1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: In the overwhelming face of catastrophe, loss, heartache, betrayal, suffering, 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: and pain. The thing that we need to understand most 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: is how to create an appropriate hierarchy of suffering. This 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: week on The David Rutherford Show. Over the past month, 5 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: I have been in a really different space, especially after 6 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: the incredible experience of going on Sean's show offloading all 7 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: of this pain from my past in a way that 8 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: I had hoped would be a benefit for others. That 9 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: was my intent, is that I would tell these stories 10 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: to all of you and you would hear these the 11 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: constant reality of the highs and lows of life and 12 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: the fact that if you continue to press on with 13 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: the right group of people, the right faith, the right framework, 14 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: the right foundation of support, and your own kind of 15 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: belief systems, that that you can climb out of that 16 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:29,399 Speaker 1: abyss and get back up on the proverbial bike of life. 17 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: And I was going great for a few weeks, and 18 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: then about four weeks or so ago, began this cascade 19 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 1: of suffering that seemed to be omnipresent at every turn 20 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: or trip or person or people I was around or 21 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: integrating with. It just seemed to kind of come out 22 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: of nowhere, and as if almost to test me to say, 23 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: all right, was all the things that you talked about, 24 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: do you truly belie leaving them? Because now I'm going 25 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: to give you and I mean when I speak in 26 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: that context, i'm talking about God. I'm going to give 27 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: you something to think about on a regular basis now. 28 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: And this is the idea of suffering. And so, as 29 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: I was at a very good close personal friend of 30 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: mine had recently gotten divorced over a long, long, difficult 31 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: road of the relationship and the divorce itself, and watched 32 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: his suffering there and was supported. He met somebody wonderful, 33 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: fell in love immediately, same background all this, So they 34 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: came together and they're having this beautiful wedding up in 35 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: the Adirondacks, and man, it was just like riding this high. 36 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: I was there with one of my other closest friends 37 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: and his beautiful wife, doctor Dan Luna and Leslie Luna, 38 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: and man, we had these beautiful, long discussions about what 39 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: we've learned in our lives and how we're processing it, 40 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: and just listening to him and his wife describe this 41 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: really unbelievably difficult road of suffering they endured with Dan's 42 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: mother over the two and a half years that she 43 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: contracted cancer, and they did everything in their powers to 44 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 1: extend her life, to which I one hundred percent, and 45 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: as do they extended their mom's life in ways I 46 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: can't even begin to describe it. They You know, if 47 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: you ever get an opportunity to hear him speak or 48 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: listen to how he talks about life and death and 49 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: what it represents. I think, out of all of my 50 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: friends that have come out of emerged out of the 51 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: g WoT in this very, very intense culture of death, 52 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: Dan has one of the most profound ways to analyze this. 53 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: And so here he is sharing this wonderful analysis of 54 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: his own suffering, of his mother's suffering, And this is 55 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: on top of his twenty plus years of service, nine 56 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: combat deployments, and all of his closest friends who he 57 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: had to present at their funerals. How it impacted his 58 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: children growing up right to watch their uncles constantly dying 59 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:29,359 Speaker 1: on the battlefield. They're suffering catastrophic challenges in their post 60 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: operator life with operator syndrome, and he's sharing these really 61 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: beautiful lessons he's learned. But at the same time, you know, 62 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: I'm thinking to myself, how has these two people who 63 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: are probably some of the hardest human beings I've ever 64 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: met in my life, how do they just carry on 65 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: day in and day out. What is the thing or 66 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: the things or the ideas or the system or whatever 67 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: it is that keeps them carrying on? And so we're 68 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: all together celebrating our other friend's beautiful wedding, and in 69 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: the midst of this wedding, I find out that a 70 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: good another good, close personal friend of mine, a guy 71 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: who lived with me for many, many years, who just 72 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: as an amazing human being. His name is Chris Morton. 73 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: We went to high school together. He was the greatest athlete, 74 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: natural raw athlete I've ever seen, you know. We split 75 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: ways after high school. He went to UVA, played lacrosse, 76 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: you know. Just after that, he joined the army, was 77 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: an army, suffered some pretty substantial losses within his immediate 78 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: family kind of sent him down a bad path and 79 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: ended up getting sober and we reconnected when I got 80 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: out of the agency and moved back to Florida. We 81 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: ended up becoming close friends. He actually moved in with 82 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: me when I was going through my divorce and was 83 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: there for me and my children. He would come to 84 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: you know, Christmas is Thanksgivings, he would be around at Easter. 85 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: You know, just all this incredible time and space together 86 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 1: and our growth as human beings and our difficult times 87 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: of suffering. And then when I met my wife Johno, 88 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: you know, he was like, hey, I'm going to move out. 89 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: I don't want to. I don't think you want a 90 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: roommate and you'll have four kids now, so I'm definitely 91 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 1: out of here. And he did, and not long after 92 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: that he kind of fell off the sobriety train and 93 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: then battled significantly for the last five years until recently 94 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: he ended up succumbing to that suffering himself. So in 95 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: the midst of this grand event of a wedding and 96 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: then in the next moment recognition that and I was 97 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: there with other friends of his. I want, in particular 98 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: an unbelievable friend of mine, Jan Lennon, one of my 99 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: closest friends there is who's gone through his own suffering 100 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: the loss of an intimate family member in his life. 101 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: And you know, so we were in this event, we 102 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: had this beautiful I was surrounded by people who were 103 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: very adept, adroit and sincere about how they've assessed and 104 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: evaluated their own sufferings in their past, and so it 105 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: was there was a warmth there. But then I left, 106 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: and you know, it was like WHOA, that was heavy. 107 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: That was a weekend to really think about the magnitude 108 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: of what's taking place. And this was only a couple 109 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: of weeks after Charlie Kirk's assassination, to which a measurable 110 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: amount of suffering just gripped the world, and in particular 111 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: our country and the conservative movement and how people have 112 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: been dealing with that suffering. Right right after that, a 113 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: few weeks later, I reconnected and you know, keep in 114 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: regular touch with another friend of mine who has been 115 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: embroidered in this custody battle case for over seven years 116 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: just to see his child. And he's ingrated in a 117 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: city in a system that does not give the benefit 118 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: of the doubt or even support the male in these situations. 119 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: And then the system itself has turned against him, used 120 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: against him by his ex in a way that is 121 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: the most malicious, depraved way I've ever seen in my 122 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: entire existence. Just once again proving the point that I 123 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: believe that the judicial system, the justice system is broken 124 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: in so many different ways the fact that this American hero, 125 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: this person who has dedicated a massive portion of his 126 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: life serving He played Division one football. He now works 127 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: for a fire department, and you know, he has chosen service. 128 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: But this vindictive woman who he was gracious to marry 129 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: and have a child with, has turned him the whole 130 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: system against him because she does not want him to 131 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: have access to his child, because she knows the child 132 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: will pick him because of how good of a father. 133 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: And then I look at his life. He didn't even 134 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 1: have a father growing up, right, So an entire life 135 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: of not only his suffering being raised without a father, 136 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: but he had a great mom, great grandma, sister, you know, 137 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: but also this lifetime of suffering within the military and 138 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: that system, and now another eight years of suffering because 139 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: all he wants to do is see and be with 140 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: his child. I wonder how he's managing this now. He's 141 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: one of the most spartan like human beings I've ever 142 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: met in my entire life. He's just born from a 143 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: different age, almost as if there's a different sense of 144 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: imprinting neurologically that he has somewhere in his genetic makeup. 145 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: There's some you know, spartan or some samurai sell that's 146 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: ingrained in his psychology that enables him to endure things 147 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: that would have broken me ten times over. So how 148 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: does he endure that suffering? And just in the past 149 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: couple of weeks, I was riding around some with some 150 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 1: friends and doing my job, and a bunch of of 151 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: them have have been caught up in something that seems 152 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:39,719 Speaker 1: to be a set of rules and regulations that seem whimsical, 153 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: and and yet they are somehow being implemented in a 154 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: in a way that my friends are are going to 155 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: result and suffer from financially business a little bit potentially, 156 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: but more so emotionally as to you know, why are 157 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 1: they singled out versus other people within the industry and 158 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: watching them deal with that, how are they going to 159 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: affect Is it going to affect their business? Their long 160 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: term employment? You know, all of those uncertainties that come 161 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: with these types of oversight groups that seem to wield 162 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:20,959 Speaker 1: a power that doesn't often seem fair and just challenge 163 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: chatting with them and listening to the advice they're getting 164 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: from their friends and colleagues, you know, it's interesting to 165 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: watch how they're processing that type of suffering and then finally, 166 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: this past week, I had a wonderful experience. I was 167 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: traveling with another guy up up in the Midwest. And 168 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: this is a man who a few years ago lost 169 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: one of his young children in the middle of the night, unexplainably, 170 00:11:55,559 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: just died in his sleep. And we had about a 171 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: two hour car ride together. And thankfully he's an unbelievably 172 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: gracious and faithful man that humors me. Maybe humor's not 173 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:23,359 Speaker 1: there that is available for my questions, my curiosities, my sympathies, 174 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: to try and understand how he sees the world through 175 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: this very very intense lens of suffering. How he wakes 176 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: up every day, how he thinks about his child thirty 177 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,679 Speaker 1: to forty times a day, how everything he does, everywhere 178 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: they go, every time he passes by the child's room, 179 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: every time he sees a piece of clothing, every time 180 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: he goes to one of his other children's games, every 181 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: time he hears a particular song or sees a book 182 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: he used to read him, every time he looks into 183 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: his wife's eyes with that empty, blank stare of He's 184 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: never coming back, is he? And I listened to the 185 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 1: strength in him, and I listened to him quote Scripture 186 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: one right after the other, and he had made a 187 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: comment to me. He said that that joy in suffering 188 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: are braided together at the deepest aspects of our psychees, 189 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: they're conjoined. And this really kind of put me into 190 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:36,679 Speaker 1: a state of perplexity, because how can those two things 191 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: coexist in the same moment. And he went on to 192 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: describe a very intimate description of Christ and Christ's relationship 193 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,959 Speaker 1: with his suffering for him, for my friend. And I'll 194 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: explain that here as I come back around to this. 195 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: But and so I really that these things weren't this 196 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: this monstrous catalyst for me to just start going, well, 197 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: how does this work? Like, where are we supposed to 198 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: find the appropriate matrix, the appropriate ven diagram to figure 199 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: out these hierarchies? Where does it begin, How do we 200 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: assess it, who's in charge of the hierarchies? And where 201 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: do they come from? How do we scan the society 202 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: around us and say, Okay, this is more weighted than this, 203 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: and this is more important to this. I mean, in 204 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: the last few weeks, what have we also seen. We've seen, 205 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: thank god hopefully a piece come to the israel Palestinian 206 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: thing or Hamas thing right, Although today I just saw 207 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: that they're saying that Hamas is breaking the ceasefire immediately. 208 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: But what I did see is I saw a catastrophe 209 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: of October, and I saw a catastrophe of many civilians, 210 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: including children, that were killed in the crossfires of this war. 211 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: And that's who takes the most suffering is the people, 212 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: not the governments or the terrorists organizations, but the people 213 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: that are encapsulated into this. So they are the reluctant 214 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: sufferers that have no choice as to try and manage this. 215 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: Where do they seek? Where do they seek the answers 216 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: for their to adequately create this framework that they can 217 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: dutifully or they can rationally, or they can with reason 218 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: come to a framework that doesn't destroy them. Where do 219 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: we go? You know, the build up of upcoming aggression 220 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: in Ukraine, we have Trump basically saying, you know what, 221 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: I'm thinking about supplying some long range missiles, and then 222 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: you had the President of of Russia coming back. Let's 223 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: say that's a total explanation. That means we're at war 224 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: with NATO? Right, where does that go? Well, as Jordy 225 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: and I were talking about before we hopped on a 226 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: nuclear annihilation, think about the suffering, and that in fact, 227 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: it's too difficult to come up with a description. Maybe 228 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: perhaps go check out Anny Jacobson's book about nuclear war, 229 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: and it has some pretty intense descriptions in there, the 230 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: annihilation of existence itself. That's probably a pretty substantial amount 231 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: of suffering. We've got to build up of aggression around Venezuela. 232 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: Ten thousand troops running B fifty two bombers offshore. We're 233 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: doing kinetic strikes against boats in the Gulf. And don't 234 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: get me wrong, I'm all for bringing it to the 235 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: people who are trying to poison our children and poison 236 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: each other in America. They get what they deserve. I 237 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: have no love loss for these people who want to 238 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: continue to poison us or the benefit of their own 239 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:08,360 Speaker 1: financial gains. And all of the people down in the leaders, 240 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: down in those areas and those countries that are producing 241 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: this poison, guess what. And it's fair game. If you 242 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,880 Speaker 1: want to poison us, then we're going to kill you. 243 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,640 Speaker 1: That's the way it should be. I mean, And if 244 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: you want to think about that, I want you to 245 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: think about the suffering of the over five hundred thousand 246 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: people that have overdosed on fentanyl in the last five years. 247 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: That's more than all the people we lost in World 248 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:37,360 Speaker 1: War Two. Think about their families. Think about those mothers. 249 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,199 Speaker 1: Think about those brothers and sisters of their sons and 250 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: daughters and aunts and uncles and mothers and fathers that 251 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: are dead because of this poison that has flooded into 252 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: our country. Think about the statements as a result of 253 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,959 Speaker 1: US punching back now and shutting the border down and 254 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: going after these cartels and these criminal organizations, the cartels 255 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: this past week, but basically came out and said, well, 256 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: we're going to put bounties on the heads of border 257 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: patrol or ice agents, much less all the people that 258 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: are Antifa, people that are violently protesting, that are talking 259 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: about violence as a necessity to overrule the king that 260 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: has now taken over America, meaning Trump. Think about the 261 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,959 Speaker 1: suffering that's going to result from that, and it already 262 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 1: is now. I know what people are saying, Well, what 263 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: about the suffering of those who are yes here illegally 264 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 1: but doing it the right way. That seems to be 265 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: the new thing. And I said, you know what, I 266 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: appreciate it. Send them back, get on line and come 267 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,360 Speaker 1: back through We've got to change radically, change the system 268 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: to start from fresh, otherwise the system will destroy us. 269 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: Just look at the deficits that are being run in 270 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: major cities where all these illegals are living, in the 271 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: school systems, in the hospitals. Right you seem to think 272 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,920 Speaker 1: that that little Bob Joe who now is in indicted 273 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,959 Speaker 1: in a classroom that's filled with eighty percent foreigners who 274 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: don't speak English, what about his suffering and the development 275 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: of his educational learning, Or what about the suffering of 276 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: the people who go into a hospital who have insurance, 277 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: who can't get in because the ER's book, because of 278 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: all the ego legal immigrants who use the ER systems 279 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: as their form of healthcare, and then you have to 280 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: fit the bill out of your taxes suffering. What I'm 281 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: afraid is in you know, Maybe this is because I 282 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,679 Speaker 1: don't know, I'm digging more into the history of World 283 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: War One and World War Two lately, Or maybe it's 284 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: because I'm trying to understand the impacts of suffering from 285 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,680 Speaker 1: the GWAT on all of my friends and colleagues and bodies. 286 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: Maybe it's just me and trying to understand the suffering 287 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: of my four teenage orders. Maybe that's what it is. 288 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,360 Speaker 1: And the social hierarchies that change with the wind as 289 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: it blows in a new direction every single day, or 290 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:14,400 Speaker 1: the suffering from the children I see that are phenomenally insecure, 291 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: including some of my own. How do I bring forth 292 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: a hierarchy or understanding of a hierarchy that gives them 293 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 1: the talent, the skill sets, the hopefulness, the optimism that 294 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: allows them to manage the sheer spectrum of what these hierarchies, 295 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: hierarchies of suffering encapsulate. Now, after thinking about all these things, 296 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: this idea popped in my head. And it's no new idea, 297 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: it's just it kind of hit me. As typically a 298 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: lot of these these ideas of when I do these 299 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: individual shows and I hope you like them, I really 300 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:59,920 Speaker 1: hope you like them. I hope you enjoy the show, 301 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,399 Speaker 1: helpe you appreciate what it is because they're designed for 302 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: these more difficult ideas or questions that we're often thinking 303 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 1: about but don't necessarily have an access point to deciphering 304 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 1: them or deconstructing them. Now, before I get into this 305 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: detailed understanding or my interpretation of that hierarchy of suffering, 306 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: I just want to take a quick moment to really 307 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: tell you about one of our core sponsors. We couldn't 308 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: be more grateful for the fact that Patriot Mobile has 309 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,199 Speaker 1: wanted to partner with us. We're so happy. We love 310 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:42,360 Speaker 1: the organization. So every so often something happens that reminds 311 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: us just how fragile our freedoms are. We can afford 312 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: to take our rights for granted. We must draw a 313 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,159 Speaker 1: line in the sand, and Patriot Mobile has been doing 314 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,959 Speaker 1: just this for more than twelve years. The truth is, 315 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,479 Speaker 1: there is only one provider that boldly stands in the 316 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: gap for Americans who believe freedom is worth fighting for, 317 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: and that's me, and that's the Patriot Mobile Company. Not 318 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:14,400 Speaker 1: only are they leading the read economy, they're also outpacing 319 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: competition in technology. 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You can keep your phone, or 327 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: you can do a full upgrade if you want so. 328 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,679 Speaker 1: Take a stand today and go to Patriotmobile dot com 329 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: forward slash rutherford or call nine to seven to Patriot 330 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: and use promo code rutherfid r U t h E 331 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: r f O r D for a free month of service. 332 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: That's Patriotmobile dot com, forward slash rutherford or call nine 333 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: seven to two Patriot and make the switch today. Okay, 334 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: thank you so much Patriot Mobile. All right, ma here's 335 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: it do. So when I was thinking about this whole idea, 336 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: this hit me like a ton of bricks. The construct 337 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:32,120 Speaker 1: of suffering itself doesn't maintain the wall if the individual 338 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: can restructure their perception of willpower in order to break 339 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,399 Speaker 1: down the impact of the suffering against their defenses. And 340 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: so that's essentially the easiest way for me to kind 341 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: of evaluate. Because one of the things that I did 342 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: when I was with Dan Luna is we talked extensively 343 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 1: about the compartmentalization of it. How is it that going 344 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: through training, going back overseas over and over and over, 345 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: how is it that we're able? And I'm not saying 346 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: the way we come, the way with which we compartmentalize 347 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: is healthy. But what you can say is it enables 348 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: us to continue mission to Charlie Mike. Right. And it's 349 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:19,160 Speaker 1: interesting that one friend of mine who's in the horrific 350 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: custody battle, you know, when he went back to Penn 351 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: State and spoke after the Joe Paterno fiasco. I shouldn't 352 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 1: pin it on him. It wasn't him as another coach, 353 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 1: but who participated in covering up to a certain extent 354 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: I would imagine and the suffering that emerged. They asked 355 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: my friend to go talk to the team during that 356 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,439 Speaker 1: time and he gave this very powerful speech and it 357 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: was called, Charlie Mike, continue mission. So regardless of whatever 358 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: you're facing, whatever level in the hierarchiculture food chain you're 359 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: going through, there's a whole other side of you that, 360 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: guess what you have to just keep going. In particular, 361 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: if you've got your own responsibility, if you've got a 362 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: family to take care of, if you have a wife 363 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: to take care of, her husband to take care, you've 364 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: got beautiful children, or you've got to elderly parents to 365 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: take over or take care of, you have a business 366 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: to run, it's like tough shit, guess what drive on airborne, 367 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: Because regardless of your suffering and the level of your softing, 368 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: you've got to continue to produce, to perform in order 369 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 1: to maintain that momentum forward for all those who are 370 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: dependent upon you. So Dan and I were like, well, 371 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: how does this happen? What does it do? How do 372 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: you understand? And he said, first and foremost, man, you've 373 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 1: got to understand where the compartmentalization emerges from. How are 374 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: hierarchies incorporated? And do our existence as it is? And 375 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 1: really how do we define suffering itself? And so obviously 376 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: when you hear a man of that caliber of intelligence 377 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: and the level which he understands these complicated problems, you 378 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,719 Speaker 1: do illegal research. And so, just to start out, just 379 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: to reset this conversation in this moment, I want to 380 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,959 Speaker 1: talk about the definition of hierarchy. Hierarchy refers to a 381 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: system or structure in which individuals, groups, or elements are 382 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: organized in a ranked order based on authority, importance, status, 383 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: or some other criterion. It implies a vertical arrangement where 384 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:38,199 Speaker 1: higher levels hold greater power, influence, or priority over lower ones. 385 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: Hierarchies are prevalent in social, organizational, political, and philosophical context, 386 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 1: often shaping how resources, responsibilities, or values such as suffering 387 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: are distributed or perceived. Definition of suffering, suffering is the 388 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: experience of pain, distress, or hardship, often involving physical, emotional, 389 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: or mental anguish. It can arise from various sources such 390 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: as physical injury, illness, loss, fear, or unfulfilled desires, and 391 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: it is typically characterized by a sense of discomfort or dissatisfaction. Philosophically, 392 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: suffering is often seen as an inherent part of human 393 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: existence through its nature and purpose, though its nature and 394 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: purpose are interpreted differently across cultures and belief systems. And 395 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,400 Speaker 1: that's a kicker right there. For example, Buddhism views suffering 396 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: do caa or whatever dukkhaduka as a fundamental aspect of 397 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: life due to attachment and impermanence, while other perspectives might 398 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,439 Speaker 1: frame it as a response to adversity or a catalyst 399 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:59,239 Speaker 1: for personal growth. All right, now, you know, as you 400 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: begin to to you know, dissect the different levels with 401 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: which you can understand the value context of suffering, right, 402 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 1: you have to spread it out across something that you 403 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:18,159 Speaker 1: fully understand. And so for me, my whole system of 404 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: how I approach life and how I approach relationships and 405 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: how I approach myself. And also what I've built my 406 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: business around is the idea of these frog logic concepts, right, 407 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: you know. And that's learning to embrace fear for self confidence, 408 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: live a team life, and live with purpose. The whole 409 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: fundamental strategy of that is to deal with suffering. Right. 410 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 1: It's my system that made sense to me. It's a 411 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: way I can give a rank order or or or 412 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: a definitive pyramid system as to what I really need 413 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: to focus on and what and how it presents itself 414 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: to me, right, you know. And when you're dealing in 415 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: the context of suffering, right, it's really about these more 416 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: extended ideas in terms of our existential cells, right, the 417 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: collective suffering of our group or tribe. Right, And how 418 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: we rank certain individuals in our tribe and they're suffering 419 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 1: as lower than ours or higher than ours, right, And 420 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: that's based on this visual interpretation of their anguish or 421 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: suffering or pain that we experience in those interactions. Right. 422 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: But it's also we rank it in our cultures, which 423 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: parts of our culture have more suffering than others? Right? 424 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: Is it in particular in the current order we're in, 425 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 1: it seems that, you know, certain aspects of American culture 426 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: have been flipped upside down, and those external cultures that 427 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: have weaved their way in on the infected, on these 428 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 1: other ideologies have basically that all, right, that our forefathers 429 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: in America, my ancestors, and the appellations, my Scottish ancestors, 430 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: theres were somehow they didn't experience suffering, and that they 431 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: were the ones that were responsible for suffering, and that 432 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: what some other groups they had to deal with the suffering. 433 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: And then all you got to do is just go 434 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 1: a little bit further back in time and you see 435 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: that those cultures they impose suffering themselves. In fact, the 436 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: reality of these hierarchies is kind of interesting. When you 437 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: dig deep enough, you recognize that all cultures have the 438 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: ability to impose and to experience suffering. All genders have 439 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: the ability to impose or experience suffering. Right, religions, right, 440 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: whether you're an atheist or you're science space or whatever, 441 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: we always have this, like it said, this innate ability 442 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: to experience the suffering. Right, it's imbued, so to speak. Now, 443 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: one of the things I wanted to do is I 444 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: really was like, all right, who's the world grand champion 445 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: of understanding this? Who is the person that spent the 446 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: most amount of time, that did the most amount of research, 447 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: that did the most amount of thinking, and came up with, 448 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: in my opinion, the greatest, really thoughtful, considerate and brutal 449 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: understanding of these hierarchies of suffering. And that person, not 450 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: according to me, but according to just about everybody else 451 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 1: when I did the research on it, was Frederic Nietzsche. 452 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: From eighteen forty four to nineteen hundred. He extensively explored 453 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: sufferings role in human existence, it's varying forms, and the 454 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: implicit hierarchies and works like thus spoke Zarathustra Beyond Good 455 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 1: and Evil, on the gi genealogy of mortality and the Antichrist. Now, 456 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: his philosophy doesn't explicitly use the term hierarchy of suffering, 457 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: but he deeply engages with how suffering is ranked by individuals, societies, 458 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: and moral systems based on its source, purpose and transformative potential. 459 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: His focus on suffering psychological, existential, and cultural dimensions combined 460 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: with his critique of moral frameworks, example in particular Christianity, 461 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: and he says it's a slave morality makes his work 462 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: foundational for analyzing hierarchies of pain, Nietzsche's influence on existentialism, 463 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: postmodernism in psychology examples, freud Frankel underscore his prominence in 464 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 1: this deep dive into understanding suffering. Right. He goes on 465 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: to really evaluate suffering's role in human greatness. He has 466 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: a very extensive critique of moral hierarchies. He has an 467 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:13,480 Speaker 1: existential and psychological dimensions right, cultural and comparative suffering, which 468 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 1: I find is the one that really is permeating in 469 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 1: America right now. Right, we're so engaged in this tit 470 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: for tat game of your culture hasn't suffered as much 471 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: as my culture. Therefore, I'm going to make your culture 472 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 1: suffer more to catch up, to make it right to 473 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,680 Speaker 1: do whatever. And that's just being force fed to our 474 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: young people. It's being force fed to our old people. 475 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: I mean, how you look at the No King's rallies 476 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: over the past weekend, and what did you see? A 477 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: bunch of middle aged white people in these cities going 478 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,560 Speaker 1: to going to town. And then who else these crazy 479 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 1: radical young progressive leftists who are supporting supporting socialism or 480 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: American socialism or marks and whatever the hell you want 481 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: to talk about it, if that doesn't cause suffering. And 482 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: so what they are trying to get you to believe 483 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: is that your suffering, your existing suffering, as well as 484 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: the hierarchy of your legacy, your heredity, your family tree, 485 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,239 Speaker 1: and the suffering they experience does not rate in the 486 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:31,839 Speaker 1: same level as someone else. Right, And you even see 487 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: that overseas, You see people trying to contextualize suffering in 488 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:42,839 Speaker 1: a very prominent way through cultural backgrounds, religious backgrounds. Who 489 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,480 Speaker 1: was here first? Who wasn't here first? Therefore I have 490 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: a greater weight to apply to my own suffering versus 491 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: your suffering, And you'd actually deserve the suffering. So I'm 492 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: going to give you a bigger dose of it because 493 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: mine was so big you deserve yours now. And that 494 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:06,560 Speaker 1: for me is kind of the unbelievable reality of that. 495 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: It is like as I go through all of these things, 496 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 1: and I, you know, you start to think about who 497 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: else the Nietzschee influence, right, and he influences Heidegger, Camu 498 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: fu cool, Right, all of these people's ideas that have 499 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 1: permeated where right into these core ideals or systems of 500 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: thinking and critical theory ideas or whatever you want to 501 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:39,279 Speaker 1: describe a postmodernistic morally relative ideas of suffering which basically says, oh, 502 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:41,359 Speaker 1: you have made me suffer, Now I'm going to make 503 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:48,279 Speaker 1: you suffer. And when that happens, it does not take 504 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 1: anybody longer than an hour of just a superficial level 505 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:58,360 Speaker 1: of research to look at just the twentieth century. Don't 506 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,000 Speaker 1: go back any far behind that. You can start right 507 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: at about nineteen oh five, nineteen oh six. You can 508 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: start right there, and you can just go forward and 509 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,320 Speaker 1: you can start to think about the hierarchies of suffering 510 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 1: from the twentieth century right and what impacted from that. 511 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:21,880 Speaker 1: I was just listening to a historical podcast that was 512 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 1: talking deeply about the trenches of World War One, and 513 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: it was this beautiful introduction about how the men on 514 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: all sides, not just Germany or France or England or wherever, 515 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 1: but all sides of those who participated in those trenches 516 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: and what they had to endure for years. Now, it's 517 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: like you were in the trench for six months, like 518 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 1: we do, and then you go home and you rotate out. 519 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 1: Now this is years, because the end is on the 520 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:58,360 Speaker 1: line for everybody, right, And so in that trench you 521 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: want to talk about suffering, you have and many times 522 00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:04,279 Speaker 1: water up to your chest. What do you think that 523 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: did after three or four days in your boots and 524 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,720 Speaker 1: in your crotch, flesh just falling off after it becomes 525 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,400 Speaker 1: rotted with the infections. Because when you're in up to 526 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 1: your waist, what else do you have? You're urinating and 527 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,040 Speaker 1: defecating right there in the system. Plus you have the 528 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 1: piled up courses right down at the end of your 529 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: your trench right there, just rotting flesh, and with hundreds, 530 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 1: if not thousands of rats eating that flesh and defecating 531 00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: in the water, and the swarms of flies and the 532 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: lice on your body, and all of the fleas that 533 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:39,239 Speaker 1: were ingratiated into your beard and in your food as 534 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:44,800 Speaker 1: you ate it suffering. What do you think those boys, 535 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: after they came out of that pit, decided that the 536 00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 1: next time there was suffering, there was going to be 537 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:58,080 Speaker 1: absolutely no quitting because of what suffering took place. Then 538 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,759 Speaker 1: that's what we now know, we're willing to do. Those 539 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,879 Speaker 1: are the edge. So what we do we reset came 540 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,359 Speaker 1: out of it? Okay, the Great War is over. We're done. 541 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 1: And guess what nineteen thirty nine, thirty eight, thirty nine, 542 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,000 Speaker 1: it starts all over again this time instead of what 543 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:17,360 Speaker 1: twenty four million or whatever is. And by the way, 544 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,280 Speaker 1: you want to read some suffering about the combat itself, 545 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 1: go read about the Battle of the soulm and the 546 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: first day alone, the first day alone, the British took 547 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:31,359 Speaker 1: sixty thousand casualties. These are young boys. These are a 548 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:35,400 Speaker 1: generation of people that are gone and never came back. 549 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,799 Speaker 1: And so that's suffering integrated into the culture of that society, 550 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 1: integrated into the legacy, into the DNA of those children 551 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:48,759 Speaker 1: who came out of that time to be predositioned for 552 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:52,359 Speaker 1: a magnitude of suffering that seems to be catching up 553 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:57,920 Speaker 1: some steam again because those children are now in power 554 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: around the world, or have been in power for the 555 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:06,000 Speaker 1: last thirty to forty years. And so when you start 556 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: to think about how this imprints across the board and 557 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,080 Speaker 1: all these different things, and the way it structures itself, 558 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:15,440 Speaker 1: in my mind, it just keeps building and building and 559 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: building and building until you're at the point where it's like, oh, 560 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:24,280 Speaker 1: you want to know suffering, Well, my country just lost 561 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: twenty two point five million human beings. Oh and then 562 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,080 Speaker 1: on the flip side of that, the people who governed 563 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: my country just killed sixty five million human beings, murdered them, 564 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: starved them to death, butchered them ate their flesh to 565 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:47,120 Speaker 1: stay alive. Suffering. So as you begin to see these things. 566 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: And one of the things that I found, you know, 567 00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,960 Speaker 1: kind of interesting about Nietzsche, and you know, he did 568 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,080 Speaker 1: have the great quote that I kind of beaten the 569 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,239 Speaker 1: death in my time while I was serving, as you know, 570 00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:01,320 Speaker 1: that which does not kill you only makes you stronger. Yes, indeed, 571 00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:07,240 Speaker 1: but what happens to the heart, the soul when suffering 572 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:10,879 Speaker 1: becomes so integrated into the context of your being that 573 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:17,240 Speaker 1: all you exist in is an interpretation of your suffering, 574 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,239 Speaker 1: or ranging your suffering on the hierarchy of what it's 575 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:25,839 Speaker 1: it's not tolerance and the hierarchy of being able to 576 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:32,360 Speaker 1: sustain these other responsibilities of your life, you know. And 577 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,400 Speaker 1: the other one great comment that I think really was 578 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 1: correlated to Nietzsche in such a profound way is that, 579 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:43,319 Speaker 1: you know, God is dead. And what he kind of 580 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 1: assumes in these statements is that Christianity itself, because it's 581 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:54,520 Speaker 1: core root principle of seek and ye shall receive the truth. Essentially, 582 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,440 Speaker 1: what happened as a result of that culture, that hierarchy 583 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 1: of suffering that was integrated with Christ himself and his 584 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:05,160 Speaker 1: suffering and what you get for that suffering, It emerged 585 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,799 Speaker 1: and it stepped away from the core root idea and 586 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,279 Speaker 1: then became, well, let's figure out what the truth of 587 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: existence is? Is God real? And yeah, it's totally cool. 588 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,799 Speaker 1: Let's question God, Let's question the family, Let's question the 589 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 1: difference between a man and a woman. Let's question a capitalism, 590 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:29,200 Speaker 1: Let's question everything, so that everything is on the table 591 00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:35,960 Speaker 1: to generate suffering. Well, what happens to a society in particular, 592 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:39,800 Speaker 1: it's children when they don't believe that there's any outlet 593 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:43,600 Speaker 1: or escape, there's any other component of their existence where 594 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:47,839 Speaker 1: they can't restructure these hierarchies where they put something like 595 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: their faith in Christ at the top of the hierarchy. 596 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:57,279 Speaker 1: What happens when they can't They lose faith in their 597 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 1: ability to provide for their future wife or their future 598 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,120 Speaker 1: family because they can't get a job coming out of 599 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,880 Speaker 1: these institutions that have robbed them of one hundred or 600 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,120 Speaker 1: four hundred thousand dollars in degrees that are meaningless in 601 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:14,520 Speaker 1: the grander context of the world. What happens to the 602 00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:19,360 Speaker 1: children that you have robbed them of any resilience or 603 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 1: grit because you have them facing their screens, keeping them 604 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,479 Speaker 1: insecure on whether or not they're pretty enough, or they're 605 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:30,319 Speaker 1: smart enough, or they're capable enough. What happens in a 606 00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 1: society that lives in that perpetual onslaught of trying to 607 00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:43,160 Speaker 1: figure out what the hell is it worth? Where do 608 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:49,239 Speaker 1: I look what moves up the chain and not usurps 609 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 1: or bumps out, But what can I put next to 610 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:57,240 Speaker 1: the probability of my own death to balance that out, 611 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,240 Speaker 1: to give it a counterpoint, the yin in the yang, 612 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,239 Speaker 1: the good and the bad, evil and good Christ and 613 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,880 Speaker 1: say whatever you want to match it as that. That's 614 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:11,200 Speaker 1: the context of the balance that I believe is required. 615 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:18,640 Speaker 1: And that's why I think, you know, people like J. R. 616 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:26,239 Speaker 1: Tolkien really helped us begin to contemplate in this modern era. 617 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:32,239 Speaker 1: There are some other great writers and philosophers out there too. 618 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:35,560 Speaker 1: I don't want to go too in the weeds, and 619 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:37,520 Speaker 1: maybe I'll do that, as you know, some of the 620 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:42,040 Speaker 1: most positive philosophers out there. Certainly you've got concepts within 621 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:48,359 Speaker 1: positive psychology, You've got concepts of you know, what's your why? Hell, 622 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:52,920 Speaker 1: you've even got David Goggins like who's like fuck you? 623 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:56,959 Speaker 1: Suffering is your joy? Right? That braided integration and people 624 00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,640 Speaker 1: will respond to it. And so again I come back 625 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:02,799 Speaker 1: to the necessity that we all have as individuals to 626 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:06,480 Speaker 1: try and figure out, as these hierarchy hierarchies of suffering 627 00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:11,600 Speaker 1: are so inundated, how do we put forth something into counterbalance? Right? 628 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:14,520 Speaker 1: What is the thing that four to fives our defensive 629 00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:24,200 Speaker 1: systems around this? And I'm not sure. I'm not sure, 630 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,560 Speaker 1: but I think what it is is it starts by 631 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,640 Speaker 1: asking these questions of ourselves. Right, should we learn to 632 00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:36,719 Speaker 1: rank our suffering in more of a sophisticated manner? Right? So, 633 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:41,360 Speaker 1: if if you know, I don't get something done for 634 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:47,000 Speaker 1: my kid on time, do I inundate myself with grief 635 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,319 Speaker 1: and guilt that I can't be there or I'm on 636 00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:52,760 Speaker 1: the road always, or you know, or or we can't 637 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:57,120 Speaker 1: afford it or whatever? What do I do? Then? Is 638 00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:00,600 Speaker 1: there a sophisticated way to have those discussions that keep 639 00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:03,239 Speaker 1: your kids in check or keep your self in check? 640 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:10,600 Speaker 1: Is there a more sophisticated way to evaluate the way 641 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:16,560 Speaker 1: we analyze our abilities at work and performance. Jordy and 642 00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,240 Speaker 1: I talk about it all the time. We talk about 643 00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:24,160 Speaker 1: being patient and growing our audience. We talk about being 644 00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:28,000 Speaker 1: patient and picking the right topics and talking with the 645 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:31,400 Speaker 1: right people, and it takes time to build something of 646 00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:36,359 Speaker 1: any significance. He's a constant reminder for me, Hey, let's 647 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:39,000 Speaker 1: be patient, let's stay focused, let's do what we're doing. 648 00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:42,040 Speaker 1: And I try and be that for him. So out 649 00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:46,440 Speaker 1: of that idea of sophistication, I think what naturally should 650 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:52,760 Speaker 1: emerge for all of us? Right, are these coping mechanisms 651 00:45:52,800 --> 00:46:00,480 Speaker 1: for this hierarchical, constantly moving structure of suffering? And what 652 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:03,520 Speaker 1: do those coping mechanisms look like? Best? In my mind, 653 00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:07,520 Speaker 1: I go back to that wedding where after we found 654 00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:12,680 Speaker 1: the horrible news, and I think about the conversations I 655 00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:14,800 Speaker 1: was able to have with my wife in the moment, 656 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: the conversations I was able to have with her since then, 657 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,520 Speaker 1: the conversations I had when I went with jan to 658 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:23,520 Speaker 1: the to the beach and we went paddleboarding, because that's 659 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:25,360 Speaker 1: something the three of us used to do all together, 660 00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:27,160 Speaker 1: and we sat in the water and I prayed in 661 00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:30,040 Speaker 1: the water and jan and we had great memories of 662 00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:32,200 Speaker 1: what he did and his soft heart and how much 663 00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:34,719 Speaker 1: he loved us, and how much he cared for us 664 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:37,160 Speaker 1: and our children, and how difficult it was for him 665 00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:39,279 Speaker 1: to show it, but he was there, and there was 666 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:44,000 Speaker 1: an amazing steadfastness even into the chaos of his own suffering. 667 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:50,720 Speaker 1: So now you start to think, oh my god, maybe this, this, this, this, 668 00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:57,239 Speaker 1: this structure is not as as impenetrable as it might 669 00:46:57,320 --> 00:47:01,200 Speaker 1: otherwise seem. In particular, when you're under you're under the weight. 670 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:05,279 Speaker 1: You're under that rock, the Sissifus rock of suffering, right, Like, 671 00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:11,680 Speaker 1: I'm never getting this damn thing off my shoulders. But 672 00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:16,600 Speaker 1: you can share the weight. You can most certainly share 673 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:21,480 Speaker 1: the weight. And I think the real question should be 674 00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:27,160 Speaker 1: initiated on whether or not we need more of what 675 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:33,400 Speaker 1: a greater innate sense of equilibrium within our framework of suffering, 676 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:41,960 Speaker 1: to include empathy, right, or a sense of what is it? 677 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:47,760 Speaker 1: It's a sense of calmness and recognition that sometimes suffering 678 00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:53,560 Speaker 1: is outside of our control. Right. It's this sense of 679 00:47:54,440 --> 00:48:00,040 Speaker 1: acknowledging that maybe the person who lost their child, you 680 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:03,239 Speaker 1: know that their weight of their suffering is unique to them. 681 00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:06,640 Speaker 1: And then the suffering of a child who's struggling with 682 00:48:06,719 --> 00:48:11,400 Speaker 1: the relationship with their parent, right, and that we shouldn't 683 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:16,080 Speaker 1: perhaps delineate too much which one has more weight than 684 00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:20,759 Speaker 1: the other. And in that calmness or that stillness, or 685 00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:24,480 Speaker 1: that that state of peace, that that state that Christ 686 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:28,400 Speaker 1: talks about for us, right, that state where once you 687 00:48:28,719 --> 00:48:33,320 Speaker 1: give up the sense of worry and you just trust 688 00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:36,440 Speaker 1: in God's plan and you trust in God's presence and 689 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:46,160 Speaker 1: you trust in his suffering. That he he had the 690 00:48:46,239 --> 00:48:50,000 Speaker 1: empathy to take the suffering of the entire world through 691 00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:54,360 Speaker 1: all time on his shoulders and bear that burden in 692 00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:59,160 Speaker 1: that nine hours when he was on the cross, and 693 00:48:59,200 --> 00:49:02,279 Speaker 1: the time he was being beaten and whipped, the night 694 00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:05,720 Speaker 1: when he was in the garden and God was speaking 695 00:49:05,719 --> 00:49:08,320 Speaker 1: to him saying, are you ready, because guess what it's coming, 696 00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:12,360 Speaker 1: and he was weeping blood and tears, sweating blood. Imagine 697 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:17,759 Speaker 1: the weight of that suffering, and he says, trust in me, 698 00:49:19,239 --> 00:49:25,480 Speaker 1: I am the way. So think about how you can 699 00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:32,480 Speaker 1: employ that reality into your life. And as you identify 700 00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:35,200 Speaker 1: the people around you that are in these various levels 701 00:49:35,200 --> 00:49:39,120 Speaker 1: of suffering, think to yourself to them you can be 702 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:43,480 Speaker 1: the way for them, not by giving them some scripture, 703 00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:47,000 Speaker 1: although scripture can help, or but more so, just give 704 00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:51,400 Speaker 1: them the presence that you are empathetic to their suffering, 705 00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:56,000 Speaker 1: that you maybe not understand the details of it or 706 00:49:56,280 --> 00:50:00,320 Speaker 1: can have felt anything that's relative to the specific of 707 00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:02,719 Speaker 1: their suffering, but you're there and you understand it, and 708 00:50:02,760 --> 00:50:04,919 Speaker 1: you want to listen, and you're there and you're like, hey, 709 00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:08,239 Speaker 1: I got it, it's okay, you're gonna be okay. Let's 710 00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:14,680 Speaker 1: get through it together. And imagine if we could just 711 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:18,360 Speaker 1: do that with one or two people every month, or 712 00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:22,120 Speaker 1: two or even one person for an extended period of time. 713 00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:27,160 Speaker 1: And I know it's hard. I know it's real hard. 714 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:30,640 Speaker 1: I've had to insulate myself and my family from a 715 00:50:30,719 --> 00:50:33,560 Speaker 1: lot of suffering, not only in my own heart and mind, 716 00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:36,680 Speaker 1: but from my world, that culture of death that always 717 00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:38,719 Speaker 1: seems to come knocking in the middle of the night. 718 00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:45,000 Speaker 1: So in the midst of all that, just take a 719 00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:48,120 Speaker 1: step back and say, all right, how can I help 720 00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:52,359 Speaker 1: somebody who's suffering. Maybe it's just opening your heart to them. 721 00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:55,160 Speaker 1: Maybe it's sending them a note, sending them a letter. 722 00:50:55,600 --> 00:50:58,759 Speaker 1: Maybe it's taking them out to dinner. Maybe it's just 723 00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:06,120 Speaker 1: calling them up and saying, hey, I love you. Because 724 00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:08,239 Speaker 1: that's the thing that begins to make sense to me 725 00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:13,800 Speaker 1: as I analyze this suffering and the extensiveness of with it, 726 00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:16,760 Speaker 1: it's just seems to be building and building and building. 727 00:51:19,239 --> 00:51:21,200 Speaker 1: I think we get back to the place where we 728 00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:25,399 Speaker 1: recognize that pain is a shared experience. In fact, I'm 729 00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:28,440 Speaker 1: here to tell you that in the thirty years of 730 00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:33,800 Speaker 1: me being an instructor, a coach, an operator, a speaker, 731 00:51:34,320 --> 00:51:37,160 Speaker 1: you know, all the things I've done, I can tell 732 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:39,480 Speaker 1: you this, the one thing that seems to make us 733 00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:43,759 Speaker 1: unite and make us fight at the most is one 734 00:51:44,239 --> 00:51:47,600 Speaker 1: the collective understanding of each other's shared type of pain. 735 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:52,600 Speaker 1: And then it's the collective anger against each other's suffering, 736 00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:55,960 Speaker 1: basically saying, you're making me suffer, so now you're going 737 00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:59,680 Speaker 1: to suffer. And so these things coexist in this complex 738 00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:02,880 Speaker 1: we eve that. I think that's what my friend was 739 00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:07,399 Speaker 1: talking about, This joy and suffer. I mean, that's intermingered, 740 00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:09,560 Speaker 1: and perhaps that's what he was trying to tell me 741 00:52:09,640 --> 00:52:13,319 Speaker 1: with it comes to with Christ himself. He knew he 742 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:21,279 Speaker 1: had to suffer to set me free. Maybe that's it 743 00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:26,279 Speaker 1: for you and I Maybe if we recognize that we 744 00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:32,919 Speaker 1: have to suffer to set each other free, maybe that's 745 00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:40,359 Speaker 1: the hierarchy we need to think about. I just want 746 00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:43,640 Speaker 1: to thank all the people that I talked about in 747 00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:49,920 Speaker 1: terms of their unbelievable influence in my life, in particular 748 00:52:50,239 --> 00:52:54,839 Speaker 1: those who are not with us anymore, and their families 749 00:52:57,120 --> 00:53:03,000 Speaker 1: I want to thank. I want to thank my family. 750 00:53:03,120 --> 00:53:06,320 Speaker 1: I want to thank my wife, amazing human being who's 751 00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:10,680 Speaker 1: helped me understand suffering more than anybody else I've ever met. 752 00:53:11,239 --> 00:53:14,400 Speaker 1: You know. I want to thank you Geordie for giving 753 00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:21,960 Speaker 1: me the support and just the confidence that maybe we're 754 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:25,240 Speaker 1: doing something right by getting on this microphone and sharing 755 00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:27,760 Speaker 1: these thoughts with people, and that hope that we can 756 00:53:28,320 --> 00:53:30,880 Speaker 1: lift one person up in the show, that's what we 757 00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:33,239 Speaker 1: hope we do. And then I want to just thank 758 00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:36,560 Speaker 1: Christ for the suffering he went through so that I 759 00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:40,360 Speaker 1: could feel the joy of having eternal life through his resurrection. 760 00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:46,720 Speaker 1: I hope y'all find a way this week to gain strength, 761 00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:49,720 Speaker 1: to minimize your suffering, and to find empathy for other people. 762 00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:50,719 Speaker 1: God bless you.