1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,840 Hello there folks, welcome to episode 17 of a Pebble in a Pond podcast. We're going to go 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:11,120 ahead and get right to the music, strap in, you're about to hear me go on a free-flowing 3 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:30,320 thought experiment for about an hour. It's going to be a fun one. 4 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:56,880 All right, let's get this thing going. What do you say? Okay, so I'm just going to let everybody 5 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:02,080 know right up here, right up front, this episode is going to be different than any of the ones that 6 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:09,200 I've ever done before. For one, the amount of time that I've had to prepare for this episode is a lot 7 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,720 shorter because if you follow my TikToks then you know that I have swiveled at basically, 8 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:24,560 I've given myself only a few days to really finish this and get this thought out and studied as well 9 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:31,520 as I'd like. And second of all because the topic of this episode is one that is exceedingly difficult 10 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:39,120 in today's world to really study from the point of view that I have wanted to. And you'll look 11 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:46,240 you'll understand what I mean there in a few minutes but let's put it this way. I am not, 12 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:51,040 and this is also a warning for those of you that may be listening to that are looking for this, 13 00:01:52,000 --> 00:02:00,560 I am not a religious man. I am not someone who necessarily has a lot of faith in any type of 14 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:08,960 organized religion. So the topic of this episode and that topic is redemption is not going to hold 15 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:14,880 the same meaning for me as it does for many folks that listen to it. Now that's one of the reasons 16 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:20,880 why I wanted to approach this topic, that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this episode is to 17 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:29,200 kind of explain my thoughts on it and why I don't believe that the concept of redemption is, 18 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:38,000 as many would have you believe, solely the purview of religion or faith. So if you are someone who is 19 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:44,240 listening to this that has very, very strong conviction and is going to be offended by the 20 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:52,240 ideas that it is possible to be redeemed without any sort of religious background or without any 21 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:58,800 sort of religious underpinnings, if you will, then this may not be the episode for you. And I'm just 22 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,280 going to make that clear right up front. I'm not going to say anything's heck religious or anything 23 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,240 like that. I'm not going to be attacking anybody's faith, but I want to make sure that people 24 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:16,560 understand that this is not an episode that is being approached with the mindset of one particular 25 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:25,760 religion or any other sort of dogmatic understanding of the concept of redemption. I also want to kind 26 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:30,080 of show how the sausage is made a little bit here and just be very clear with everybody right up 27 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:37,600 front. This is going to be recorded in two pieces, primarily due to time. So there will be a difference 28 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:42,640 probably in, or possibly I should say, in the way that the sound levels and things like that work. 29 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,360 I'm going to try to level them out. I'm going to try to balance it out. But you know, this is pretty 30 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:53,760 low tech stuff that I'm working with. So I'm just doing the best I can. And I want to make sure that 31 00:03:53,760 --> 00:04:00,800 everybody understands that basically I'm recording this the day before Easter and the day after 32 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:07,360 Easter. So I'm not actually doing anything on that day, which is an odd follow-up to me saying I'm 33 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:14,400 not religious. But those of you that follow my TikTok, you know that I have, or we have, I should 34 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:24,240 say my family has some very, I guess, traditions that we hold very dear to us for Easter that 35 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:32,480 do have some religious, you know, basis. But for us, they're just what we do. That's just what we 36 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:38,320 do. That's what I've done since I was a kid. And I just keep doing it with my kids and the rest of 37 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:44,240 my family. So that's neither here nor there really. But I wanted to make sure that people understood 38 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,720 that this is separated into two parts because I'm basically I'm not working on Easter is what I'm 39 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:56,240 saying. Sorry, boss. I'm not working. All that being said, let's go ahead and start this, getting 40 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:01,840 into this topic because it is one that's going to require some time. I'm going to try to keep this 41 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:08,480 under an hour if I can. And once again, let me be really clear about this. And I'm going to explain 42 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:16,640 this in just a moment. So don't lose patience with me repeating myself. But there is not a lot to go 43 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:23,600 on here. I've spent basically two days straight, with the exception of eating and things like that 44 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:29,680 and going out and recording my videos for TikTok. I've spent two days straight studying this and 45 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:39,520 trying to research it and trying to understand it. The idea of redemption is one that has been 46 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:47,680 basically completely controlled by the religious narrative around it. It is exceedingly difficult 47 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:55,440 to find people talking about the idea of redemption outside of the religious context of it. 48 00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:02,000 I've spent a lot of time now and there's a few writings here and there and there's a few ideas 49 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:07,840 that are out there. But for the most part, the way that I'm approaching the idea of redemption is one 50 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:14,640 that I really genuinely, I may be among one of the first, there's not that many people out there 51 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,200 talking about it the way that I am, at least none that are publishing things on the internet or 52 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:24,720 writing about it in books that I can find. So I'm not saying that I'm breaking a mold or anything 53 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,680 here, but I am saying that what you're about to hear and the way that I'm going to be going through 54 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:38,800 this may be something that you're not going to hear that often. I'm not sure because I don't know 55 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:44,080 what I'm going to say. And that's the second part of this is because of the fact that there's so 56 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:50,320 little to go on, what you're going to hear is, in the same way that I record my TikToks, you're just 57 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:58,240 going to hear me kind of, I guess you could say just free flow thinking. This is just me 58 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:05,440 letting it go. I'm just going to basically close my eyes, meditate on it for a few minutes, 59 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,320 and then I'm going to start. That's what we're going to do. But before we get to that, 60 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:18,640 I want to make sure that we have our traditional quotes and our definitions. So we'll go with the 61 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:25,280 definition of redemption first. The first definition, and this is the one that most people 62 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:35,120 think of, is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. And it literally says, 63 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:40,720 in the dictionary definition, or in the example, God's plan for the redemption of the world, 64 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:50,400 of his world, I'm sorry. There you go. Even the dictionary is using redemption in a religious 65 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:57,040 sense. So it gives you an idea of what I was up against here trying to find a reason for it outside 66 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:02,000 of religion. There is another definition that will have no bearing on what we're talking about 67 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,240 tonight, but I figure I should give it to you since we're here giving definitions. The other 68 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:12,080 definition is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment 69 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:17,120 or a clearing of debt. Okay, maybe that might have something to do with it. That might have 70 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:21,280 something to do with it. We might factor that in just a little bit because there is something 71 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:27,680 special about the idea of a clearing of debt that we can talk about here. And I think that it's 72 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:36,640 important. I think that we will touch on that, not in the most literal sense, but there is some 73 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:41,520 aspects of that that we can factor into this. So the first quote we're going to go with is going 74 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:46,880 to be one that is a little odd for me. And many of you might not realize this. I don't really use 75 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:53,520 quotes from political figures all that often, and that is intentional. I mean, not, I guess you could 76 00:08:53,520 --> 00:09:00,560 say current or modern day political figures. The only one I think I've used is I think Michelle 77 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:08,160 Obama. It was a really good quote. So I try not to polarize too many people with religious figures, 78 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:14,320 or not religious, political figures, because it can just turn people off. And that's unfortunate 79 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:23,360 because Barack Obama said a ton of great things in his time as president and out of 80 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:29,120 president. There are just hundreds of quotes from that man that are poignant and wonderful. 81 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:36,160 And you can't really say the same for Trump or Biden, so I don't really dig into those guys. 82 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,560 But Barack Obama had some really great things that he said. Even George Bush had some things 83 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:46,560 that he said that were, I mean, when he wasn't, you know, when he didn't sound like an idiot, 84 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:54,080 he was saying things that were actually, you know, pretty good. Anyway, so we won't get into 85 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:59,440 religious figures too much on this. I keep saying religious, political figures. I apologize. See, 86 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,560 this is the other thing about my podcast that I want everybody that's maybe listening to it for 87 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:06,880 the first time. I'm not going to edit out my mistakes all the time. If I have, you know, 88 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,800 things like that, you're just going to hear it. You're just going to hear me make the mistake, 89 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:18,160 because why not? So we're going to go with this quote. And there's a reason for this. There's a 90 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,840 reason why I'm kind of breaking that trend. And this is not a name that many of you are going to 91 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:28,320 recognize. That's also one of the reasons. But this is a quote by Richard von, and I'm going to 92 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:32,000 mess up his name, and I know I'm going to mess up his name, so please don't be mad at me. 93 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:38,000 Weizsacker, I think his name is. He's German, obviously. So I guess it would be Richard, 94 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:47,120 or Richard. I don't know. Either way, this was a man that was a president of Germany. And he said 95 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:56,480 something, I don't even know how long ago the quote was. I think it was in 92 or 93. It was a 96 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:02,560 while ago. But he said something that if you think about the historical context of what he's saying, 97 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:07,600 it really is kind of one of the reasons why, this quote is one of the reasons why I wanted to tackle 98 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:18,000 this topic of redemption in a non-religious way. So his quote is this, Seeking to forget makes exile 99 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:27,360 all the longer. The secret of redemption lies in remembrance. The secret of redemption lies in 100 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:33,920 remembrance. Now, why would the president of Germany say that? Well, I think we pretty much 101 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:42,080 can figure that out, right? I don't need to spell it out too much. This is a culture, a country that 102 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:49,280 is literally synonymous with one of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind. 103 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:56,880 And the president of that country is basically saying, we will not forget because of the 104 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:04,640 because there is no redemption in forgetting. If we try to move past this, if we try to not accept 105 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:09,280 what we've done, if we try to, or what we are known for, not necessarily what we've done, 106 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:17,280 but what our forebears have done, if we deny the history and we try to forget it or move past it, 107 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:26,800 then we will stay in exile. We will always be that country. We will always be considered, 108 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:32,240 this is where the Holocaust took place. That's basically what he's saying is, if we don't 109 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:39,920 own up to it, if we don't face it head on, then we can never be redeemed for what happened here. 110 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:47,440 There is no redemption in hiding. There is no redemption in not being honest and true. You can't, 111 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,160 as long as those atrocities are pushed under the rug and nobody talks about them, 112 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:59,440 you'll never reach closure. You'll never reach healing and you will never reach redemption. 113 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:11,360 I read that quote some time ago in a book that I have of just like random quotes, and it really is 114 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:16,160 a book of random quotes. It's like there's no order to it at all. It's just random quotes in there. 115 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:21,280 And you can't search anything up. It's meant for you to just kind of open to a page and read. 116 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:29,200 And I didn't really think about it for years. I didn't think about it. But when I started to 117 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:35,840 work on this podcast, it just kept popping up in my head. And I really didn't understand why. 118 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,840 I didn't like, why? Why do I keep hearing this in my head? Why does this keep coming to me? 119 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,600 And I didn't, I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't even think about redemption as an episode 120 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:53,760 or as a topic until probably about, I want to say four weeks ago, about, what's today? Yeah. 121 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:02,560 Yeah, about four weeks ago. And I just sat there thinking, well, how do I approach this? 122 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:08,560 How do I turn this into an episode? And it became pretty obvious then that what I needed to do was 123 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:13,520 really start to try to understand a concept that is foreign to me. It's a concept that I really 124 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:18,320 don't know anything about. I'm not a religious person. Now, that's not to say that I don't 125 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:24,240 understand it in that context, because I have studied enough of religion to know what it means. 126 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:31,440 But to truly feel it, to truly understand it from the point of view of somebody who 127 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:37,760 lives their life to be redeemed in the Christian sense, if you will, 128 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,800 that's an entirely different thing. I can't relate to that. And so it became daunting for me 129 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:50,640 to really dig into it because I can't relate to that. I can't relate to that. 130 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,040 And then when you start to study it and you start to learn more, it becomes even more daunting 131 00:14:55,040 --> 00:15:02,000 because you realize that the entire concept of redemption is basically co-opted by Christians. 132 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:07,920 I mean, other faiths and other religions have versions of redemption, but for the most part, 133 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:18,480 it is not true redemption in the way that Christians believe in it. So it is really difficult. 134 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:26,080 It is really difficult. You can find all sorts of ideas of forgiveness. You can find ideas of 135 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:35,440 contrition. You can always find ideas of contrition. You can find ideas of a lot of the things that are 136 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:41,440 kind of on the outskirts, if you will, just kind of, you know, well, this is part of redemption. 137 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,600 This is part of, and you can find those ideas and they're pretty prevalent and you have no problem 138 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:52,880 finding those. But when it comes to the idea of truly redeeming yourself, everybody seems to want 139 00:15:52,880 --> 00:16:01,280 to prescribe a spiritual sense to that. And the reason why I decided at the end was, you know, 140 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:06,320 this is an important thing I need to talk about is because, you know, I've lived a life where I've 141 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:22,960 seen firsthand people go from, like, literally that the term drug-addled is an apt description. 142 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:32,720 Living on the street, drug-addled or alcoholics or just really honestly, you know, beaten people, 143 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:39,280 people that life has beaten them down, the world has beaten them down, and they have turned to a 144 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:47,360 lot of ways of coping that were self-destructive. And then something would happen, you know, whether 145 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:53,600 it be an awakening of sorts or an appreciation that they reached or just some sort of understanding, 146 00:16:54,800 --> 00:17:00,000 maybe an even understanding of their own mortality. And they begin to understand, you know, 147 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:08,400 I don't have much time. And they would turn things around. And when I say redeemed, I mean, 148 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:15,040 like, there are people out there that if you knew them 10 years ago, if you knew them, you know, 149 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,520 5, 10, 15, whatever, years ago, you would look at them and say, that is not the same person. 150 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:26,640 That is, they are an entirely different person. They have become points of light in this world. 151 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:34,000 And they have literally pulled themselves out of being, you know, in the absolute worst mind state 152 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:41,760 you can be in, being so self-destructive and being so lost, really, not knowing who they were, 153 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,360 not knowing where they were going, not knowing anything about themselves and not knowing how 154 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:52,480 powerful they really could be. They would turn to everything else, all sorts of things, to diminish 155 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:57,760 themselves, to put them where they believed they belonged instead of being where they should be 156 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:03,040 in the grander scheme of things. And I couldn't think of another word for that. I couldn't find 157 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:08,880 another meaning for that. I couldn't find anything else. And redemption was really honestly the best 158 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:17,600 word for it. And so that's when I had to struggle with, is if it's, you know, if redemption is a 159 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,640 Christian concept, then why is it that I know people that aren't Christian at all that have 160 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:28,080 been redeemed? You know, they're not redeemed through Christ. They didn't take that path, 161 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:35,840 at least not, you know, knowingly, but, you know, they are redeemed. They are truly 162 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:41,280 better people and everyone in their life has forgiven them. Everyone in their life has moved 163 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:46,160 beyond what they were. They are no longer looked at in the same way that they were. 164 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:51,200 They are no longer looked at in the same way that they would have been whenever they were, 165 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:57,200 you know, at that point. And I really don't know any other concept or any other word that would fit 166 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:02,160 that. Like I said, I'm not trying to offend anybody and I'm not trying to upset anybody. 167 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:07,200 I know that the spiritual implication of being redeemed holds a lot of weight for Christians, 168 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:15,200 but there has to be some redemption here on earth. There has to be something. We can't all just be 169 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:21,360 redeemed for an afterlife in the game. There has to be something here on earth. There has to be a 170 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:28,560 way to be redeemed here on earth. And I'm sorry, I just don't believe in gatekeeping it behind 171 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:34,400 a man-made religion. And I know that's offensive. I know that's not, I know I said I wasn't going 172 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:39,360 to say stuff like that, but that's just how I feel about it. I really don't believe in gatekeeping 173 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:45,760 of redemption. So that's what we're going to talk about. Now I want to make it clear as I tell these 174 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:55,280 stories or as I get through this, I'm not here to tell you how to be redeemed. This is not going to 175 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,400 be like a lot of the other episodes where I kind of give tips and pointers of how to get to whatever 176 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:08,880 the end goal here is. I can't really do that. First of all, in the religious sense, just in case 177 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:13,360 you were wondering, I may look like him, but I'm not Jesus. I'm not. So I can't redeem you 178 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:24,160 in the religious sense. But also, redemption, as I have read more and learned more, is truly something 179 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:34,240 that is a solo journey. It is something that is a quest. It is perhaps the greatest quest 180 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:46,480 that anyone can partake. And it is something that the reward is so great and so life-changing 181 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:54,400 that those that complete it, that complete the quest, it changes everything. Not just in their 182 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,840 life, but in the lives of everyone around them. So I wanted to talk about it. And I wanted to make 183 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,360 sure that everybody that listened to this understood exactly where I was coming from. 184 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:13,360 Once again, I don't intend any offense. I know the weight of this idea for so many Christians, 185 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:20,560 and I know how it could easily be misconstrued as me attacking it. And I'm not doing that in any way. 186 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:27,840 So I just want to make that very clear again, because like I said, if it were me, if it were 187 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:33,680 my faith, I might take some offense. I would be like, well, you don't know what you're talking 188 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:42,560 about, idiot. So I don't want people to be in that mindset, mind state when they're listening to this. 189 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:53,200 So like I said, I can't give people tips and tricks on this. But because this is me being 190 00:21:53,200 --> 00:22:00,720 free flowing and just allowing these ideas to kind of come out in a way that I would normally only 191 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:07,600 reserve for TikTok and not my podcast. There's not necessarily going to be one through line, 192 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:15,600 or usually I'll separate each episode into kind of these compartmentalized ideas. I'll have, 193 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,360 okay, this, this, and I'll talk about this, and I'm not going to really do that with this episode, 194 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:24,000 because it really is just coming off the top of my head for the most part. But 195 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:33,600 while I can't give tips and tricks on how to become redeemed, I can give some pointers through 196 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:39,040 some of these quotes that I've found. And so we're going to talk about another quote here, 197 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:47,040 because when I was doing the research, I read it and I thought, well, that's, that is almost like a 198 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:54,400 how to to a certain degree. And this quote is actually by the theologian and the writer, 199 00:22:54,400 --> 00:23:01,520 an author who has a lot of a Baptist background and things like that. So, you know, it's really 200 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:05,520 inescapable that when I talk about this topic, there's going to be religious figures in it. 201 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:12,560 That's just, this is just part of the deal. John Piper said, redemption is not perfection. 202 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:19,760 The redeemed must realize their imperfections. And the reason I liked that quote in particular 203 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:26,080 is because it creates kind of a through line of, kind of, like I said, it's kind of a how to. 204 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:32,880 If you, if you couple that with the, I'm going to say his name again, Richard von Weizsäcker, 205 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:40,080 I think I said it right there. The other quote that I used, seeking to forget makes exile all 206 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:45,760 the longer. The secret of redemption lies in remembrance. There's a through line there that 207 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:52,240 maybe some folks won't see. And the through line is there's this level of understanding 208 00:23:52,240 --> 00:24:00,960 that comes with redemption. And that understanding can only be achieved through complete, 100% 209 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:13,440 honesty. Being completely honest with yourself, seeing the world through clear eyes and not 210 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:22,400 allowing your notions, your preconceived notions to maybe get in the way. Really, truly just 211 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:28,880 breaking things down to the bare and saying, okay, this is the mean of life, right? Like this is 212 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:36,880 where we are. This is who I am. I can get better here. I can do these things better. And really 213 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:46,080 getting in and seeing who you are, whether it be your imperfections or it be remembering what 214 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:53,360 you've done, remembering where you've gone wrong. Because you remember the whole point of redemption 215 00:24:53,360 --> 00:25:02,800 is, going back to the actual dictionary definition, is saving. You're saving something from sin or 216 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:09,840 evil. You're saving yourself from the wrongs and the selfishness. You're saving yourself from these 217 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:17,120 ideas that we all know are bad. They're not good for us. They're not behaviors or concepts that 218 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:21,680 are good for us. And we really genuinely have to save ourselves. What does that mean, to save 219 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,240 yourself? I mean, people are forgiven all the time. People move on from things all the time. 220 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:33,520 But I think that for me, when I really get into it, for me, saving somebody is essentially 221 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:38,080 creating that kind of 180 mentality where they literally stop and they turn around and they go 222 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:45,840 the other way. It's one thing to have been a junkie, right? But when you turn that around 223 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:53,120 and are using what you've learned as somebody who was... And I know that junkie is a strong word. 224 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:58,320 I understand that. But there are a lot of people out there that I know that were junkies, and they 225 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:06,800 called themselves junkies. And so I use that word because, as somebody once told me, it cuts. It 226 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:14,000 cuts and it makes them people kind of go, oof, I was that. And it has a ring of being judgmental, 227 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:20,880 but it's not. This is what you were. Now look at you. And that's kind of the point of this, 228 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,680 is that there's people out there that made these choices, that did these things, that got themselves 229 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:31,760 into this life. I'm not saying that anyone's... They're at fault here, so don't take it that way. 230 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:39,440 But that was their life. And now they're on the other side of this. And they're actively 231 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:44,480 helping people. They're actively lifting people up. They're actively creating safe spaces in this 232 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:53,040 world for people that are going through that to maybe pull themselves out. They've climbed out 233 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:57,600 of the well and they're turning around and reaching back in, putting themselves at risk, 234 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:02,400 and reaching their hand back into the well, maybe even taking a chance of falling back in 235 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:09,760 to lift people out of it. And that really is, for me, from my understanding of what saving 236 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:17,120 something is, saving somebody is, that to me is the definition of that. You are saved from 237 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:24,400 the evil. You're saved from the sin if you can take that sin and turn it into strength. If you 238 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:32,320 can take that evil, that selfishness and turn it into selflessness. If you can take the lessons 239 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:39,680 that you can learn from the wrongs and the mistakes and the horrible things that you may have done. 240 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:47,440 If you can take those and turn them into something good and beautiful. If you can bring light into 241 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:53,440 this world from darkness. I really don't know if there's a better way of saying it than you are 242 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:59,600 saved. Isn't that the goal? Isn't that kind of what Christianity talks about? Isn't that what 243 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:05,600 we're, you know, a lot of Christians are trying to do? Is they're trying to bring the Word of God 244 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:11,920 into this world through Jesus? Now, how is it any different if you are able to do it without Jesus? 245 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:22,080 If the end goal is the same, if you're reaching that level of impact and genuine goodness and 246 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:30,240 light, I don't think that you need look further for an example of what it means to be saved or 247 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:39,360 to save others. And that is what redemption is. One thing that came up in conversation with my son 248 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:45,440 about redemption, I sometimes I'll go to him. He's particularly bright and he has a way of thinking 249 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:50,240 about things that maybe I'm not really seeing. And one thing that came up when we were talking 250 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,280 about this topic, because I had mentioned to him that I really didn't have a whole lot of, 251 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:58,080 there wasn't a whole lot of information out there on the topic. And so I wanted to get his opinion 252 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:03,520 on it. And this is just another warning here. I hate to continue to do this, but I feel like 253 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:10,640 I need to. This is going to tread very closely to being dismissive. It's not a dismissive of any 254 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,560 religion, but it's going to sound a little bit like it is until I get to the end. So just stay with me. 255 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:20,560 One of the things that he spoke of and I found particularly interesting is the idea that 256 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:27,280 redemption, and I mentioned this earlier when I said it's a quest that we take on. Redemption 257 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:32,160 is something that you do here. It's something that you do for yourself. Now, this is the part 258 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:37,760 that's going to be a little, it's going to sound sacrilegious. There is this kind of belief 259 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:44,160 among a lot of Christians and people of faith that the concept of redemption, the 260 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:50,480 concept of being saved is kind of a get out of jail free card. And so what you find is you find 261 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:56,560 people that live their life just wantonly. They live their life in a way where they're hurting 262 00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:01,200 people. They live their life in a way where they're not concerned, but they say out loud, 263 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:07,840 oh, I follow Jesus, or I follow this or I follow that. And they basically are saying, well, 264 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:13,840 because I will be saved in the end, what I do here doesn't matter as much because I basically, 265 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:19,680 I will be redeemed because I'm a follower of Jesus. And that kind of behavior is where 266 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:26,480 one of the things that made me really go, well, this concept can't be just for Christians only. 267 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:33,280 The idea of redemption can't be just for Christians only. So when we were talking about it, 268 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:39,120 one of the things that he said that I thought was poetic to a certain degree is that no matter what 269 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:44,800 your inclinations are, no matter what your faith is, no matter what your belief system is grounded 270 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:52,080 in, if you believe in God, if you believe in the religious aspect of it, or you don't believe in 271 00:30:52,080 --> 00:31:00,800 God, if you believe in the religious aspect of it, or you don't, there are signs that you have to 272 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:08,160 understand. There are signs that you have to see. Now, I've used heavy drug use and alcoholism as 273 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:13,120 examples, but the concept of redemption goes much further and deeper than that. It can just be 274 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:21,120 redeemed from being a shitty person. If you're somebody who has been a liar and a deceiver, 275 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:28,640 somebody who has hurt others, somebody who has, you know, whatever. I can't think of anything 276 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:33,360 off the top of my head, but you know, just you understand the actions that people take that are 277 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:42,640 antithetical to progress and good. If you're somebody like that, if you're somebody that 278 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:48,480 begins to understand what you're doing, you see the signs, you understand the things that you're 279 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,280 doing, and then you turn it around. There is a form of redemption there for you. There is a way 280 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:59,920 of seeing it. But more to the point that he was trying to make with his, in our discussion was 281 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:08,880 people will see the signs in front of them or they won't. The beauty of free will, 282 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:14,240 even in a religious context, God can, if you believe in God, God can put the signs in front of you. 283 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:19,760 You know, you can have the message there and if you miss it, you miss it. If you're not looking 284 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:25,120 for it, if you're not open to it, you'll miss it. But the same can be true for any signs. You know, 285 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,680 if you just believe in the power of the universe, if you just believe in yourself, 286 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:34,240 if you don't believe in anything, you just believe that you can pick up on context clues 287 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:40,000 as you're moving through life. Really, whatever your belief system is doesn't matter. If you're 288 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:46,560 not willing to keep your head open, your eyes open, your mind open, and your heart open to 289 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:53,040 the idea that there's more out there, that there is change that could be done in the name of good, 290 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:59,200 if you're not open to that, then you're not going to see the signs that will lead you towards 291 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:05,680 redemption. So the point that he really wanted to make is that, you know, it doesn't... Redemption 292 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:13,040 and the idea of being redeemed is something that we take on ourselves, whether you... No matter if 293 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:20,720 you believe in God or not, whether you're a religious person or not, God, whoever, whatever 294 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,720 you want to call your deity or whatever you want to call your faith, or even if you have no faith, 295 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:32,080 you can only be pointed in the right direction. It's up to you to take the steps in that direction. 296 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:37,680 And that's really one of the key parts of this, is that redemption is something that you find within 297 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:46,400 yourself, no matter where the signs for it come from. It is not something that you can attain 298 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:51,760 through something else. And I think that that's really one of the key things that... And this is 299 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:58,720 where I'm going to really offend some people, is the idea that people live their life in horrible 300 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:09,440 damaging ways and think that they can do that and it'll all be okay, is really offensive to people 301 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:16,880 that don't believe in that way of thinking. You know, they don't believe that just turning 302 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:22,640 your life over to Jesus is enough to, you know, absolve all sin. They believe that you have to 303 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:26,880 maybe live a life where you're just a good person, maybe you're just a good person, maybe you're just 304 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:32,480 a good person, maybe you're just a good person, maybe, and once again, this is going to sound 305 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:38,800 flippant and even dismissive, maybe live your life with the, what would Jesus do mentality. 306 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:45,120 Because there's so many people out there that don't. They say it, they hold it up as their 307 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:52,480 get out of jail free card, but they don't take the actions. And so, you know, in talking with my son 308 00:34:52,480 --> 00:35:01,840 about this, it really became evident where he, his head was in the whole thing. And now that I've 309 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:08,000 thought about it and I've really spent some time with it, I agree with him. I think that, you know, 310 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:18,240 the idea that we spend so much time in our lives trying to find answers to questions that we may 311 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:26,160 never even know. And because of that, the idea of redemption is sometimes lost on many people. 312 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:35,760 But to be truly redeemed is to understand yourself, to trust yourself, to be honest with yourself, 313 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:43,760 to love yourself, and then to take all of those attributes that you have put value in, 314 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:49,760 the good things that you've worked on, the good parts of yourself that you know you can share, 315 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:55,360 and put them out into the world. Put them out into the world so that they can make a difference. 316 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:05,920 So that your story, your voice, your pain, whatever it may be, can then be used by others. 317 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:12,640 You can lift people up. You can be redeemed in that way. I believe that. I believe that that is 318 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:19,680 the only way that anyone truly becomes redeemed, whether you see the signs through God himself or 319 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:26,320 you see the signs through just you being aware and, you know, even empathic and able to understand 320 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:31,040 the pain you're causing. I don't think that there's anything wrong with saying that you have to 321 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:39,040 understand your effect on the world for you to then turn around and change that effect for the better. 322 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:48,960 That takes, you know, time and it takes a level of introspection that many people never get to. 323 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:57,600 So I just think that as I had that conversation with him, he really did 324 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:05,600 phrase it in a way that made, kind of honestly made me really proud of him. 325 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:16,080 He said redemption is the burden. Redemption, like because I had told him about the quest idea and 326 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:23,760 that this is something that we had, you know, we were talking about was the idea of it being a quest. 327 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:28,640 He said redemption is the burden. Redemption is what you carry as you're trying to get to the end 328 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:35,520 of the quest. And then when you get there, you get to have that, you know, you achieve your goal and 329 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:41,520 you get to hold that treasure. And that treasure is knowing yourself, knowing your place, knowing your worth 330 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:50,400 and feeling whole. Something that I've struggled with, especially Grim, is that 331 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:56,160 something that I've struggled with, especially recently, is feeling whole, feeling like I'm 332 00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:08,080 a complete person. And it's stunning sometimes when you get into these kind of conversations, 333 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:16,480 even with someone who is 20 years, you're younger, how much wisdom somebody like that can have. 334 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:26,480 Tennessee Williams said, hell is yourself and the only redemption is when a person puts himself 335 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:34,480 aside to feel deeply for another person. One of the hardest parts of the journey that I've been on, 336 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:41,920 this journey of understanding myself and understanding the changes I've undergone, 337 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:48,800 has been coming to terms with what I have done in my life, the damage I've caused, the pain that I've 338 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:56,560 caused. And unfortunately, I don't know if I really want to get into all of it just yet, 339 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:07,520 at least not in this episode. But I will say this, I'm more aware now of the negative things that 340 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:14,160 I've brought into this world than I probably ever have been before. I'm searching, I'm seeking for 341 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:24,240 ways to make amends. I'm looking for ways to kind of get closure, even though I may not ever get it 342 00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:35,840 with the people that I've offended. I'm looking for ways to find peace. And I'm looking for ways 343 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:42,880 to get closure. And what I'm realizing, what I really began to realize a month ago when I thought 344 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:51,440 about this particular episode, is that redemption is something that I long for. It's something that 345 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:59,280 I believe in. And it's something that I think I'm on my way towards. I'm not there yet. And it's 346 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:06,480 something that I'm trying. But I am trying. And I think that that has to count for something. 347 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:12,240 I know many of you, maybe you won't even hear this episode, but I know many of you that could hear it 348 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:21,440 are on that same journey and are looking for a path that will make it easier. 349 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:28,880 And I can't offer that. I can't give you that. Because I don't know the path myself. But I can, 350 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:37,120 I can tell you this. If you start to feel that love inside of yourself, and you start to feel 351 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:42,400 that power that you have at your disposal, you start to really appreciate who you are and what 352 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:48,400 you can bring into this world. And then you start giving it back to others. I think you're well on 353 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:57,120 your way. I think that you achieve something in that process that can't be overlooked, 354 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:05,120 shouldn't be overlooked, and creates a dynamic, like an energy flow that 355 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:11,520 will lead you, give you the energy you need and lead you down the path towards redemption 356 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:20,720 that we are all searching for. Trying to find a way to reverse the harm that you've done in this life 357 00:41:20,720 --> 00:41:29,520 and find a path forward, unfettered by concern and worry over what you've done, and instead look 358 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:39,040 towards what you can do and what you're doing. That's freedom. That's true freedom. And I know 359 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:43,840 there's a lot of people out there that would sell you this quick fix idea that you can just not 360 00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:48,480 think about it, or you can just, you know, it's, oh, you're in control of your emotions, you're in 361 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:53,520 control of your mind. And that's true to a certain degree, but that's just not how we work as humans. 362 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:59,520 And that shit's going to come up. It's going to come back up and it's going to smack you in the face 363 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:04,320 if you don't start to make amends with it, if you don't really work on it, if you don't think about 364 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:16,000 it. And I can't really, I'm just being honest here, I can't really give you the solution. I can say 365 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:24,240 to you that I will be there with you. I'm going through it with you. And the solution for each of 366 00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:30,560 us is different because the problem for each of us is different. But knowing that you're in it together, 367 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:39,200 knowing that redemption can be found arm in arm, hand in hand, we are each on the journey 368 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:46,160 by ourselves, but also knowing that you have somewhere to fall back, knowing that if you 369 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:52,720 misstep that somebody's got your back, knowing that if you fail for any point in time that somebody 370 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:59,360 is there to pick you up. That's a huge deal. You have to take the steps on your own. You have to 371 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:04,560 start finding how to be honest with yourself and finding how to really come to terms with your own 372 00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:10,560 truth. But you can have somebody there that's willing to pick you up, dust you off, keep you going. 373 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:22,800 And that's all I'm trying to do. My redemption, and I believe this, will be found once I see 374 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:31,360 the world as a better place. And I may not ever achieve that. I may never get to where I'm going. 375 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:38,640 I'm not saying that I've been a horrible burden on the world or that I've done... I'm not a horrible 376 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:46,320 man, but I am saying that the people that I have hurt in my life, the mistakes that I've made, 377 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:57,120 the miscommunications, the hubris at times, the arrogance that I have at times, the inability to 378 00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:07,120 communicate effectively, my feelings, my wants, my desires, my love... I've hurt a lot of people with 379 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:13,680 that. And like many of you, I mean, all of us go through these periods where we have hurt people. 380 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:20,080 But for me, with my newfound purpose and my newfound understanding of this world, 381 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:26,320 and the work that I'm doing to truly better myself, I will not be able to move past it 382 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:35,040 until I know that I've made amends for it. I have to. I have to try to make it better. And if I can't, 383 00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:42,000 I have to try to find a come to terms with it within myself. And as I sit here right now, 384 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:46,320 recording this, I can tell you that that may be the hardest thing I've ever done. 385 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:54,240 And that is part of the quest. That is part of understanding that it will be the hardest thing 386 00:44:54,240 --> 00:45:01,360 you've ever done. Redeeming yourself, finding your purpose, and understanding your place 387 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:07,840 will always be the hardest thing you could possibly ever do. But it starts with that feeling of 388 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:14,480 redemption. It starts with knowing that you have saved yourself, and you have saved yourself. 389 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:21,440 I really don't know what else I can say in this episode. I really don't know what else I can do 390 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:31,040 to convey how important this is for each of us. And so I think even though it may be a little odd, 391 00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:37,920 I'm going to go ahead and start wrapping up here. And I'm going to wrap it up with one more quote. 392 00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:44,000 Ravi Sastry said, sometimes acknowledging your erroneous ways is the first step to redemption. 393 00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:48,560 And obviously that goes in line with some of the other quotes that I've used already. 394 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:56,400 But I want to reiterate that, and I really want to give that a second. It is so important 395 00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:02,560 when dealing with this concept, with understanding this concept, and knowing that its basis is really 396 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:13,280 in the religious aspect of it, it's so important to understand how key honesty is. And I've said 397 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:19,280 that already, but I do want to reiterate it. If you can't be true to yourself, if you can't be 398 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:29,120 honest with yourself, if you hide behind pretty lies and false ideas of what you're doing, 399 00:46:29,120 --> 00:46:41,360 if you can't find false ideas of what truth is, if you spend all of your time searching for quick 400 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:50,080 fixes and ways to feel better in a moment, you will never find true redemption because you're 401 00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:58,800 not willing to do the work to find true redemption. At some point in time, all of us have to make 402 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:12,560 our way to the path of forgiveness and redemption, or becoming someone who values revenge and 403 00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:23,920 vengeance. You can't really do both. I've been both of those things. I have been the person that 404 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:30,080 looked for vengeance. I've been the person that went out and hurt people because what they were 405 00:47:30,080 --> 00:47:42,720 doing was wrong, and I hurt them physically. And I realize now that I could have kept fighting for 406 00:47:42,720 --> 00:47:53,440 20 years every day, and I was strong enough to do that, but I was not strong enough to 407 00:47:54,320 --> 00:48:00,800 understand that even if I had fought for 20 years every day, that that wouldn't have mattered. 408 00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:08,960 I wouldn't have actually made a difference. My redemption, my story arc ends with me 409 00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:18,640 finally understanding that you can't punch your way out of the pain that you feel. You can't 410 00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:28,080 fight people to get rid of the damage that you've done. The only way for me to move forward 411 00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:34,080 is through love. The only way for me to make a difference in this world is by bringing as 412 00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:44,320 much positive energy and forward momentum towards love and honesty that I can. If there's one thing 413 00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:50,320 that I want everybody that listens to my podcast or watches my TikTok videos, if there's one thing 414 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:56,480 that I want you to truly begin to appreciate and truly begin to understand if you haven't already, 415 00:48:56,480 --> 00:49:07,760 it is that hiding, lying, those are the antithesis of being truly good and truly strong 416 00:49:08,400 --> 00:49:16,880 and courageous. The only way to redeem yourself is by telling the truth, getting it all out, 417 00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:22,000 telling people exactly who you are, burying your soul, 418 00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:26,560 and in doing that and making that sacrifice of ego, 419 00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:34,160 you will find strength that you never even knew existed. You will find a purpose that you never 420 00:49:34,160 --> 00:49:42,880 could have comprehended before that. Removing those guards, removing and allowing yourself 421 00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:47,840 to feel that pain, to bask in that pain and to understand that pain, to understand that pain, 422 00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:54,800 to feel that pain, to bask in that pain and to understand that pain, that is why redemption is 423 00:49:54,800 --> 00:50:00,640 so difficult. That is why most people will never reach redemption is because they can't handle that 424 00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:06,880 pain. And the reality is that I don't really blame a lot of people for not being able to handle it. 425 00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:17,760 Having gone through it or going through it, it's a torment, but I have a purpose. And like many 426 00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:24,320 of you, I am really beginning to understand what that means and how much I have to take on to achieve 427 00:50:24,320 --> 00:50:32,000 my goals. I know that the past few minutes, I've just kind of been waxing on about myself, 428 00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:39,120 and that may not be exactly what folks come here to listen to, but it is the honest, 429 00:50:39,120 --> 00:50:47,120 soul-bearing truth of who I am. And I felt like if I'm going to do an episode about redemption, 430 00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:58,480 that I should speak at least a little bit about my own redemption because I wouldn't be discussing 431 00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:04,080 it if I didn't feel it, if I didn't understand the weight, the burden, as my son said, 432 00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:11,040 of the quest itself, of how important it is to me. And while I think I'm well on my way, 433 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:19,040 and I can say that with some pride, I know that I have a long way to go. So each of these episodes 434 00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:24,720 has helped me in some way. Each of these moments in the podcast has helped me. I'm learning a lot 435 00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:32,400 doing this work here for this. And the community that I've started to really build and to be able 436 00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:42,000 to really appreciate and understand and interact with on TikTok has truly been life-saving and 437 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:52,960 beautiful. And every day I get a message, I get a moment, I get whatever it may be that really does 438 00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:01,040 show me the progress I'm making and reinforces my understanding of exactly what redemption means. 439 00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:06,320 I see it in so many people trying to claw their way out of the troubles in their lives and trying 440 00:52:06,320 --> 00:52:19,120 to get through the pain and the anguish and the struggles. And all I can do is, just like the kid 441 00:52:19,120 --> 00:52:25,120 that crawled out of the well, all I can do is turn around, put my hand on the edge of the well, 442 00:52:25,120 --> 00:52:31,280 and try to lift people out as best as I can. And I'm proud of the work I'm doing. 443 00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:37,920 I'm proud of the work I'm going to do. And I'm proud of everybody that listens to this, 444 00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:42,080 that understands what I'm trying to do and appreciates it and starts to take 445 00:52:43,280 --> 00:52:50,080 measures and put in the effort to make these changes in your world and in your life and in you. 446 00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:58,480 It's not easy. It is really, really, really fucking hard. But I am seeing now, 447 00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:08,800 I'm seeing now the effect. I'm seeing now what redemption really does mean and the power and 448 00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:21,120 beauty of when I'm finally unburdened and able to just give of myself completely. I can't wait, 449 00:53:21,680 --> 00:53:27,440 and I'm going to keep working towards it. But I think we're done here. I think we're done with 450 00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:33,920 this episode. I do want to know what folks think. I do want to know your opinion on this particular 451 00:53:33,920 --> 00:53:37,840 episode because this is the first time I've done anything like this where I just kind of 452 00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:45,920 let myself go. There weren't any notes to speak of. There wasn't a whole lot of scientific or 453 00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:54,560 psychiatric or therapy type information. This was just me talking from the heart. And I know that 454 00:53:54,560 --> 00:54:00,000 some folks like that on TikTok. Some folks may like it here, but I would like to know your opinions. 455 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:08,720 So hit me up on TikTok, leave a message wherever you're watching this. I will see it. I appreciate 456 00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:20,720 you. Next episode, episode 18, will be the sudden change of gears. We're going to go ahead and dive 457 00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:27,520 into some of the negative stuff and we're going to get into anger. Episode 18, anger will be coming 458 00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:36,080 soon. That episode is scheduled to release the evening of the 14th or the morning of the 15th. 459 00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:42,240 It may be pushed back a little bit just as a forewarning because one of my son's birthdays 460 00:54:42,240 --> 00:54:47,280 is around there. So depending upon the celebrations and things like that and how much time I have, 461 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:54,240 we'll see when it comes out. So I would say expect the 15th. I think that's all we have time for now. 462 00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:58,400 I appreciate everybody for stopping in and listening. If you did, once again, I would love 463 00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:04,800 to hear your opinions on this kind of stream of thought type recording. And I hope that maybe you 464 00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:12,080 got something out of this because I really don't remember anything I said. So I'm not even going to 465 00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:17,760 listen back to it. I'm just going to go ahead and post it up there and see what happens. Thank you 466 00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:31,040 again and I will talk to you very soon.