The conversation is wide ranging and enlightening.
The only whole heart is a broken one because it lets the light in. -David Wolpe
I wouldn’t be much without my broken hearts. I feel like I’d be a shell without the broken mind I experienced after losing my wife.
Brokenness is scapegoated for our frailties and flaws, yet it allows us to let light into places that were walled off. Our tragedies, whether self-inflicted, perpetrated against us, or random, teach us more about ourselves than otherwise possible.
In a world packed with stimuli, it can be hard to listen to God. Today, He didn’t give me a chance to miss the message.
I got into the car frustrated as my sons had dragged their feet and only half-heartedly helped on the tasks I needed complete for our adventures.
Westen asked to listen to something rogether and I stopped him, “No. You two aren’t listening to me and I don’t want to engage with you right now.” I put my earbuds in and rejoined the same podcast I posted about a couple days ago.
Per usual, it wasn’t five minutes before Westen was talking to me. I attempted patience and waited for my chance to say that I didn’t want to talk. He went on to talk about racism as discussed in the Bible.
The conversation in my ear had turned to tribalism in the Torah and today.
Okay God, I get it, thanks.
I pulled the earbuds out and heard the rest of Westen’s ideas. I added a couple examples of stories from the New Testament and Isaac gladly joined the conversation.
I am consistently impressed by my son’s minds. They listen keenly and question right down to the principles. I don’t take much credit for this, God sent me these free thinkers to challenge and embolded my faith.
I thank God for knowing that sometimes I need to be knocked back into loving engagement with those around me.
I wasn’t going to blog tonight. I broke my streak (again) a couple nights ago through a silly mistake, I’ve been off balance with many of my self-care routines, and I’ve had my words here used against me. Although I am a tireless optimist and feel good about my life’s direction, I feel distracted.
I should listen to Lex Friedman more often. His sober compassion for humanity is deeply reassuring. In the first 8 minutes of this podcast, he expresses the most important aspects of the current state of the world on which to focus.
I chose this episode for my ride home as I wanted to learn about a religion of which I know little. I found myself refreshed after the opening monologue, and I hope you do too.
Bridget Phetasy is my main source of news comedy. Her Youtube show is suffering from throttling that has capped her subscribers there. Rumble is a video platform dedicated to free speech and Phetasy’s show, Dumpster Fire, is available there.
Two years ago I wrote a warning about the predictable effects of Lockdown. It didn’t seem like anyone was listening, but soon after I began to find my Lockdown tribe. We got our children together and shared woth each other the ways we were staying sane. Many of these women were homeschool moms, and more moms and dads joined the ranks as pressures exposed the failures of the system.
Out tribe is strong and the fight for sanity carries on. More families are deciding to home educate their children each day. The world is getting more sane as people free themselves from the systems government uses to keep us in line.
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Ian Miller has compiled thousands of charts comparing populations with varying mask dictates and consistently found that masking policy plays no statistical part in how Covid-19 affects people.
The lies of politicians, beaurocrats, and the corporate media are tearing people apart and causing conflict where it need not be.
Hear what Miller has to say, buy his book, and don’t worry, we are out here maskless, ready to welcome you home.
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A few months ago the bad guys tried to marginalize the Lab Leak Theory concerning the source of Covid-19. Brave investigators pursued the story and podcasters like Joe Rogan and Tom Woods let them speak publicly.
With enough people fighting censorship by governments, social media giants, and their lackey parrots, the truth was forced into spotlight. This exposed the cracks in a narrative tyranny that seemed invincible.
The fight will never end. Truth will always be unpopular and the forces behind false narratives will always be resourced. However, truth has some fantastic warriors on its side. Woods and Rogan are two of many, but their shows are consistently a place for open discussion and unpopular opinions.
This week, their guests tackled the Lab Leak Theory and the broader response to Covid-19. Woods is a much shorter show, but I encourage you to invest the time to listen to both of these conversations.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. -Galatians 5:1, 13
God sent me a clear message over the last 24 hours. My pastor’s sermon, a podcast episode by Isaac Morehouse, and today’s devotional lesson all touched on what “freedom” means to a follower of Christ.
Well. Maybe not so clear. I’m a radical when it comes to love and freedom. I want to move towards an anarchical system that allows individuals to determine their own fates. Morehouse’s summation of why adherence to Christian principles naturally results in laissez-faire capitalism (he does not use the word “anarchy” in any way) is very close to my own set of beliefs.
The other messages vary more from my own trajectory of thought and I hope to take those into account for awareness of confirmation bias (I also plan to listen to the Jonathan Pageau podcast episodes that Morehouse is responding to: Christianity is Not Revolutionary and Christianity Rebukes the Powerful.)
But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
That’s tricky. I’m a passionately sexual creature. Expressing my love for someone in physical terms is a deeply emotional and, increasingly, spiritual experience. If this is an act of sin, so be it, I will continue to ask for forgiveness for all my sins and guidance away from them.
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I found the Tom Woods Show over seven years ago as my wife and I were considering home educating our son. I discovered his episodes on homeschooling and he introduced me to inspirational people like Pam Laricchia and Lenore Skenazy.
His manner and knowledge was so welcoming that I listened more and became familiar with the core philosophies of libertarianism.
His highlighting the compatibility of Christianity and libertarianism gave my mind space to contemplate a dramatic shift from the secular conservatism that had characterized my life since adolescence.
A few years later I was home educating two boys, renouncing democracy, and accepting Jesus Christ as my savior. Woods doesn’t get credit for all these things, but I’m not sure I would have imagined such a transformation in my late thirties.
Months after being Baptized, I lost my wife suddenly. One night, in a panic, I emailed Woods at an address that I assumed went to employees and would likely sit in limbo. I told him my story and asked for…what? I don’t know. I had found so many answers through his interviews that maybe I wanted a tidy 30-minute podcast to rescue me from my grief.
He emailed me back within a day. He expressed his condolences and asked how he could help.
I was embarrassed about this strange moment. I had probably been drinking the night before and had no idea how to respond. I still don’t remember if I thanked him. I hope this post serves as a proper gratitude.
Three years later and I’m sitting here at a celebration of Woods’s 2000th podcast episode. I’m once again grateful for his many contributions to my life and the wider cultural conversation.
Now to stop being a weirdo on his phone and make some friends.
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