darkened and they're understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. And one Corinthians, when Paul writes, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. And then the book that follows the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. And of course then like everything in Romans one, so I bring all that up because E, even at the end, we're gonna get there, the Es, this eschatological reality when you know God is separating out the sheep and the goats. Still, we find this kind of same trope happening there. But the unregenerate, what I'm reading from this. Importantly is that the unregenerate, they're not merely ignorant, they're blinded, as we all were on point to the spiritual truth. Yeah. By nature and by Satan. That that is also his jam. He loves to blind, to lie, to kill, steal, and destroy. So thus, even if they're outwardly belonging to the church, they're outwardly belonging to the world. They're outwardly belonging to some kind of profession. They cannot perceive the reality of their lost condition apart from divine illumination. Who can, that might be stating the obvious, but I think that's like what we're getting after here. I I, I don't know if there's like any kind of like conspiracy here. It's simply that that is the natural state of affairs. So why wouldn't we expect that to be reflected again in the world and that side by side, we're gonna find that shoulder to shoulder. We are, there are the children of God, and there are those that remain blind and ignorant to the truth. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, it, again, I, I, um, I don't know why I'm surprised. Uh, I certainly shouldn't be surprised. Um. But Matthew is like a masterful storyteller Yeah. Here, right. He's a masterful, um, editor and narrator. Um, and he's, he's put together here, of course, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Um, and, and there's some good reason to think in the text we're not gonna get too, in the nitty gritty here, there's some good reason to think in the text that Christ actually delivered these parables as a set as well. So it's not just, it's not just Matthew coating these, although it could be. Um, but it, it seems like these were all delivered probably as like a common set of parables. And the reason I say that is because when we start to look at this parable and the one we previously went through, the parable of the soils, um, or the parable of the sower. Um, what we see is the answer to your question of why do some people, you know, why are some people deceived? Well, yes, there is secondary causation. The devil deceives them. They blind themselves. They, you know, suppress the, the, the truth and right unrighteousness. But on a, on a primary causation level, um, God is the one who is identi, is, is identifying who will be the sons of the, you know, devil and the sons of the kingdom. Mm-hmm. This is another, and yet another example of election is that the, the good sower sowed good seed, and the good seed was the elect and the enemy. Although in God's sovereignty, God is the one who determines this. The enemy is the one who sows the reprobate. Right? So all, all men. Star, and this is, I, I guess I didn't really intend to go here, but this is good evidence in my mind for, um, infra laps, Arianism versus super laps. Arianism, right infra laps, arianism or sub lapse. Arianism would say that God decrees, uh, to permit the fall and then he decrees to redeem some out of the fall, right? Logically speaking, not temporally speaking. Super laps. Arianism, which is the minority. It's the smaller portion of, of the historic tradition, although modern times, I think it's a little bit louder and a little bit more vocal, but super relapses. Arianism would argue that God, um, decrees. Sort of the, the decree of election and reprobation is logically prior to the decree of the fall. And so in, in that former or in the super laps area model, the fall becomes a means by which the reprobate are justly condemned. Not, um, not the cause of their condemnation, but a way to sort of justify the fact that they will be separated from God, right? Because of their reprobate. [00:28:36] Exploring the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares Tony Arsenal: I know that there's, there's probably some super lab streams that would nuance that differently and some that are probably just screaming straw man, uh, in a coffee shop somewhere and, and people are thinking you're crazy. Um, but by and large, that's actually a rel, a relatively accepted, um, explanation of it. There are certainly potential problems with, uh, sub, sub lapse agonism as well. But in this, in this parable, what we see is the people who are, um, who are elect, are sowed into the field and the people who are reprobate are also sowed into the field. And so God saves the people who are sewed into the field that are, they elect, he saves them out of this now mixed world by waiting and allowing them to grow up next to the reprobate, um, in sort of this mixed world setting. And then he redeems them out of that. Um, and, and, and so we have to sort of remember. Although it is a pretty strict, sort of allegorical type of parable, it's still a parable. So we shouldn't, we shouldn't always draw like direct one-to-one comparisons here. It's making a theological point, but, um, but it's important for us to re remember that, that it is ultimately, it is God who determines who is the elected and who is not. But it's, it's our sin. It's the devil deceiving us. It's the secondary causes that are responsible for the sons of the devil, right? It, the, the men come to the, to the sower and say, who is done this? He says it was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Right. Tony Arsenal: He doesn't say like, well, actually I put the seed there and so, you know, I'm, I, it's not an equal distribution. He's not sowing good seed and bad seed. He sows the good seed and the devil sows the bad seed. [00:30:24] Theological Implications and Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, and, and that's a, I think that's an important theological point to make. And as far as assurance goes. We, we can't depend on our ability to perceive or sort of like discern election in a raw sense, right? We have to observe certain kinds of realities around us. Um, and, and primarily we have to depend on the mercy and, and saving faith that God gives us. That's right. Um, you know, our, our assurance of faith does not primarily come from fruit checking. Um, we have to do that. It's important, we're commanded to do it, and it serves as an important secondary evidence. But a, a, a person who wants to find assurance. Of salvation should first and foremost look to the promises of Christ and then depend on them. Um, and, and so that's, I think all of that's kind of wrapped up into this parable. It's, it's, it's amazing to me that we're only like two parables in, and we're already, you know, we're already talking about super lapse arianism and sub lapse arianism, and it's, it's amazing. I, I love this. I'm loving this series so far, and we're barely scratching the surface. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it's all there. I think you're right to call that out. It strikes me, like, as you were speaking, it really just hit me higher that I think you're right. Really the foundation on this, like the hidden foundation is assurance and it's that assurance which splits the groups, or at least divides them, or it gives us, again, like the distinct, kind, discrete compartments or components of each of them. So. Again, I think it's help saying, 'cause we wanna be encouraging. That's, that's our whole point here is when the Apostle Peter says, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing of you. That herein we have the scripture saying to us, time and time again, be sure of what God has done in your life. Be confident in that very thing. And so if assurance is, as we're saying, that's the argument hypothesis we're making. That's the critical thing here. [00:32:11] False Assurance and True Faith Jesse Schwamb: Then the division between the children of God and the children of the devil is false versus true assurance. So the tears, I think what we're saying here, basically they typically live under false asserts. They may attend church, confess, belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical. It's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual. And of course, like just a few chapters before this, we hope those famous verses where Jesus himself drops the bomb and says, listen, many of you, he's talking to the people, the, the disciples around him, the crowds that we're gathering and thronging all about. He says, many of you're gonna say to me, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy your name? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. These are not people who knew they were false, they thought they belonged to Christ. Their shock on judgment day is gonna reveal this profound self-deception. And that self-deception is wrapped up in a false type of assurance, a false righteousness. So I think one of the things that we can really come to terms with and grab a hold of is the fact that when we are. Confessing, repenting seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ. Then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally, Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance. [00:33:38] Historical Perspectives on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: You know, I was reading this week from Thomas Brooks and did incidentally come across this, a quote, an assurance and reminded me of this passage, and here's what he writes. You know, of course he's writing in like 16 hundreds, like mid 16 hundreds. It's wild, of course, but we shouldn't be surprised that what you're about to hear sounds like it could have been written today for us. In this conversation, but, uh, he writes, assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions. However, most Christians live between fears and hopes and hang, as it were, between heaven and hell. Sometimes they hope that their state is good. At other times they fear that their state is bad. Now they hope that all is well and that it shall go well. Well with them forever. Then they fear that they shall perish by the hand of such corruption or by the prevalency of such and such temptation. They're like a ship and a storm tossed here and there, and. I think that he's right about that. And I think the challenge there is to get away from that. I love where it starts, where he says, what wonderful turn of phrase assurance is the believer's arc or Noah, like, you know, we're sitting and the commotion, the destructions, the commotion, the confusions of all the world. That's why to get this right, to be encouraged by this passage, to be challenged by it is so critical because we're all looking for that arc. We all want to know that God has in fact arrested us so completely that no matter what befalls us, that everything, as we talked about before, all of our, all of the world, in fact is subservient to our salvation. But that's a real thing that cannot be snatched away from us because God has ordained it and intended it, built it, created it, and brought it to pass. And so I think that's all like in this passage, it's all the thing that's being called us to. So. I, I don't want us to get like too hung up. It's a good question, I think to ask and answer like we were trying to talk about here, but you're right. If we focus too much just on the like, let's gaff for these tears. Who are they? Like let's people's, like Readers Digest in People's magazine these tears. Like who are they? Do we have a list of them? Who do we think they are? How could it be me? Is it really me? Am I, am I anxious about that? Really what we should be saying is following what Peter calls us to do that is to be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and his choosing. So even there like our emphasis and focus, isn't it like you're saying Tony about like, let me do some fruit inventory. I got like a lot of good bananas. I got a lot of ripe pears. Like, look at the tree. This, this is good. Even there, the emphasis is to turn our eyes on Jesus, as it were, and to make certain about his work, his calling and his choosing of us. And I think when we do that, we're falling down in worship and in yielding and submission to him, rightfully acknowledging that the righteousness of Christ is the one that is always in every way alien to us and imputed. And that is what makes us sons and daughters of God, that good seed sown by Jesus himself. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I just wanna read, I wanna um, round out a few more paragraphs here out of the Westminster confession because I do think, you know, when we even talk about assurance, we're not even always all saying the exact same thing. And I think that's important because when we talk about assurance of faith, we need to be understanding that this is the rightful, not only the rightful possession of all Christians, but it's the rightful responsibility of all Christians to seek it. So here's, here's section two of that same chapter. It says, this certainty referring to assurance. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a, a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the spirit of adoption, witnessing with our hearts that we are the children of God, which spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. So. One of the, the things that I think is, is important here is people read this and say the inward evidences of those graces unto which these promises are made. They read that and they think that it's referring to like good work and like spiritual renewal, but it's, it's not, it's the inward evidence of those graces unto which of the promises are made. So it's this inner, inner renewal. It's the spirit testifying to our spirit. And then, um, chapter, uh, section three here, it says. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it, yet being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given of God. He may without extraordinary revelation there, right there is response to Roman Catholicism in the right use of ordinary means at attain there unto. And therefore, it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence, to make his calling and election. Sure. And thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and in joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience. The proper fruits of this assurance so far is it from inclining men to looseness? Right. [00:38:53] The Role of Good Works in Assurance Tony Arsenal: So we often hear and and I, I think there are good, um, there are good reformed Christians that put. The emphasis of assurance on, or they, they put an overemphasis, in my opinion, on how good works function within our assurance. Right. They, they often will ask us to look to our good fruit as sort of, not the grounding, but as a strong evidence. But at least in terms of the confession here, the cheerfulness in the duties of obedience is the fruit of assurance. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Not Tony Arsenal: the cause or grounding of assurance. So rather than, this is what this last line says. It says so far, is it from inclining? Mental looseness assurance should drive us to obedience and fruitfulness in Christ. And so yes, it is in a certain sense an evidence because if that fruitfulness and obedience is absent from our lives, there's a good reason for us to question whether this infallible assurance is present in our lives. But the assurance is what drives us to this obedience. Um. You know, like, I think you could use the analogy of like a married couple. A married couple who is very secure in their relationship and in their, uh, love for one another and their faithfulness to each other is more likely to cheerfully serve and submit to each other and to respect each other and to sacrifice for each other than a couple that's maybe not so sure that the other person has their best interest in mind. That's or maybe isn't so sure that this thing is gonna work out. I think that's the same thing, like the sacrifice and the service that a husband, uh, performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him. That is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it. It's good evidence that that love exists, but it's not caused by it. And assurance here is the same kind of dynamic assurance is not. We can't assure ourselves of our salvation by doing good works. No matter how many good works you do, there are lots and lots of people who are not saved and who will not be saved, who do perfectly good works in appearance. Right. They have the, the outward appearance of godliness, but lack its power. Right, right. Out of right outta Paul, writing to Timothy there. Yes. So that's, that's important for us as we continue to parse all this out, is yes, the fruit is present. Yes. The wheat is to, is discernible from the tears by its final, fruitful status. Right? It grows up to be grain, which is fruitful rather than weeds and tears, which are only good to be burned, but it is not the fruit that causes it to be wheat. It's wheat that causes the fruit to grow. If, if it wasn't wheat, it wouldn't grow fruit, not because the fruit makes it grain, but because it is in fact wheat to start with. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Yeah, that's right on. So I think like by summation we're kind of saying. At least the answer to this question. You know, do the tears know that they're tears? Yes and no. Some do, some don't. I think, yes, there are some that are gonna be consciously hypocritical, willfully rejecting Christ while pretending for worldly gain. I think that's, that's certainly plain to see. And at the same time, do the tears know the tears? Sometimes? No. There's self deceived under spiritual blindness and they have some kind of false assurance. And this idea of, again, coming in repentance before God and seeking humbly to submit to him is I think one of those signs of that kind of true assurance, not a false assurance. And you already stole where I was thinking of Tony by going to Second Timothy again. Thomas Brooks in precious remedies against Saint's device is one of like the best. Books ever. I know that he's really outspoken. He loves to harp on the fact that one of Satan's most effective snares is to make men and women content with a form of godliness without its power. Yeah. And that's often what we're talking about here, I think, is that Satan loves to fish in the shallow waters a profession. And really that can happen in any kind of church or religious culture, that there is this shallowness where that loves religious appearance, prayer, knowledge fellowship, but not the Christ behind them. And so whether we're looking to somebody like Brooks or Jonathan Edwards and we're trying to parse out what are our true affections, not in a way again, that somehow leans well, I feel enough, then somehow that justifies, not inwardly, but again, definitely trying to understand our conviction for conversion tears. For repentance that. Really what we're after is not like just the blessings of Christ, but Christ himself, which I think really leads us to this eschatological perspective then to round all everything out because you know, we talked about before, there's an old phrase, it's like everywhere. A lot of people talk in heaven. Not everybody's going there. And so this idea of like, people will talk about be so great to be there and it's sometimes this, the heaven that they speak of is like absent Christ, you know, as if like, if Christ wasn't there, at least in their perspective, it still wouldn't be half bad. And so I think that does lead us to understand what is this in gathering? What is this? You know, bringing everything into the barn and burning everything else up. And like you just said, if at the beginning you cannot tell the injurious weed aside from that beautiful kernel of wheat that's coming up, but if in the end you can see what's happening in the end, then that brings us all to consummation. What does it mean in this parable? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:44:19] Eschatological Judgment and Assurance Tony Arsenal: And, and I think this actually sort of forces us to grapple a little bit with, with another sort of persnickety feature of this parable that, that I think, I think personally sometimes gets overlooked is we are very quick to talk about this parable to be about the church. And it is. Right. And, and there's reasons to talk like that. But when Christ explains the parable, he doesn't say the field is the church. He says the field is the world. Right. And so we have to, we have to, we have to do a little bit of, um. We have to do a little bit of hermeneutics to understand that this is also speaking of the church, right? It's not as though the church is some hermetically sealed off body that the dynamics of the world and the, the weed and the tears like that, that doesn't happen in the church. But when we talk about the end of the age here, he says the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom. All causes of sin in all lawbreakers. Right? So, so the, the final eschatological judgment, it's all encompassing. And I dunno, maybe I'm, maybe I'm becoming a little bit post mill with this, um, the, the world is already the Kingdom of Christ. Right? Right. That's right. It, it's not, it's not just the church on earth that is the kingdom of Christ. And so when we talk about this eschatological reaping, um, what we see is, is very straightforward. There are those who are, uh, who belong to Christ, who were sown by him into the world, who were, uh, were tended by him, who were protected by him, who he intended to harvest from the very beginning, right? The good sower sows good seed into the field, and that good seed is and necessarily will be wheat. It's not as though, um, it's not as though, and again, this is one of those ways where like the parables sometimes, uh, are telling a little bit of a different story. Even though they're sharing some themes in the first parable, in the parable of the sower, he sows the same seed into the world. But the seed in that first parable is not the, is not the person receiving the seed. The seed is the one is the word of God. Yes. And so the word of God is sewn promiscuously, even to those who will be hard soil and who will be rocky soil and have thorns. The word of God is, is sewn to all of those people. Across the whole world in this parable. The seed that is the good seed that is sown is and always was going to be weed that was, or wheat, which was going to grow into fruitfulness and be gathered into the barn. Right? That was a foregone conclusion. The, the, when the sower decided to sow seed, all of that said he is the one who did that. He's the one that chose that. He's the one that will bring us to completion, right? And then also the ones that are not of his kingdom, the sons of the devil, they will also be reaped at the end. Actually we'll be reaped before the, you know, they'll be reaped and gathered and, and tossed into the furnace before the sons of the kingdom are gathered together. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: So it, again, this is a parable and even though this is Christ's explanation of the parable, I don't think that Christ was intending to give us like a strict timeline. Right. I don't think he was encouraging us to draw a chart and try to map out where this all happens in order. Um, I do think it's relevant that, that, at least in the explanation of this parable, I mentioned it last week, that, that the rap, the rapture is actually the wicked being raptured. They're the ones that are gathered and taken out of the world and cast into the fiery furnace before the, before the righteous are gathered together and, and brought into Christ Barn. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there's a great unmasking that's happening here in this final stage. I mean, that's critically the point. I think there's a lot of stuff we could talk about open handedly and kind of hypothesize or theorize what it means. But what is plain, I think, is that there's this unmasking, this unveiling of the reality of the light of Christ's perfect judgment. But that judgment is for both parties Here it is coming and what was hidden beneath outward religion or more, a facade is gonna be revealed with eternal clarity. That's just the reality. It is coming. So in some ways it pairs. I think at least well in this, well purposely of course in this teaching because Jesus is saying, hold on, like we talked about last time. Do this is not for you to judge. You are ill-equipped. You are not skilled enough to discern this. And therefore though, you wanna go in hot and get spicy and try to throw out all the weeds. Wait for the right time. Wait for the one like you're saying, Tony has from all of eternity past intended for it to be this way. Super intending his will over all things in the casting of the seed. And as we say, Philippians, of course, finishing that good work, which was started, he will finish. It is God's two finish again. And so he says, listen, that day is coming. There's gonna be a great unmasking. Uh, get ready for it. And the scriptures bear witness to that in so many other ways. So. There's such a journey in these like handful of verses, isn't there? I mean, it's really wild. The things that not like we come up with or we read into the text, but as we sit in it a little bit, as we just spend even a cursory amount of time letting it pour over us, that we find there's like a conviction in a weight in these things that are beyond just the story and beyond just even like the illustrations themselves. What we find is, again, it's as if Jesus himself in his brilliance, of course, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is illuminating the mind in the spirit to open up our conception, understanding of the kingdom of God by bringing it to us through his perspective in our own terms, of course, which is both our language and like the context of the world in which we live, and that simple example of farming and seed. And again, even just that there are these interest weeds that look like wheat. I went on this like rabbit hole this week and did a lot of research on like tears and Yeah, like especially people in like the Midwest United States who like know a lot more about agriculture than I do have a lot to say about this. It's not just like we shouldn't be surprised like. Isn't it incredible that like there are actually weeds out there that look like, yeah, it's a brilliance of just knowing that this teaching is so finely tuned. Like we can even just talk about that. Like the world is finely tuned. This teaching is so finely tuned to these grant theological principles that we can at one point be children and appropriate them enough and assume them into our own intellectual capacity so that we can trust in them. And yet even as like adults with like, let's say like the greatest gift of intellectual capacity, still find that we cannot get to the bottom of them because they're so deep. They draw us into these really, really grand vistas or really like extremely deep cold theological waters. And I just find. That I am in awe then of what Jesus is saying here because there's a truth for us in assurance that we ought to clinging to. And there's also like stuff that we should come back to. We shouldn't just stop it here and put it out of our minds until the next time we, we want to just be stimulated by something that's interesting or that we want to just grab somebody and shake them cage style, cage two style and say like, look at this great thing that I just learned about this, this particular parable. But instead, there's so much here for us to meditate on. And in that, I think rather than the Christian finding fear in this parable, what they should find is great comfort. We should be Noah alike sitting in the ark saying, it is well with my soul. And our reason for that is because we know God has cast a seed through his son Jesus Christ. And to be a child, a child of God is the greatest thing in all the universe. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I, I think that, um, transitions nicely to, uh, I'll make this point quick because we're coming up on time here. Um. [00:52:04] Christ's Divinity and Sovereignty Tony Arsenal: The other little subtle thing that Christ does here in this parable is he, he absolutely asserts his divinity and sovereignty overall creation. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Yep. Tony Arsenal: Right. It, it's almost like a throw. There's a couple little like lines that are almost throwaway lines, right in the, the first, the beginning of the parable here. Um, the parable itself, uh, he says, um, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed into a field. And then he says, um, the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, right? And then when he interprets the parable, he says, well, the, the servants are, the field is the world, right? So he's the master of the world, and the servants are the angels. So he's the master of the angels. And then if, if there was any doubt left in your mind. Says in verse 41, the son of man will send his angels. That's right. And they will gather out of his kingdom, which is the world, all the causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. Right? So we have this, this robust picture that there is election. The the good sower sows good seed into the world, and the good seed will necessarily grow into wheat and will be preserved and protected and ultimately harvest Well, why can we have assurance that that will be the case? Well, because the master of the house is the son of man who is the Lord of the universe and the creator of all things. And his angels do his will. That's right. So, so the whole thing is all wrapped up. Why can we have assurance? Because God is a good God and Christ is a good savior, and the savior of the world is the creator of the universe, right? If any of those facts were not true. Then we couldn't have assurance. If God wasn't good, then maybe he's lying. If Christ wasn't the savior of the world or the God of the universe, the creator of the universe, then he wasn't worthy to be the one who saves. All of this is wrapped up in the parables, and this is what's so exciting about the parables. In most of the instances that we look up, especially of the sort of longer parables, these kinds of dynamics are there where it's not just a simple story making a simple point, it is making one primary point. Usually there's one primary point that a, that a parable is making. But in order to make that primary point, there's all these supporting points and supporting things that have to be the case. If the, if the good sower was not the master of the house and a, a competent, uh, a competent landowner who knew the difference between wheat and weeds, even at the early stage, right? His, his servants go and go, what happened? What's with all of these weeds? They can tell the difference somehow, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: He's immediately able to go, well, this was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Tony Arsenal: And while they're bumbling around going, should we go rip it all up and start over? He is like, no, no, no, no. Just wait until, wait until it all grows up together. And when that happens, the Reapers will come and they'll take care of it and they'll do it in my direction, right? Because he's competent, he's the savior, he's the creator, he's the good master, he is the good sower. Um, we can be confi
In this episode we continue our Whitetail Strategies series by talking about a few tips and tricks we can utilize if we are the weekend deer hunter. This includes us here at Feed Bandit so we have to do what we can to maximize our time out in the field. Someday we'll be “all season” […]
Thursday, 23 October 2025 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, Matthew 13:47 “Again, the kingdom of the heavens, it is like a seine having been cast into the sea, and from every kind having been gathered.” (CG). In the previous verse, Jesus told the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. Next, He begins another parable, saying, “Again, the kingdom of the heavens, it is like a seine.” A word found only here in Scripture is seen, sagéné. A seine or dragnet. It is a derivative of satto, to equip, “especially a pack-saddle (which in the East is merely a bag of netted rope)” HELPS Word Studies. Such a net is curtain-like. It would be weighted, thus forming a circle for the fish as it dropped. As it is pulled out, the fish would be captured in it and hauled onto the shore or boat. As several of the disciples were fishermen, and as they probably all went out together while in the Galilee, they would all be aware of what Jesus was referring to. Of this, Jesus next says, it is “having been cast into the sea.” The sea is where fish are, but Jesus is making a metaphor. So understanding the sea in the Bible will help us understand the intent. The sea has several overall connotations, including chaos or a place of chaotic existence, thus unpredictability. In such a place, there is danger, such as sea monsters. It also gives the idea of the people groups of the earth, who by nature are generally chaotic, even if there are governments and some sense of order. That is seen, for example, in Revelation 17, where the Great Harlot sits on many waters, meaning in lands throughout the earth. There it says – “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15 A similar analogy is seen in Daniel 7:2. One can think of the multitude of languages, cultural ideas, and norms, etc. Thus, there is a sense of the chaotic. The net is thrown into the sea, “and from every kind having been gathered...” The verse stops in the middle of the thought, but one can see that there is a sense of a gathering from the sea. Without going any further, it cannot help but be seen that this extends beyond Israel. If Israel represented one type of fish, there would be harmony, not chaos. Though there may be various accents, there was one language to unite them, etc. Life application: It is a chaotic world. Despite this, in modern times, there is the ability to supposedly overcome the chaos in ways never thought of before. In the past, if there were nations with distinct languages, say English and Chinese, there was an absolute need to have people proficient in both languages available in both nations for effective diplomacy to take place. If there were an interpreter from China only, that interpreter could bias the translation on behalf of her country, thereby gaining an advantage. Only by having two independent translators verify one another could diplomacy truly be considered reliable. This process required integrity, time, sound education, etc. Today, the world's languages are quickly being digitized, and in real time, languages are able to be interpreted in both languages through the power of computers. Curiously, there is the obvious play on this by the tech giant Google. The place where languages were separated was Babel – “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:5-9 In an assent to this event, the modern Google translator is called Babbel. It is as if they are attempting to undo what God had done. Obviously, God knew this would occur, but the point is that man's efforts, like at Babel, are being directed to uniting the people of the earth as if to show their primacy and ability to cast off God. Nothing has changed. Man believes he has the ability to do anything. But there are underlying divisions in the world that would have to be dealt with. An example of this is found in Daniel 2:41-43. Such things must be dealt with, and it will lead to great slaughters of people in an attempt to harmonize the goal of world unity. The problem with that is that no two people think exactly the same. The only way to have absolute unity is to eradicate everyone else. God understands this. Hence, Jesus said – “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:21, 22 How desperately man needs God's hand to direct him. Without that, we are all goners. Thank God for Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind. Gracious and glorious heavenly Father, thank You that we have a hope that extends beyond this tragic, fallen world. Because of our Lord Jesus, there is hope for humanity. Someday, we who believe the gospel will be gathered before You for all eternity. There will be no more war or conflict. Won't that day be wonderful? And so, we pray You speed the coming of it. May it be so. Amen.
In our FINAL wheel without BB27... Survivor 47 and RHAP's own Aysha Welch returns to the podcast hoping for some better picks than her first time. Wheel let you decide if Aysha should be happy or not with her next batch of six players. Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Someday, your children will move out on their own – are you preparing them to biblically and logically grapple with the hot-button issues they will face in the world? Today, we introduce Victor Joecks, host of the Sharpening Arrows Podcast. Victor shows how we can break down topics like declining support for Israel, transgender ideology, immigration, and abortion— exploring each issue from all sides so that our students are prepared for the arguments the world will throw at them.If you're looking for creative ways to start deep discussions with your teens as they learn to form their worldviews, this episode is for you!
In this episode, you'll discover why the true value of your practice isn't built when you sell—it's built every day you show up to lead it. Nathan Hayes joins me to unpack the mindset and strategies of owners who play the long game—the ones who treat every decision as an investment in their future freedom. They don't wait until retirement to think about value. They build systems that run without them. They create teams that thrive without micromanagement. And they keep their practices so well-run that buyers line up when it's time to exit. If you've ever wondered what you can be doing now to ensure your practice grows in value—this episode will change the way you think about ownership. Follow our Podcast on All Available Platforms Follow our Podcast on Instagram Follow IDOC on Facebook Follow IDOC on LinkedIn Watch our Podcast Video on YouTube
We all have dreams that sit tucked away in the corners of our hearts — plans for “someday.” But over time, those dreams can start to take up space meant for something greater. Proverbs 24 reminds us that neglecting what's right in front of us can lead to fields overgrown with weeds. Not because the soil is bad, but because it was never tended.God's Word invites us to do more than dream. It calls us to act, to pull the weeds, rebuild the walls, and plant seeds that will bear fruit. Hope and faith go hand in hand, but faith without work leaves the vineyard barren.Don't settle for dreaming. Don't settle for barrenness or brokenness. Christ can take your weary heart and bring beauty out of it. In Him, every story brings glory, and the latter will be greater than the former.Subscribe to Our Channel! New to LifeRock? Click here: liferockchurch.org/get-connectedTo support this ministry and help us reach people in our community. Click here: liferockchurch.org/giveDo you need someone to pray for you? We will pray for you. Click here: liferockchurch.org/online-prayerFollow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LifeRockColumbiaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/LifeRockChurchX: https://x.com/LifeRockChurch#Faith #Purpose #Surrender
Ethanimale is back in The Diary Room hoping for some more inspiring wheel spins than his first time around! And just maybe... the wheel was inclined to reward him for his patience. Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stop waiting for perfect. Start today. Al Levi breaks down why momentum beats perfection, how to “box” your business so it can scale, and the seven powers he uses to build teams and companies that last. Al Levi shares the mindset and mechanics to grow: start now, ship at 80 percent, and build on documented systems, not slogans. We get into his “seven powers” framework (planning, operations, staffing, sales, sales coaching, marketing, finance), why people need the why, and how to turn ideas into a focused “top five” plan you'll actually finish. We also hit training that sticks, marketing that maps to sales, and the long game of leadership. Episode Guest: Al Levi - 7powercontractor.com/systems -- A candid business podcast for growth-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Josh Zolin. The truth about leadership, business, and becoming who you're meant to be.
The purpose behind this fast moving and moderately funny show is to spotlight the way that the simple and involuntary act of being born causes us to act and think differently. Ray Miller-Still is a Millennial. He is also the editor of a major Northwest Newspaper. This causes him to be fussy about facts. Jason Falls produces this podcast but like any good wizard, wears many hats. Someday we'll get him to tell us about it. He belongs to Gen-X. Dorothy Wilhelm (she ducks her head modestly) is the originator of this podcast and belongs to the Silent Generation. The usual response is "Huh, you've never been silent a day in your life." But the Silent Generation followed the rules, didn't protest so that at age 92, she is still wondering what she'll do when she grows up. Good thing there's plenty of time. Unusual facts about Generation Gap - it's been on the air almost ten years, so Ray was very young when we started, but most unusual it has the distinction of being taught as a college Course at Green River Community college near Seattle. The class is still available. Let me know if you're interested. That class was called Communication between the Generations and one senior student revealed that the reason she was taking the class was that she couldn't get her grandson to answer the phone or return her calls. We went through two days of conversation techniques, as the class was ending, her phone rang. It was her grandson she said with tears in her eyes. So the generation gap can be bridged. We certainly encourage our audience to let us know if there are questions you'd like us to tackle. About today's show - we're talking about Trick or Treat and Halloween of all things. A big difference was that Dorothy's generation NEVER bought costumes and looked down on people who did. Trick or Treating was very rare up until the mid 50s. It seems as if young people now vie for the most elaborate costume. At that point Dorothy tells the story of how her daughter, a baby boomer, created an incredible horse costume for Trick or Treating . More amazing, she was able to convince her baby boomer brother that he should go along as the rear end of the horse. The valuable lesson we learned is that people do not give treats to the rear end of a horse. She came home with a basket full of treats. She did not share. So that's the show, we hope you'll drop in any time. bring your questions, college songs, favorite recipes , and remember as the generations change, favorite foods change too. The Food Business News says The "generation gap" in favorite foods reflects different generational values, with Baby Boomers favoring classic, savory comfort foods like steak and ham, Generation X bridging the gap with familiar yet adventurous options like pizza and meatloaf, and Millennials embracing globally inspired, customized, and fresh dishes such as sushi and burritos. Younger generations like Gen Z and Alpha show a growing interest in plant-based, spicy, and global flavors, with adventurous tastes influencing kids' menus. See you soon on Generation Gap. https://www.itsnevertoolate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Friday, 10 October 2025 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, Matthew 13:34 “All these, He spoke, Jesus, in parables to the crowds, and besides parable, not He spoke to them” (CG). In the previous verse, Jesus told the Parable of the Leaven. Matthew next says, “All these.” The words indicate the parables just given by Matthew. A set of them has been recorded, but no explanation for them is provided to the people. Understanding this, Matthew continues, saying, “He spoke, Jesus, in parables to the crowds.” Matthew confirms that these words were spoken by Jesus, as noted before, it isn't certain if these were all said at this one time or recorded categorically. The words now seem to tend to the former. However, having explained the parable of the sower between the other parables gives a strong hint that it is actually just the opposite. Either way, the way that Matthew states this verse needs careful attention. In this clause, the verb is in the aorist tense. Jesus spoke to the crowds about these particular parables. He next says, “and besides parable, not He spoke to them.” A new word, chóris, without, is stated. It is derived from chora, a space of territory which, in turn, gives the sense of room. Therefore, chóris means “at a space.” As the word is accompanied by the word “not,” it means that He wasn't speaking to them any other way. However, the verb is imperfect. Meyer's NT Commentary further rightly defines it as a relative imperfect. As such, the words do not necessarily mean that Jesus only spoke to the crowds in Israel with parables. But when He was speaking these parables, it was the only way He spoke, meaning that He didn't speak plainly by explaining the meaning of the parable. The understanding of that is seen in the explanation found in Mark 4 – “And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” Mark 4:33, 34 By looking side-by-side at the two clauses with their precise wording, the sense becomes more evident – *All these (the parables just recorded), He spoke (aorist), Jesus, in parables (plural) to the crowds. *And besides parable (singular), not He spoke (imperfect) to them He spoke these parables, but He was not explaining any parable that he spoke. Only when He was alone with the disciples would he then explain the parables. It is common for scholars to insist that these words are intended to mean that Jesus spoke only in parables at all times when speaking to the crowds. But Meyer's challenges that notion, stating – “The absolute sense in which the words are understood by Baumgarten-Crusius and Hilgenfeld is inconsistent with historical facts; nor could Matthew, or Mark 4:34, have intended the words to be so taken without being guilty of the grossest absurdity.” Life application: The discussion above highlights particular nuances of the text that are debated over. Not understanding the precise intent doesn't mean that someone now has the wrong doctrine. Rather, they may have a misunderstanding of the nuances of what is written. This is evident by reading various translations of the verse. Despite not having the exact sense of what is being said, anyone reading the text can get the major points. There is the understanding that the use of parables when speaking to the crowd was important. Through His words, prophecy was being fulfilled. That is the major point to be understood. As one grows in knowledge and understanding of the nuances, a clearer grasp of the overall intent is realized. This is why some people are plumbers who read the Bible from time to time, and then there are scholars who read and study its every nuance. Unfortunately, some scholars come to the text wanting to tear it apart, find contradictions, demonstrate that they are smarter than the text as given by God, etc. From there, people read their analyses, believe them because these scholars are more understanding of the text than the average Joe, and they believe what they hear. This leads to weak believers who cannot trust the word of God. The deeper you get into the details, the more you should study many scholars and contemplate what you read. Don't take anything at face value, even if the argument seems convincing at first. Be assured, there is nothing wrong with God's word. If you come to it with this understanding, you will be in the sweet spot, even if you never find a resolution to the question you are looking for. Someday, the perfection of God's word will be fully comprehended by us all. Lord God, help us to carefully treat Your word, never diminishing it or trying to find fault with it. If it is Your word, it is just what You intended for us. As You are without fault, we know that what You say will be as well. Help us to carry with us the understanding that Your word is sacred and should be treated as such. Amen.
When New York Times bestselling author Tembi Locke faced sending her only child to college, she created what she calls a "college moon" - a transformative journey through Sicily that offers fresh wisdom for anyone navigating major life transitions.In her new audio memoir, Someday, Now: A Memoir of Family, Reclaiming Possibility, and One Sicilian Summer, Locke shares intimate insights about blending families after loss, finding presence during change, and how the places we love can become anchors for our well-being.You can find Tembi at: Website | Instagram | Episode TranscriptIf you LOVED this episode, you'll also love the conversations we had with Suleika Jaouad about turning illness and upheaval into creative meaning and wonder.Check out our offerings & partners: Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the WheelVisit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount CodesCheck out our offerings & partners: Beam Dream Powder: Visit https://shopbeam.com/GOODLIFE and use code GOODLIFE to get our exclusive discount of up to 40% off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
✨ Join the 8-week Clear Vision Builders book club (kicks off mid-October 2025): bebrightlisa.com/clearvisionbuilders You've got notebooks full of ideas. Maybe even a Google Doc titled “Someday.” And all of it leaves you overwhelmed, I get it, and today you get the help you need. In this episode, I'm sharing your first real step toward momentum, and it's probably not what you think. You'll hear: The true story of how I met my co-facilitator, Derrick Yanford, and why his unique energy is part of this work How we blend embodiment, meditation, and strategy inside the Clear Vision Builders experience, without the overwhelm Why time, money, and energy overwhelm keeps high-achievers stuck spinning (and how to reclaim yours) A coaching case study from Stevie, a lawyer and mother of 3, who went from paralyzed by overthinking to launching a visionary co-working space for women What makes this different from any self-help book, online course, or accountability group you've tried before We're not just planning, we're building together. ✨ Mentioned in this episode: Join the 8-week Clear Vision Builders experience (kicks off Oct 15): bebrightlisa.com/clearvisionbuilders ✨ It's time to own your power, make your mark, and become impossible to ignore. Be bright, Lisa
You can't scroll through Housewives TikTok and not see this guy! Miguel Luciano's talent is unmatched and today he's giving us the backstory of how he discovered and embraced his gift. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
If there's one thing BB27 reminded us, it's the power of a cuddlemance on Big Brother. And while BB27 is still not yet on the wheel, past iconic Cuddlemances are certainly important to this week's episode with returning guest, Pooya! Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brad and Tyler discuss the latest headlines across professional and pop culture. They envision how a return to the WWE may look for The Hardys, debate why RAW ratings are declining, and preview Stephanie Vaquer's match versus Tiffany Stratton at Crown Jewel: Perth. Later, Brad addresses Bad Bunny's selection as the next Super Bowl performer, and Tyler reacts to Andrade El Idolo's AEW return.Other topics include:Kamala Harris' Media Tour Napheesa Collier's PromoSomeday, When You Have Kids'The Golden Bachelor' Episode 3Follow the show for exclusive updates.Social: @gipod19 Web: gimmickinfringementpod.com, 19mediagroup.comGoods: https://19-media-group.myspreadshop.com0:00 Intro4:23 Someday, When You Have Kids — Award Season13:57 Steph Watch — The Road to Perth14:57 WWE — The Hardys and RAW Ratings36:37 A Rose from Tyler — ‘The Golden Bachelor' Roast41:29 AEW — Andrade El Idolo's Return and Viewership56:08 Promo of the Week - Napheesa Collier's Exit Interview1:07:55 What We Missed1:13:38 ClosingFollow 19 Media Group:Twitter: @19MGroupInstagram: 19mediagrouphttps://www.19MediaGroup.comDiscover our favorite podcast gear and support the show—shop our studio must-haves on our Amazon Affiliate page! https://www.amazon.com/shop/19mediagroupWant to join the conversation or invite us to your platform? Connect with us and share your vision (budget-friendly collaborations welcome)! https://bit.ly/19Guest
At Infinite Safari Adventures, we don't just plan safaris—we create unforgettable, tailor-made journeys inspired by the spirit of past explorers and the untamed beauty of Africa.Picture yourself in a luxurious tented camp, surrounded by the vast wilderness. A star-filled sky stretches above you, the air alive with the distant roar of a lioness. Each day is filled with thrilling wildlife encounters, from majestic elephants to towering giraffes. As the sun sets in a blaze of color, you toast to another incredible day, savoring fine wine and gourmet cuisine.Every detail is handled with precision, care, and a deep passion for Africa. Our team—many of whom fell in love with Africa at first sight—ensures your journey is seamless, worry-free, and custom-designed just for you.If you can dream it, we can make it happen. Because at Infinite Safari Adventures, “Someday” is Now!®.Explore our sample itineraries and start your adventure today.WEBSITE - WWW.INFINITESAFARIADVENTURES.COM
Tembi Locke is a New York Times best-selling author, screenwriter, producer, actor and podcast host. Tembi sits down with Jenna Bush Hager to discuss her new immersive audio memoir ‘Someday, Now,' where she returns to Sicily for one last summer with her daughter before she leaves for college. Blending her intimate narration with the sounds of Sicily, it's a beautiful story of motherhood, memory, and the bittersweet art of releasing a child into adulthood. Tembi shares her experience of staying hopeful after heartbreak, finding love after loss, and the power of writing to heal. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What happens when life forces you to stop, reflect, and rebuild? In this recap, Lesley and Brad unpack their conversation with wellness coach and the Balanced Your Life Podcast host Meghan Pherrill, who transformed her life after battling OCD, depression, and anxiety. They reflect on how Meghan's journey shows the power of starting small, listening to your intuition, and choosing practices that spark joy. This episode will inspire you to rethink your habits, embrace imperfection, and create a life rooted in balance and authenticity.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:How Meghan's breakup became a turning point for self-discovery.Why healing from OCD required both slow shifts and sudden breakthroughs.The importance of starting with one simple habit and sticking with it.How support systems can either hold you back or help you grow.Meghan's meditation guide for creating lasting calm and balance.Episode References/Links:Cambodia Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comWinter Tour - https://opc.me/tourPilates Journal Expo - https://xxll.co/pilatesjournalContrology Pilates Conference in Poland - https://xxll.co/polandContrology Pilates Conference in Brussels - https://xxll.co/brusselsSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsEpisode 580: Wendy Valentine - https://beitpod.com/580Meghan Pherrill Website - https://www.balancebymeghan.comBalance Your Life Podcast - https://www.balancebymeghan.com/podcastInternational OCD Foundation - https://iocdf.org If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! 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DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00 We know from how habits are truly created, it has to actually bring joy and dopamine, you have to get dopamine high. If you don't, you're not going to get that habit. If it feels like it's shameful or like you're judging yourself, it's possible that's not your intuition and you're following someone else's. Lesley Logan 0:16 Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:55 Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the restorative combo I had with Megan Farrell in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to the episode and you are not new here, you know what to do. If you're brand new here, hi, we're gonna talk about something that already happened, and you can listen. If you're like me, you'd listen to this one and then you listen to the other one. Or you can be like, Brad and pause us now. Brad Crowell 1:23 You do that? Lesley Logan 1:24 Of course. I want, when we watch The Crown, do I not look up the historical facts before we finish?Brad Crowell 1:31 She does. She always looks up the ending. Yeah, I watch it from start to finish.Lesley Logan 1:34 I need, sometimes I get just nervous, and I just need to know how it's going to be, so that I can sit and pay attention. Because sometimes I'm just so nervous for them. They're like, I can't you saw my stress results after watching F1. Brad Crowell 1:47 Yes, I did. Lesley Logan 1:48 So you guys, we saw the F1 movie, and mostly I went for the Brad Pitt part, but my friend said it was just on edge of her seat, and so I looked at my WHOOP and, like, heart rate monitor and you can see from the horror film preview to the end of the movie of the of the F1 you can actually see every time they had a race, because my heart would spike for every race, and I just like, can someone just tell me if he wins this race? So I can just enjoy the race, because I can't enjoy the race right now because I'm so stressed for him. So that's why I like to listen to these kinds of episodes, podcasts, and then I listen to the one.Brad Crowell 1:48 Yeah, yeah, okay.Lesley Logan 1:52 Today is October 2nd, 2025, in case you didin't know, it is the day before our 10th year wedding anniversary. Brad Crowell 2:37 What? Oh, yeah. Lesley Logan 2:39 But it's also the actual day of International Day of Non-Violence. Today, we celebrate the birthday of a man who helped bring forward the notion of non violence and the tremendous impact this form of social response has all over the world in the last century. On the International Day of Non-Violence created by the United Nations in 2007, we look back on the influence of an Indian activist born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but known the world over as Mahatma Gandhi. The International Day of Non-Violence honors how Gandhi's work and legacy has impacted global non-violent protests. The UN has good reason to use Gandhi's birthday to celebrate International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi's commitment to India's independence and his methods have been the cornerstone of civil and human right initiatives all over the world. Put simply, Gandhi saw it as completely irrational to use violence to achieve peace. But rather just means.Brad Crowell 3:29 But rather, just means lead to just ends.Lesley Logan 3:32 Oh, but rather comma just means lead to just ends. Period. Got it, okay. This is a lesson we can all take to heart. I mean, I completely agree, you know.Brad Crowell 3:43 Yeah, it's, it's amazing that, especially in, you know, when he died in 1940s like late 40s, and his message spread all around the world, which is amazing, because, no, no computers, no email, no social media. Lesley Logan 4:01 Did you ever wonder? But do you wonder, like, would Mahatma Gandhi actually be famous today? Do you know what I mean? Because, like, some of the people we looked to were like, wow, like, would they actually keep the attention of the people who are like, hold on, let me see this kid, like, try lemon for the first time. I just, I just kind of like. Brad Crowell 4:19 Or drink Coke for the first time. Lesley Logan 4:20 Here's my, my faith in humanity's ability to, like, take, take seriously things that are serious is, like, dwindling every day. Lesley Logan 4:34 Yeah. I mean. Lesley Logan 4:35 We don't even know what's happened today when this comes out. I'm telling you, we're recording this in August, so, like, who knows what has happened to people's rights between August and August 2nd because it feels like every day they're trying to take someone's rights, or some city's rights away. We're talking about the U.S.Brad Crowell 4:50 Over the weekend, in the U.S., the federal government deployed troops to 17 cities, or something like that.Lesley Logan 4:57 I think they threatened 17. Brad Crowell 4:57 Or they, like, they we're gonna take, yeah. Lesley Logan 4:58 But by the time this has happened, maybe it's happened, but by the time we're recording this, no. So right now, they're in D.C. and they're threatening to go to Chicago and something else, but, like.Brad Crowell 5:08 They're in L.A. and D.C., yeah. Lesley Logan 5:10 And, you know, like, I just, I mean, it's all control, right? The more they have you scared, the more they have you changing your life, you know, then it's one day you wake up, it's too late, you can't even vote. So keep protesting. Go find a protest. There's a woman who's 104 I think she turned 104 two months ago. She protests every Thursday. Every Thursday. She is 104 she has very few days left on this planet, and she's like, I'm gonna spend one of every seven protesting for people's rights. We are not going to be here. Brad Crowell 5:44 She's not going to be here for them. Lesley Logan 5:45 She's not going to be here, right? Someday she will go. So I'm just saying, you, too.Brad Crowell 5:50 Yeah, but I think also, the thing, you know, like, we've been.Lesley Logan 5:54 By the way, we all boycott Target and look what happened. CEO is gone. So these things work.Brad Crowell 5:58 Well, the point of it is, is not necessarily the, the action of boycotting is important and and like, you know, making your voice heard. But I think that the key here is the non violent part, right? And I'll tell you, it's really challenging when you know the police are out in force or the military is out in force. It's very scary feeling to be in a crowd and, you know, see a clash, and you know that's, that is, we haven't been around like extreme violence, but we've been around like high pressure, like, environments where you're like, oh, if somebody does one thing stupid, this could all blow up. Right? Lesley Logan 6:42 I got really nervous at that one protest because this guy kept taunting the police and I was like, let's just go over here, because, like, it just, he's acting a little crazy. They're going to take it crazier, and then, who knows, but.Brad Crowell 6:55 But that's where I feel like that's why we need to focus on the non-violence, because it's important to make our voices heard. We have to make our voices heard. If we don't do that, then there are people who will make decisions that will that will hurt us, right, as a society and, literally, individually. But how do we do that in a way that doesn't make us exactly like them? Right?Lesley Logan 7:20 Yeah, well, you're going to call your congress person and senator every day. You are going to not pick every single company to boycott. I get it, lifestyle, we gotta do something. You know, we still shop in these places I'm not happy about, but you gotta, like, pick, like, I'm not doing these places or I'm gonna do, we did an FYFwhere I explained how you could, like, boycott in a way that was, like, successful for you and where your life is. You could borrow things. You can also, like, let's say you have a (inaudible), you don't have time to go out on a Saturday to go protest. Okay, great. So then, how can you help promote protests? How can you make sure that everyone you know goes out? Like, how can you do that? And, you know, there's just, there's just, there's always a way, no matter what your situation is. But I get that you're busy and I get that you're tired. I get that you're scared. We don't have time for that. And if you don't listen live in this country, and you're having to listen to us every Thursday talking about this, tell your American friends to get the fuck up and do some action, non-violent action. You know, we gotta do it. You know, it's just so important. And I promise you, you feel better after you do it. Non-violence, to me, does not mean telling people, like yelling what you want to yell out. That's what you could do at a protest. It's quite nice. I find it cathartic. Yeah, oh, I have a fit. We're, did we share this already? So we were at a protest, and there's like some dickhead on his little vape sucky thing, can't even handle, can't handle grown people with, like, a little passy. Anyways, he's like, flipping us off, and the guys next to us are like, oh, I'm gonna pray for you. And he's like, they hate that. And I was like, oh yeah. Thoughts and prayers. So if you have some dickhead, fascist, loving person in your life, you can just be like when they flip you off or they call you some, don't worry, I'll be praying for you. Brad Crowell 9:05 Yeah, thoughts and prayers. thoughts and prayers. Lesley Logan 9:06 Thoughts and prayers for you and your children. Anyways, today. Do you have anything more to say? Lesley Logan 9:12 I know Gandhi is great. Have you watched the movie? Go watch it. If you're like, Gandhi, I haven't thought about in a while. There's a movie about him. I'm sure there's some, I'm sure you can get chatgpt to give you the Cliff Notes as well, you know. But like. Brad Crowell 9:23 It's worth watching. Lesley Logan 9:25 I think it's worth watching. I think it's we, it's nice to learn about. If people think that this is all new, none of, none of what we're going through is new. Brad Crowell 9:33 The same stuff happened in the 60s. I mean, we're we're recycling, we're recycling fascism. I mean, it happened in the 40s and 30s, 20s.Lesley Logan 9:43 And they, and I love this, if we don't learn history, we're doomed to repeat it. People do, do learn history, and they're still repeating it, you know. So it's also, I think a lot of people who think that, like they could never be in a cult, they could never fall for that. They could never understand coercion, because they would never let that happen. And yet, they're also the same, people, very coerced. So, you know, take some time to learn about Gandhi today. And what can you do that's non-violent today to protest what you're pissed off about? Tell us what you decided to do. Tag us in the Be It Pod. We'll share it. We'll share with friends. Lesley Logan 10:15 Today is October 2nd. We are in Chicago, as we speak. We're having a great time with our members, and people came to our workshop, and we'll be at the Balanced Body's Pilates On T our. Brad Crowell 10:25 Yeah, if you are in Chicago, we're going to coordinate members only hang. So you know, if you are, you can come hang. If you're listening this podcast and you're at P.O.T. and you're not a member, just come hang out anyway. We'd love to meet you and hang out with you. Brad Crowell 10:36 And if you're like, where is it? You gotta reach out to us. Just text the company. Brad Crowell 10:42 Yeah, just text us 310-905-5534, text us there and we'll let you know.Lesley Logan 10:45 Supposedly Instagram is just gonna start telling over my location. And last week, it was everyone saying this is how you turn the location things off. And I was like.Brad Crowell 10:57 It seems like a bad idea. Lesley Logan 10:58 I was like, oh, great, then people will know where I am. Like, I don't know. Brad Crowell 11:02 Turn that shit off.Lesley Logan 11:03 Brad, do you know any people go, oh, you live in L.A., right? Like everyone's (inaudible) so it doesn't really matter. Brad Crowell 11:03 No, I think your profile can say Vegas. Lesley Logan 11:03 I know, but every I'm just saying, like, I don't actually know how it works.Brad Crowell 11:13 Maybe if it's general, and you're like, I'm in the city of.Lesley Logan 11:17 I, we told everyone where we are already. So I'm just really not so sure like, how, like, what they're gonna say she's at the movie thing. Like, how specific is it getting? Like, I don't know. Lesley Logan 11:25 Yeah, we'll see. Lesley Logan 11:26 You know what the fucking Earth is on fire. I'm not really worried about this right now. I don't currently have a stalker that is yelling at me. If I do, I'll figure that out. But that's not, that's not the, there's, I'm sure there's VPN for that. Brad Crowell 11:37 That's fair. Lesley Logan 11:38 But after this weekend, we leave for Cambodia for our retreat. And so we want you to join us next October, once you go on the get on the waitlist at crownestretreats.com so go do that.Brad Crowell 11:50 Yeah, come join us in January of next year, we're going to be announcing the early bird special. Lesley Logan 11:56 Yeah, next year's the early bird, October is the retreat. Brad Crowell 11:57 Yeah, October, it's gonna be like the third week of October 18 to 23 or something like that. Lesley Logan 12:01 It's a little later because of a holiday, I don't want to be there. We don't like being on a retreat during Pchum Ben because it's like the (inaudible) and they are, Pchum Ben, literally celebrate for 30 days. But the first three days are really big deal, and it makes it really hard to go into the temples because some of the rooms are blocked off for the holidays so we go around it.Brad Crowell 12:20 Yeah, they're doing a lot of, you know, there's a lot going on there that we are trying to avoid for next year. So, yeah. Anyway, come join us, and we're telling you now so that you have a literal year to plan. Lesley Logan 12:35 No excuses. Brad Crowell 12:36 That's right, no excuses, y'all, the spots are limited, and if you want the information, get on the waitlist, go to crowsnestretreats.com now and then, we're really fired up on the way home from this year's trip. We are going to be teaching in Singapore. And then really, what I'm really fired up about is we're going to go do the Botanical Gardens. If you've never looked these up, y'all, you have to look them up. I saw them in a movie, and I was like, that doesn't look like CGI. What the hell? Where is that place? I need to figure this out. And it is the botanical gardens at night in Singapore, and they are up on this walkway that's raised up above the city with these epic statues that are full of vegetation and the gardens that they've built. And it is just mind blowingly cool. And I've been dreaming of going there for many, many, many years, and finally.Lesley Logan 13:24 And we have a 15-hour layover during the day, so we can do workshops and the garden. Brad Crowell 13:27 Yeah, it's gonna be great. So go check that out. Lesley Logan 13:30 You can't check out our workshop, but you can go check out their gardens. Brad Crowell 13:33 That's right, yeah, the workshop is private event, but the but the gardens are dope. Winter tour.Lesley Logan 13:37 It was announced yesterday. Lesley Logan 13:39 Oh, yeah. Lesley Logan 13:39 I bet you you can go to opc.me/tour at this point. Brad Crowell 13:42 Yeah, you can go to opc.me/tour I'm sure the events was redirected to tour, but if not, you'll get an email saying you're on the waitlist. Thanks. Oh, by the way, tour is open. Click here, so go check your email if you just signed up on the waitlist, opc.me/events or opc.me/tour we are planning to do another 8000 miles. We are. Lesley Logan 14:00 Crazy people. Brad Crowell 14:02 We're looking at like 22 to 24 cities, I think, on this, this tour. And we're really looking forward to being back up in the northeast, all the way back down in Miami. Well, we're going to do Fort Lauderdale this year instead of Miami, but we'll be in the area. And then, yeah, it's going to be awesome. So we can't wait to hang with you again in person, if you've joined us last year, just so that you know, tickets are starting to sell really fast when we make these announcements so.Lesley Logan 14:28 Especially for winter tour, because people, like, can go see family members at certain places. So like, they are, they're on it. They're watching it.Brad Crowell 14:35 So tickets opened yesterday. So go check it out, opc.me/tour. Now, we got some exciting things. We're already talking about 2026 here. Yes, what's going on in January?Lesley Logan 14:44 The Pilates Journal Expo in Huntington Beach, which is near Los Angeles. It is, I forget, I think the dates are like the ninth and 10th, or the 10th and 11th. At any rate, it's like right there. As soon as we end the tour, we go there and we do a couple great events there. So our first expo in the U.S. I'm really excited for them, because we need more conferences. Yeah, we need more ways to get together. Brad Crowell 15:06 It's gonna be awesome. So we've got a new URL for you, everybody, are you ready? This is the unveiling ofLesley Logan 15:13 xxll.co/pilatesjournal so my initials how I sent off xxll.co/pilatesjournal.Brad Crowell 15:20 That'll take you straight to the Pilates Journal Expo. Brad Crowell 15:20 And they have tickets already. Brad Crowell 15:23 Yep, it's available. Lesley Logan 15:28 And then in March, we're going to be in Poland, the Contrology conference in it's like, wut-waf and then sometimes people try to tell me say, oh, ruk-luf. And that's not how you say it. It's like, Wroclaw, but I'm going to be there. And so it's xxll.co/poland and then the next week we'll be in Brussels, different workshops, same, great people. So come to both xxll.co/brussels. So that's Q1, that's as far as I'm going with guys, I don't want to scare myself.Brad Crowell 16:02 Well, then we're gonna be in London in April. Lesley Logan 16:05 Okay, well, just let the cat out of the bag, babe. I'm not talking about Q2. No, no. Refuse. Refuse. We have to wait a couple months. Brad Crowell 16:15 Oh, shoot. We'll wait. We'll wait. Lesley Logan 16:17 I don't like, then it's like, and then in June, and then people are like, too much. They're not listening anymore. It's not, we're losing listeners.Brad Crowell 16:24 It's true. All right. Here we go. We had an audience question. Kaylee Nicole Medina asks, hey Lesley, I wanted to ask you, which classical Reformer do you recommend for a small studio that I'm opening, I'm planning to have only four Reformers, and Kaylee, I can already tell you exactly which Reformer she's gonna recommend.Lesley Logan 16:40 Brad is taking over the answers these days. Well, let's see.Brad Crowell 16:43 Lesley is, if you don't know this, Lesley is a a Pilates Contrology demo center right here in Las Vegas. Lesley Logan 16:52 Just my whole self, yeah. Brad Crowell 16:53 Lesley herself, our our home, is a demo center for Contrology. So, of course, she's going to go with the Contrology Reformer, which is 80 inches. Lesley Logan 17:01 Well, they have a couple but. Brad Crowell 17:04 But the ones that we have are 80. Lesley Logan 17:10 They're 80. Brad Crowell 17:10 So for a smaller studio, get the 80 inches.Lesley Logan 17:08 Yeah, they're gonna work for people up to six-three and all that stuff. And then the other thing I did, I will say, Kaylee, is, if you're like, you could do 280 and 286 is so that way, if you had a couple tall people, you could do that, they're still not what I like about them is they're lightweight, so they're easy to move around. So if the floor is like hardwood floor you could put some little felt on the bottom. It's really easy to, like, slide things around. And Kaylee, if you want to take it up another notch, I'm gonna say you can get both the 80 and the 86 with Towers on them. Now, obviously. Lesley Logan 17:33 You get the 80s with Tower? Lesley Logan 17:37 Shhh. They don't advertise, but you can ask. You gotta talk to me. Gotta talk to me. I'll give you to my girl. My girl will help you out with it.Brad Crowell 17:49 Didn't know that. Lesley Logan 17:49 If you are a taller body, it's obviously not a long enough mat for you, which is why I'm suggesting 286 is 280s and with Towers, and now you have a small studio with two different oh, and get this.Brad Crowell 18:03 That's right, you'll get the you'll get the Reformers, the Towers, and you'll be able to put the mats right on them, so.Lesley Logan 18:08 By the way. But wait there, and not just it. You can buy the handles. This is how genius Balanced Body and Contrology are, they made it so that that converted mat or Tower, you could put the classical mat handles in and now it's a three in one. Brad Crowell 18:22 Come on. Lesley Logan 18:23 You're welcome. And you can use my discount and that's gonna save you like 5% which is like shipping. So, you're welcome. Lesley Logan 18:32 Yeah. So reach back out, Kaylee, that's great. I didn't know that. Fancy, fancy. Don't tell.Brad Crowell 18:39 If you have a question, just text us at 310-905-5534, or submit your question at beitpod.com/questions beitpod.com/questions where you can leave your wins or your questions. And we really actually love hearing from you. Brad Crowell 18:56 I want your wins. I want all your wins. Brad Crowell 19:03 We want more wins. Lesley Logan 18:59 Of course, I want your questions, but I want your wins, too. Brad Crowell 19:01 Yeah, bring it on. All right. Well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into this convo that Lesley had with Meghan Pherrill. Just a minute. Brad Crowell 19:08 All right, welcome back. Let's talk about Meghan Pherrill. Meghan Pherrill is one of the is the creator of Balanced by Meghan, a wellness brand and top Canadian podcast, Balance Your Life. Shaped by her journey through personal challenges and past trauma, Meghan discovered yoga, meditation and healthy eating habits as tools to rebuild her life and really battle OCD and debilitating trauma, right? Today, she inspires others to embrace small, sustainable changes that lead to a well -balanced life. Through retreats, workshops and her podcast, she empowers people to tune into their intuition, find patience in their healing journey, and create a life rooted in health, resilience and authenticity. So it was, it was, it was definitely interesting. It was an intriguing conversation. There's definitely a lot more to that conversation that you y'all didn't go into. But what? But, but what? Tell me what? What is one of the things that jumped out at you?Lesley Logan 20:00 Well, I think, like, what I what I really was interested in talking with her about, because being it till you see it is like she used to, she was, she is diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, right? She had depression and anxiety, and, like, she now is in a whole different place in her life, right? And she worked through all those things. And I'm just like, I think that's really amazing. Because I think a lot of people have this badge of, oh, I have anxiety, or I'm depressed, or I have OCD, and they use it as like, and that's why I can't X, Y and Z. And she had this breakup that was a total wake up call for her, and she was able to realize that she'd become someone she didn't want to be. She didn't like who she was. And, I mean, it's kind of like last week's episode with Wendy Valentine, like out of a relationship, but different points in their life. Meghan is very young. Brad Crowell 20:45 Yeah, sure. Lesley Logan 20:46 And so it's a whole it's not like a midlife crisis, it's like a no, you're an adult now, and you're you don't like who, what's going on with your life and who you become. And so she put all this energy into into this relationship, and she changed herself, and she just didn't like who she so it didn't, didn't work, but she found herself in another way, which is, like, led her discovering yoga, and she got off her medications and started eating really clean, and that really allowed her to, like, start to become this person who you know isn't being controlled by OCD and depression anxiety.Brad Crowell 21:25 Yeah, I think the thing that I loved about that, that kind of buckles right into it, is that change from something like that, you know, it was, it was fast and slow at the same time. And she, she kind of emphasized that it it was quick in the grand scheme of things, but it wasn't quick in the moment, you know. And she said she felt so lost, and was, was like she talked about, you know, having the will to live, you know. And she realized that, she realized the necessity of trying to be happy. She said it was a long journey, but it was her truth, and that her advice for others starting their wellness journey is to just start with one thing, one thing at a time, and give yourself time to do the one thing like this isn't like one thing today and a new thing tomorrow, and a new thing the next day and a new thing the next day. Just like, just focus on one thing. I mean, we're talking obsessive compulsive in in a way that I've only seen portrayed in movies. You know, flip the lights on and off multiple times, open and shut the door multiple times, stand up, sit down. She mentioned something about checking her books, something like 46 times. I don't understand that, you know. I don't even understand what that why she's doing when she's when someone would be doing that.Lesley Logan 22:51 I know I think like, it's like, now I want to know more about OCD, because I do think people flip it and go, oh, I have OCD. Oh, you know. And I like, and maybe you do, but if.Brad Crowell 23:03 I think there are different, like, extremes of OCD.Brad Crowell 23:05 But like, this is completely time-consuming. I mean, she had a traumatic.Brad Crowell 23:14 You mentioned that you were like, man, that must have been so much time. And she said, you don't even know. She's like, yeah, it was a lot of time. Lesley Logan 23:14 Yeah, like, and, of course, that's what I focused on. Like, how much time is that? Like? Just seems like a lot of time. Is one reason why I could, I don't think I could become OCD because, like, I just can't. I hate wasting time that would really.Brad Crowell 23:27 Yeah, really what she what she said was quick was the breaking of the habits. And she said that was, and that was also from a interestingly, it was like a traumatic moment snapped her out of the some of the habits that she had formed. And it was her grandfather. She got news that her grandfather was, I don't remember if he was diagnosed or if he had actually passed away yet, but she, like he, he was incredibly important to her and and there was, like this, this moment of clarity that really changed things for her. And it's she stopped the habits, and then she's, you know, so now she's not, you know, checking her books 46 times, standing up and sitting down, 15 times, you know. And she said, all of a sudden, I had so much time on my hands. And then she asked, like she said, you know, what are you going to do with it? You might as well do something that makes you feel happier with that time.Lesley Logan 24:22 Yeah. And I think, like, I think how cool that she got to do it at such such a young age. Because I and now she's, like, her whole life is so different. She has an amazing podcast. She's got a kid and, like, and. Brad Crowell 24:34 Yeah it sounds like she connected with a really supportive boyfriend, and now husband, who happens to have a great name. Lesley Logan 24:40 Yeah, is it Brad? Brad Crowell 24:43 It is and, but he, he, you know, was helping her through the steps that that, like, like, kind of, I guess helping her through is the wrong way out. He was there alongside her, through the change. Lesley Logan 24:54 And I think, you know, I think that can go both ways. I think it could be like, oh, my. God, like I if you're alone and like, I just wish I had someone to go through this with. If you are currently alone, you, there are, there might be someone you can hire or like a person to go through with, that like you could bring on versus a partner. Because not every partner, like, don't like, not every partner is as great as this person, right? So she had a perfect person to be on her side who would like, could see the person she wanted to become, and could envision that dream and like, be there for all the journey. But you might end up finding out you're with someone who doesn't want to be part of that journey, and then it makes it so. I would just say, like, don't be jealous, or think it, the grass is green on that side. If you're wanting to make a change like this, there are people out there who want to help you. You know, there are, there are services out there. And I that's one of the things I find so fast, and the more I learn about services in the world, there are literally services. There is a charity who will do anything. So, like, there's going to be someone out there, you it's not the easiest thing to, like, look for help. But like, we had that one guy on who talked about all the different ways you can get money or food or diapers. We just found out from the charity we donate to that they will help people who can't afford dog food get dog food so they can keep the dog so the dogs are not going to the shelter. So like, there is some so if you are needing help with something right now, and her journey has, like, sparked something new, like, please advocate for yourself to get help.Brad Crowell 26:23 Yeah, there's a community called the International OCD Foundation, or the IOCDF, and it provides education, resources, community support, professional training, you know, so you can there definitely are tools, you know, if you are feeling isolated, yeah.Lesley Logan 26:40 I love it. I think it's really, I think it's really cool. I don't, I don't know anyone who's had this, but I've always wondered, like, what it's like, and it was really nice of her to share that with us and then share how she's changed her life.Brad Crowell 26:52 Yeah, yeah. Lesley Logan 26:53 It's a true be it till you see it story. Lesley Logan 26:56 I'm it was, you know, and I'm excited for her that she, you know, has been moving forward and building these things, and, you know, starting a family and doing all this stuff. So that's great. It's, you know, I think she's clearly doing things that are making her happier. So, good for her. Brad Crowell 27:12 Yeah, we can all learn from that. Yeah. Brad Crowell 27:13 Yeah. Stick around, we'll be right back. We're going to dig into those, Be It Action Items that we had with Meghan Pherrill. Brad Crowell 27:22 All right, so finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Meghan Pherrill? She said, hey, start with meditating five minutes a day. It will absolutely change your life, just five minutes. And she said, if you're brand new to this, maybe set aside 10 minutes so that you can get five minutes in, because it is hard. You know, I can tell you from personal experience, what do you think about when you're meditating? Are you supposed to think about things? Are you like? You know, I don't really know. I've all these preconceived notions of what it is, she said, but ultimately, recognize that you can five minutes is just five minutes. You got this, right, but she said, choose a style that resonates with you. She said if you struggle with to quiet your mind, but you can listen, maybe you do an opted maybe you do a guided meditation where you're listening to a YouTube video. I've done this, you know, and that's I find that really helpful, because it allows me to focus on something instead of just letting my mind wander. If you prefer physical a physical element, you can try breath work style meditation, which obviously we've also done, especially with your, you know, being breathwork certified, and then that will really help you focus on your breath and, you know, counting and just focusing on that thing. You know, for you know, we often talk about in yoga and in Pilates, that it is a movement meditation, because when you're when you're when you are so focused on the movement, you cannot think about anything else like there's no room for it in your head. And that is a form of meditation, right? That's where that mind body connection starts to happen, kind of a thing. And she said there's plenty of relatable teachers and resources out there. Find someone online. You can find someone on YouTube or podcast apps who you like their voice.Lesley Logan 29:13 There is this one person who I heard on a podcast when she said that she has an 11-second meditation, she turns it on, and the person goes, inhale, exhale. That's 11 seconds. Brad Crowell 29:32 Amazing. Lesley Logan 29:33 Yeah. Brad Crowell 29:34 Well, you too can meditate. And then she said get comfortable. And she said, some people like to meditate first thing in the morning. So if you're getting comfortable in your bed, make sure you sit up, otherwise you're just gonna fall back asleep. But meditation doesn't require a rigid posture, per se, right? You don't need to be like stiff as a statue, or like a monk or whatever. You can lie down, or you can be in a comfortable position, you know, just be aware that it's you know. If you're doing it right after you've woken up, you might just fall back asleep on your seat. Brad Crowell 29:59 I get in the cold plunge before I meditate. That's just like, it's not gonna happen.Brad Crowell 30:04 Hey, that's a great idea. It's a great idea. And then you know when, when the two you're talking you were talking about permission to be imperfect, right? It's not about being perfectly still or having the clearest mind. It's about being kind to ourselves and setting aside time to let our brain think and process things, and you know, in a subconscious way that we're not like actively, you know, we're creating space for that's what the meditation will do.Lesley Logan 30:34 Yeah, we talked a little bit about one more thing that I think, is it's, it's really beautiful, and it kind of springs true with last week. So if you're avoiding last week's Be It Action Item, this is gonna keep knocking on your door until you do it. But first she said, follow that intuition of yours. Just run with it and go with it. I'm studying tarot right now, and you'll know why, because we have a tarot guest coming up. I'm studying it. And the High Priestess card is all about the intuition. And like, like, going into your intuition and having some making sure that you're, like, understanding, because it's mystery. Like, intuition is also like, a mystery, right? Like, what is it? What am I saying? What am I feeling? Is that my is that my words? But anyways, so you can think of it as a High Priestess card and learning about that. Or you can figure out, like, how, how do you best understand what your intuition is saying, What does it sound like to you? So she said, just whatever's calling you or resonate with you. Follow that intuition of yours. Just run with it and go with it like just leap, right? And then she also said, don't make it complicated. Just start and see how you feel. And she also reminded us to give it some time too. It's not a one time thing. So we said it before, we're saying it again, not a one-time thing, you have to keep doing it. And she also said, as you're doing it, how did I feel? How did I feel? And that's so important, because we know from how habits are truly created, it has to actually bring joy. And dopamine, get your dopamine high. If you don't, you're not going to get that habit. If it feels like it's shameful, or like you're judging yourself, it's possible that's not your intuition, and you're following someone else's thing, so.Brad Crowell 32:06 I think, I think that's one of the things I constantly remind myself, but also when people ask me, why do you do a cold plunge every morning? You know it's a decision. But how do I feel afterwards? I've been describing it as the best cup of coffee I didn't have. Yeah, you know, you feel alert, awake immediately, and the cold is only cold for a second. Right? And now, like, because I've done it so many times that, like, shock of cold water isn't really even there anymore, even when, when the when the temperatures in the 40s, you know? Because, yeah, it's cold, but, like, I already know what to expect. But afterwards, even with just three minutes, it feels, you feel your brain is going it is actually functioning. You're up and at 'em. It's awesome, so.Lesley Logan 33:03 I hate it and love it, and I actually, I was on Meghan's podcast, and she asked me about cold plunging, and she was like, yeah, because everyone's saying, like, you shouldn't cold like, women shouldn't cold plunge. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Because being a woman means being told to cold plunge and not cold plunge. Being told, being told to do this and not do this. It's like, it's like, just, we talked about in Amy Ledin's pod episode that's coming out in December, and we're talking about habits. We're gonna have a whole habit series. So this really is building up for that. But like being a woman today, with everyone going wear a weight vest, it's not gonna do anything. Do a cold plunge. It's the worst thing you can do during a little cycle. Blah, blah, blah, I told Meghan, I said, I don't actually care. I and you have to listen to the whole conversation, but I'm summarizing. I said, it makes me feel good, and that's all that matters. And when it doesn't make me feel good anymore, then maybe I do something different. But I'm only in it for four minutes, and I'm doing it for 15 minutes every day. It's four minutes, and it really does shake the sleep off, bring me to my life, and it makes me excited to start the day. Yeah, and I can't Why? How could anything be bad? If it makes you so excited to take on your day, there's no way that could be bad for me. Impossible.Brad Crowell 34:21 Well, Meghan's podcast is called Balance Your Life. I'm just gonna look up really quick.Lesley Logan 34:26 What episode number I was? Brad Crowell 34:27 Yeah, and I'm not sure exactly, so. Lesley Logan 34:37 I don't either, but it's, it's out. It came out. Brad Crowell 34:40 Did it? Cool. Lesley Logan 34:42 I think so.Brad Crowell 34:43 Yeah go look at the Balance Your Life pod.Lesley Logan 34:47 It's one of the top podcasts in Canada, so it's super cool Way to go, Meghan, I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 34:52 And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 34:53 Thank you so much for listening to us. Send in your wins, send in your questions. Send this to a friend who needs to hear it, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 34:59 Bye for now. Lesley Logan 35:00 That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 35:43 It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 35:48 It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 35:53 Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 36:00 Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 36:03 Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Hello Beautiful Listeners, I'm so excited to share something close to my heart—my new audiobook, Someday, Now. It's a love letter to the season of life when children leave home and families find new ways to connect, re-nest, and reimagine themselves. It's about motherhood, blended families, returning to familiar places, and so much more. In this episode, I'm giving you the prologue—an opening glimpse into the journey. If it resonates, the full audiobook is now available wherever you get your audiobooks. I can't wait for you to listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This week we’re joined by author and actor Tembi Locke. She takes us from her whirlwind childhood to her life today as a bestselling writer and performer. We talk about the heart behind her memoir From Scratch and her new audiobook Someday, Now, the rituals and traditions that keep us grounded, and why midlife can feel a lot like adolescence (in the best way). It’s a rich conversation on grief, creativity, and finding light through it all. Preorder our new book, Crushmore, here: geni.us/CrushmoreBook Look for the blue box at retailers everywhere or shop jlab.com and use code PODCRUSHED for 15% off your order today. Head to squarespace.com/PODCRUSHED to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code PODCRUSHED. Use code PODCRUSHED or go to Harbor.co/PODCRUSHED for $50 off and experience the security every parent deserves. Head to prettytasty.com and use code PODCRUSHED at checkout for your first subscription order FREE (up to a $49 value), plus 15% off every subscription order after that. Take the online quiz and introduce Ollie to your pet. Visit https://www.ollie.com/podcrushed for 60% off your first box of meals! #ToKnowThemIsToLoveThem
While it's not yet time to add BB27 to the wheel, we are dipping into other newbies who have played with the icon legend mother, Rachel Reilly. YouTube legend, Peridiam, joins us again to bring back tough matchups to The Diary Room! Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
You can send and text and we love them.. but apparently we cant respond. Sorry!!A daily dose of good news in two minutes time... give or takeSupport the showJoin us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/awesomenewsdailyor email me at awesomenewsdaily@gmail.com
Speed up hiring with Indeed! Now get a $75 sponsored job credit when you go to Indeed.com/trent Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/trent EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/trent Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! In this episode, I sit down with Tembi Locke—author, actress, and one of the most powerful storytellers I know. Together, we dive into what it feels like when your kids leave the house and you step into that season of being an empty nester. We talk about the sadness that can come with it, the way life looks different, and the journey of finding yourself again. Tembi shares wisdom on rediscovering your purpose, keeping love alive in this next chapter, and embracing the new opportunities that come with change. And make sure you stay tuned until the end, because we have a special bonus conversation you won't want to miss. And, make sure you get her new memoir " Someday, Now"
Financial Clarity for Doctors spends a lot of time talking about how to balance your financial priorities and achieve your goals with the resources you have. In this episode, hosts Corey Janoff and Rachelle Vanderzanden take some time to delve into those life goals. We often ask clients, “What's the fairy tale for you?” Spending some time thinking about the things you're working toward can be a lot of fun – and motivating! Your goals can be anything! Maybe for you it's working less now and taking more time for family, friends, and hobbies now. It could be longer-term traveling plans. Someday maybe you'll have the luxury of a trip that lasts a month or two instead of a week or two. For some folks, it's having that very special place to land with friends and family. Beach house anyone? A place in the mountains? Others want to have the ability to make dreams come true for their children or even people they've never met. Take some time to think about your own motivation. It may help you find the balance between living for today and saving for the future. For more financial planning tips from Corey and Rachelle, you can reach out to them at podcast@thefinitygroup.com. They would love to hear your questions and ideas for upcoming episodes. Discussions in this show should not be construed as specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser. Finity Group, LLC and Cambridge are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax or legal advice.
In this powerful talk, Rev Lee Wolak dives into the trap of fool's gold—the illusion of “someday.” Too many people put off living, waiting for the perfect time, the perfect circumstance, or the perfect feeling, only to discover that tomorrow never arrives. This message will challenge you to stop postponing your joy, your purpose, and your truth. Learn how to claim the present moment as your only real treasure and live fully, boldly, and authentically today. Sign up for my daily thought and weekly newsletter by clicking this link: https://www.agapespiritualcenter.com/free-affirmations If you find value in what Agape offers—spiritually, emotionally, and in community—consider becoming a supporting member. Your recurring contribution helps us continue to share truth, healing, and transformation with the world. Click here to become a supporter: https://www.agapespiritualcenter.com/recurring-contributions/
News, commentary, and an extended summary from host Mark Call of some of the week ending 27 September, 2025, where the 'long gunman' narrative fell apart, but the lies continue. And some traitors may actually end up getting arrested. Someday. NOTE: The videos and articles referenced are here: https://rense.com/general98/MURDER-WEAPON.php https://rense.com/general98/rense091925A.php And this is a demo of a man firing the palm pistol at a neck target: https://rense.com/general98/Palm-Pistol-demo.php
In this warm conversation Tembi and Albiona cover:How From Scratch began — writing personal grief into a story that reaches others, and how that book later became a Netflix limited series. (Simon & Schuster)What “re-nesting” means (replacing the idea of an “empty nest” with a more generative, whole concept) and practical ways parents can prepare emotionally for children leaving home. (People.com)The creative process Tembi uses: listening, journaling, & exploring different art forms; writing as a practice to slow down and make meaning. (tembilocke.com)Concrete ideas listeners can use right away: short daily rituals (15–45 min), journaling prompts, scheduling “pre-planned joy,” somatic self-care, and negotiating new family rhythms like weekly check-ins.A deep look at Someday, Now — why Tembi created an immersive audio experience (ambient Sicily soundscapes plus narration), and what she hopes listeners will feel after they finish it: that there is possibility, love, and room for transformation even in endings. (Audible.com)Resources & linksTembi Locke — official site / about & book resources. (tembilocke.com)From Scratch — publisher page (Simon & Schuster). (Simon & Schuster)Someday, Now — Simon & Schuster audio page (audio edition/details). (Simon & Schuster)Someday, Now — Audible audio listing/preorder. (Narrated by Tembi Locke; release details & preorder.) (Audible.com)Tembi Locke on Instagram (announcements & behind-the-scenes). (Instagram) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Actress and author Tembi Locke explains how her new audiobook, “Someday, Now: A Memoir of Family, Reclaiming Possibility, and One Sicilian Summer”, is trying to turn the trauma of "empty-nesting" into the joy of "re-nesting".Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Hi Mamas, Today's episode is a little heavier, but it's one of the most important conversations we can have. After recently losing a dear friend, I've been reflecting deeply on the lessons loss teaches us. These are reminders we all need: to stop waiting, to live with intention, to savor the little things, and to love loudly and unapologetically. Loss shakes us awake. It reminds us that tomorrow isn't promised and the “perfect time” doesn't exist. So instead of waiting for someday, we need to live today. ✨ In this episode, I share 10 powerful lessons loss has taught me: Make your health a priority (yes, book the mammogram!) Save for tomorrow, but don't miss today Take the trip… big or small, it's always worth it Forgive quickly and set yourself free Say the words now: “I love you,” “I'm proud of you” Be present in the everyday moments Live with intention… align your calendar with your values Don't take people for granted… cherish your loved ones Dreams deserve action… start now, even messy Don't assume you have time… today is the gift This episode is dedicated to my beautiful friend Mare. Her light, love, and resilience are a reminder to live fully, laugh often, and love deeply.
On Monday, President Trump, joined by HHS Secretary RFK Jr. and the FDA chair, claimed acetaminophen in Tylenol can increase the risk of autism in children if used during pregnancy.There's no clear evidence for the connection and Tylenol's owner has pushed back. CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook explains what to know. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins “CBS Mornings” to discuss President Trump's U.N. speech, key U.S. allies recognizing Palestinian statehood, the Israel-Hamas war and more. Ahead of the UN General Assembly, the Secret Service revealed it had taken down a "well-organized and well-funded" telecommunications network in New York. The devices, tied to foreign actors and criminal groups, could have shut down cell networks and were also used to send anonymous threats to White House officials earlier this year. The federal tax credit on electric vehicles ends next week. Some dealers are now offering huge deals to sell the cars before the tax credit expires. Bill Gates discusses the stakes of U.S. foreign health funding, his $912 million pledge to the Global Fund and why he plans to give away nearly all his wealth over the next two decades. Best-selling author Brené Brown joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss her new book, "Strong Ground," which draws on years of research and global leadership training to redefine what it means to lead with courage, paradox and human spirit. Scarlett Johansson joins "CBS Mornings" with June Squibb to discuss their new film, "Eleanor the Great," a moving story about family, grief and resilience. Johansson dedicates the project to her grandmother, while Squibb reflects on her decades-long career and thriving at 95. Actor and bestselling author Tembi Locke joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss her new audio memoir "Someday, Now," reflecting on motherhood, grief, and navigating life as her daughter Zoela leaves for college. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's another double-guest episode this week as Kirsten MacInnis re-joins the podcast, this time alongside her friend and our BBCAN9 runner-up, Breydon White! It's another BBCAN-heavy episode this week with (if you can believe it) even MORE Diary Room history made. Each week in The Diary Room, a wheel of names will randomly select SIX players from North American Big Brother history to enter the bracket. In three separate head-to-head matchups, three players will advance to the next round and three players will be eliminated. Someday, we'll find the best Big Brother player of all time! Join us on Patreon for more Diary Room! Vote in Battle Backs and even cast a vote for the actual Diary Room episodes! Follow us on BlueSky! @thediaryroom @mattliguori @amanadwin Follow us on Twitter! @diaryroompcast @mattliguori @amanadwin Subscribe on YouTube! Follow us on Facebook! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this week's podcast, I share a recent experience with a mentee that reminded me of the cost of procrastination. I'll also give you a challenge! Remember..."Someday" is the day of the WEAK! To Your Success, Bruce Whipple https://brucewhipple.com/
Text Me!Are you stuck in the “I'll quit someday” cycle? Maybe you've promised yourself you'll stop drinking after the holidays, once work slows down, or when life feels less stressful. But here's the truth: waiting for someday only keeps you trapped.In this episode of the Sober Vibes Podcast, I'm sharing six practical tips to quit drinking that will help you finally take action. Whether you want to commit to 30 days without alcohol, learn how to stop drinking every night, or break free from the habit of drinking wine to cope with stress.What You Will Learn In This Episode:Why bargaining with alcohol keeps you stuck in the moderation cycleHow focusing on one day at a time makes sobriety less overwhelmingSimple ways to create emotional safety nets so you don't cave under pressureHow to replace the “reward loop” of alcohol with healthier habitsWhy taking messy action matters more than waiting until you feel readyThe power of finding a sober community and the right support systemIf you've been telling yourself you'll quit “someday,” this episode will show you how to start today.Resources Mentioned:Sober 1:1 Coaching The Sobriety Circle The After-Emotional Sobriety GuideSubscribe to the Sober Vibes Podcast on YouTubeFree ResourcesPODCAST SPONSOR:This episode is sponsored by Soberlink, a trusted accountability tool for anyone navigating early recovery. Whether you're rebuilding trust with loved ones or want more structure in your sobriety, Soberlink offers a discreet and empowering way to stay on track.Sober Vibes listeners get $50 off their device!Grab your discount here!Hope this episode helps you today, and welcome to season 7!Thank you for listening! Help the show by Rating, Reviewing, and/or Subscribing to the Sober Vibes Podcast. Connect w/ Courtney:InstagramJoin the Sobriety Circle Apply for 1:1 CoachingOrder the Sober Vibes Book