Podcasts about Wandering

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Games gather reputations for a variety of reasons, but one of the most unique among those are the games that are so hard to purchase that above all, they have a reputation for being expensive. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Team Andromeda, Sega, 1998) is one of the top examples of that phenomenon nowadays, after only tens of thousands of English-language copies were pressed, Team Andromeda was shuttered quickly after the game's release and Sega now claims to have lost the source code. All of this may leave you wondering...what is Panzer Dragoon Saga like as a game? I was certainly left wondering that, and Chris Coplien of Retro Hangover was up for the task of discussing the game behind the massive price tag. As always, no spoilers for a while- enjoy! Guest info: Chris Coplien (he/him) Check out Retro Hangover https://linktr.ee/retrohangover Follow on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/retrohangover.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Start 0:24 Introductions 5:13 Our Histories with Panzer Dragoon Saga 13:16 Top-Level Thoughts 20:41 Story Setup and Worldbuilding 28:16 Pacing and Storytelling 33:41 Visual Presentation 39:04 Music 43:05 Combat 1:07:41 Exploration and Side Quests 1:16:37 Who Should Play? 1:20:12 Retro Hangover Podcast 1:24:40 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:26:37 Spoilers- Setting the Stage 1:42:26 Spoilers- Some Big Themes 1:51:53 Spoilers- A Philosophical Dilemma 1:59:16 Spoilers- Uncovering a Very Familiar Trope 2:17:28 Spoilers- Revisiting the Dilemma and Ending Music used in the episode is credited to Saori Kobayashi and Mariko Nanba. Tracks used: Behold the Precious Wings, A Premonition of War, Metamorphosis 1, Atolm Dragon, Rest, Area 3 Background, Wandering, Breath of Life Panzer Dragoon Story and Lore Walkthrough https://youtu.be/BVc7QxiAO1k Max Derrat's Development History Video: https://youtu.be/sIqM80qEY8s Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

We're wandering back into Japan soon and casting a wider net. Who better to guide us than our pal Andrew from Wandering in Disney? Kyoto is his favorite city in the world, so he's got quite the insight into the sites (and sights) we should set our... sights on. What's a must do? What's overrated? What's full of tourists that we can't avoid? Is Tom Brady truly the GOAT? Discover all this and more on a grovey special episode of Trammin' - A Disneyland Podcast!Check out more of Andrew's travel logs on wanderingindisney.comListen to full episodes every other Windsday and topic-only uploads on Big Thunder Thursdays!InstagramTrammin' - https://instagram.com/TramminPodcastChristian Rainwater - https://instagram.com/imrainwaterKirk - https://instagram.com/tramminkirkMusicLocal Forecast - Elevator Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Trammin' - The Disneylanders, Addy DaddyUsed with permission.Character Art & AnimationNadia Dar - https://nadsdardraws.carrd.co/Trammin.comTrammin' is written without the use of Artificial Intelligence.©Trammin' - A Disneyland Podcast

What does real faith look like when prayer feels unanswered, people wander, and following Jesus requires persistence?In this episode of The Extended Cut, Casey Olson sits down with Grace City Church Lead Pastor Chris Sonner to put a bow on our series through the book of James and unpack the final verses of James 5 that didn't make it into Sunday's sermon, “When Faith Gets Real.”James 5:17–20 gives us two powerful pictures of genuine faith: Elijah's persistence in prayer and our responsibility to pursue people who wander.Elijah can seem like an extraordinary biblical superhero—a prophet who prayed and saw God move in miraculous ways. But James intentionally reminds us that Elijah was “a man with a nature like ours.” His power wasn't found in being extraordinary; it was found in trusting an extraordinary God.That changes the way we think about prayer.Prayer isn't about spiritual performance or finding the “right” person who can convince God to act. Prayer is an expression of dependence. It's admitting, “I can't do this, but I believe God can.” And faith isn't confidence that God will always do exactly what we want—it's confidence that God is trustworthy enough for us to ask and then trust Him with what He does.James then turns our attention outward: “If anyone among you wanders from the truth…”Wandering rarely happens all at once. Often, it's subtle. We drift. We get distracted. We slowly move away from the people, practices, and truth that once anchored us.And James reminds us that following Jesus was never meant to be done alone.Real faith notices when someone is missing. It makes the phone call. It asks the hard question. It prays. It speaks truth with love. It remains relationally available. And instead of gossiping about people who wander or simply writing them off, followers of Jesus are called to pursue restoration and reconciliation.As we close out our journey through James, Chris and Casey leave us with two questions worth carrying into this week:Who have you stopped praying for?Who have you stopped pursuing?Maybe it's time to pray again. Maybe it's time to make the call again.Because when faith gets real, it doesn't only change what we say we believe—it changes how we pray, how we love, how we pursue people, and how we live.

ਧਨਾਸਰੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ॥ ਸਦਾ ਧਨੁ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਸਮਾਲੇ ॥ ਜੀਅ ਜੰਤ ਜਿਨਹਿ ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਲੇ ॥ ਮੁਕਤਿ ਪਦਾਰਥੁ ਤਿਨ ਕਉ ਪਾਏ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਕੈ ਨਾਮਿ ਰਤੇ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਏ ॥੧॥ ਗੁਰ ਸੇਵਾ ਤੇ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਨੁ ਪਾਵੈ ॥ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਪਰਗਾਸੁ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਵੈ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਇਹੁ ਹਰਿ ਰੰਗੁ ਗੂੜਾ ਧਨ ਪਿਰ ਹੋਇ ॥ ਸਾਂਤਿ ਸੀਗਾਰੁ ਰਾਵੇ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਸੋਇ ॥ ਹਉਮੈ ਵਿਚਿ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਕੋਇ ਨ ਪਾਏ ॥ ਮੂਲਹੁ ਭੁਲਾ ਜਨਮੁ ਗਵਾਏ ॥੨॥ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਸਾਤਿ ਸਹਜ ਸੁਖੁ ਬਾਣੀ ॥ ਸੇਵਾ ਸਾਚੀ ਨਾਮਿ ਸਮਾਣੀ ॥ ਸਬਦਿ ਮਿਲੈ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮੁ ਸਦਾ ਧਿਆਏ ॥ ਸਾਚ ਨਾਮਿ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਪਾਏ ॥੩॥ ਆਪੇ ਕਰਤਾ ਜੁਗਿ ਜੁਗਿ ਸੋਇ ॥ ਨਦਰਿ ਕਰੇ ਮੇਲਾਵਾ ਹੋਇ ॥ ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਤੇ ਹਰਿ ਮੰਨਿ ਵਸਾਏ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਾਚਿ ਰਤੇ ਪ੍ਰਭਿ ਆਪਿ ਮਿਲਾਏ ॥੪॥੩॥.ਅਰਥ: ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ (ਦੱਸੀ) ਸੇਵਾ ਕਰਨ ਨਾਲ (ਮਨੁੱਖ) ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਨਾਮ-ਧਨ ਹਾਸਲ ਕਰ ਲੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਜੇਹੜਾ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਨਾਮ ਸਿਮਰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਦੇ ਅੰਦਰ (ਆਤਮਕ ਜੀਵਨ ਦੀ) ਸੂਝ ਪੈਦਾ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ।ਰਹਾਉ।ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਜਿਸ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਨੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਜੀਵਾਂ ਦੀ ਪਾਲਣਾ (ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਮੇਵਾਰੀ) ਲਈ ਹੋਈ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਨਾਮ (ਐਸਾ) ਧਨ (ਹੈ ਜੋ) ਸਦਾ ਸਾਥ ਨਿਬਾਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਇਸ ਨੂੰ ਆਪਣੇ ਅੰਦਰ ਸਾਂਭ ਕੇ ਰੱਖ, ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਵਿਕਾਰਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਖ਼ਲਾਸੀ ਕਰਾਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਨਾਮ-ਧਨ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਮਨੁੱਖਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਮਿਲਦਾ ਹੈ, ਜੇਹੜੇ ਸੁਰਤਿ ਜੋੜ ਕੇ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦੇ ਨਾਮ (-ਰੰਗ) ਵਿਚ ਰੰਗੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ।੧।ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਪ੍ਰਭੂ-ਪਤੀ (ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ) ਦਾ ਇਹ ਗੂੜ੍ਹਾ ਰੰਗ ਉਸ ਜੀਵ-ਇਸਤ੍ਰੀ ਨੂੰ ਚੜ੍ਹਦਾ ਹੈ, ਜੇਹੜੀ (ਆਤਮਕ) ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਨੂੰ (ਆਪਣੇ ਜੀਵਨ ਦਾ) ਗਹਣਾ ਬਣਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਜੀਵ-ਇਸਤ੍ਰੀ ਉਸ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਨੂੰ ਹਰ ਵੇਲੇ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਵਸਾਈ ਰੱਖਦੀ ਹੈ। ਪਰ ਅਹੰਕਾਰ ਵਿਚ (ਰਹਿ ਕੇ) ਕੋਈ ਭੀ ਜੀਵ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਨੂੰ ਮਿਲ ਨਹੀਂ ਸਕਦਾ। ਆਪਣੇ ਜਿੰਦ-ਦਾਤੇ ਤੋਂ ਭੁੱਲਾ ਹੋਇਆ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਆਪਣਾ ਮਨੁੱਖਾ ਜਨਮ ਵਿਅਰਥ ਗਵਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।੨।ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਗੁਰੂ ਪਾਸੋਂ (ਮਿਲੀ) ਬਾਣੀ ਦੀ ਬਰਕਤਿ ਨਾਲ ਆਤਮਕ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ, ਆਤਮਕ ਅਡੋਲਤਾ ਦਾ ਆਨੰਦ ਮਿਲਦਾ ਹੈ। (ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਦੱਸੀ) ਸੇਵਾ ਸਦਾ ਨਾਲ ਨਿਭਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਚੀਜ਼ ਹੈ (ਇਸ ਦੀ ਬਰਕਤਿ ਨਾਲ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦੇ) ਨਾਮ ਵਿਚ ਲੀਨਤਾ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ। ਜੇਹੜਾ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ ਦੇ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਵਿਚ ਜੁੜਿਆ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ-ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਨੂੰ ਸਦਾ ਸਿਮਰਦਾ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਸਦਾ-ਥਿਰ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਦੇ ਨਾਮ ਵਿਚ ਲੀਨ ਹੋ ਕੇ (ਪਰਲੋਕ ਵਿਚ) ਇੱਜ਼ਤ ਖੱਟਦਾ ਹੈ।੩।ਜੇਹੜਾ ਕਰਤਾਰ ਹਰੇਕ ਜੁਗ ਵਿਚ ਆਪ ਹੀ (ਮੌਜੂਦ ਚਲਿਆ ਆ ਰਿਹਾ) ਹੈ, ਉਹ (ਜਿਸ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਉੱਤੇ ਮੇਹਰ ਦੀ) ਨਿਗਾਹ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ (ਉਸ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਦਾ ਉਸ ਨਾਲ) ਮਿਲਾਪ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਉਹ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਦੀ ਬਰਕਤਿ ਨਾਲ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਨੂੰ ਆਪਣੇ ਮਨ ਵਿਚ ਵਸਾ ਲੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਹੇ ਨਾਨਕ! ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਮਨੁੱਖਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਨੇ ਆਪ (ਆਪਣੇ ਚਰਨਾਂ ਵਿਚ) ਮਿਲਾਇਆ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਉਸ ਸਦਾ-ਥਿਰ (ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ-ਰੰਗ) ਵਿਚ ਰੰਗੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ।੪।੩।DHANAASAREE, THIRD MEHL:Gather in and cherish forever the wealth of the Lord's Name, deep within; He cherishes and nurtures all beings and creatures. They alone obtain the treasure of Liberation, who are lovingly imbued with, and focused on the Lord's Name. || 1 || Serving the Guru, one obtains the wealth of the Lord's Name. He is illumined and enlightened within, and he meditates on the Lord's Name. || Pause || This love for the Lord is like the love of the bride for her husband. God ravishes and enjoys the soul-bride who is adorned with peace and tranquility. No one finds God through egotism. Wandering away from the Primal Lord, the root of all, one wastes his life in vain. || 2 || Tranquility, celestial peace, pleasure and the Word of His Bani come from the Guru. True is that service, which leads one to merge in the Naam. Blessed with the Word of the Shabad, he meditates forever on the Lord, the Beloved. Through the True Name, glorious greatness is obtained. || 3 || The Creator Himself abides throughout the ages. If He casts His Glance of Grace, then we meet Him. Through the Word of Gurbani, the Lord comes to dwell in the mind. O Nanak, God unites with Himself those who are imbued with Truth. || 4 ||

astor Luke Simmons begins a new series, **God's Plan for the Church**, with a message from **1 Timothy 1:1-11** about what it means for God's people to live as the household of God.Paul writes to Timothy because the church in Ephesus is facing false teaching, speculation, and confusion about the truth. Timothy is charged to help the church stand firm, not swerve, and remain faithful to the gospel. In this opening message, Pastor Luke shows that the church does not get to define itself by preference, culture, politics, or popular opinion. The church belongs to the living God, and he tells his household how to live.This passage calls the church to recognize and resist false teaching, even when it sounds normal or appealing. It also calls us to embrace sound doctrine, including the parts that confront sin and expose our need for grace. But the goal is not arrogance, argument, or simply being right. Paul says the aim of our charge is love—love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.A healthy church holds fast to the truth and bears the fruit of gospel love. We stand firm not by avoiding hard truths or using truth as a weapon, but by remaining faithful to Christ, full of both grace and truth.**Bookmarks:**  00:00 - Start  09:56 - We commit to recognizing and resisting false teaching (1:3-7)  18:59 - We commit to embracing the severity of sound doctrine (1:8-11)  25:11 - We commit to bearing the fruit of gospel love (1:5)**HOW TO FIND US*** SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YouTube CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@IronwoodChurchAZFACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/ironwoodchurchaz/ INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/ironwood.church/WEBSITE https://www.ironwoodchurch.org/

Are the 10 Commandments just arbitrary rules? Or are they a formula for prosperity? As we examine the last 6 Commandments, we see clearly that our lives and the world are objectively better when people obey these commands. Exodus 20:12-17

Check out this week's message from Pastor Ryan Goeden shares a message from our series, Wandering.#newlifechurch #helpingpeopleknowjesusbetter #2026sermon #sermon #onlinechurch #churchonlineSubscribe to receive our latest messages: https://bit.ly/3jqEZ1gTo support this ministry and help us continue to help people know Jesus better click here: https://www.nlspringfield.com/give/ Helping People Know Jesus Better - This is the vision of New Life Church, led by Pastor Ryan Goeden and based in Springfield, MOSupport the show

It is wash day at the rabbit warren, and Eleanor and Elliot—the eldest of the fourteen bunnies—have been put in charge. Curl up with your favorite pillow and listen to this playful bedtime story about a charming family of rabbits on laundry day. This "Wandering Sleep Story" is part of a series available on Little Stories for Sleep, a bedtime podcast available to all Little Stories Premium subscribers. On Little Stories for Sleep, every episode begins and ends with soft music perfect for bedtime. There are no introductions before the story, no comments after--nothing to interrupt a soothing bedtime playlist. To hear many more Wandering Sleep Stories, you can join or gift a subscription by visiting http://littlestoriespremium.com

Ask Us A QuestionWe're back. ❤️After six weeks away from Love Shack Live and three weeks in Italy, we're finally back behind the microphones. And we came home with a question we haven't been able to stop thinking about…“We feel more like roommates than partners.” “I feel alone, even when they're right there.” “We love each other. We've just lost the connection we used to have.”We hear versions of these sentences all the time from people taking the Better Love Quiz.And after spending three weeks in Italy, we came home wondering about something we hadn't considered quite this way before:What if some of the connection we're missing isn't something we need to find again? What if our everyday lives simply aren't giving us enough opportunities to create it?We expected to miss the castle, the wine, the food, and those ridiculous Tuscan sunsets. Instead, we missed the people. Walking into the kitchen and finding someone there. Sitting around the table long after dinner was over. Hearing laughter from another room. Wandering without a destination. Twelve people with nowhere more important to be.And then we came home.Everything was quiet.It made us realize how incredibly efficient we've become at not needing one another. Groceries arrive at the door. Entertainment streams into our homes. We work remotely, text instead of visit, eat while answering emails, and fill nearly every empty space in our day.It's convenient. But there may be a relational price we're paying for all that efficiency.In this episode, we're talking about what Tuscany reminded us about how human connection actually grows, why familiarity can make us stop noticing the people we love, and how to bring some of that la dolce vita back into an ordinary Tuesday.We talk about why connection needs proximity and repetition, the Italian piazza and the disappearing “third places” in our own communities, why humans bond through participation rather than observation, and the surprisingly important art of lingering.And if you're thinking, “That sounds lovely, but I don't have time for any of this,” we talk about that too.Because rebuilding connection doesn't have to mean a romantic vacation, a giant relationship conversation, or packing your bags and moving to Tuscany.Sometimes it starts with dinner lasting twenty minutes longer.In this episode:Why connection needs proximity and repetitionWhat Italian piazzas taught us about making room for the unplannedThe relational price we may be paying for convenienceWhy you can't observe your way into connectionAperitivo, lingering, and il dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothingWhat happens when the person you love becomes so familiar that you stop really seeing themSimple rituals that create more opportunities for connection at homeWhy “I don't have time for that” might be exactly where we need to startWhere to StartNot sure whether what you're experiencing is a rough patch or something more? Take the free Better Love Quiz at BetterLoveQuiz.com. In about five minutes, you'll get your personalized Better Love Blueprint and see which relationship skills could use some attention right now.Staci's new digital book, Is My Marriage Dead?, is $9 and designed to help you get clearer about what's actually happening in your relationship and what your next honest step might be.Want to join us in Tuscany next year? Email love@stacibartley.com and let us know. And stay tuned, because we're also working on opportunities to gather a little closer to home.Okay, but is my relationship actually in trouble? If you've ever wondered that, Is My Marriage Dead? is for you. It won't tell you to stay or leave. It will help you figure out what you're actually looking at, what real repair requires, and what to do when the most honest answer you have right now is I don't know.$9 digital guide. Start reading today.

Audio reading: Isaiah 48:12-50:11, Ephesians 4:17-32, Psalm 69:1-18, Prov 24:5-6 This episode explores Isaiah 49 and Jeremiah passages, unpacking God's promises for sons and daughters who have wandered from the Lord and turning those promises into a focused prayer. Listeners are encouraged to intercede for lost loved ones, trust God's timing, and receive hope through Scripture and prayer. Connect With Us - Website: https://1yearAudioBiblePodcast.com   Spotify: Https://Open.Spotify.Com/Show/7zuyulxhnkthbgmnxu6q5t Apple Podcasts: Https://Podcasts.Apple.Com/Us/Podcast/1-Year-Audio-Bible-Podcast/Id1562405086 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1YearAudioBiblePodcast PodBean: https://bridgeconnector.podbean.com/

Human growth can seem to just happen—genes, care, and nurture set each of us on a trajectory across the lifespan. But how do people actually grow toward wholeness, and is virtue even the point?Psychologists Liz Hall and Todd Hall of Biola University's Rosemead School of Psychology, coauthors of Relational Spirituality, bring psychological science and Christian theology together to answer. The conversation grows out of the Martin Institute's Practice Unto Virtue project, which gathered theologians, psychologists, philosophers, and biblical scholars at Westmont College in spring 2026 to ask how Christian practices like prayer, fasting, and service form Christlike virtue.In this episode, Liz and Todd Hall explain a relational account of human transformation: We are formed in relationship, grow through relationship, and relationship is where growth is headed. Their answer to the workshop's question is direct—virtue alone is not the telos of spiritual growth. The goal is intimacy with God, union with Christ, and practices and virtues matter because they grow out of that union, support it, and make more room for it.They discuss implicit, gut-level relational knowledge, attachment filters and relational contrast experiences, and why willpower, spiritual highs, intellectualizing, and spiritual bypass so often leave the deepest layer of the self untouched. They also take up whether suffering can lead to growth or whether we grow in spite of it, drawing on Crystal Park's meaning-making model, Liz's own cancer diagnosis, the practice of lament, Eleonore Stump on sin as inner fragmentation, and Gordon Smith's picture of human agency nested within God's love.With special thanks to Steve Porter and the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture at Westmont College, and to the Templeton World Charity Foundation, which helped fund the Practice Unto Virtue workshop.Episode Highlights”What we're aiming for is not a self-improvement project of little aspects of ourself that we're building up like a tower of Legos or something.” (Liz Hall)”I wanna be very careful here not to say that suffering is what changes people … because that's making something that's intrinsically bad into maybe something good. We don't wanna go there. But suffering provides an opportunity.” (Liz Hall)”Because of how intrinsically relational we are, the pathways to change are also relational. So the goal is relational. The pathways are relational.” (Liz Hall)”It's not suffering per se that causes growth. It's the processing of suffering in a particular way in the context of relationship.” (Todd Hall)”Our agency operates completely inside the circle of God's love and action and is a response to it and a participation in the life and love of the Trinitarian God.” (Todd Hall)”It's not just to become a better person for the sake of being a better person, which often reduces down to oh, that's gonna promote my own happiness … No, it's for the goal of deeper intimacy with Christ and union with Christ.” (Todd Hall)”They have limitations and sometimes I don't like what comes out of their mouth … but all of that is grist for the mill, isn't it?” (Liz Hall)About Liz Hall and Todd HallLiz Hall and Todd Hall are professors of psychology at Biola University's Rosemead School of Psychology and coauthors of Relational Spirituality: A Psychological-Theological Paradigm for Transformation. Liz, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, researches suffering, meaning-making, and lament; her newest book, with Kelly Kapic and Jason McMartin, is ”When the Journey Hurts.” Todd, a faculty affiliate of the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, is the author of The Connected Life and founder of the Relational Spirituality Academy, which trains Christian leaders in relational approaches to formation. They live in Southern California and have two adult sons.Helpful Links and ResourcesWhen the Journey Hurts, Kelly M. Kapic, Liz Hall, and Jason McMartin: https://ivpress.com/when-the-journey-hurtsRelational Spirituality, Todd W. Hall with M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall: https://ivpress.com/relational-spiritualityThe Connected Life, Todd W. Hall: https://www.ivpress.com/the-connected-lifeDr. Liz Hall, website and resources on lament and meaning-making: https://www.drlizhall.comRelational Spirituality Academy, Todd Hall's training site: https://www.relationalspirituality.co/Practice Unto Virtue, Martin Institute Christian Formation Workshop 2026 sessions (Conversatio Divina): https://conversatio.org/collections/christian-formation-workshop-2026-practice-unto-virtue-the-role-of-christian-practices-in-virtue-formation/Crystal L. Park, ”Meaning Making Following Trauma” (Frontiers in Psychology): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8984472Eleonore Stump, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering: https://academic.oup.com/book/12824Gordon T. Smith, Called to Be Saints: An Invitation to Christian Maturity: https://ivpress.com/called-to-be-saintsShow NotesIntegrating psychology and theologyPsychological science and Scripture woven into one picture of the person”Theology setting the scope of the good life, psychology fleshing it outSymptom-level change versus deeper relational transformationImplicit relational knowledgeGrowth as expanded capacity for relationship with God and others, not a stack of isolated strengthsPutting ourselves in the path of change through gratitude exercises and spiritual disciplinesControlling change as a way of coping with anxiety and emotional painMisguided approaches: willpower, spiritual highs, intellectualizing, spiritual bypassThe implicit self and gut-level memoryInterpersonal neurobiology and affective neuroscienceAttachment filters from early relationships, running automaticallyRelational contrast experiences as the engine of deep changeAugustine's restless heart and a shared human disconnectionSuffering as accelerant, not a different pathway of changePost-traumatic and stress-related growthSuffering as opportunity for growth, never good in itselfWhen suffering breaks the habitual defenses that kept pain at bayGlobal and situational meaning, discrepancy, and distressCrystal L. Park, ”Meaning Making Following Trauma”: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8984472A cancer diagnosis and the harder question of trusting God with one's own childrenDeep growth as identity-disrupting, so resisted even when desiredUnion with Christ as the goal of formation; human agency nested within divine actionGordon T. Smith, ”Called to Be Saints”Lament, gratitude, and identifying with Christ's sufferingSin as inner fragmentation, and virtue as the healing that frees us for intimacy with GodSanctification and intimacy moving in both directionsGod as both context and goal of growthImperfect church communities as raw material for patience and agape love#ForTheLifeOfTheWorld #SpiritualFormation #RelationalSpirituality #AttachmentTheory #PsychologyAndTheology #Sanctification #Suffering #Lament #ChristianPsychology #FlourishingProduction NotesThis podcast featured Elizabeth Hall and Todd HallSpecial thanks to Steve Porter, The Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture at Westmont College, and the Templeton World Charity FoundationEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Noah SenthilA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

What are the 10 Commandments for? How should we relate to these rules as Christians? As we consider these commands, we see these rules as a benefit and a blessing! Exodus 20:1-11

All the thoughts we have after Week 2 of the NFL slate...plus, is Caleb gonna play in Week 3 after looking like his leg might have to be amputated in Week 2. We answer for our Spraguin the Line picks and we answer the poll questions.

Check out this week's message from Pastor Ryan Goeden shares a message from our series, Wandering.#newlifechurch #helpingpeopleknowjesusbetter #2026sermon #sermon #onlinechurch #churchonlineSubscribe to receive our latest messages: https://bit.ly/3jqEZ1gTo support this ministry and help us continue to help people know Jesus better click here: https://www.nlspringfield.com/give/ Helping People Know Jesus Better - This is the vision of New Life Church, led by Pastor Ryan Goeden and based in Springfield, MOSupport the show

Best Wishes tries to just freaking RELAX FOR A MINUTE, before they rush off headlong into the final story of this campaign...Our Patreon is a happening place to be!! There's a ton of new content, a new tier, and a bunch more to get involved with! We also have our Blackwater Big Battle Mechanics, as well as The Royale System. Head on over to patreon.com/blackwaterdnd to check it out. Thank you all so much for your support. Please also consider checking out our Throne to support our new studio - www.throne.com/blackwaterdndOur main campaign story features Tim (he/him) as our illustrious DM, Em (fae/faer) as Honiah "Shy" Shydare, Triton Tidal Soul Monk; Jannes (he/him) as Thistle Longbranch, Goliath Circle of the Moon Druid; Sean (he/him) as Mark Dwyler, Human Aberrant Mind Sorcerer; and Jess (she/her) as Mirielle Fiamma, Fire Primordian Trickery Cleric! We are elated to have Kelli Ogmundson (she/her), as Blueberry, Half-Elf Celestial Warlock, joining us when she can make it for the rest of Campaign Two.Please consider subscribing, rating and leaving a review! Main Campaign episodes will be LIVE on Monday nights at 8pm PST at twitch.tv/blackwaterdnd - come join in our live chat for some delightful good times.  A big thank you to our fantastic sponsors and partners! All our music is credited to Epidemic Sound, as well as original compositions by Si Rutherford. Thanks to Syrinscape for our atmosphere and sound because epic games deserve epic sound!  Art by the amazing @jakebartok on Instagram! We're also thrilled to be partnered with Familiar Dice, maker of artisanal math rocks for all your clickity-clackity needs. Check them out on instagram @familiardice. Supporting these awesome creators helps support us so that we can keep playing this crazy D&D game we love.Finally, we'd like to take a moment to encourage our viewers to donate to reputable organizations that take a stand and support the fight against racism, fascism, oppression, and injustice. We at Blackwater stand with those who persist in the face of terrorism, hate crime, brutality and violence, and encourage others to educate themselves on how to be an ally in these uncertain times. We commit to fighting violence at both individual and systemic levels, and champion the voices and stories of those who have been silenced for so long. As well, please consider donating to organizations that champion BIMPOC & LGBTQIA2S+ folx and the fight for equality regardless of who you are and who you love. Because whoever you are, and however you roll, we love you. Session date: September 14th, 2026In game date: 27th Peldaven 2438 (very early morning) - 2nd Erathean 2438 (midday)

People rebelled in a garden, in slavery, in the desert, and even in the promised land. The context was never the problem. The heart always was. God came to transform our hearts, break the power of sin, and take His rightful place on the throne.

The Balance Point Before the IgnitionA brief note. These episodes are prerecorded during a wilderness retreat. I am not tracking current events in real time. Hold what I offer here alongside what you are actually living.We are at the balance point. The autumn equinox arrives Tuesday, Mabon in the Celtic tradition, the second harvest, the moment of equal light and dark before the turning toward the inward season. And yet this week ignites.By Sunday the planetary lineup in fire and air is complete. Sun and Mercury in Libra. Jupiter and Mars in Leo. Uranus in Gemini. Saturn, Chiron and Neptune in Aries. Pluto in Aquarius. Every planet and heavenly body except Venus in Scorpio (and the Moon in her changeable flow)  in fire or air simultaneously. The elemental grammar of the current civilizational moment fully expressed through the planetary field.Key Cycles This Week:Monday, September 21: Mercury in Libra sextiles Jupiter in Leo. A warm generous opening. Relational intelligence and creative meaning-making in easy flow. Conversations that open rather than close. A fitting note before the equinox threshold arrives.Tuesday, September 22: Sun enters Libra. Autumn Equinox. Mabon. The second harvest. What has genuinely ripened through this extraordinary summer that is ready to be gathered and held with gratitude? Not the surface understanding but the deeper fruit, the shift in how you see yourself, your place in the larger web, what you are willing to claim as genuinely yours.The equinox this year asks what genuine balance means in a time of civilizational imbalance. Not false equivalence. Not performed equanimity. The elder's balance — holding the full weight of what is difficult and what is beautiful simultaneously without collapsing into either. That is Libra's deepest gift for the coming month.The Fire-Air Ignition — Chiron as the Shamanic One: Chiron in Aries completes this week's elemental ignition with a dimension the other planets cannot reach. Chiron is not only the Wounded Healer. Chiron is the Shamanic One — the one who has learned to move between worlds, between the visible and the invisible, between the human and the ancestral field. The shaman does not heal by fixing. They heal by shapeshifting, entering the invisible dimensions of what is wounded, metabolizing in the spirit dimensions what cannot be metabolized in the ordinary world alone. The wound was the initiation into the capacity to move between worlds.Chiron in Aries freshly returned to complete its work carries that full shamanic dimension into the fire field. The broken places in the self being visited by the one who knows how to bring back what was lost. In a field blazing with fire and air, Chiron in Aries is the shamanic anchor, the reminder that genuine transformation is a crossing between worlds, not only a psychological process.Saturday, September 26: Full Moon at 3 degrees of Aries conjunct Neptune, sextile Pluto, trine Uranus. The second time this summer a luminary has activated all three great transpersonal cycles simultaneously. This time at a culmination point in Aries conjunct Neptune, the initiatory impulse and the imaginal dissolution both illuminated at once. The new identity emerging and the old identity dissolving, both visible in the full light of the Moon.The sextile to Pluto and trine to Uranus bring the full three-transpersonal cycle field into this illumination. The civilizational imagination being lit up at the most personal level available. Pay careful attention to what you see at this Full Moon around identity and vision, what is genuinely becoming as distinct from what has been performed or survived into existence.Sunday, September 27: Mars in Cancer squares Chiron in Aries. Mars enters Leo. A farewell and an ignition on the same day. Mars in Cancer's final significant contact, a reckoning between what it has been carrying through the ancestral and protective field and the wound of identity Chiron in Aries is completing. A naming of what has been carried before the fire of Leo ignites.Then Mars enters Leo, joining Jupiter. The Action-Taker and the Expander in the sign of the heart. The instinctual body crossing from tending what is vulnerable to expressing what is genuinely alive. With the North Node in Aquarius, Mars in Leo asks: what are you offering, and whom does it genuinely serve? Not the creative fire that burns for its own recognition but the fire that warms others and illuminates what needs to be seen.Larger FrameWe cross the equinox balance point with fire in hand. The interior alchemy of autumn, Venus retrograde deepening and Mercury retrograde coming, will be navigated with a fully ignited fire-air field, a shamanic anchor in Chiron in Aries, and a Full Moon illuminating all three great cycles in the territory of new identity and new vision.What are you carrying into the descent? What has been harvested that belongs to the journey ahead?Reflection QuestionsAt the equinox, Mabon's second harvest, what has genuinely ripened in you through this extraordinary summer that is ready to be gathered with gratitude?The Full Moon in Aries conjunct Neptune illuminates both the new identity emerging and the old dissolving simultaneously. What do you see in that double illumination?As Mars crosses from Cancer's protective waters into Leo's creative fire, what has the instinctual body been tending that is now ready to be expressed in genuine service?Podcast poem: For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in its Human Feet by Joy Harjo I'm offering you my do-it-yourself course Chiron: the Wisdom in the Wound. as a gift to you at no charge. You can explore the Chiron course on the Astrology page of my website: ontheedgesofchange.com/astrology. When you go to purchase the Chiron course, to get the course at no charge, use this coupon at checkout: CHIRONSupport the showGo to Sheila's website for information for transformational resources: https://www.ontheedgesofchange.comThis episode was co-created with generative AI, engaged as a soul-aligned ally in service of transformation. At the edge where technology meets myth, I choose insight over noise, and alchemy over automation. Thank you for dreaming the future with me.

Is Your Sapphic Protagonist Worried About the Wrong Things? The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 352 with Heather Rose Jones In this episode we talk about: How to make the conflicts in a sapphic historical romance more realistic A transcript of this podcast is available here. Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop Bluesky: @heatherrosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

The post Long Wandering Prayer appeared first on Southern Equip.

Chris. Mat, and Seriah talk about the passing of Gordon White, fringe synchronicities, cosmology, buttons that don't work, how we care more when we get choices, even if they are not real, remote viewing, UFOs, apports, quantum anchors and more...Outro Music is Spazzare with Duck and CoverThere is also a Patreon segment where we continue this conversation.  Become a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/SeriahAzkath for extra content, commercial free shows, early access, and bonus content as well! All this for only $3 a month!

In this episode, we will discuss critical wandering and missing persons incidents in dementia care. We delve into the risk factors, common scenarios, and outcomes of such incidents, emphasizing the importance of immediate action and preparedness.‍This episode will cover:— Definition and importance of understanding critical wandering.— Risk factors that increase the likelihood of wandering.— Common scenarios where wandering occurs.— Immediate steps to take if a person with dementia goes missing. — Case study highlighting a missing person incident.— Where people with dementia are often found, both alive and deceased.— Who often finds missing people with dementia.‍MedicAlert | https://www.medicalert.org/medical-conditions/alzheimers/REFERENCES: Rowe, M. A., Feinglass, N. G., & Wiss, M. E. (2004). Persons with dementia who become lost in the community: a case study, current research, and recommendations. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 79(11), 1417–1422. https://doi.org/10.4065/79.11.1417‍Alzheimer's Association. (2023). Wandering and getting lost: Who's at risk and how to be prepared. https://www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-dementia-wandering-behavior-ts.pdf‍Rowe, M.A., Vandeveer, S.S., Greenblum, C.A. et al. Persons with dementia missing in the community: Is it wandering or something unique?. BMC Geriatr 11, 28 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-11-28‍Miguel-Cruz A, Perez H, Choi Y, Rutledge E, Daum C, Liu LThe Prevalence of Missing Incidents and Their Antecedents Among Older Adult MedicAlert Subscribers: Retrospective Descriptive StudyJMIR Aging 2024;7:e58205URL: https://aging.jmir.org/2024/1/e58205 DOI: 10.2196/58205CONNECT, GET RESOURCES, LEARN MORE, + SIMPLIFY YOUR CARE JOURNEY:LinkTree | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.letsbambu.com/b/linktree⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MUSIC CREDIT: Listen To SpillageVillage - Tropical Landing Pop Songs At Looperman.com DISCLAIMER: The information contained in Bambu Care LLC's website, blog, emails, programs, services and/or products is for educational and informational purposes only. While we draw on our prior professional expertise and background in other areas, you acknowledge that we are supporting you in our role exclusively as a Dementia Care Consultant. By participating in Bambu Care, LLC's website, blog, emails, programs, services and/or products, you acknowledge that we are not a licensed psychologist, professional counselor, or medical doctor. We in no way, diagnose, treat, or cure any illnesses or diseases. Dementia Care Consulting is in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling or any other type of therapy or medical advice. The information provided by Bambu Care, LLC also does not constitute legal or financial advice nor is intended to be. Dementia Care Consulting is not a substitute for the services of a CPA or attorney.

ਗੂਜਰੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥ ਜਿਸੁ ਮਾਨੁਖ ਪਹਿ ਕਰਉ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਸੋ ਅਪਨੈ ਦੁਖਿ ਭਰਿਆ ॥ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਜਿਨਿ ਰਿਦੈ ਅਰਾਧਿਆ ਤਿਨਿ ਭਉ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਤਰਿਆ ॥੧॥ ਗੁਰ ਹਰਿ ਬਿਨੁ ਕੋ ਨ ਬ੍ਰਿਥਾ ਦੁਖੁ ਕਾਟੈ ॥ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਤਜਿ ਅਵਰ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਜੇ ਹੋਈ ਹੈ ਤਿਤੁ ਮਾਨੁ ਮਹਤੁ ਜਸੁ ਘਾਟੈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਮਾਇਆ ਕੇ ਸਨਬੰਧ ਸੈਨ ਸਾਕ ਕਿਤ ਹੀ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਇਆ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਦਾਸੁ ਨੀਚ ਕੁਲੁ ਊਚਾ ਤਿਸੁ ਸੰਗਿ ਮਨ ਬਾਂਛਤ ਫਲ ਪਾਇਆ ॥੨॥ ਲਾਖ ਕੋਟਿ ਬਿਖਿਆ ਕੇ ਬਿੰਜਨ ਤਾ ਮਹਿ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨ ਨ ਬੂਝੀ ॥ ਸਿਮਰਤ ਨਾਮੁ ਕੋਟਿ ਉਜੀਆਰਾ ਬਸਤੁ ਅਗੋਚਰ ਸੂਝੀ ॥੩॥ ਫਿਰਤ ਫਿਰਤ ਤੁਮੑਰੈ ਦੁਆਰਿ ਆਇਆ ਭੈ ਭੰਜਨ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇਆ ॥ ਸਾਧ ਕੇ ਚਰਨ ਧੂਰਿ ਜਨੁ ਬਾਛੈ ਸੁਖੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਇਹੁ ਪਾਇਆ ॥੪॥੬॥੭॥ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿਆਖਿਆਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਮੈਂ ਜਿਸ ਭੀ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਕੋਲ ਆਪਣੇ ਦੁੱਖ ਦੀ ਗੱਲ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ, ਉਹ ਆਪਣੇ ਦੁੱਖ ਨਾਲ ਭਰਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਦਿੱਸਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਮੇਰਾ ਦੁਖ ਕੀਹ ਨਿਵਿਰਤ ਕਰੇ? ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਜਿਸ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਨੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਹਿਰਦੇ ਵਿਚ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਨੂੰ ਆਰਾਧਿਆ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਨੇ ਹੀ ਇਹ ਡਰ (ਭਰਿਆ ਸੰਸਾਰ) ਸਮੁੰਦਰ ਪਾਰ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ।੧।ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਗੁਰੂ ਤੋਂ ਬਿਨਾ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਤੋਂ ਬਿਨਾ ਕੋਈ ਹੋਰ ਧਿਰ ਕਿਸੇ ਦਾ ਦੁੱਖ ਪੀੜ ਕੱਟ ਨਹੀਂ ਸਕਦਾ। ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਆਸਰਾ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਜੇ ਕਿਸੇ ਹੋਰ ਦਾ ਸੇਵਕ ਬਣੀਏ, ਤਾਂ ਇਸ ਕੰਮ ਵਿਚ ਇੱਜ਼ਤ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਸੋਭਾ ਘਟ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ।੧।ਰਹਾਉ।ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਮਾਇਆ ਦੇ ਕਾਰਨ ਬਣੇ ਹੋਏ ਇਹ ਸਾਕ ਸੱਜਣ ਰਿਸ਼ਤੇਦਾਰ ਦੁੱਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਨਿਵਿਰਤੀ ਵਾਸਤੇ ਕਿਸੇ ਭੀ ਕੰਮ ਨਹੀਂ ਆ ਸਕਦੇ। ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਭਗਤ ਜੇ ਨੀਵੀਂ ਕੁਲ ਦਾ ਭੀ ਹੋਵੇ, ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਸ੍ਰੇਸ਼ਟ ਜਾਣੋ, ਉਸ ਦੀ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਵਿਚ ਰਿਹਾਂ ਮਨ-ਇੱਛਤ ਫਲ ਹਾਸਲ ਕਰ ਲਈਦੇ ਹਨ।੨। ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਜੇ ਮਾਇਆ ਦੇ ਲੱਖਾਂ ਕ੍ਰੋੜਾਂ ਸੁਆਦਲੇ ਖਾਣੇ ਹੋਣ, ਉਹਨਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਲੱਗਿਆਂ ਖਾਣ ਦੀ ਤ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਨਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਮੁੱਕਦੀ। ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਨਾਮ ਸਿਮਰਦਿਆਂ ਅੰਦਰ, ਮਾਨੋਂ ਕ੍ਰੋੜਾਂ ਸੂਰਜਾਂ ਦਾ ਚਾਨਣ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ, ਤੇ ਅੰਦਰ ਉਹ ਕੀਮਤੀ ਨਾਮ-ਪਦਾਰਥ ਦਿੱਸ ਪੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਜਿਸ ਤਕ ਗਿਆਨ-ਇੰਦ੍ਰਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੋ ਸਕਦੀ।੩। ਹੇ ਨਾਨਕ! ਆਖ- ਹੇ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਪਾਤਿਸ਼ਾਹ! ਹੇ ਜੀਵਾਂ ਦੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਡਰ ਨਾਸ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲੇ ਹਰੀ! ਜੇਹੜਾ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਭਟਕਦਾ ਭਟਕਦਾ ਆਖ਼ਰ ਤੇਰੇ ਦਰ ਤੇ ਆ ਪਹੁੰਚਦਾ ਹੈ ਉਹ ਤੇਰੇ ਦਰ ਤੋਂ ਗੁਰੂ ਦੇ ਚਰਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਧੂੜ ਮੰਗਦਾ ਹੈ, ਤੇ ਤੇਰੇ ਦਰ ਤੋਂ ਇਹ ਸੁਖ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ।੪।੬।੭।English TranslationGUJRI, FIFTH MEHL: Whoever I approach to ask for help, I find him full of his own troubles. One who worships in his heart the Supreme Lord God, crosses over the terrifying world-ocean. || 1 || No one, except the Guru-Lord, can dispel our pain and sorrow. Forsaking God, and serving another, one's honor, dignity and reputation are decreased. || 1 || Pause || Relatives, relations and family bound through Maya are of no avail. The Lord's servant, although of lowly birth, is exalted. Associating with him, one obtains the fruits of his mind's desires. || 2 || Through corruption, one may obtain thousands and millions of enjoyments, but even so, his desires are not satisfied through them. Remembering the Naam, the Name of the Lord, millions of lights appear, and the incomprehensible is understood. || 3 || Wandering and roaming around, I have come to Your Door, Destroyer of fear, O Lord King. Servant Nanak yearns for the dust of the feet of the Holy; in it, he finds peace. || 4 || 6 || 7 ||

In preparation for the giving of the Law, God chooses to appear to the people in dramatic and terrifying fashion! The people are left trembling at God's holiness and power. How should we as believers in Jesus reflect on this reality of God? Exodus 19

One of the most tragic realities in modern Christianity is that many do not truly understand the Old Testament. Too often, it gets neglected and treated as an optional preamble to the New Testament. However, this collection of books, written over centuries and centuries, informed not only Jewish belief and practice but also pointed to the coming Messiah. These scriptures provided the foundation from which Jesus taught and the Apostles drew extensively. One of the core problems, I think, is that we fail to see the Old Testament narrative as our story. The people seem so distant and different from us, the circumstances almost alien, and the stories and characters confusing. We can, sadly, sometimes be a people with amnesia. An individual who can't access their memories changes; their personality and moods often aren't what they once were. Similarly, our biblical amnesia can mean that we start to change; our spiritual personality is off-center. Sandra Richter, an Old Testament scholar, puts it this way when addressing the consequences of us not understanding this part of Scripture. The first, and to me most heartbreaking, [problem] is that most Christians have not been taught that the Old Testament is their story. This has the consequence that, The Church does not know who she is, because she does not know who she was. I bring this up because this twelfth chapter of Hebrews contains some important, but often difficult, applications. If we dont understand where the author is coming from, we can misunderstand and misapply the principles this chapter gives us. So, I think it would be good to take stock of where weve come from. While we walk through Hebrews 12 together, please keep this in the back of your mind; you are in this story too. To make sure that we are grounded and ready for the applications this passage has in store for us, we need to do some review. Hebrews was originally written as a letter, potentially as a transcription of a sermon, to Jewish Christians in the middle of the 1st century. It was written primarily to show four things: Jesus is preeminent above all things Jesus is the fulfillment of Gods promises Jesus established a new and better covenant Offer a warning against falling away from Jesus Said a different way: Jesus is better than anything, because He is God Therefore, Jesus could fulfill all of Gods promises Therefore, Jesus satisfied the old covenant and made a better one Therefore, we should cling to Jesus because He is our only hope Remember how this letter opens. It starts by pointing to just how much better Jesus is. 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. (Heb 1:1-3a) Ultimately, Jesus is better than everything else because He is God. He radiates Gods glory and is the exact imprint of His nature. The universe was created through Him and is upheld by Him. The letter then goes on to unpack how Jesus is better than anything else the Hebrew people have encountered as the chosen people of God. Were going to fly through this, but please refer back to Shauns sermons if youd like to dive deeper into any of these. According to the text, Jesus is better than: The prophets (1:1-3) The angels (1:4-14; 2:5-9) Moses (3:1-6) The Land of Promise and Joshua (4:1-8) The Sabbath Rest (4:8-13) The Levitical Priesthood (4:14-5:6; 7) The Old Covenant (8:1-13) The Tabernacle and Temple (9:1-10) The Sacrificial System (9:11-10:18) Thats quite a list! And I want us to pause and recognize how revolutionary this was for the people of the time. This would be similar to somebody coming into our church and saying, Im better than Calvin or Luther. In fact, Im greater than Paul, John, Matthew, and the rest of the apostles. I am better than a church service. Even more, Im elevated above baptism and the Lord's Supper. I know Wyomingites can be a reserved bunch, but Im pretty sure there would be a riot. When Jesus stepped into history, was born of a virgin, died a criminals death, and then rose in grand victory, He defied all 1st-century Jewish expectations of the Messiah and, indeed, the entire notion of what it meant to be Gods people. But it goes even further! The author of Hebrews not only gives us this grand language about Jesus being really awesome (thats a technical theological word, by the way), but also explains how Jesus fulfills Gods promises made in prophecy. No other New Testament book has a higher density of Old Testament quotations than Hebrews. The author constantly points back to the prophets who promised a Messiah to save both Israel and the world. We see that Jesus would: Become incarnate as a human (2:5-8) Be a priest outside of the Levitical priesthood (5:6) Establish a new covenant (8:6-12) Do away with the sacrificial system (10:5-7) Die on a cross (12:2) These are just a few examples, but they get us to the heart of the matter. The author is trying to get his audience to see that Jesus is the one theyve been waiting for, the one of promise. He lived the perfect and sinless life that they could not, and yet died the death that they deserved. Put in more personal terms, Jesus lived the perfect and sinless life that I cannot, and yet He died the death that I deserve. This gave Him the ability to satisfy the Old Covenant on our behalf, pay our penalty, and then rise to new life, conquer death, and make a way for us to enter again into the presence of God. Hebrews tells us of this new covenant. 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. ... 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (8:6-7, 12-13) Brothers and sisters, there could be no better news than this. Because of Jesus, our sins are no longer remembered, and we receive Gods mercy. We no longer stand condemned by the Law, but have been restored to a relationship with the living God. Remember, this is the story of all Gods people. Try as we might to live up to the Law, we cannot. But Jesus did. And then He ushered in a new covenant. But we must be careful, however. The author also has warnings for us. You can hear this writer's pleading to his readers in the opening of the second chapter. 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Heb 2:1-4) Pay attention! the author is shouting. Dont drift away! Look at what happened in Israels past when they walked away from God and tried to forge their own path. Remember the golden calf. Remember the exile in Babylon. Jesus rose and spoke to us! Hear how many people testified about what they saw. Remember the miracles. We have a better covenant now! Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Consider what happened to those who ignored the old covenant. What will happen to us now if we neglect the better covenant? We still hear the author's plea nearly 2,000 years later. Dont let go. Whatever you do, dont let go of Jesus. You can write this progression of thought as a formula. Remember it; I promise it will be important later on. Jesus is better

What do you do when you look at your life and ask, “How did I end up here?” This week, Pastor Brandon kicks off our brand new series, Ruins to Revival, a journey through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Before stepping into the story itself, he lays the foundation by tracing the history of Israel and showing how a series of choices, victories, failures, and consequences eventually brought God's people to a place of destruction and exile. At the center of the message is the reminder from 2 Peter 3:9 that God is not slow in keeping His promises. Even when we experience the consequences of our own decisions, God has not abandoned us. We reap what we sow, but nothing can separate us from the love of God. Pastor Brandon walks through God's promise to Abraham, Israel's journey into the Promised Land, the period of the judges, the rise of Saul, David and Solomon, the divided kingdom, the Assyrian conquest, and finally the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. By the time Ezra begins, the temple is gone, the walls are destroyed, the people have been scattered, and it looks like God's promise could never come true. But God had not forgotten them. Even in the ruins, His promise remained. Even in exile, His love remained. And even when we find ourselves living in the consequences of our own choices, God still loves us, still has a plan for us, and His promises can still be trusted. Timestamps 0:00 Welcome to Venture Church0:22 Back to Church Sunday0:43 Introducing Ruins to Revival1:25 “How Did I End Up Here?”2:26 Our Choices Shape Where We End Up3:01 The Question Israel Had to Ask3:42 2 Peter 3:94:48 God's Promise to Abraham6:10 Abraham and the Beginning of the Story7:10 A Promise to Build a Great Nation7:43 Israel Is in Ruins8:49 What Ezra and Nehemiah Teach Us Today9:19 You Reap What You Sow10:00 The Consequences of Our Choices11:23 Where You Are Didn't Happen by Accident12:42 Does God Still Love Me?13:07 Nothing Can Separate Us From God's Love14:18 Overwhelming Victory Through Christ15:27 Nothing in Creation Can Separate Us From God15:57 God Still Loves You16:27 God Never Abandoned Israel17:13 The Story of Salvation18:50 The Golden Thread of Scripture19:24 Beginning the Timeline19:38 Israel in Egypt20:30 Wandering in the Wilderness20:58 God Is Not Slow in Keeping His Promise21:49 Entering the Promised Land22:43 The Period of the Judges24:03 Everyone Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes24:37 Israel Demands a King26:07 The United Kingdom Begins26:45 The Reign of King Saul27:08 King David27:27 Solomon and Israel at Its Peak28:44 Solomon's Disobedience30:00 The Kingdom Divides30:34 Israel and Judah31:07 Good Kings, Bad Kings and Reaping What Was Sown31:42 The Rise of Assyria32:14 Jonah and Nineveh32:44 Assyria Conquers the Northern Kingdom33:42 The Lost Tribes of Israel34:55 The Rise of Babylon35:53 Babylon's Strategy37:05 The Final Siege of Jerusalem37:33 The Temple Is Destroyed38:14 Jerusalem Becomes Rubble38:35 The Walls Are Torn Down39:18 Israel Is Taken Into Exile39:38 Seventy Years in Babylon40:19 What Happened to God's Promise?40:54 God Is Not Slow in Keeping His Promises41:33 “How Did We End Up Here?”42:10 God Never Leaves or Forsakes Us42:38 Invitation to Follow Jesus43:59 Salvation Prayer44:52 Closing

Check out this week's message from Pastor Ryan Goeden shares a message from our series, Wandering.#newlifechurch #helpingpeopleknowjesusbetter #2026sermon #sermon #onlinechurch #churchonlineSubscribe to receive our latest messages: https://bit.ly/3jqEZ1gTo support this ministry and help us continue to help people know Jesus better click here: https://www.nlspringfield.com/give/ Helping People Know Jesus Better - This is the vision of New Life Church, led by Pastor Ryan Goeden and based in Springfield, MOSupport the show

Dan and Paul dive into the practical problem of keeping notes and records for long-running D&D campaigns. Paul is gearing up to run a new campaign in the same world and setting he's been developing since 2010, which means digging back through nearly 15 years of old campaign notes, player-generated play reports, maps, and other records. What information is actually useful when you return to a setting years later? And what should we be recording now so that the next version of the campaign has a useful history to draw on? We'll talk about the process as well as the technology: note-taking systems, three ring binders, wikis and databases, actual play reports, experiments we've tried over the years, what worked, what didn't, and what we've learned about maintaining a campaign's collective memory. If you're running a campaign that's been going for years - or hoping to make one that lasts that long - this is a look at how to keep its history from disappearing into a pile of forgotten notes.

ਸੋਰਠਿ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥ਮਨ ਕੀ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ਰਹੀ ॥ ਨਾ ਹਰਿ ਭਜੇ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਸੇਵੇ ਚੋਟੀ ਕਾਲਿ ਗਹੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਦਾਰਾ ਮੀਤ ਪੂਤ ਰਥ ਸੰਪਤਿ ਧਨ ਪੂਰਨ ਸਭ ਮਹੀ ॥ ਅਵਰ ਸਗਲ ਮਿਥਿਆ ਏ ਜਾਨਉ ਭਜਨੁ ਰਾਮੁ ਕੋ ਸਹੀ ॥੧॥ ਫਿਰਤ ਫਿਰਤ ਬਹੁਤੇ ਜੁਗ ਹਾਰਿਓ ਮਾਨਸ ਦੇਹ ਲਹੀ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਕਹਤ ਮਿਲਨ ਕੀ ਬਰੀਆ ਸਿਮਰਤ ਕਹਾ ਨਹੀ ॥੨॥੨॥ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਵੇਖੋ, ਮਾਇਆ ਧਾਰੀ ਦੀ ਮੰਦ-ਭਾਗਤਾ! ਉਸ ਦੇ ਮਨ ਦੀ ਆਸ ਮਨ ਵਿਚ ਹੀ ਰਹਿ ਗਈ। ਨਾਂਹ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਭਜਨ ਕੀਤਾ, ਨਾਂਹ ਹੀ ਉਸ ਨੇ ਸੰਤ ਜਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਕੀਤੀ, ਤੇ, ਮੌਤ ਨੇ ਬੋਦੀ ਆ ਫੜੀ।੧।ਰਹਾਉ। ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਇਸਤ੍ਰੀ, ਮਿੱਤਰ, ਪੁੱਤਰ, ਗੱਡੀਆਂ, ਮਾਲ-ਅਸਬਾਬ, ਧਨ-ਪਦਾਰਥ ਸਾਰੀ ਹੀ ਧਰਤੀ, ਇਹ ਸਭ ਕੁਝ ਨਾਸਵੰਤ ਸਮਝੋ। ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਦਾ ਭਜਨ ਹੀ ਅਸਲ ਸਾਥੀ ਹੈ।੧। ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਕਈ ਜੁਗ ਜੂਨਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਭਟਕ ਭਟਕ ਕੇ ਤੂੰ ਥੱਕ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ ਹੁਣ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਮਨੁੱਖਾ ਸਰੀਰ ਲੱਭਾ ਹੈ। ਨਾਨਕ ਆਖਦਾ ਹੈ-ਹੇ ਭਾਈ! ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਨੂੰ ਮਿਲਣ ਦੀ ਇਹੀ ਵਾਰੀ ਹੈ, ਹੁਣ ਤੂੰ ਸਿਮਰਨ ਕਿਉਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਦਾ?੨।੨।The mind remains in the mind. He does not meditate on the Lord, nor does he perform service at sacred shrines, and so death seizes him by the hair. || 1 || Pause || Wife, friends, children, carriages, property, total wealth, the entire world — know that all of these things are false. The Lord's meditation alone is true. || 1 || Wandering, wandering around for so many ages, he has grown weary, and finally, he obtained this human body. Says Nanak, this is the opportunity to meet the Lord; why don't you remember Him in meditation? || 2 || 2 ||ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿਆਖਿਆEnglish TranslationSORAT'H, NINTH MEHL: 

Episode 1035 - Jason Interviews Chris “Doc” Wyatt & Gavin Hignight - Planetoid Raiders - Wandering Planet ToysWandering Planets Toys co-founders Gavin Hignight and Chris “Doc” Wyatt are teaming up once again for an all-new and entirely unexpected line of retro-style action figures, featuring the coolest, quirkiest space travelers ever known to the universe: The Planetoid Raiders! Who are these intergalactic creatures? And who (or what) are The Arcade Raiders? Fans will have to follow the PLANETOID RAIDERS pre-launch page for more details! Inspired by Kenner Toys' 1978 Star Wars action figures, and their off-the-wall competitor Tomland Toys' Starroid Raiders – each PLANETOID RAIDER is a lovingly designed tribute to classic scifi toys and a striking piece of contemporary art. Fans can collect each limited edition, 5-point articulated, 1:18 Scale figure on Kickstarter, including brave Captain Oton, heroic Helmsman Ryot, WarLor the Mysterious Space Traveler, the trusty rusty robot Yogun, and the rest of the team! Wandering Planet's motley crew is ready for whatever cosmic adventures collectors can dream up. Back It: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wanderingplanettoys/planetoid-raiders-retro-style-action-figures?ref=10obxrTheme Songs by Drew: Planetoid Raiders & Five Points of ActionLinks: https://beacons.ai/comicsfunprofit Listen: https://comcsforfunandprofit.podomatic.com/Like & Subscribe on Youtube www.youtube.com/@comicsforfunandprofit5331Patreon https://www.patreon.com/comicsfunprofitMerch https://comicsfunprofit.threadless.comDonate Here https://bit.ly/36s7YeLAll the C4FaP links you could ever need  https://beacons.ai/comicsfunprofit Listen To the Episode Here: https://comcsforfunandprofit.podomatic.com/

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Grimm is back broadcasting out of The Bunker, but he might need to stretch his legs a bit. Wandering the wasteland isn't easy, but if it keeps your friends safe, then it's worth a shot, right? Especially with a familiar voice interrupting...Grimm Grinner, The Voice of The Wastes, broadcasting on all channels to update you as he travels towards rumoured settlements and outposts, in search of information, safe places, and some semblance of hope out in the wastelands.Welcome To The Wastes is a Voice In The Static Production, by Edward "Grimm Grinner" Hutchinson. Patreon Supporters:Mal FunctionThe HistorianShiimapanM3nd3rB.A FriendPatreon: ⁠https://patreon.com/voiceinthestatic⁠Merch: ⁠https://voiceinthestatic.bandcamp.com/⁠Social Media: ⁠https://linktr.ee/voiceinthestaticproductions⁠ See you in The Wastes...

Moses is overloaded. He can't keep up with the needs and complaints of the people. Thankfully, his father-in-law Jethro shows up with some timely advice. His wise words remind us of the blessing of biblical community. Exodus 18

Check out this week's message from Pastor Ryan Zafiroff shares a message from our series, Wandering.#newlifechurch #helpingpeopleknowjesusbetter #2026sermon #sermon #onlinechurch #churchonlineSubscribe to receive our latest messages: https://bit.ly/3jqEZ1gTo support this ministry and help us continue to help people know Jesus better click here: https://www.nlspringfield.com/give/ Helping People Know Jesus Better - This is the vision of New Life Church, led by Pastor Ryan Goeden and based in Springfield, MOSupport the show

Rev. Patrick Donohue

On the Shelf for September 2026 The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 351 with Heather Rose Jones Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction. In this episode we talk about: My non-fiction book The Theory of Related-ivity: A History and Analysis of the Best Related Work Hugo Category Resources for the Anthropic class action settlement Authors Guild explainer Writer Beware resource page Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction The Copper Line (Still Sisters #1) by Gabi Prevot The Bitter Cut (Still Sisters #2) by Gabi Prevot The First Tin (Still Sisters #0.1) by Gabi Prevot The Yard Light (Still Sisters #0.2) by Gabi Prevot The End Crowns All by Bea Fitzgerald Locusta by Emily Dexter Sweet Mother, I Cannot Weave by T.D. Cloud Empress, Goddess by Morgan H. Owen My Betterhalf: A Novel of the Ladies of Llangollen by Genevieve Sinclair A Study in Silence by Elizabeth Louise A Match for Lady Adelaide by Verity Fairbanks Time Never Waits (Chathom Chronicles # 1) by Samantha Calcott & Melinda Lauer Her Lady's Companion by Odette Valehart The Crooked Medium's Guide to Terror (Crooked Medium #2) by Stephen Cox A Ruin of Roses by Corinne Astier The Last Telegram of Mrs Hudson by Mattea Orr A Deadly Entanglement (Harriman & Mancini Mystery #2) by Cathy Pegau The Borderless Sky by Kim Kirkley The Marigold Room by Josephine Bray You Made Me Love You by K D Jensen The Quiet Fields by Zinnia Bradley Other Books of Interest Crazy Woman (The Crazy Woman #1) by K'Anne Meinel Women of Adventure (The Crazy Woman #2) by K'Anne Meinel Hearts on the Table by Susan Metallo What I've been consuming How to Fake it in Society by K.J. Charles The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher Call for submissions for the 2027 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details. A transcript of this podcast is available here. (Interview transcripts added when available.) Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/ Twitter: @LesbianMotif Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon Links to Heather Online Website: http://alpennia.com Email: Heather Rose Jones Mastodon: @heatherrosejones@Wandering.Shop Bluesky: @heatherrosejones Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)

A hot, tiring, but ultimately pretty good day full of song. The theme song for Amy Talks About Stuff is “Wandering,” by Lee Rosevere, from the album Music for Podcasts 2. This song is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license and is available via freemusicarchive.org. The post DDoP 2026 Ep28: Amy Talks About Stuff 302: 2026 Dragon Con Diaries, Day 2 appeared first on Amy Bowen's Creative Endeavors.

My first day of Dragon Con 2026 was tiring, but a huge success. The theme song for Amy Talks About Stuff is “Wandering,” by Lee Rosevere, from the album Music for Podcasts 2. This song is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license and is available via freemusicarchive.org. The post DDoP 2026 Ep27: Amy Talks About Stuff 301: 2026 Dragon Con Diaries, Day 1 appeared first on Amy Bowen's Creative Endeavors.

The discontentment of the Israelites increases as they journey toward Sinai, signaling a continued distrust in the Lord. But God proves repeatedly that he is worthy of their trust, and ours! Exodus 17

Good morning! Enjoy our message from service yesterday!Message: We continued our series The Kingdom, Of Heralds and Kings: With part three: WanderingDonate to our ministries:https://www.theremnant.life/giveCheck out our Sermons:https://www.theremnant.life/sermonsVisit our website:https://www.theremnant.lifeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_remnantchurchYoutube:www.youtube.com/@theremnant2874Have a great week! God bless!CCLI #11220832, CCLI Streaming #20141713

In which I reveal the progress on my task management system, on making lunch, and on moving forward.

Check out this week's message from Pastor Ryan Goeden shares a message from our series, Wandering.#newlifechurch #helpingpeopleknowjesusbetter #2026sermon #sermon #onlinechurch #churchonlineSubscribe to receive our latest messages: https://bit.ly/3jqEZ1gTo support this ministry and help us continue to help people know Jesus better click here: https://www.nlspringfield.com/give/ Helping People Know Jesus Better - This is the vision of New Life Church, led by Pastor Ryan Goeden and based in Springfield, MOSupport the show

Link to my previous tribute episode: Amy Talks About Stuff 020: Good Night, Rhinestone Cowboy The theme song for Amy Talks About Stuff is “Wandering,” by Lee Rosevere, from the album Music for Podcasts 2. This song is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license and is available via freemusicarchive.org. The post DDoP 2026 Ep25: Amy Talks About Stuff 299: On the Passing of Great Voices appeared first on Amy Bowen's Creative Endeavors.

Link to the full version of Technorama Patreon Show Episode 650 on Patreon. The theme song for Amy Talks About Stuff is “Wandering,” by Lee Rosevere, from the album Music for Podcasts 2. This song is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license and is available via freemusicarchive.org. The post DDoP 2026 Ep26: Amy Talks About Stuff 300: Time Keeps On Slippin’ Into The Future appeared first on Amy Bowen's Creative Endeavors.

In which I talk about characters I might play, if I were to play dress-up…

In which I express frustration at not doing things, even the things that would be distracting me from other things I’d like to be doing.

Barry Casey reads his poem "Shekinah," and Frank Paino reads his poem "The One True Miracle."Barry Casey is the author of Wandering, Not Lost, a collection of essays on faith, doubt, and mystery, published by Wipf and Stock (2019). His poetry has appeared in Fauxmoir, Half and One, Humans of the World, Lighthouse Weekly, Patheos, Pensive Journal, Rockvale Review, Spectrum Magazine, The Dewdrop, The Ulu Review, and Vita Poetica. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from Claremont Graduate University and writes from Burtonsville, Maryland.Frank Paino has had four full-length books published, including, Dark Octaves (2025), winner of the Longleaf Press Book Prize. He has received a Pushcart Prize, The Cleveland Arts Prize in Literature, and an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council.

We have a few listener stories in this episode, and then some wandering through some news articles on longevity and hallucinogens...In the Patreon, we talk about some recent personal experiences, The Lizzy Borden House, Susan Demeter's UFO Experience, more Hallucinogens, and The Old Gulf Breeze UFO Sightings.Become a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/SeriahAzkath for extra content, commercial free shows, early access, and bonus content as well! All this for only $3 a month! Outro Music is Black Violet with Taste Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A poem about a map opens North and South, the first collection of the great twentieth century poet Elizabeth Bishop, and since, maps have been associated with her poetic vision—at once telescoping and binocular—and with the polarities and preoccupations of her work. The map's privileged, sweeping, bird's eye view of the earth is also hand-held, man-made, intimate. Depending on its level of minuteness or obsession, it can contain the tiniest details as well as, let's say, the whole enchilada. And though it purports to be scientific and objective, it is representational and therefore subjective, particular, imaginative, and personal. For several episodes, Wes & Erin will be reading a selection of some of Bishop's most anthologized poems, starting with “The Moose” as expressions of, among other things, her map-like imagination. Upcoming Episodes: Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey”; more Elizabeth Bishop poetry: “First Death in Nova Scotia,” “One Art.” Pre-order Erin’s forthcoming book “Avail” here: http://subtextpodcast.com/avail For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at Patreon or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like Good Job, Brain and Big Picture Science. Email advertising@airwavemedia.com to enquire about advertising on the podcast. Follow: Twitter | Facebook | Website Transcript 0:11 Erin: Welcome to part two of our discussion of the poems of Elizabeth Bishop. We are currently about. Oh, I'm okay. I'm proud of us. We're just about halfway through the Moose. That's not bad compared to our usual record. We're not halfway through stanza one. We're going. You know, it's about a bus trip. It's encouraging us to pick up the pace a little bit and get to our next stop. So we were just going to pick up with the woman in stanza 13 climbing into the bus. 0:41 Wes: Before you say that, I just want to make one little observation. 0:44 Erin: Oh, sure. 0:45 Wes: Just that we get right as soon as the light goes out, it's then that we get the barking of a dog and the smell of salt. First it's the smell of salt hay and then it's the barking of a dog. So smell is introduced. And is that the first time sound is really introduced in any. You know, we get the bus starting and all that, but I think that's right. It's very visual up to that point, I think. And then as soon as we lose the light, we get these new sensory modalities. The collie just supervised this dog, gives us a nice bark, and presumably we can't even see him. We just hear him. So I just love that. I just. I love the transition into darkness. It's so. 1:26 Erin: Yeah. 1:26 Wes: I don't know how else to say it. 1:28 Erin: Yeah. 1:28 Wes: And it's then that we. This really is the midpoint of the poem because now we're going to make this transition into the world of the bus, I guess. As the woman climbs in, we have 1:41 Erin: the ship's port lantern, as you said, being an indication that it's now nearly or fully dark outside. 1:47 Wes: She says red light swims through the dark. 1:50 Erin: Yeah. I'm assuming that at this point a bus would have some form of illumination, at least for when it's stopped and the doors open for people getting on and off the bus. Right. It would. It would light up on the inside interior. Yeah. 2:03 Wes: Yeah. 2:03 Erin: Or at least maybe it would stop, certainly if it were stopping at a station or a little, you know, whatever those things are called. Those little. Yeah, there's a word for it. 2:14 Wes: We need something to see the freckles by. 2:16 Erin: Right. We need something. Exactly. But wherever they would be stopping would have some form of street light illumination or something of that order. Anyway. 2:26 Wes: But it's interesting you say this, because I didn't picture a bus station at any point in this. And I just imagine people along the side of the road. 2:34 Erin: Right. But if it were a course, it 2:38 Wes: couldn't be that way. 2:39 Erin: Well, I don't think it's a station. I think it would be a stop with a. You know, like a lean to. You know, what are those things that just. 2:44 Wes: Yeah, sure. 2:45 Erin: That just protect you from the elements. 2:47 Wes: Yeah. Bust down. 2:48 Erin: Right. 2:48 Wes: Yeah. 2:49 Erin: And that would probably have at least a street light. But anyway, then we get the moonlight. Maybe my favorite. Oh, it's so hard to say, but maybe my favorite image in the poem is the hairy, scratchy, splintery moonlight and mist caught in them like lambswool on bushes in a pasture. Just. There's nothing. There's no image greater than that. That's unbelievable. 3:13 Wes: There's kind of a more wildness to this. Right. The image now, the hairiness and scratchiness and splinteriness. It's a bit less Domesticated, I guess, than the previous part of the poem. 3:27 Erin: That's a really good point. I hadn't thought of that. Even a suggestion of danger, like the lamb running. 3:34 Wes: I just thought, this is where the hobbits are entering Fangorn Forest. 3:39 Erin: Yes. Yeah, yeah, the New Brunswick. 3:41 Wes: But you go a little bit more. It's a little wilder and more primal. I think once you. Even if you're on a bus, once you get into the woods, there's something different about it. 3:52 Erin: That's right. 3:53 Wes: But yeah, you're right. The idea that the moonlight could get caught in that. That's a great image. 3:59 Erin: Something giving chase to the lamb would cause it potentially to get a little ensnared in the chase. 4:06 Wes: It's as if Lambswool has, you know, a lamb is brushed up on the bramble or whatever and left its will so that. So the moonlight, instead of making this cosmic journey and landing on articulating the environment, has been subordinated to the environment. Right. It's become. It's been captured by these hairy woods. It's caught on it and, you know, a piece of it has come off from being caught on something that's scratchy and splintery. So that. That. Yeah, this is the great reversal. And that's the place where you can really get some good sleeping. Yes, right. 4:44 Erin: Yes. And where dreamy things can happen. 4:47 Wes: Divagation. Yeah, wanderings. 4:51 Erin: I looked that up. Wandering, straying or digressing from a main course, path or topic. So like a digression as long as 4:59 Wes: the bus stays on track. 5:00 Erin: Yeah, that's right. 5:01 Wes: You do whatever you want with your mind. 5:02 Erin: That's right. And the night. I just looked on Google Maps while I was writing my little notes in the margins. And if you were to take a bus today from Great Village to Boston, it would take like 10 hours. So it definitely is a, yikes, full course of the night on this night bus. So I love what happens in stanza 16, which begins in the creakings and noises, an old conversation not concerning us, but recognizable somewhere back in the bus. So I really love that it's grandparents voices, she says, uninterrupted talking. This is where the I becomes an us. And this is a characteristic of a bishop. I think she's rather reluctant to use an I, capital I in a poem. She's more likely to use a we or an us. And here it's as if they're all part of the same family now in the bus and the adults. It's almost like everybody on the bus who isn't a grandparent is a child and the adults in the back are talking and we are all, oh, that doesn't concern us. Just go to sleep. It's none of your business. Just stop eavesdropping on us. Right, so there's some community that's been formed already by the people who are not the grandparents talking. Do you get that impression? 6:20 Wes: Yeah, it's a bit confusing. So, yeah, let's try to figure it out. Because it. So it begins. A dreamy navigation begins in the night. She doesn't say, I started dreaming or they started dreaming or we started dreaming. Although it seems almost like it's collective. Right. So that the bus is dreaming or everyone on the bus is dreaming together, which kind of lines up with the not concerning us later on, the gentle auditory slow hallucination. So that's a very interesting idea. Right. The dream is usually associated with subjectivity. Right. The cogito and Descartes. Right. The dream tells us that we might have trouble distinguishing reality from what's in our own minds. And we in our own minds are very potentially cut off from reality. But it's a. It's an alienated individual position here. The dream is. Seems to be collective. And perhaps it's collective because it's partly real. Right. Is that the conversation? I thought, okay, there's a conversation going on in the back of the bus and it is old people talking. But as you're lying back, you could sort of. You can't hear exactly what they're saying. And you might have that kind of half dream, Right. Where you're. The dream is kind of lined up with or intertwined with what's going on in reality. So she's hearing in the conversation of the old people, her grandparents voices. Is that the way you took this? Or. Or they, they're hearing the grandparents voices or. Yeah. How do we, how do we interpret this? 7:54 Erin: I interpreted it as, you know, people of the age of grandparents having a real conversation. But the idea that one could be having an auditory. I mean, we are given the word auditory slow hallucination. So the idea that there could be an auditory hallucination or kind of half dream of one's own grandparents having a conversation, or it may be superimposed on a real conversation kind of inaudible going on on the bus. I never noticed this before. The G in grandparents is capitalized. So it does seem to sit to suggest the speaker's particular grandparents rather than. 8:30 Wes: Oh, I was going to. I thought you were going to say archetypal grandparents. 8:34 Erin: Oh, yeah, I suppose it could be yeah, it could be read that way, too. I think all of these things are true, right? 8:40 Wes: Yeah. 8:40 Erin: I mean, the image works because of the, shall we say, universal particularity of this experience. 8:47 Wes: The ordinary way to write the poem would be to. And a much simpler way would be to put this in her point of view and not try to put it into a collective point of view. But that seems to be what she's doing. 8:59 Erin: Yes. The effectiveness, though, I think is the. And it could just be the speaker's perception of it, but the atmospheric quality, because everyone on the bus is going to share an experience shortly, but already they are sharing an experience and a kind of atmosphere that they're all listening to the hum and having that. You know, when you're in the car and you. Maybe when you're a kid and you put your ear up against, like, the. The car door or the window or something, and you hear orchestral music. I don't know if you ever had that. I used to always hear classical music when I would put my head up. 9:38 Wes: Yeah, I don't think I have that. 9:40 Erin: All kinds of. And I always think, like, I should write this down. But you always have, like, a hallucination of an orchestra playing songs. Different songs. Sometimes like fantastical songs. Yeah. You know, my particular experience maybe doesn't quite get at the. Yeah. The sense that this is shared. 9:57 Wes: Well, you're put into a kind of dreamy state, and yet you're getting at the auditory hallucination part. I mean, for me, I think, as a child, and this, I think, is very evocative of childhood. It's something about being half asleep or falling asleep. You're on a journey and there are adults in the car and there's some. Maybe some sense of safety, I think is very relevant to this poem. But being ensconced in the world of adults and not quite alone when you do this thing, which is potentially very lonely, which is go to sleep. And of course, a lot of kids don't want to go to sleep because that loneliness factor. But it's a much different experience if you're traveling. You're all on the way to something together. And of course, you're with people who are awake and, you know, are going 10:45 Erin: to be awake, maybe because the kids are falling asleep. Their. Their voices are lowered and softer. And maybe that also contributes Right. To the. The way in which. That lulls the children in the back simply because they're aware of not wanting to talk too loudly. Certainly that would be the case on a bus like this, where they're Having a conversation where they're talking in. In lower voices and maybe actually inducing that calm and hum for sleep in the people, the other people in the bus who aren't talking. 11:15 Wes: And the question is, what are the adults doing with their talk? Right. It's not going to work if your parents are just fighting. In this case, it's the grandparents. Voices are clearing things up and I guess bringing certain things to resolution, coming to terms with these losses. But a lot of it does sound a bit gossipy and not necessarily like the most comforting. 11:39 Erin: Yes. Yeah. 11:39 Wes: Sort of talk we could imagine. Yeah. 11:41 Erin: Well, you know, in a situation like this where you might be a child in this car, could be that you're coming back from whatever, like a, like a late night and then the adults in the car are working through whatever has just happened over the course of the night. And. Oh no, she was the one who had that long. Yeah. Who had the criminal record because of that thing, remember where they. Oh, yeah, yeah. That was like 20 years ago. So you sort of get that. But for an entire family history going back ages and ages, talking in eternity. Deaths, deaths and sicknesses. The year he remarried, the year something happened. Oh, yeah, what year was that? Right. Something about the journey afterwards or maybe away from home. If these people are also. If their home is Nova Scotia and they're departing it, you know, then there's that backwards looking quality where something about the idea of the journey and moving away from the place is giving the opportunity to then take stock and look back. So there's this sort of like dual action happening in the poem where the further the bus goes, the further back they're kind of looking from deaths and sicknesses to then remarriage and then childbirth. Son lost when the schooner found her. 12:58 Wes: These are all very blue collar tragedies, right? 13:00 Erin: Yes. 13:01 Wes: He was arrested for insider trading. 13:04 Erin: No, but I mean, you know, there's a reverse order to what's happening, you know, so we get. We have death, then sickness, then remarriage, then dying in childbirth. So there's a rewind is what I mean. Yeah. 13:17 Wes: Well, we come back in the end to death. The way it's all summed up. 13:20 Erin: Insider trading. Sorry. 13:23 Wes: Huh? 13:24 Erin: Sorry, Just insider trading. That really is funny. 13:31 Wes: And he had an affair. No. A sharp indrawn breath. Half grown, half acceptance. That means life's like that. We know it. Also death, you know, and then the question, what does also death mean there? Death knows it, we also know death. But it, you know, it made me wonder at various points I wondered. Well, Is this an element here of a journey to the underworld or to the afterlife? Maybe it's a job not claiming that that's strong thematic part of this, but maybe a hint of that type of thing. Because the journey, I mean, and it does seem like journeys are good places for this or like when I travel, it produces in me a very different state of mind. And I do find it very calming in a way, you know, especially actually being on the train or something like that, because you're in between two different locations and you maybe you're not caught up in the expectations or the constricting qualities of any particular location. If I'm at home, I have to do this and that work, or if I'm at a destination, then I'm dealing with relatives or I have to be a tourist or something like that. But there's something liberating about being in between two locations. So it does seem like a place for this type of dreamy hallucination or this reflection or this clearing of things up. It's almost like therapy. Right? That's what all of this sounds like. People are talking through their problems, but where is it that they get to in the end here? The half grown, half acceptance. So it's not fully acceptance. It sums things up with this, maybe a degree of resignation. So yeah, I don't know. What do you make of the stanza? 15:15 Erin: Well, they're traveling west significantly. Right. I do take a lot of this to be a kind of, say, pre figurement of death, even though at the same time the fact that they're in the woods, the fact that not to jump ahead too much, the fact that the moose will come out of the woods and appear notably in the middle of the road, there is a suggestion of middle age or middleness, or midway in the journey of our life, I found myself within a dark forest. So I think it works both ways, or perhaps it's working in several ways simultaneously for the various passengers. So maybe the speaker is experiencing something more akin to the Dante esque middle of the journey on the bus. And something about the bus journey is also, symbolically speaking, a kind of final bus journey for some of the other passengers. And that intersection seems significant, but I don't know how, just in the sense that there's a retrospective quality happening or maybe even a reversion to childhood that goes on for the speaker and the other people in the bus by virtue of the propinquity to these old people at the end of their life's journey. Because there is very little about middleness Here, come to think of it, other than the moose appearing in the middle of the road. Right. It seems that the other people on the bus are like children and the grandparents are the adults. 16:50 Wes: I mean, I think part of what's comforting when we're children is that feeling that adults know the answers and that adults know how to cope with all the dangers and have experience doing that and therefore can protect us. The reality, of course, as we realize as we get older, is that that's not true. So what they may have is more of this acceptance that's sort of highlighted in this stanza, which is potentially a good thing, but maybe a double edged sword because it does seem to be a form of dying. It does seem to be a form of the very thing that we want to be protected from. 17:30 Erin: There's also, though, that. What I used to call my mom, the external hard drive. I used to say back before she. 17:42 Wes: She liked that. 17:44 Erin: I think now it would make her sad because she'll say, you know, very openly that she. Her memory is gone. But it used to be that she knew all the, you know, you could ask her who said that at that one. You know, there's that kind of. I mean, that's a sort of jokey, gossipy scorekeeping thing that she would keep tabs on. But there's also just the idea of long memory being the history keeper, the record keeper, the, you know, and there's sort of settling accounts over the course of this conversation. Oh, right, it was that year. Okay. And then this happened and then, then that happened. And that's important too, I think, for, you know, it situates children in a context. Not just say this idea of death that you're referring to, but also how to situate oneself in a life. 18:34 Wes: Right. 18:34 Erin: There's a. There's a sort of frame that the grandparents or the elder relatives have that whole history up until you enter the narrative and where you fit within that. We mentioned in part one a little bit about Bishop's family history just to kind of prefigure the types of story that she inserts, I think very significantly into the poem, particularly about poor Amos who just wouldn't stop praying in the store and had to be. Had to be put away. Right. Of course she does a gender swap, but yeah, we all have family stories like this, of this kind of unruly behavior or madness of some kind or other or some sort of family drama. 19:19 Wes: Yeah. So it's universal. But the way she captures it is very clever with this talk that we don't quite know whether it's just the conversation of the people, the old people at the back of the bus, or whether it's her dream or whether it's both or somewhere in between. They're interlaced, those two things. And that. That interlacing gets at this aspect of universality. Although I think by the time we get to the stanza where she's fantasizing about the grandparents and the featherbed, this, it start. Seems to become inescapably personal, which is why I think of the. The point of view is getting more and more focused. Right. With. With time. Yeah. And potentially it's still universal, but it seems almost like a personal memory. Right. So talking the way they talked in the old feather bed. Right. The way they. Her. Her grandparents presumably in the old feather bed, peacefully on and on. Dim lamp light in the hall, down in the kitchen, the dog tucked in her shaw. Shawl. Yeah, get another. And get another dog here. 20:28 Erin: I love this. 20:29 Wes: The collie, the barking dog. And. Yeah, so this, this stanza is wonderful. And it gets at exactly this thing that you've been talking about, which is the, like, comfort of being a kid overhearing adults talking. It really, despite this talk of death. Right. A reconciliation with death. This is the point. Seems to be the point of view of a child who finds this very comforting. And. Right. She'll say in the next stanza, now it's all right now even to fall asleep, just as on all those nights, the way in which the adult world and the safety of protective figures can make sleep okay to do. And then suddenly that's interrupted. 21:07 Erin: But I love too. I mean, yes, it's so particular, but it also just in this one stanza does so many things in miniature that the poem is doing all along, this telescoping in again to a scene which. Which even as a child, if it were her childhood in particular that she's referencing, she couldn't possibly know or see. She wouldn't be able to see the grandparents in their featherbed. She would have to be picturing them in the featherbed and she wouldn't be able to see the dog in the hall. And also I wonder if this. If the stanza in its operation is kind of doing. I mean, this is just occurring to me now, but maybe it's doing that kind of hallucinatory work that has prior been described where we actually get a remix of, you know, this is the third dog in the poem. But it's also the elements in the stanza are a kind of recapitulation of the light, the red light swimming, the port Lantern becomes the lamp light in the hall. We get the dog barking now becomes the dog curled up in the shawl. And then maybe even because we also get kitchen, maybe the shawl is even a kind of transposition of the table, tablecloth shook out. Right. So there's something actually in the stanza which has that hallucinatory quality that she's describing where these three elements swim in the imagination and then become the lamplight and the dog and the shawl in this half asleep kind of dream space. Maybe that's pushing things too far, but it does seem to be. It's the dreamiest stanza perhaps in the whole poem. Maybe the following one. Now it's all right now even to fall asleep. But this gets interrupted that next stanza. So this one, I think is the real depth of the dreamy or borderline dreamy or hallucinatory moment. 23:00 Wes: Yeah, this is great because it really underlines the way deviation creates the capacity for stasis or for comfort. So the deviation of a bus trip or of the dreaming. Right. Which is movement, which is dynamic and has that momentum, forward momentum that we were talking about, sort of underwrites or grounds this ability to. For stasis, for stopping, for going to sleep, for feeling comforted as a child and safe, I think. And I keep repeating that word because of the. What's going to happen. The use of the word that's going to happen in this poem later. But yeah, I'm not sure if you were saying that explicitly, but that's what came to mind my mind as you were talking. This. The way in which this journey, devigation, motion can ground something that's going to be more static or stationary, which is what we're going to get in the moose. Because it interrupts the. It explicitly interrupts the motion of the bus and the external line of the poem in a way that parallels the comfort that's produced by the dreaming. 24:08 Erin: Yeah. In stanza 22 is where we have that break that you're describing. The moose finally appears. Well, the moose doesn't appear until stanza 23 finally appears. 24:21 Wes: We've been waiting for you. 24:22 Erin: We've been waiting for you. The title has promised that you would come and then here you are. It is foretold of your coming. 24:29 Wes: Comes through the curtains, takes his bow. Right. 24:32 Erin: We get nights, just as on all those nights. And then the moose's appearance, the lights turn on. And that rhyme you get, I mean, it's a very basic, simple rhyme. Right. But there's that sort of sudden jolt which is then also visualized where in the middle of night we have this appearance, this bright because of the headlights on it. Appearance of the moose. And it looms and sniffs at the bus's hot hood, which I'm assuming means that it thinks that the bus might be a boy moose. 25:06 Wes: No. Well, it's a very hot bus, I'll say that. 25:10 Erin: Ow. Ow. 25:14 Wes: That enamel. And it's dented and, you know, depends on if you like bad buses. No, just kidding. 25:21 Erin: Dented from its last encounter with a girl bus. 25:25 Wes: Yeah. It's funny because I wrote in my notes, but was just reading it stanza by stanza. And the previous stanza I'd said, okay to sleep, even with death looming. Looming for all of us, you know, all day one. You know, one day we all die. Blooming in that sense. And then suddenly the moose is looming, standing there, looming. And I thought, whoa, that's really interesting 25:45 Erin: that I. Oh, yes, chose. 25:48 Wes: Chose that word before I even got to the next stanza. Not to give some, you know, obvious rote sort of identification of the moose with death or the experience of the moose as having something to do with that. But obviously they're coming into contact here with something quite primal and important. It's not just, oh, look, there's a nice moose, but is he sniffing or she's sniffing the buses hot hood because she thinks it might be another moon. That hadn't actually occurred to me. 26:21 Erin: I must have been infected with that reading at some point that this was a frisky moose, that it otherwise doesn't seem frisky at all. It seems pretty. Like a pretty staid, respectable moose. 26:34 Wes: But frisky and ditzy. 26:39 Erin: That's right. Hello. 26:41 Wes: What? 26:41 Erin: Oh, look, I seem to be in the middle of the road. Pardon me. 26:46 Wes: So, towering, antlerous, high as a church, homely as a house. We're safe as houses, a man's voice assures us. Perfectly harmless. Which you presume, right, that the. The man making that assurance is. Precedes the idea of it being homely as a house and safe as houses. Even though. So. So she interestingly puts the associations before her associative responses before the actual stimulus. Right. I don't think she's the one who is thinking about how they must be safe and. And he's saying something. I mean, as far as I know. I don't know back then. But you were warned about bison and mooses, right? Or is it mooses or moose? I think we're warned because they don't. They. They seem harmless, but they're not. And so I was quite surprised by this stanza. And I thought this idea, okay, safe as houses. Well, yeah, houses ought to be safe, but they're not always safe. The bus, the moving container of the bus turns out to be, in a way safer and more conducive to reverie and dreaming and all of that. 27:59 Erin: No matter how you slice it, whether you see the moose as harmless, truly, or not so harmless, this has got to be just a little bit of a wink, right? A man's voice assures us. 28:09 Wes: I mean, I think we're definitely meant to be skeptical. 28:12 Erin: Yeah. 28:13 Wes: This perfectly harmless line, it's not there for us to nod our heads in agreement. 28:20 Erin: Oh, yeah, he's right, right, right. I think it's more like, oh, here's another mansplainer. 28:26 Wes: He's moose splaining. 28:28 Erin: Mooseplaining this woman moose to moose splaining. Just out for a good time, having her existence commented upon by another man's voice. Probably a podcaster. One of those male podcasters has a manosphere podcast. 28:45 Wes: Girl mooses are. 28:49 Erin: Then we get these childish again. The passengers are like children and having this childlike response to the appearance of the moose, including. It's awful, plain sad. So much judgment of women's bodies. 29:04 Wes: I mean, they're not good looking creatures. Let's just. They're, you know, put that on the table. Come on. They are in an ugly sort of way. 29:11 Erin: Yeah. I mean, okay, I guess they don't follow, you know, classical proportions. They don't represent the golden mean. 29:21 Wes: They're not into beauty society societal beauty standards. All right. 29:28 Erin: They are like cartoon characters. 29:29 Wes: They're miss Positive is what they are. 29:35 Erin: Well, what I love though, about the description, you know, we get several, I suppose. Yeah. Contradictory descriptions of the moose in a way, because we get homely as a house or safe as houses. We get awful plane. But then she looks the bus over grand otherworldly, so she has some gravitas. She's like a great character actress who. Who may not be beautiful in that leading lady way, but she's Kathy Bates. Yes. Yeah, well, that's maybe a bit insulting to Kathy Bates, who I do think is a very attractive woman, but. 30:19 Wes: Sorry, Kathy. 30:20 Erin: I know, I love her. 30:21 Wes: Come on the show sometime, please. 30:24 Erin: Oh my gosh, I would die. I love Kathy Bates anyway. And then we get curious creatures. Well, first we get the idea that it inspires joy and then we get curious creatures. So there's a. The joy is then immediately undercut by a kind of ambivalence. Right. So there's just all of these descriptions of the moose combine to create a kind of ambivalent portrait, such as it is, of the animal. 30:47 Wes: Are we going to be able to answer this question? Why? Why do they feel the sweet sensation of joy? I mean, I think I would probably feel it. 30:57 Erin: Why? Why do we all feel it? I mean, they have. Well, they've successfully done what I couldn't see a moose in real life. So they're like one up on Erin. Can't wait to go back and tell her we saw moose. Yeah, I've seen certain things. I can't think of a specific example of this, but I've had plenty of instances. Whether it is a wild animal or, I don't know, like a sunset or a really spectacular natural event of some kind or other. You do get that feeling of joy, kind of excitement. 31:28 Wes: Yeah. Unfortunately, most of my encounters with large animals are at zoos. I did see a bear once. I was going to the bathroom. My mom had a house in Front Royal, Virginia, at the beginning of the Appalachian Mountains. And it was up high on a. We called it a mountain, but it was, I guess, more of a hill. But so it was out, you know, it was kind of. There was a bear on the mountain, let's just put it that way. And, yeah, I was going to the bathroom one day and looking out the window. There's a window right. You know, above the toilet. And suddenly there's bear's face looking at me. Wow. What the. So, but that, you know, and. And that was majestic. No, just kidding. That it was. I. It was surprising. 32:13 Erin: Yeah. 32:14 Wes: And there's an element of fear that involved. Even if you're, you know, even if, you know, black bears are harmless and there's a wall between you. Some. Something scary about it. I didn't have time to feel like it's majestic. Yeah. You know, like you have had these experiences in. In nature, but I can't think of a encounter like this. But it. I seem sure that if I had an encounter like this, I would feel exactly the same way. So. Yeah. What is otherworldly about it? What is majestic about it? It's a big, dumb beast. And I say that with love, without any criticism in the sense that. Right. It's an encounter with something primal. And I think we have to take into account the size of the animal as well. I mean, it is interesting to run into a fox or something like that, but it's also a matter of scale here. But. Yeah. What is otherworldly about it? I mean, I think the most. The most obvious part of this is that you know, we have lost something in our humanity and becoming language using creatures and becoming self conscious creatures. And sometimes when we're confronted with an animal like this, we're confronted with that loss. We're not as connected to the environment because of the intermediation of something like language, which poetry of course tries to overcome. It tries to put language into a disintermediating. Sorry to use these business terms. I don't know why this is happening. Into a disintermediation. 33:46 Erin: Actualize. Yeah, yeah. 33:49 Wes: When it. Yeah, right. Synergize it's agenda. Often where language might put distance between us and the world. Poetry, I think, can undo that distance. Like I was saying, with the very vivid imagery, I can undo that distance with figurative language. And maybe that distance is also undone to some extent by the dreaming or the half dreaming hallucinatory state that she was in. And the comfort of that, the return to childhood, which is also a simpler time. I don't know. I'm thinking out loud here. But yeah, I wanted to try to get more at this, you know, the otherworldly status of the moose and the joy that comes from encountering it. 34:34 Erin: I was thinking to myself, is the moose's gaze really clearly encapsulated? And then I thought, yes, she regards us amicably. And then I was like, no, no, that's the passenger who gets on the bus. 34:44 Wes: Right. Does the moose have freckles? Yeah, that'd be an interesting twist, right? 34:50 Erin: But yeah, but there is one. 34:51 Wes: Turned her into a moose. 34:53 Erin: Well, I would think that this would be a more garden variety animal encounter and maybe even a more, to use a word, I don't like, problematic poem in terms of its relationship with the animal. If it were to focus on the gaze of the animal. Because I think that is the thing which is often at the core of these interactions with animals in which we project or hope to have a kind of meaningful encounter. You want to meet the gaze of the animal and in so doing understand it. Right. And of course you don't realize that you're just projecting onto it a kind of maybe mutual regard. She regards us amicably. That you are seeing it and it is seeing you. And there's an acknowledgement and there's this, you know, spiritual encounter that you have with this animal. And all of that, of course, is often quite silly. It's often quite reductive and fanciful and unrealistic. But I am thinking of an encounter that springs to mind is in Utah. I hiked the same trail almost every day. And I Would often hike it late in order to escape the full heat of the desert sun. Which is a little dangerous, right? Because sometimes the sun would be setting and then all kinds of things come out. And one time I was trying to get back to my car before it got completely dark. And what I thought was a wolf, but what must have been a coyote. And the coyotes in Utah are huge. They look like wolves and completely white. Came out from over a hill, crossed my path, turned, looked at me in the eyes for a very long time, turned and went over on the other side of the hill. I mean, curiously, then, of course, I got to the car and I actually found out that a beloved family member, an elderly family member of mine, had passed away. And I said, I think I just saw her. You know, I had this feeling of, like. I don't know, the sense of this connection, inherent connection between these two. This woman who was dear to me and this encounter. But, of course, that's all silliness. And the idea that I was having a sort of interaction through the gate. Some sort of reciprocal. Right. Interaction with this animal was also entirely just my own projecting onto the animal. However, I will say that that's an instance in which I felt fear. But then there was also this, like, joy at the encounter, I think fear because it was dark. Because I wasn't actually sure if this was a wolf because it blocked my path. It was far enough away that I didn't feel as threatened as I might have. But it was definitely a mixed perception. 37:28 Wes: You didn't shoot it and then hang it around your neck. No, because I was thinking. I just suddenly thought of the albatross poem. 37:37 Erin: Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 37:38 Wes: Rime of the Ancient Mariner. And that sort of relationship to the natural world where. I mean, I forget what we said about it, but maybe I said something about envy and wanting to kill the albatross for. Because of its freedom or something like that. I don't. I don't know. But I think it's important because, yeah, this is part of something about the encounter with the natural world. Whether it's a big moose or something else. Yes. Is otherworldly. Strangely enough, it's otherworldly to us, even though it's where we come from. It's uncanny, maybe. And Freud actually, in the German, I think uncanny is sort of like unhomelike is what the German sounds like. And Freud made a lot out of this. I think it's home, but it's a home from which we've become alienated. We're animals, we're something more than animals. And so that primal encounter brings us back to that foundation, that natural foundation in us, but we can't fully come to terms with it. And I think the other aspect of this, I think the death. Right. So there is a link to death. Just. And I was thinking about that when you described thinking of it as seeing. As seeing your departed loved one. Because if we could regress to that animal state, it would be a kind of death. I think that the association with the movement to the pre. Linguistic, natural foundation is something like the movement towards dying, but there's something comforting. 39:07 Erin: Yes. 39:07 Wes: Right. And we encounter that when we encounter the gaze. To have a. Have a gaze returned by an animal like that usually like, like our internal. Our entire psychological structure, what makes us self. Self conscious is the internalization of a human gaze. Right. To the extent that we. We get an animal gaze, I think we are returned to that more primal part of ourselves. And it does seem to me to have something to do with being reconciled to mortality. Right. Which is part of what the function of that dialogue between the elderly people is doing. 39:44 Erin: You're leading me into the one, say, reading of the moose that I wanted to get to. And I just want to say that I think the great thing about Bishop and about this poem and all her poems is that the moose is a moose. It's not a symbol. I hesitate to offer any kind of 40:03 Wes: direct reading, but that's her job on this podcast, though. 40:05 Erin: I know, I know. It's. Yeah. In the letters with Robert Lowell when he's writing to her about her poem at the fish houses, he says, alas, all my fish just become symbols. 40:16 Wes: Ah, very good. 40:17 Erin: I hesitate to reduce. I think what you've just said makes me think that it's the maternal, the mother. 40:25 Wes: Which also brings us back to the house. 40:28 Erin: Yes, the house. Yeah. It's something that comes like the clapboard churches, like clamshells seem to arise out of the ground, if you will, or are directly compared to these native creatures. The houses are then in turn used as comparisons for the moose, the maternal. The idea that this is something that returns us to nature, that this is the encounter that we would have presumably upon death. It's the loved one that is somehow comforting, maternal, and is a female moose. It's moose mom. I don't know. I don't know. Something going on there. 41:04 Wes: Moose mom. 41:05 Erin: Natural and strange at the same time, not us. And I guess that's why I. That's why I mentioned that the story of my grandfather at the beginning, because I don't know why I wanted so badly to see a moose right after my grandfather's death. But there was something, like, logical about it to me. And I was familiar with this poem, but I very much did not have. You know, it was not something that was the forefront of my mind at all. But I think there is this inherent connection, and it's silly. You know, I kind of can't believe I'm saying this, but I do. I do think there is this kind of connection between this desire that I felt to see this animal. Like the particular kind of primordial itch that the moose in particular seems to be scratching for me in that moment. For Bishop, in this poem, something that is at once safe and comforting and from another world, natural in that kind of elemental way. 42:00 Wes: Yeah. 42:01 Erin: That all kind of coalesce in that image. 42:04 Wes: Very good. 42:05 Erin: Okay. I think that's it, Wes. All we're left with is the dim smell of moose and an acrid smell of gasoline. 42:12 Wes: Oh, you know, we should have talked about that. Maybe we can start with that on our next Bishop recording. We'll. We'll begin with the smells, the smells and the significance of that image at the end. 42:25 Erin: Nice. 42:25 Wes: That smellage at the end. 42:26 Erin: Smellage. All right. Thank you. 42:29 Wes: Thank you.

Will there be food in heaven? Will we see God right away when we die? How do you protect yourself from wandering eyes? Is the Earth flat? Is the Ethiopian Bible better than all the others?

What begins as a rejected offering becomes the Bible's first murder—but Cain and Abel's story is about more than jealousy between brothers. In today's episode, we explore how sin takes root, why God cares about the heart behind our worship, and how conviction can lead us home. Cain built a life in a land called Wandering, but through Jesus, wandering doesn't have to be the end of our story.