Welcome to seizing pre episode. Nine of the Jordan Be Petersen POD gas, I Mikhail Petersen, Jordan's daughter, I hope you enjoy. This episode is called the called to Abraham. I would tend to say in this intro we're Stone Florida. I love it here. Really the sun is amazing, are released. Podcast with Susan banker last Tuesday on the Mikhail Petersen Podcast, if any of you anti feminist folks, are listening and no use. Your balls are out there. I say spitballs with love joy. This episode. Everyone is thinking about health these days, in addition to improving your health here and now, you know improve your house ban, which is the number of years you live. Disease free is your age dad. I have been attempting to do this by getting an eighty treatments, in our case These treatments have also resulted in improved mood and energy level and I ve been getting an energetic buzzing feeling in a good way

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Season. Three episode: nine, the call to Abraham Jordan be Petersen, lecture. So. I've been thinking this week about doing this once a month on a continuing basis. So I think, if I do that, I think be here, although its harder to rent this theatre during the academic year. But if it isn't here it'll be somewhere else and because I'd like to can you doing this and learning a laugh from doing it and and once a month would really be good. Because then I could really do the background, work and- and- and I could probably do that for a couple years, because obviously this is going very quickly.

But that's ok, you know I mean it shouldn't go any faster than it can go and that's all that's all. It seems to me anyways. So this is being this has been a very steep learning curve for me with regard to these stories, because I didn't understand them very well and I've. I've got at using the resources on line to help me do my background investigation. I have a lot of books and some of you may have noticed that online, I posted a conversation I had with Johnny composure when his and his brother Matthew, I hope it's Matthew, Irene, name's escaped me so badly, but I believe that's right. He just finished a book on them on the Bible, and so I ve been doing a lot of thinking in talking about these stories. Trying to understand what they're about And then there's all these commentaries, there's a great psych think it's called Bible hub that has

every single verse of the Bible is listed there and then each verse there are like they ve, aggregated ten commentaries from about ten commentaries from over the last four hundred years, and so there is like this page on every line and that's what the things that really interesting about this book. To is that it's it's aggregate, Did so much commentary that it's that it's it's much bigger than look. The book is much bigger than it looks and so spin very interesting. Come familiar with those two and the fact. This site is set up with all the commentary split up by versus means. You can rapidly compare the commentaries and get a sense of how people have interpreted this over while it ll several hundred years, but of course much longer than that, because the people who wrote the commentaries, were where's reading things that were older, the not so that's been very, very interesting. So last week we talk, a couple of things we talked about, how you might understand the idea of a divine encounter?

and then we also parallel doubt with the idea that guy disappears in the old testament. Hee hee bows out as stories, progress, and that seems to be a an emergent property of the sequencing of the stories where it is. The books were written by independent people, different people, and then they were aggregated by other. People, and so the narrative continuity is some kind of emergent property. That's that's a consequence of this interaction between people, readers and writers over centuries, and it's it's strange that given that there are also multiple coherent narratives that united, you know, it's really it's really Not that easy to understand that. But it does at least seem to be the case. And so, and the third thing we talked about was that as God bows out so to speak, the the the the individual personality seems of the of the characters that are involved. The human character is that it involves, seems to become more and more developed, and it isn't exactly clear what that I mean what it

Means- is that God steps away and man steps forward. That's what it means, but why it's arranged like that, or they are the same, What significance of that is by no means clear, and so so, Abraham, owing to concentrate on today is quite a well developed character and I would say there to their multiple endings and beginnings in the biblical stories them important ending, I suppose, the ending of the of the garden of Paradise and and the the. The disenchantment of the world enough and sending of Adam and Eve into story right into the future into into motive being that has a future as part of it, and that has history part of it, and that has than this city of sacrifice and toil is part of it. That's obviously crucial and then that's that is replayed with the story of new because everything is destroyed and then the world is created a new and then

prices have to be made in order for the world to begin, and then you see the same thing. Open again after the Noah Store in the Tower of Babel, because three, as we really understand history seems to start with Abraham, because the stories of Abraham Sound, like historic stories and no scholars debate about the historical accuracy of the Bible and, I suppose, there's no way of ever determining once and for all the degree to which you might regard they the accounts as equivalent to modern empirical history. But this psychological in interpretation of the biblical stories, not a historical interpretation, and it certainly does to be the case that, from a psychological perspective, we enter something the domain of the modern conceptualisation, relatively modern conceptualisation of history, was Abraham beyond ounce of divine commands that Abraham carries out. This is from Friedman man I mentioned in the last lecture, who wrote the disappearance of God it in a variety of other books.

Well worth reading? The narrative also includes a variety of stories which Abraham acts on its own initiative he divides land with his nephew lot. He battles kings. He takes concubines, he argues his wife, Sarah, on occasion, he tells kings. That sir, is his sister out of fear that they will kill him to get his wife, He ranges: sons, marriage in the past of the single story of Noah's drunkenness there are, in the case of Abraham the stories of a man's life and one of the things I was really struck by reading this in depth and read me commentary is how much like a story about a point. It is now Abraham, isn't a divine figure in in any in any cattle sense precisely when he has our critical elements, because he's also obviously the founder of a nation but Fundamentally, he's a human being and- and he makes He has the adventures any makes the mistakes of a human being and that its the mistake part but really struck me. You know because it

I was talking with a friend of mine this week, Norman Deutscher, whose very remarkable person in many ways, and he was taking me to tell He was reading my book, which I'm going to publish or which will be held in January and in in the book I in one section I contrasted the god of the old, estimate with the God of the new testament and made the case sort of base northward fries ideas that the God of the old testament was really harsh and judge mental you no one that the God of the new testament was- more merciful and at least to some degree, more sweetness and light, and Norman took me to task about that, saying that that was an overly christianize interpretation which would make sense, because I derived in part from Northrop and I really have come to understand that more- that that he's right, because that he's right about that, because the God in the old testament Is actually far more merciful, then he's generally made out to be an you really see this with its good news. Fundamentally, if you regard the report,

Station of God S somehow key to the description of being itself me Abraham, makes a lot of mistakes in serious mistakes and and yet he has a life and he's and he's blessed by God, despite the fact that he's pretty deeply flawed and engages in deceptive practice, have been he's a good man, but he's not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination and and things work out really well form in here founder of the nation, and all of that- and that's good news for everyone, because perfect people are very good. Hard to find and if the the only pathway to having a rich and meaningful life, was through perfection. Then we would all be in deep trouble and so that it's very satisfying to read out and the other. The other thing that I've been struck by is that no Abraham, and I think this is actually absolutely key to the interpretation of this Abraham goes out and does things that's the thing and so one of things that I've noticed in my life is that nothing I've ever done.

Was wasted. By done, I mean put my heart and soul into you know like, like attempted, with, with all of my effort, that that always worked now. It didn't always work the way I expected to work, that's a whole different issue, but the pay off it was always positive. I always something always something a value always accrued to me when I made this vices necessary to do something worthwhile, and so I think part of the message in this in the story and they Abraham stories is go. Do something, and- and I thought about this in a variety of ways outside of the interpretation of this story, because I have this programme. Some of you might be familiar with, which is called the Future authoring programme and its it's designed to help people make a plan for three to five years into the future. You know and we, so what you do. Is you you answer some questions. It's a writing program. You answer some questions about how you would like your life to be what you would like your character to be.

Three hundred and twenty five years down the road, if you were taking care of yourself like you, were taking care of someone that you actually cared about, so you kind of have to split yourself into two people and treat yourself like you like someone you have respect for and that you want the best, for, that's not easy, because people don't necessarily have respect for themselves, don't necessarily want what's the best for themselves, because they have a lot of self contempt and lot of self hatred, lot of guilt and what lot of existential accident and a lot of self consciousness, and all of that and and so people don't necessarily take care of themselves very well and- and I think it's I think it's I think you have an obligation, it's one of the highest moral obligations to treat yourself as if you're, a creature of value

and that is in some sense its in some sense. That's independent of your actions, and you might think about that metaphorically, as a recognition of your divine worth in the biblical sense, regardless of your of your sins, so to speak, and I think that's that's that's powerful language as far as I'm concerned, once you understand it, anyways with the self Authoring programme, the future authoring program, you you ask your answer, questions about what what how you would like your friendship to be conducted because its peaceful to surround yourself with people who are trying to move forward and and more importantly, who are happy when you move forward and not happy when you move back backwards. Not you for that is what I mean, but when you're doing self destructive things, your friendship be there to cheer you on and because then the really not acting like friends. Obviously you know, I know it's obvious, but it still happens. All the time in people allow it to happen is not a good idea and know. How would you like to sort your family out- and I was thinking about this- this we too- because I'm thinking

what Noah's Ark and there is a phrase That story that I didn't understand, which was that nor was perfect in his generations. I don't know what that, means- and you know when you, when you're going through a book like the Bible you don't understand, a phrase that actually means you ve missed something it doesn't mean that just not. You know that germane to the story. It means you're stupid, you didn't get it man, you did get it, you didn't understand it and so that the idea that nor was proof in his generations, and that's why he could build an arc that woods stay inhuman him an end here Kennedy itself through the flood. It meant that he not only did he walk with God, which is something that we talked about it in the context of the sermon on amount, but the established proper relationships with his family with his children, and so what TAT meant was that his not only he well integrated as a person, but his level of integration had reached the point where it stretched out beyond him and encompass just family and So it was no one in the family that was in the ark, and I can tell you

I really understood this this year because I had a very too What you see here, you could think about it from a personal perspective. I could think about it as a year that had no shortage of floods and my and part of the reason that I was able to get through it. I also terrible health problems and one of the reasons I was able to get through. It was because my family really came together around me, my kids, my wife, my parents, and an end, my friends as well, and particularly a certain group of friends and that's partly all that came together in my mind this we can. I thought, oh, that's what it means to be perfect, generations meant that he hadn't straightened out. Relationships with straightened out and relationships can tell you and I can tell you that when crisis strikes you which it will it will the flu we'll come right, that's why the apocalypse is always upon us. The flood will definitely come in your life and to the degree that you ve organised yourself

psychologically and also healed the relationships between you and your family. That could be the critical element that determines whether you live or die when a crisis comes or or whether someone your family lives or dies, and so the idea of the the Ark can too the man whose who walks with God and whose generations are perfect and that that's, what sustains humanity through the crisis. It's like you, could be more psychologically accurate and that the other thing I thinking about this weekend. I was thinking but not a line in the new testament, I think, from the sermon on amount but are not absolutely sure Christ compares the kingdom of her to a mustard seed, and so I would think. Nobody mustard seed is a very tiny seat in it grows into quite a spectacular, complex plant, and I was thinking about how you should operate in the world in order to make it a better. Place, assuming that that's what you should be doing and that that is what you should be doing in there there's lots in the world to fix

everything that bothers you about the world and about yourself should be fixed, and you can do that and my dawning realization, I have a friend lives in Montreal name is James, Simon, so great painter and he's taught me a lot of things here. He's help me design my house and beautiful, and I bought paintings from him a couple of years ago and he did this there is of paintings where he went around North America and stood different places and then he painted the view from here down in so it's his feet planted different places on roads in the desert on the ocean. I have one actually hanging over my toilet, which is him standing at a urinal. Well, you know he was trying to make a point in the point. Was that wherever you are, it's worth paying attention and that's because you know so These places that he visited, he looked exactly where, was standing by the side of the road in the desert sort of indeed in some sense, but then maybe,

Forty hours into that painting, you know and as its very realistic painting with really good light and what he's telling you a painter. Is everything is worth paying attention to an infinite amount, but you don't have enough time, and so the artist does that for you, the artist looks and locks and looks and looks and looks and then gives you that vision. And so then you can look at the painting and reminds you that right where you are is theirs everything that the risk is right where you are and that's a hard thing to realise, but it's actually true and so I've I've been telling people online in various ways and in lectures that they should start fixing up the world by cleaning up the room, and I wanted to just elaborate on that little bit before I get back to the lecture itself, so as its becoming Internet, weird internet meme, you know, and in its. Joe can good it's a jewel carted good. I am really happy about the fact that so much of this is got like leaving of humor and it's really important, because that's what stops things

from degenerating into into conflict humor and thinking about this idea of cleaning up your room in relationship to the mustard seed idea, and you see the thing both cleaning up your room. Did this also something I learned from curl, young and studies on alchemy, because for young, when the alchemist was attempting to make them Lawson for stone. He was not only engaged in the transformation of the material world, but he was engaged in a process of self transformation that occurred. The same time as the as the Chemical Trent as the chemical transformation. So is a psychological working Since, let's say you want this sort out your room and beautified, because the beauty is also important and lets say that all you have is just a little room like you're. Not rich, you do your poor and anyone many power. That's another thing, but you ve got your damn room and you ve got this space right in front, You know that that that's a part of the cosmos that you can come to grips with and you might think what They are in front of you right in front of you and then.

That is, it depends on how open your eyes are. That's the proper answer, because you could say, and we William I said this, for example, in eldest Huxley, made com we're very similar that in a transcendence, you can see infinity in the finite- and you might say, You can say- and you can see infinity in what you have within your grasp if look, and you could say maybe that's the case with your room, and so you want to clean up your room. Well, ok. How do you do that? Exactly one room is room is a place to sleep, and so, if you say you room ups properly. Then you figure out how to sleep and when you should sleep and how you should sleep, and then you figure out when you should wake up and You figure out what what clothes you should wear, because they have to be arranged properly in your dress and then you have to have some place to put your clothes and you can have some clothes. You have to what you gonna, where those close to do right. And then that means you figure out what you're going to do. And then you room has to serve that purpose, because otherwise it didn't set up properly and if it doesn't set up, if it does it serve your purposes you will be

unhappy and not happy in the room, because the way that we perceive the world is as a place to move from a to point b in and then, if the place, We're in facilitated stop movement, then we're happy to be there and if the place that Worryin serves as an obstacle to that movement. Then we're unhappy to be there and so it means to set up your room is that you have to have somewhere to go. That's worthwhile or you can set up your room and then your room has to be set up to facilitate that and then the next thing. Well, maybe you have to make it beautiful, It's not easy right. That means you have to have some taste, and that doesn't mean have to have money. It doesn't because you can be garish with money and you can be tasteful with nothing. All you need is taste and taste beats money when it comes to beautifying thinks you know, I'm not that money is trivial, because it's not the taste is crucial and people who are very artistically oriented

make beautiful things out of virtually nothing, and not only that. The literature suggest that, if you're going to make beautiful things, putting real strain sewn on what you allow yourself to do, facilitates the instead of interfering with it. Because, let's say you have something out of nothing right, which I suppose would be a godly act right. You have to make something out of nothing it you have to be created in order to do that, and so then, to two beautify. Your room means that you also have to develop your capacity to be creative, and so then you can make your room shut, but then what will happen is that if your family isn't together, they will interfere with that. You'll interfere with that because you won't have the discipline to do it properly. When you start building this this, this little microcosm of perfection with what you have a hand in Italy evoke all the pathologies of everyone in your household, the wonder what the hell you're up to in there, and they will necessarily be happy because if you're,

If there are in a lonely place, let's say, and so are you and you're trying to move out of that then the higher you move out of that. The more the place there in looks bad and you might say well what they should do, is celebrate your victory over chaos and evil. But that isn't what will happen? What will happen instead is that they will attempt to pull you back down no attempt to- and I mean obviously all families to do that, but but all families do that to some degree, and some families do almost nothing but tat and so on. That means is that if you're going to organise- the room, then you're going to have to come. Front. The devil's in your house- and that's often that's often tariffs thing, because some of those devils have Lineages, that go back. Many many many generations, and God only knows what you have to struggle with in order to overcome that and so on. And so to sort yourself out into up. Your room is unknown trivial matter, you know and you you can do

you'll, learn by doing that, and then maybe you'll learn enough by doing that, so that you can fix up your family a little bit and then having done that you'll have enough characters so that when you try to operate in the world at your job or maybe in the broader social spheres. That you'll be a force for good instead of harm, because you'll have learned some humility by no just how difficult it was to put your damn room together. It will end yourself. Matter and so you'll proceed. Cautious. With your eyes open towards the good and so well. Those are some of the things I ve been thinking about. Sweet their germane there's like their germane to what we're going to discuss tonight, because what happens at the beginning of the How many stories is, basically, God comes here, having just says, go. Get going man do something, do something get going and you might think we're we're should I go and God did you got somewhat vague about that and where he sends Abraham. It's it's a real fix, her upper man, it's like through starve,

and and there's tyranny and theirs. There's marital dissolution and there's deceit like it's. It's just like where you live. You know it's exactly the same thing: it's it's to tyranny and catastrophe, so that you know that the great the tyrannical great father is because Abraham ends up having to sojourn in Egypt and there's a famine in some other on the rampage, Abraham lies that wife has will see, and so it's the world it's the world, its tyranny and invulnerable Lady and deceit, and yet God says goal because if you do go, then you'll become a father of nations and you think again, that's pretty good news, although it's strange because you'd expected, if God was Abraham, then he'd send him immediately to the land of honey land of milk and honey, and that isn't what happens at all that doesn't happen at all, and Abraham never gets there, but his mission is still regarded as divine, and thank God for that, because

that's what your mission will be, because that's what you will encounter in your life, though, does the Ark architectural things. Everyone encounters the tyranny of the social structure and and the rapacious news of nature and the deceitful, the deceitful quality of the human psyche, it's like that's the world. Now it's a negative, that's get a view in some sense, but its positive the story, because what it sickly, says it's something: that's akin to the sermon on Mount, which is that fear aligned with God, and you pay attention to the divine injunction. And you can operate in the midst of chaos and tyranny and deception, and we urge you could hardly hope to have piece of news than that, given that that's exactly where you are so and I didn't see any about me, Abraham stories to begin with. So it's been very interesting to have that sort of reveal itself. Abraham section thus develops the personality in character as a man to integrate new degree,

biblical narrative. Well, picturing him in a new degree of responsibility in him, a new degree of responsibility. So here other thing. That's really struck me, and I think this is an absolutely crucial importance. I don't know how much importance, but it certainly important to me, the things that is just blow me away in the last year, because I've talked to lots of people, lots of people live, you know, but also lots. People online but it's more obvious live and its obvious in this theatre, as well as that I've I've gone around and spoken in a large proportion of my. Insists been young man. You know under thirty something like that and. I've spoken to them a lot about responsibility, and what so odd about about this is that. I am able to things that I have spoken about as I can see the audience and I can feel how the audience is reacting as imo is paying attention to all of you. It's in so far as I can manage that

I get some sense of how what I'm saying is landing. He know which you have to do if you're going to speak effectively to people and what happens. If I talk about responsibilities, everyone be is silent, like they are now silent and not moving right, focusing attentive, say. Pick up your responsibility pick up the heaviest thing you can and carry it and room quiet in everybody's eyes open, and I think that whose makes me break up, I was

I don't I don't know why I was speaking to an english journalists today. Can I read an article inspected magazine? I was talking about this and at the same point in the discussion the same, I had the same emotional reaction. I don't really understand it. It's I think it's something is something about. It did so crucial because we ve been fed this unending diet of rights and freedoms and there's something about that. Especially there's something about that, that's so pathologically wrong and people are starving for the antidote. An antidote is truth and risk once ability right and it isn't it isn't? Because that's what you should do in some. You know in some. Some, I know better or someone knows better for you what you should do sense, it's that it's not it's, that is that that's the secretive meaning life and without a meaningful life than all you have is suffering.

Nihilism in despair and all of that and self contempt, and that's not good, and so the men it necessary for men to stand up and take responsibility and they all know that and and are starving for that message. And the message is more that that's also a good thing to stand up and take responsibility because you're cursed. So months now from from from from when you're young, with this notion that your active engagement with the world is part of what is destroying and undermining the planet and adding to the tyranny of the social systems like how about not so much that hey because its these too to solve deadening, its anti human right to the core and my senses. Dead, is that you know if you, if you were able to reveal the best of yourself to you in world that you would be an overwhelming force for good and that whatever errors might be made along the way would wash out

the works and that's the other thing that you see in the Abraham extorts, because Abraham is not a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination, he's a real person and he makes mistakes. But it doesn't matter. The overarching narrative is, you know, maintain your covenant with God and, despite Inadequacies then not only will you prevail, but your descendants will prevail. It's like great. That's really good news. You know, so In really something to see that in the in the stories, it's not that so that's responsibility. It's not just Abraham is kinder gentler, more intrepid ethical or a better debater than his ancestor Noah. Rather, both Noah and Abraham stories are pieces of the development of an increasingly stronger stance of humans relative to the daddy before the story is over here, this will become a good deal stronger and bolder than Abraham on. That's really something to say, because Abraham is pretty bald. So well, let's read the stories. The firs

One is about Abraham, Sarah and lot now these the generations of terra, Terra, Begat Abraham, is so his name Abraham to begin with, and that actually turns out to be important, not Abraham, who are inherent inherent beget lot. So Heron is Abraham's. Brother inherent died before his father terror in the land of his nativity in UR of the Chaldees and Abram, nay, Nahor took them. Wives. The name of Abrams wife, was sir, I and the name of nay whores, wife, milk, the daughter of Heron, the Father of Milk and the Father Vista it. But sir, I was baron. She had no child and terror hook, Abraham his son in law, the son of hair on his son, Sun and sir. I his daughter in law, his son, Abrams wife, and they went forth with them from the earth charities from earth. The charities to go into the land of Canaan that's exile and they came into Herod and dwelt there. In the days of terror were two hundred and five years

and terror died in here and there's a reason that Sarah is is introduced as baron and its to set the stage. I think it was aunt on check of who, when he was talking about this, the stage setting, play that. If there was a rifle hanging on the wall, then it had better been used before. I believe the second act, or it shouldn't be hanging there at all right and so this is, age setting and part of the reason that the biblical writers are pointing out that Abrams wife is Baroness, because it's a real catastrophe for Abraham Sarah as well that she's Baron and so it is showing the trouble that Abrahams in at the beginning of the story and its also. It's also. See what happens as the story progressive is that Abraham Sarah are eventually granted his son, but its way late. Nestorian there

very old by the time it happens and, of course, you're not going to be a father of nations without having a child, and so the writers are attempting to to make the case that if you forthrightly pursue that which God direct you to pursue, let say that all things are possible. That's that's the idea. The narrative, you know you, you might say that now, even you know it's not If you think it when you're naive right and then you dispense with that idea, and then when you stop being the sort of person who display so with ideas, then you come to another place and that's the place where you think. You have no idea what might be possible for you if you, if you got things together and pursued what you should pursue, you don't know how much what simple possible to you. Right now would become possible under those conditions, its

unknown phenomena and, like I've, watched people who put themselves together across time, no incrementally and continually, and they become capable of things jaw not only jawdropping really amazing, but also sometimes me physically impossible to understand. We don't know the limits of human endeavour, we truly don't, and it's it's it's premature to the cap on what it is that we are. What that what it is that we are capable of and so you you know- you're already something and maybe you're not so bad in your current configuration, but you may wonder, You did nothing for the night thirty years except put yourself together, just exactly what would you be able to do, and you might think well that's worth finding out. But of course that's that's the adoption of responsibility, and one thing: I've also learned over the years, because I've been curious About this battle between meaning and nihilism, you know what I mean I mean I could, see for a long while the rationale in nihilism,

our of the nihilistic argument, but it it occurred to me across time that spite that the power of the nihilistic argument is more powerful than naive optimism, but it's not more powerful than optimism. That is not naive, because the art, That is not naive, says it self evident that the world is a place of suffering and that there are things to be done about that and it self evident that people are free, and that there are things to be done about that and then the not naive. Optimist says the suffering could be reduced and the insufficient sea could be overcome if people, oriented themselves properly and did what they were capable of doing, and I do not believe that that's deniable I'd I do I do. I think that human potential is virtually limitless and that there's nothing. Perhaps it's beyond our grasp, if we're careful as individuals and as a society, and so I think,

there's no reason for nihilism and there's no reason for hopelessness and, and there's no reason to bow down before evil, because we are capable of much more, and I think that you can is it you know that first, because you are not happy with who or and you're ashamed and embarrassed about it as you should be, and you know it because if you look out there see people who are capable of doing great things, and you know that we're not giving it are all still we're not do so badly. You know, and so you I wonder if, if, if we devoted ninety per cent of our effort to putting things right instead of fifty five percent of our effort or maybe even less than that you might wonder just how well could things be put together, and I think that you can figure that out by starting with your room by the way. And the Lord said Abrams, this is this is this: is the opening of the story get the out of my country and, from my kindred and from my father's house, onto a land that I will show the- and this is

of those phrases where every that's was. First, significant. Those somewhere. You don't understand, that's the first thing get the out of my country back in the night, in twenty years. There is a whole slew of american writers who ended up as expatriates in Paris, Hemingway among them and and who wrote the great Gatsby Fitzgerald, yes and then a variety of others. It was very inexpensive in Paris at the time and part of their transformation into great literary figures was the fact that they were out of their country. And now they could see what their country was, because you can't see what your country is until you leave it to you. You go into the unknown and that's that's got, first command going took on known because you already know what you know. And so and that's not enough unless you think you're enough if you're not enough and you don't think you're enough, then you have to go where you haven't been, and so that's that

commandment to Abraham Psych. Ok, that's that's a good one that makes perfect sense, go to where you dont know yes and from my kindred, without what does that mean, means grow up Right, that's what it means. It means get away from your family enough, so that you can establish your independence and that isn't is there something wrong with your family, although perhaps there is no, as there is perhaps wrong with you, but it means get away. I talk to people very frequently whose families have provided them with too much. Protection and they know it themselves, and that means their departure. Of necessity, The things that you see in the United States, for example, is that the children of first generation we often do better than the children than their children and their for that is that their children first generation image immigrants have necessity driving them

You don't know how much you need necessity to drive you, because maybe you're not very disciplined, and if a catastrophe doesn't immediately befall you, if you don't act, Fourth rightly today, then maybe you never act forthrightly right, because that the gap between foolishness and the punishment is, is lengthened by you I learned wealth, and so you never grow up and learn, and you have to get yourself away from your dependency. In order to allow this Sesar due to drive you forward and that's, to become independent and to become mature, and I think part of what's happening in our cultures, that the the the force that attacking the The forthright movement forward of young men in particular, is afraid of the power of men, because its confused about the distinction between power and authority and competence. Man who's, who has authority and competence, has power as a by product, but the

european competence is everything, and then people who can I understand that fail to make the distinction between power and authority of competence and they're afraid of our and so they destroy authority, incompetence and that's a terrible thing. Because we need authority and incompetence. What else is going to what else? going to allow us to prevail in the long run, and so you get way from your country and you get away from your kin and from your foot this house right and you go out there and Eurostat? she sells in the world. It's a call to adventure, that's what this the first lines maybe the Abraham stories according to adventure. So great, HU, a land that I will show you.

Well, you know what does that mean? You know what one of the things that I've been struck very hard by a number of writers, Carl Young. Obviously, among them mean he. He wrote things like nature that if you understand them, they just break you into pieces. You know and and one of the things that Young understood in the psychoanalysts understand it's one of the most terrifying elements of psychoanalytic think he's very tightly allied with religious thinking, which is that you, not the master of your own house. There are spirits that dwell in you within you, meaning you have a will and you can exercise a certain amount of conscious control over your being, but they're all sorts of things that occur within you. That seem to be beyond your capacity to control your dreams, for example, that that's a really good example of your impulse

for example, you might you might think of those is so foreign from you that they're, not even you, don't even want them to be part of you, but but more subtly, even how about what you're interested in? What compels you? Where does that come from exactly because you can't you can't conjure it up of your own accord. You know so, if you're, a student in your taking difficult course might say to yourself well, I need to sit down and study for three hours, but then you sit down, and that is what happens. Your attention goes everywhere and you might say well who's attention. Is it then, if it goes ever where, because you say it's your attention like well, if it's your attention, You would be able to control it, but you can't, and so then you might think what German just exactly what the hell is controlling. It

and you might say: well, it's random. It's better, not be random. I can tell you that that's that happens to some degree and schizophrenia, there's an element of randomness and that its not random, is driven by the action of of phenomena that I think are best considered as something like sub personalities, though even that's only a partial description. You can't make yourself interested in something interest manifests itself in grips. You. That's a whole different thing, and so what is it that gripping you and how do you conceptualize? That is that a divine power or its divine is for, Your concern, because it grips you and you can't do anything about it, and so there is a calling in new towards

you're compelled by and what you're interested in this. Sometimes that might be very dark and sometimes not but you're, compelled forward by your interest and so and so the idea that what moves you away from your country in your father's house the comforts of your child at home is is something that's beyond you and that you listen to and hearken to that's exactly right and you can say, while I dont want to call that God, it's like it, doesn't matter what you call it exactly. Is, and if you don't listen to it, that's the other thing. If you don't listen to it, and I've been clinician and talk to enough don't listen to it. That's the other thing. If you don't listen to it, and I've been a clinician and talk to enough people now as old as I am to know this. Absolutely if you do not listen to that thing, that beckons you forward, you will pay for it like you cannot possibly imagine have everything that's terrible about life in your life and nothing about it? That's good and worse. You'll know that it was your father,

and that you squandered what you could have had. So this is not only a calling forth but a war, onto land that I will show the and that's it that I will surely thee that you don't want to be two concrete about this. You know, there's all sorts of new territories that you can inhabit. If you there's this abstract and conceptual territories have go to university. New study biology, study physics, they disappear and you're in a territory right during the territory that all the scholars have established and then, as you master the discipline you move out beyond the established territory into the unknown and and that's a new land right, maybe even a land of your enemies. For that matter. But it's a new land, the frontiers always in front of you, and so you know when they earth was less and how than it is now, the frontier was the psychological frontier and the geographical frontier was the same thing, and now they separated to some degree because there is not so much geographical frontier. But there's the frontier is a place that net

disappears and the land that beyond the land that you know is always there and it's always where you should go and all of that pact into these. What for phrases so well? So, when I've been thinking about narrative, you look at the world through a story, you can't you can't help it didn't stories. What gives value to the world or or the story. What you extract from the value of the world. You can look at it either way here somewhere and it's not good enough. That's the eternal human predict wherever you are, isn't good enough and to spare. The great that's actually a good thing, because if it was good enough wealth does nothing for you to do so. It's actually may be a good thing that its insufficient and that Might be why sometimes having lasses is better having more. I know, and I dont want to be a party.

Anna about that. I mean. I know that this deprivation that can reach to the point where its know where it's completely counter productive, but it isn't always the case that starting with little is you'd. If you start with little, you start with more possibility at something like that, so you move from always from. Unbearable about the present to some better future right? And if you don't have that, then you have no, you have nothing but threaten and negative emotion. Have no positive emotion is the positive emotion is generated in the conception of the better future and then the evidence that you generate yourself that you're moving toward that's where the positive and fulfilling meaning of life come. So you want to set up this structure properly, its very very important, and so what it means is that you want to be going somewhere. That's good enough, so that the going Worth the wild- and you can ask yourself that- and that's partly what we tried to build into the future authoring programme, which is well, we know. What's wrong with life, it's rife with suffering and insufficiency

deception and evil. It's all of that. Obviously, ok. What would make the journey? worthwhile or you can ask yourself that is like a right in order to hair up this load. What is it that I would need be striving to attain, and if you ask yourself that that's too knocking at the door will open that's what that means. If you yourself that then you will find an answer and you think you'll shrink away from it. You think well, there's no way! I could do that. It's like! Well, you don't know what you could do you don't know what's possible and you're not as as you could be, and so God only knows what you call it, what you could do and have and give if you sacrificed everything to it and That'S- reason. Abraham is constantly making sacrifices and it's archaic right, he's burning up like baby lambs, but like Well they're alive. You know that something in and their valuable.

Not something it's you have to admit, even if you think about it as a modern person that the act of sacrificing something might have some dramatic compulsion to it, you know what to go out into a fly, and to take something. That's new born and to cut its throat into bleed it into burn it might be, indicating to yourself that you're actually serious about something, and it isn't so obvious that we have rituals of seriousness like that now and it's not so obvious that were actually serious about anything, and so maybe that's not such a good thing, and so maybe we shouldn't be thinking that these people were so archaic and primitive and superstitious it's possible that they knew something that we don't certainly in the Abraham stories, one of the things that maintains Abraham's covenant with God is his continual willingness to sacrifice and it's so that sacrificial issue is so important, because you are not committed to something unless you're willing to sacrifice for it. Commitment and sacrifice are the same

thing and I think its borders on miraculous, that those concepts are embedded into this narrative at the level of dramatic action. You know instead of abstract explanation. People are acting this out and then in the fundamental conception is so profound, and it's really quite it's quite on spiralling its breathtaking. Really, when you understand what message is trying to be conveyed, you have to make sacrifices what you have to sacrifice. You have to sacrifice that which is most valuable to you. Currently that stopping you- and God only knows what that is certainly the worst of you. It certainly that

and God only knows to what degree you're in love with the worst of you so well, so you move from the unbearable present to the ideal future and, and you can't help that you have to live in a structure like that. That's your house! That's another way of thinking about it and if you want to get your house in order- and if you want it to be a place that you can live properly, then you have to plan the future. That is perfect and then I think well, what does that mean? And it means it's good for you right and wonderful,

that I am, I do all the time with my clinical and consulting clients is try to figure out what would be good for them, but we do more than that. We try to think ok, we'll what? How can we set this up? So it's really good for you and that all decide consequences of that are things that are good for other people and so because people are often also timid about trying to get something, that's good for themselves, because they feel that its selfish or that they don't deserve it. So we set it up so that look we're gonna set up so that its plainly obvious that this will not harm the structure of the universe. For you to have what you need and to do it in a way that is of benefit to other people. There's no downside to that So it's ok, it's ok! If you reach out and take that one of the things that's interesting about the biblical stories Abraham extort as well as the God doesn't

really seem to be opposed to the success of the people that leaves chosen. You know what happens to them is as they progress through their journey as they they get larger flocks and me they get more authority and they They get bigger more, they get life more abundant, that's what happens. It's God isn't doesn't seem to be a miser in the old testament. It's like, if you put in the effort and you and you, accept the covenant and you make the sacrifices, then you get to be successful and may be successful beyond your wildest dreams and that that's actually seems to be ok with God and that's pretty cool, given that you know that the general notion of gold, testament, God, is that all he's doing is casting out curses and death either wherever he happens to wander, I mean there certainly no shortage of that. But but again it seems to me that that's very good news in that you also don't have to be pursued.

In order for it to have that happen, then the other thing this is the issue about going into the unknown. It's like. Well, if you leave your country and your kin and your father's house, and you go out into a land that your intuition guides you, too you're going to go these radical transformations. This is a sacrificial transformation to because you're you're moving forthrightly involuntarily into chaos right and that's the same as the dragon fight. That's the heroes story of what will happen there is that you will transform yourself, and so the call to an ideal is also the call to a sequence of deaths and rebirth that move you closer and closer to the ideal, and that's what that's what God is colleague, EVA to do in the first sentence of this story. You see these things echoed in the strangest places, and so these are still that I took from Pinocchio and

cricket, so he's the still small voice right. That's the thing that calls to you, it's your conscious conscience in part. It's your intuition in part, and it's the thing that opens up the great book of the world, the great sacred book of the world and that's what happens here right and the other matters are at pains to show you that it's a leather bone book with guilt lettering, it's a valuable book. It's something! That's quiet! That's showing it to you right! You have to meditate. Let's say you have to be somewhere where the world drowning you out in order to stand out openness to listen to that voice. That tells you where you should go with what you should do next and then what happens? Is that something beckoned to you in the it it's a star righted something that transcend the horizon, it's it's glitters, it's it's brilliant! It's it's not dated eight it is something that's beyond you did something represents a transcendent ideal and then make manifest to you, if you're quiet enough to listen and that's what you

this report. So strangely right and people do that they wish upon a star, they teach their children that and they don't know why, why What do you mean you wish upon a star? What, when the world is that mean means you lift your eye? to the Heavens and make a pact with the transcendent and then you're, and then what hearts desire will come to you, that's what it means and you think about so that's not naive. It's the most sophisticated thing that you can know. And it's the birth of the hero right, because that's that's the nativity star obviously- and this is where it takes place, is just anywhere and the person it is just a carpenter and a toy maker. But that's pretty good a carpenter. If Europe seat for carbon northern than your hosts falls down and if you're a toy. Then you love children, its that's good start in also so Juperno who lives in this little its.

It's, not a grand house, it's it's it's just an everyday house, but everything that's happening and it is good, and so that means it's it's a palace because everything in it, just how that's happening is good. There's a saying- and I don't remember where it comes from, then it's better of bread and water in peace than a feast in conflict. And that's not a saying that's just the stark is possible description of the truth because is nothing worse than eating A grand meal with people, you hate and despite that are at each other's throats. It's much better to have bread and water in peace. It's it's, it's not it's just clear, headed analysis of the structure of the world. To say things like that, and so the magic transformation can happen in the most mundane of places, because- and the reason for that is that the mundane nature of peace,

This is an illusion because every places, the potential birthplace of the Kingdom of God that's the case and so Juperno he's a good guy He has a kitten in all the kitten like some. He makes puppets and he's humble person, and he knows that compared to the ideal that he's attempting to subscribe to that he's he's not a based before it or anything like that. He's not despicable. In relationship to it. But the reasoning is on his knees is because the thing he's pointing out is above him. No, it isn't. It wouldn't be right, even if it wasn't above him, and so the fact that these on his knees so to speak, is only indication that its aim is proper because you be on your knees to something that you are we admire and if you don't like being on your knees in front of it. Then perhaps you don't actually admire it, and then that means you haven't got the stage set properly. It could be. It should be something that

feels you with all your aim should should be something that fills you with off, because what Why do something else while perhaps because it's easy and perhaps because its malevolent and all of those things But but those are no answer to the problems that beset you. They just make things worse and not clear, and so then I don't have his having made his packed his covenant just like Abraham, he falls into a dream right. He falls into a tree and then the rest of the movie actually takes place in a dream and it's a dream. It's the dream within which transformation takes place and that's played out, at least in part time stops in in in the your story and everything happens to Pinocchio in some sense, in a land that outside of normal time and that's that's the infinite archetypal space and that's a real place, that's a real place the infinite and the finite coexist and most of the time we're in the place of the finite. But that doesn't mean that the places in doesn't exist. It just means that we can get access to it. We just get into me.

Sure of it from time to time when things are going perfectly well for you on those rare, ok, where everything comes together? For the brief moment, you inhabit divine place and you have some sense of what your life could be like if you organized it from the smallest element to the largest element and not to place that you can inhabit? If forever in a manner that at least felt like forever because of you Petros decision and send it manifests itself takes the form of the blue fairy. Here, that's the positive element of nature right, so we could say well nature. It's not so clear that she's on your side, right, cheese the Red Queen Analysis, Wonderland, who runs around screaming when you go down the rabbit whore, who runs around screaming off with their heads and who says, in my kingdom. You have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place. That's mother nature, but then we might say well.

How do we know that mother natures attitude towards you isn't negative, because your attitude towards things isn't proper and that's what this film attempts to indicate? The idea is that if you, improperly, then nature lines itself behind. You know it also arrays itself in front you perhaps even as an antagonist but the power that it it. It provides you with. From within might be sufficient to overcome it from without, and I think that I think that the clinical evidence is clear about that, because one of the things that we do know is that if you take people who are confronting terrible things and shrinking from them- and you teach them how to structure their behavior so that they can advance with courage, everything works better for them, their fears, decrease and their character grows, and so

might be enough of nature within us to help us withstand the nature, that's outside of us, and it depends at least to some degree and how it is that we orient ourselves in the world to some into two to some unknowable degree, now Jupiter, once autonomous individual as a son. And that's also something that makes him a great person, because autonomous individuals have their own will and if you're, a tyrant, it's the last thing that you're going you want and if you The tyrant, whose jealous of his son, it's even more so the last thing you ever going to want, and so too

aim high and to want the development of the autonomous individual are the same thing, and I would say that the core story in some sense of the of western culture is the tame high and to develop the autonomous individual are the same thing and that's what happens in Pinocchio. That's what happens in the story of Abraham and the transformation takes place. The magical transformation and in the penalty story did that one of the things that so interesting about it- and this is part of its miss illogical substructure from the scientific perspective. There's only two determining forces with regards to the destiny of the individual, there's nature, deterministic and culture deter, initiative and then scholars wrangle about which of those is the greater force, but it mythological stories, there's always a third element, and the third element is something like that one of my consciousness and there's no place for a total consciousness in the deterministic story of nature and culture. But we all act as if at all

consciousness is the primary quality and the biblical stories are predicated on the idea that autonomous car, Business is what gives rise to the world, and I dont think that were in a position to present whom that that is necessarily in error, and so what tat means is to aim high into Bela the autonomous individualists is simultaneously the decision to Formulating allegiance with the conscious power that brings. Being into existence and that all takes place inside this little puppet And then he has his adventures right he's he's he's still have Dark ass and have deceptive, but he still, despite that it

despite all the years he has the capacity to move forward and to transform it into something to transform himself into something that can be properly considered described as a true son of God, and that's the right aim. And it works like this. As far as I can tell you know, when I talk to people about doing the future authoring programme, they often put it off and it's not surprising because it's hard and be a but it's more than that they think. Well, I don't know how to write I'm going to do about job I don't really like assignments, I'm going to have to do it perfectly. I need to weigh till I have enough time, like one of those is enough to stop. You called in all five of them. You just done, and so I tell people do it haphazard Lee. A tiny bit at a time and badly. Because you can do that, I tell my students when they're doing your theses, masters thesis.

Right, a really bad first draft, and then we have a little conversation about that, because they don't think. I mean that because sounds like a cliche in some sense, it's not a cliche. It's not a clue at all. It means you're, a terrible writer, But, but as someone put a gun to your head and said you have to have your hundred page, this is done by next Monday or I'll shoot. You but I don't care how terrible it is. You sit down and write it, and this Yes, then you have it right and then you have something and then you can fix it. You can iterate and fix it that bad first draft, that's the most valuable thing, and so that's what you need. You need a bad first draft of yourself and there's there's an idea in the young developed about the trickster and the gesture, the comedian right, that the trickster is the precursor to the Saviour, that's one of things I learned from unit was just it's so unlikely you'd. Never think that it's so amazing that that might be the case. But the idea that the city

The satirical in IRAN can and the troublemaker that the comedian, the fool, the fool, is the precursor to the Saviour why? Because you are a fool when you start something new you're, not willing to be a fool than you'll, never start anything new and if you never said anything new, then you won't develop and so the willingness to be a fool? Is the precursor to transformation the same is humility, and so, if you're gonna write your destiny, you can do a bad first job, you're gonna, get smarter as you move forward. That's the thing is that so something beckoned to you. That's what happens here. Maybe star the Jupiter wished on was the wrong Damn star, but at least it was a star right. At least it was in the sky at least it him forward, and so you in your life or something grips you and and and fills you with interest? And you think what should I do that an answer If not that, then something what! it's a mistake. It's a mistake,

Rest assured, what do you know stumble around right and what's going to happen, is this you're gonna move? you're going to not stay in stasis. You're not going to wander around in circles, and I see people like that Well, I never knew what to do, and now I'm forty psych, that's not so good. That's not so good and you might say well- and there is a literature to that suggested. People are a lot more unhappy They looked back in their lives about the things they didn't do than they are, but the mistakes they made while they were doing things, and so that's really we're thinking about two, because there's the emptive mistakes and a redemptive mistake would be a mistake that you make when you go try to do something. You know you. Actually you think, ok try to do this when you, good out, if you make a bunch of mistakes, it's like what what's the consequence, if you pay attention is not quite so stupid anymore The thing is, you ve been informed by your by the results of your errors, and so what happens? Is you you, you

follow the beacon you follow the light. And then you're blind. So you don't over the light, is it's it's dimly apprehended only and you're afraid to follow it, but you decide to take. Stumbling steps towards it and as you big stumbling steps towards it. You become illumine stated and enlightened and informed because of the nature of your experience, because you're pushing yourself beyond where you are you're, going, into the country that you have not yet been in, and you learn something, and so what happens then the star moves, you move ten feed towards it. You think now, that's not right! I didn't get a right, it isn't there it's actually there. And so then you, you see it somewhere else and new shift yourself slightly and you move forward. That's what happens is that you continue as you change the thing that guides you forward moves right, it's like God in the in the desert in Egypt, the pillar of light that you're following its moving. It's not a permanent thing,

towards it, moves away guides you forward, and so you say well, is what I aiming at Paradise itself and the answer to that is no, because what do you know you? You couldn't the paradise of it was right in front of you, but you might get a glimmer of it. So you move towards it and you grow and then the next. You open your eyes, you see a little bit more clearly and that's what happens. Is that just happens over and over right? It keeps moving. And so you move like this, but the thing that so cool. Is that all those things sags you say and each of those eggs is Zog is a catastrophe. I hit a wall, my god and then the die a little bit and I barely got back up it's a phoenix transformation at each at each turn and its painful, but thing is, is that even though you ve you ve traveled, twenty miles, let's say on that road and you ve only me three miles forward. You ve three miles forward. Instead of falling backwards,

that's the thing to is that if you stand still you fall backwards. You cannot stand still because the world moves away from you. If you stand still and there's no stasis, there's only backwards, and so, if you're not moving, fact we're back forwards, then you're moving backwards and that's more More of the underlying truth of of Matthew Principle to those who have everything more will be given from those you have nothing. Everything will be taken it's a warning, Juno stay in one place. Well, as you thinking tag, maybe maybe this cataclysm of each transformations, starts to lessen there's, not so much a view that has to die with every mistake. And maybe you end up oriented at least reasonably properly

If you were sensible, that would have been your trip, but it wasn't right, it's that, and perhaps it's a lot worse than that. Perhaps there is no shortage of backtracking, but it doesn't matter Because, as you stumble forward, you you- illuminating and inform yourself, and perhaps that's partly because the world made of information, and if you encounter it and with it, then it informs and then you become informed and then your information and then

ready and so God says to Abraham. I will make of the great nation, and I will bless the and make thy name. Great and thou shalt be a blessing. That's that's a good offer. Fundamentally I mean it means. What does it mean to to be made a great nation of Perhaps it has something to do directly with your descendants, but I don't think it's just that t know is, if you're a force for good in the world than that radiates out from you, and if you good enough, it's different to say how much of an impact on things you could have no dustyesky who, who is very crazy person, partly because of his epilepsy here,

A man is not only responsible for everything he does, but for everything that everyone else does and you think well. No, no! No. And yes, sometimes, no, sometimes that's what you think of your cataclysmic cataclysmic. We deplore straight. Is that your sins are so egregious that it there unforgivable and that in some manner here at least you're at fall for everything, that's terrible with the world but there's actually truth in that, and there is actually redemptive truth, and that is that things wouldn't be so bad if you weren't. So if you weren't so far from what you could b and that's terribly pessimistic, because it's all on you man terribly optimistic, because God there's a lot of things that you could do and if you're crying for something to do. Then that's the best news you could possibly have it's like things aren't so good, but you are used

you, stop doing the things that you knew to be destructive, which is the right place to start. Do you know if you're going to clean up your room? What do you do? First, what you just get rid of the mess you know, and you know not known as coming and tell you hopefully what's the worst mass. It's just. It announces itself to you and you can certainly no yourselves This is a very easy meditative exercise to sit down and think, ok I'm doing one thing really stupidly that I should stop. Do it it's like how long is going to take you to figure without is about two seconds right. You ve known it forever, but you could even make it less demanding. You could say, There are some stupid things that I'm doing then I know- are stupid and wrong that I could stop doing that. I would stop do it and then you can just start that, and you can just do that, and maybe it's just a little thing, although it's not because it's it's, it's a step forward on the proper vote it's not a small thing and you think what would happen you could say

do this for a year or even a month, just try not do things you know to be stupid and wrong for a month, and that means not to seeing things you know to be stupid and wrong as well. Maybe that's the most important and just do it. Isn't it spearmint see what you so fun, because I have people writing to me. All over the world who are saying, they're doing that they're saying! Well, you know I cleaned up my room and can I stop saying stupid things in my god? It's like in some way better. Who would have guessed it you know, and so its low hanging fruit ban, because that's you thing. If there's a lot of things wrong with you, then it's it's really. Did you start fixing it? You know you got so much much territory that you can inhabit, I will make of the great nation. I will bless the

that's good. I mean the whole nation thing, that's positive, but tat! God on your side! That's you know you might want that when things get rough, that would be good and make that name. Great and thou shalt be a blessing. Wonderful. That's a good deal, then I will bless them the blessed. The that's good do and cursing the curse. The and in these shallow families of the earth be blessed. That's something. That's something that wouldn't be something if you could wake up and you're, day was composed in part of people thanking you for all the good things you ve done in the world. Would that be good? It's not impossible for that to happen. So Avram departed. Yes, as the Lord had spoken unto him in lot, went with them and Abrams seventy in five years, when he departed

around that's a world now Abraham lives a long time, but this is also part of the story. So he has a wife who can't have children. He has nothing obviously he's been hang around Dad Shack for a little too long, given that seventy five rates time starting fire underneath the bed, and so these not got much going form, but he still decides to to move. And I've seen this: do you know like if you don't have your destiny in hand by your third time, your thirty? It's it's rough start hurting, and if you don't have your destiny in hand by the time you're forty, then you really start heard again forties a real fork in the road, the fork in the road. That's always where you meet the devil by the way, and that's because every time you have to make a decision, the possibility of evil beckons. That's why that is. I had a friend, I've told you a little about him and he killed himself just after forty now he had to have

Book published in it with a very small press, he was quite a good writer, but he could not get himself together and it hit him too hard at forty and I'm not saying that it's hopeless at forty, I'm not saying that an I'm not saying that, partly because of these verses, but also partly because what I've seen in my clinical practice, I've had people come to me who have had very chaotic and they all spent lives. Let's say who were in that neighbourhood of agent It's true for people who are older as well. Who then decided to make a real effort and to try to me where they were better. You know, instead of being bitter about where they weren't, because that's bitterness that really does you in it's really not good. It's the opposite of gratitude. It's it's! It's! The man station of resentment. It makes you malevolent it's very, very bad to be better. It's not it's! Not it's hell to be better.

And if you're forty and you're not successful, then you have to accept your lot and you have to start to improve. What's right in front of you and if you without it doesn't take very long. It's quite interesting to watch people. Things can be, better in six months and they can be way better in two years, like its struggle. Uphill struggle but it's by no means impossible and Don't know again what the limit values, I suppose it depends two degree to some degree on the degree of your commitment, but way, so it's another indication of the real validity of this. God isn't setting this up to be easy right, apron old and end his? his wife is all too and more than that she's baron. How is he going to be the father of nations? How is he going to be successful? Well, the initial departure point is insufficient radically insufficient and an that's very inspiring, because it means that you can start from where you are.

So a broom departed as the lorded spoken unto him. A lot went with him and Abraham seventy five years old when he departed out of her own and Abraham took surprise wife in it and laud his brothers, Sun and all their substance that they had and though he has a relationship with lot right. It doesn't have his own son, but he has, their diet, and so he takes his nephew S. Son. That's grateful in oh. Did you It be very angry and and have nothing to do with him because he didn't get his own son, but that doesn't that isn't what happens is he's offered to substitute, let's say and he accepts it And so good for him you know and that's. And that's also something that I've seen that characterises people who can make the best of a bad lot. Is they don't get exactly what they want, but something comes along the offers possibilities that are sufficient. Perhaps if exploited properly

and they will their heart and welcome the men. Instead of rejecting them in bitterness- and so that's a good thing and that's part of Abrahams character,. An apron, took surprise, wife and Lord, his brothers, Sun and all their substance that they had gathered in all the souls that they had gotten in her out and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan into exile, let's say and into the land of Kate, and they came. And that's another repetition of the transformation story, right you have to go to a land where you're not welcome an apron passed through the land unto the place of sea, seek him unto the plain of Moura and the Canaanites was then in the land and the Lord appeared unto Abrams said, unto thy seat. I will give you this land and there he building an altered. The Lord who appeared unto him and he removed from them onto a mountain on the east of the cell and pitched his tent having the fell on the west and high on the east and very built an altar onto the Lord and called upon the name of the law,

No, we don't understand these rituals precisely. You know, I don't know with the people who did this engaged in a meditative ritual without the idea that you take something a value you do this, you you undertake this dramatic transfer me a life and death transformation, and is that an aid to meditation? And what do you do you sit down and think you do pray pray being to ask no two What do I do next? How do I orient myself in the world as they use an exercise to do that too. I think it's something that people could do every morning. I think it's a useful to sit down and think ok, What's the most important thing I should do today, what have an array of things that coal to me to be done, some of which I will do with joy and some of which I will bear. Responsibilities, but I didn't they array themselves in front of me and with what, I attend to first well, do you could you decide.

And it seems to me when I do it, because I do it all the time I do it. Every morning I try to sit down and think. Ok, I've got things that I would like to do, and things called to me out of necessity. What do. I do first and it's not so much a decision as it is a question and- and What I am calling on its I'm calling on my capacity to think I suppose, but that's not my capacity exactly idea. I can I can communion with whatever provides answers, and I can think that that's me thinking but- and I didn't, that. I believe that I can't think I do believe that I can consciously think, but that's not the same as calling for inspiration. It's not the same process like a dream, is not conscious thinking it something that happens to you and That kind of inspiration is also something that happens. You because I myself what what's the most important thing? I could do next and then I have an answer to that. But it isn't because I decided exactly I've decided,

I'll. Do it whatever it is it that I want to know what it is those decisions, but but there's an involuntary aspect to the sorting that occurs and the psychological equivalent? I supposed to this- and I guess this her vices when I feel that I will whatever it is, that cause to be done then I don't do that other things that I might want to do and that's a sacrifice its me it's the proper sacrifice, because my senses that things don't go properly unless you do what's most important and if I want things to go properly and I do because I've had my taste of things not going properly. I want things to go properly and so then, it's

so difficult to do? What necessary to do? What makes things go properly under those circumstances and its partly. See. This is partly why the story of Saddam and Gomorrah is embedded in the abrahamic stories. I think, because that's an apocalyptic story right if things go badly enough The whole city is destroyed and then The reason it goes badly is because the people in the city do not behave properly, and this If people in the city might be you, and so on, you're not behaving properly. Then you go and so does the city, and maybe you don't want Maybe you do want that, but maybe you don't want that and if you, we want that, then maybe- and you know that if you don't do things Prob

then it's you and the city. If you actually know that, then maybe that terrifies you badly enough, so that you willing to make the sacrifice to do the right things instead of the impulsive things that you might otherwise want to do. You know I learned from Viktor Frankl in from Karl you organ from now examine their social rights and and for many of the people whose works on the holocaust that I read and under catastrophes in the Soviet Union and the people who studied most deeply always came to the same conclusion. The state became corrupted because each individual allowed themselves to be corrupted or perhaps participated, joyfully and the process of being corrupted and the consequence of that was the end of the world. And so what that means is that if you don't behave properly, then you bring about the end of the world and me, you think. Well, that's only the end of your world fair enough

Maybe it's the only the end of your family's world. You know, which I suppose might give you some pause, but there's more to it than that because you're connected to everyone. Hills and what you do, that isn't good distributes itself. All the things you don't do that could be good. Take away from the hall. And so, if you know that- and I do think you know that if you take it seriously because if you look at if you look at the store events, the cataclysmic events of the twentieth century seriously, I do not think that you can fail to come to that conclusion and Abraham Journey going on still towards,

South that's interesting because to go south means to go downhill to it's, not good, to go south, its colloquial for going to where you shouldn't go, and so this is what happened today. From you know he his ass aunt is proceeding. By a descent and that's very common in life, I would say- and so so the redemptive element of this narrative is that, if the an is constructed properly. So it's an arc which your decision to align yourself with God, for all intents and purposes, then even the journey South can be part of a broad. Journey upward- and there was a famine in the land- that's mother, nature failing to court, right I mean that's, going be pretty disheartening for Abraham, don't you think is he? Finally, sit together when you seventy five to leave and then do you know

This God says words do not get going, and so the first place. It goes everyone starving to death. It's like you know. You might think about that as a test of faith, wouldn't you say, but it keeps going and then what happens? Well, yes, to go to Egypt So great he goes where is starving, where everyone starving and to get away from where everyone starving he goes to a tyranny. So the whole beginning of the story is not particularly auspicious an apron went down into Egypt sojourn there for the family was grievous in the land. It's a repetition of the same idea, Listen downhill voyage out into chaos right its repeated over and over that the beginning. Of Abrahams Journey is basically a sequence of of eggs of parents of exile. Chaos, too Eddie and catastrophe, while you should be relate to that you know how hard it is to get things today. There? You know you go out to do what you're supposed to do say and there's your beset by

Intransigence of the world and failure was so. What are you supposed to do about that? Well,. Maintain your faith in the good and continue to move forward. That's the idea and part of that, even if even you don't buy the metaphor? It's like what you gonna do Instead, they will make it worse. So even if the re, if it isn't enough figure pursuing you're at least four stalling the transformation of the hey into your of your life into sheer hell and that can certainly happen. You know you see people who are having a terrible time and then you see people who are having a terrible time who are also in hell and it's a lot better to just. Have terrible time than to have a terrible time and be in hell at the same time and it came to pass when he was come to near them-

her into Egypt that he said unto Sir Eyes wife behold now. I know that Thou art, a fair woman, to look upon, therefore she'll, come to pass when the egyptian cells see the that they should say. This is his wife and they will kill me, but they were saved alive. So look I mean Abraham is Abraham is really having a rough time he's a failure I mean these wandering around through the land of starvation. Now he's going to go beer cause. I slave in Egypt. Has this incredibly attractive, wife and all he can look forward to is the fact that the most successful man in Egypt, the Faro, will take her from him, so he's got the whole in meant. Pretty much kneel down. As far as I can tell, and this when he makes one of his errors, let's say and one of you there's that humanizes them say. I pray that thou art, my sister, then it may be well for me for thy sake and my soul shall live because of the and it came to pass that when a broom was come. Indeed,

the Egyptians beheld, the woman that was she was very fair. The prince is also a Pharaoh, saw her and commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Avram well for her sake and he had sheep and oxen and he asses and men, servants and maid servants she asses and camels. So actually things work up. Well for four Abrams, despite his deceit right, which is quite interesting, and I guess it's because if the overarching structure is solid, something like that, it's something like that then Then errors can still be forgiven to speak about it from a metaphorical perspective in the Lord plague, Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of sir I Abrams wife, while it doesnt seem very fair but because the Faro didn't know but

but it's not the right way to look at it. The right way to look out at sea. There's a story later in the in the Bible about David and David David could be a pretty bad guy. You know so one of the things he does is when he becomes king heat, In his castle and he's looking over the city- and he sees a woman nude bit new, sunbathing, nude roof out on the city and he's smitten by her floored by her, and he inquiries made about who she is name is Bathsheba on and he finds out who her husband is and her husband actually happens to be a general in his army and he arranged for that general to be put at the thick of the battle and killed. And then he takes Bathsheba.

So an end in the Lord is not pleased by that. Let's put it that way and that's interesting it all we did it. Did it interesting story because you might say well why can't the king do whatever the hell he wants like seriously he's the king he's not just and he's not like the Prime Minister of the press right: he he's the king and so you might say we're wise, the king subject to any rules whatsoever. What's the rationale for the king being subject to rules Well, the rational emerges in these stories, as there are social structures, that are such that, even if the rule nor of the land transgressors against them. There will be held to pay and that's continually presented over and over in the biblical stories and its natural law

sort of ideas, but there are. There are intrinsic rules to the game of social human being and if you, and maybe intrinsic rules to the to the natural state of human being, you break those rules consciously or unconsciously, add your absolute power and not only at your peril but at the peril of the state, and it doesn't matter who you are, and so I would say this is actually an indication of God being fair, rather than being unfair because the rule here is fair, or not, you don't get to take someone else's wife, and the ignorance is no excuse. Now you say that's a little bit harsh, and perhaps it is a little bit harsh, but it's not without merit. The idea is not without merit and of course, Abraham is complicit in this. Despite that, he is successful and Pharaoh called.

Roman said, what is this that Thou hast done unto me? Why did so now tell me that she was thy wife? Why said thou you? She is my sister. I might have taken her to me twice now. Therefore, behold thy wife take her and go that way and Pharaoh commanded, his men concerning him and they sent him away and his wife and all that he had an apron, went out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had a lot with them into the south. An apron was very In cattle in silver and gold- and that's it so it's interesting- you know big Abraham, he he goes to the place of famine and then he goes to the to this place of charity, and then he He lies, and then he also loses his wife, but because he goes things work out for him and so to for them,

and he went on his journey from the south. Even the Basle unto the place where is TAT had been at the beginning between Bethel in high onto the place of the altar, so he makes another sacrifice which he had made their at the first and there s room called on the name of the Lord. Well, so he's had an adventure right, he's he's he's he's finished his journey, and and so there is a common aiding point in this narrative, and now I just know what to do is he's left the place. He's Eddie know what to do so, it's time to build an altar and make a sacrifice and figure out and to ask for divine guidance once again to to figure out. Ok. Well, done been there done that? What's next and I'm sorry question is asked seriously, and this is something to consider if you want to know what to do ask seriously, say I'm willing to see. Abraham sacrifices, a life to his vow. So what do you do when you don't sacrifice and animal you? Don't you don't make a blood sacrifice, you do it psychologically

you say I'm going to sacrifice my life to this aim Would you do if you're serious? What do I do next? Well, I'm going to sacrifice my life to this aim. What is it that I should do this work? sacrificing my life to that's a serious question. What would maybe that's the sort of question people? Don't asked because they are afraid of the seriousness of the question and the and what the magnitude of the protests, Answer do you really want to know what you should do? That would be worth sacrificing your life too. Well, the answer is yes, because it's worth it. But the answer also know, because really it's your life. You know what, if you're wrong, and you probably wrong but maybe that doesnt matter, maybe it doesnt nodded, because maybe the rightness is in the process and not in the end, in the decision right, because it's not it's the beginning of a sequence of decisions, as we ve already pointed out onto the place of the altar which he had made their at the first and there a called in the name of the Lord

but also a lot also which went with Abraham Abraham, had flocks and herds in tents and the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together, for their substance was great so that they could not dwell together, and there was a strife between the harassment of Abrams cattle, the cowboys and the harassment of lots, cattle in the cane a night in the parasite dwelled then in the land Well, that's interesting to because you know Abrams Havin, a pretty good time of it. Now right, he's out of starvation. Hey that's good. He's out of the tyranny now he's kind of wealthy and then the story Saddam he's wealthy and a bad thing happens to right. It's these guys. This wealth and so does his nephew. Now they can't get along because they have too much stuff. So that's quite comical as well. It, I think, that's a comic interlude here now they handle it properly. An apron said unto lot: let there be no strife, pray they between me and the in between my heard men, and I heard members because we're brothers is not the whole land before the separate thyself. I pray tee from me. If you will take the left

then I'll, take the right or if you depart to the right, then I'll go to the left. So basically they sit down and say: well, you know, one of us is gonna get out of town and. We can be one or the other. It doesn't really matter. We can flip a corner, but we have to. We have two separate, and so they d do it amicably. And lifted up his eyes and looked out all of the plain of Jordan that it was well watered everywhere. So that's an intimation of Eden right because you remember it means well watered place before the Lord destroyed Sodom Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as Thou, Comest unto sore so interesting. You get foreshadowing here again right, so Lawton Abraham are making the decision about where to go in and lot looks out and and sees a reasonable place, but then

This warning comes up that there's a city out there there's a place out there where things are not going to go well, things are being done badly and things are not going to go. Well then Lord chose him all the plain of Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves one the other Avram dwelt in the land of cane and then log dwell in the cities of the plane and pitched his tend towards Saddam, but the men of Saddam we're wicked and sinners before the law Ford exceedingly now. The word sin I mention this to you before. I think it's an interesting word. It's it's the derivation of an artery term. In my understanding of its derivation it did. The greek word was how Marty on humanity is not return, which means to to miss that both I and then these think. It's worth thinking about that metaphorically, because you gotta think about all the ways that you could miss the balls. I write close your eyes, that's very common. You could just not lift up the damn, bow and arrow to begin with. You could fit the wrong way you could be unseen holding your aim.

But I haven't also like the the the archery metaphor, because human beings are built on a hunting plot. All right- and we always aim at things- were things that we're we're ballistic creatures on a trajectory who and always aiming at something rose aiming at the mark and which is, of course, what you do when you hunt right, because you have to hit the mark precisely and that's what we're like, and so what we're like that psychologically. We have to aim at something and then move towards and so to sin is to miss. The mark is too is to miss the balls I too, to fail to take aim to aim badly. Team, carelessly you're not aim at all. And that says well, that's. That's like a sin of emission. That's to not do and then to be wicked, is to aim what you know you shouldn't a mad and

again. I don't. I don't think of that as an external morality, precisely. I think that you can read the entire biblical narrative again from a psychological perspective and say we're not talking about external codes of conduct here, although we could we're not the wickedness that's being discussed is the act of you doing something that you know to be wrong period? You know- and you may do something you don't know if it's wrong or not. That is the sort of thing that we're talking about and we're not talking about the things that you do that are right there, that other people, too wrong. When I turn by those either we're talking about who things that you consciously do, although you know them to be wrong yourself and that's the things that seem to get people into the most trouble in these stories, and I believe that to be the case, I think that's very accurate, psychologically. It's amazing because I see this all the time. If you do something wrong it and because you're see ignorant, you dont know better, doesn't know well for you, that's that

But if you do something wrong and you know what's wrong, the punishment is is manifold and I think the reason for that. I think the reason for that is because that makes you came it means you betray Rhone ideal right. If you just don't no well, you haven't betrayed your idea: you're just not together you, maybe you even wilfully blind If you do something you know to be wrong, then you betrayed your own ideal and that lands you Kane says to God. Would one once came, destroys able he says I cannot bear my punishment and the Lord said unto Avram after that. Lord was separated from lift up now thine eyes. Look upward and look from the place where Thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to the. I will give it into thy seed forever. And it will make those seat as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall all thy seed be numbered arise.

Walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto the in the cathedral a chart. I can say that, probably because by french is non existent, so cathedral is across and the transformation takes place at the crux of the cross, which is exactly right because the church, the transformation takes place at the point of maximal suffering and the cathedrals designed to indicate that right, symbolically now what happens in a religious ceremonies also a journey and it's a journey in sums. To the holy city, and then that's also played out in the idea of pilgrimage right, because you go to the holy city. Actually you go to Jerusalem or wherever it is that you think the holy city is you go there and that takes you out of your country and away from your kin and away from family into

strange land and as you the journey you transform and when you come back you're not the same. That's the whole right. That's the story of the habit. But let's say you can't afford to go on a pilgrimage, so you go to the cathedral a chart and there's a huge maize on the ground and it's the World Northwest South and EAST, just as God describes here. So it's. Laid out and you enter the maize at one side, in the middle is a stone pattern that looks like a flower and its It's the place, we're being wells forth at its at the centre of the cathedral. And what that means is that if you accept your suffering, then you moved to the place where the spirit of being wells. Fourth thats, what that means, and so you enter the. The maize and you walk and is divided into quadrants,

You work one quadrant completely and then the maize pathway takes you into the next quadrant and you walk that completely and then it takes you to the third one and the fourth one, and then, when you walk the maize completely everywhere. When you ve gone everywhere in the world North, south, east and West, where you, when you traversed the territory completely, then you come to the centre and then its Europe and that's this is so I've noticed when I've been renovating houses. I like to do that. I paid a lot of attention to the psychological process of house renovation. Because I learned from young that you said this, this is something man he said ass. He was, he was talking about the stages of integration cycle, integration and he looked beyond p j, I would say, although Biagi looked very far, he said

here. Here's a conjunction! You have to get your rationality in your emotion together. That's a male female, conjunction symbolically speaking, male rationality, female emotional! If you want to bring those together so that their oriented in the same direction, Europe she's in Europe's nobody serve the same purpose. So then, your unified in mind in spirit, let's say, but that's not good enough when you ve got that together then the boat. You have a body and then that's a male female conjunction again, a divine conjunction, the recreation. Of Adam before his division into female and male and the reconstruction, the androgynous Christ? That's all that all those ideas are linked together. So now you have your emotion and your moving in the same direction, but you know, acting out so now you have to unite that abstract part of you with your body and start acting out what you think and feel, And thus the next conjunction, but it's not the last one, the last conjunction is when you re.

I see that there is no distinction between you and your experience. There are the same thing, and so then, when you put together your house you're putting together yourself, so I've noticed when I've lived in places rented or owned didn't matter. If there were part of the place, if there was a part of the place that I hadn't attended to, whenever that might mean it might never cleaned, it might have been six, but it certainly meant at least thoroughly investigated. Then that was chaos. It was like it was. It was like the desert that part that that's a way of thinking about it, wasn't mind. Even if I owned it wasn't mine, I had to interact with it before it became mine, and I had to intervene. With it, and I had to put it in order and then it became mine and then and then to the read that it became mine and was in order that I was also put in order now. You know that

because you go into places that make you uncomfortable and maybe it's your own house, its highly probable, its highly probable boy. You know I walk into while chinese doctors do this tradition, chinese doctors, they go into place people's place and they they die lose their health conditions on the on the balance of Yin and Yang CHAOS and order the walking to a house at this is easy to do. You walk into the house. There's too much chaos hey, you can detach, no time flat, everything is out of order and chaotic. Don't even want to be there, you certain one open the refrigerator. That's for sure, and there are things It should have been done years ago everywhere, and every one of those things is a fight that hasn't happened and something that's been avoided and you can't even walk in there and maintain your health susie walk in there you're sicker than you were when you were outside one sort of place and then another sort of places you go you look at the living room and the person has, vacuum the living room, rug.

And the lines that were vacuumed are parallel to one another and the and the furniture is covered with plastic, and you get a glass of water and then just as you're going to set down in the coffee table the purse. Russia's over and puts a poster underneath it and we thing in that house says to you that it would be a lot more perfect that house. If you are either not there or dead, and that's that and that's the message that the whole house is blasting at you and if you. When the live there then you're going to be sick and what you're going to be sick from is too much order and in the other house, you're going to be sick from too much chaos. And so, when you interact with the house, the unexplored parts are the chaos that help The parts that you have not yet contended with are the chaos that has not yet been transformed by your embodied logos, action into habitable territory and it does not belong to.

Arise, walk through the land in the length of it in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto the the neighboring removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of memory which is in Hebron and built there. An altar unto the Lord and it came to pass in the days of am refer. King of sugar area. King of Alice are sure to low more there's a lot of things. We won't talk about these made war with Barrack King of Saddam and with Persia king of Gomorrah Sheena King about Math and the king of Bela wishes or- and these were joined together in the veil of system, which is the salt see who now. This is actually very much relevant here because you see the veil of see them, which is the salt, see, is the farthest south you can go if south is down because it's the dead c in the dead sea. Is the lowest place that there is so what's happened, is that

chaos in the lowest place that there is that's what this story says and what happens to law is he gets tangled up in the chaos of the lowest place that there is in the fourteenth year, came to do a lot more in the kings. We're with them and smote the reforms and asked Roth, can aim and the zoos, hymns and ham and the Germans in Shovel Korea, Carrieth aim and the horizon MT, sire unto helper in which is by the wilderness, and they returned and came to end Mish Pat, which is condition smote. All the country there Melick lights, Amalekites and the amorrhites that dwelt in has houses. Zante, my hey, hey, has a zone tomorrow. There we go perhaps, and there the king of Saddam in the king of Gomorrah, the king of Asthma and the king of the bottom and the king of Bela the same czar. I joined battle with them in the veil of system. So this is the absolute

also made him in the lowest place. It's hell, essentially with general, no more the king of alarm and with title king of nations and am Rafale king of sugar and the king of Eleazer, for kings with five and the veil of system was full of slime pits low. The hell like with worries and did not. They had to throw the slime pits in there. Apparently, around the dead sea there are pits of by bit bitumen like the like the tar pets in new railway and so that this seems to actually be historically accurate and the kings of Saddam Gomorrah fled and sell their and they that remain fled to the mountain and they took their goods and they took all the goods of sort of income or another victuals and went their way and they took lot Abrams Brothers son who dwelt in Saddam in its goods and departed, so aims.

Has a family member who falls into the lowest place and there came one that escaped untold Abraham, the Hebrew for he dwelt in the plain of member, the aright brother of his skull and brother Vainer, and these were confederate with Avram and we're neighbors heard that his brother was taken captive. He armed is trained. Servants born in his own house hundred and eighteen and pursued them unto down? Well, so now we also know that Abrams, a pretty brave guy right. He gets word that this horrible war has broke now in the worst of all possible places, and that his nephew is involved in first thing he does is you know, mount up his policy and the hell in there and rescue his nephew so Abraham. So, whatever goodness, is from the old testament perspective it isn't harmlessness right, it isn't it escalation and castration. It's not that it's not weakness, the inability to fight none of that is associated with virtue. It's a sort of Strengthen enable someone to mount an arm team of three hundred people when he finds out that his nephew is being kidnapped,

the terrible year and to get the hell out there and take him back and so that's it. That's that's! That's a call to to its call to power that not not a kind of peaceful means, It's funny too, because there's a line in the new testament that says it's in the sermon on the Mount says the Meek shall inherit the earth and that I heard that line. He's bothered me. I thought no way, that's not that that's not right! Meek can't be the right word. So when I was doing the story of no one talking about the sermon on amount I spent a bunch of time looking at commentaries on that line. Looking at the roots of the greek routes in the hebrew routes and trying to figure out what that man and meat does not mean meek. That's wrong! Here's what it means, though, who have weapons and know how to use them, but still keep them. Sheathed will inherit the earth Jesus. That's a lot different man, it's a lot better. Right, because the way it's normally

normally interpret. It is, if you're so, week that your harmless, then things will go well for you, it's like! No, that's not right. That's that's! Not that can't be right. It doesn't fit with. The narrative is certain it doesn't fit with this new Too many divided himself against them. He and his servants by night and smote them and pursued under Hobart, which is on the left side of Damascus, any brought back all the goods and his brother lot and his and the women also end the people good work, Abraham and the kings of Saddam went out to meet him after his return at the slaughter of chair to lower. The kings that there were there with him at the Valley of Shell, which is the king stale and melt a deck king of Saint and brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God and blessed him and said blessed, be Abraham of the most high God possessor of Heaven and earth and bless it be the most high God which has delivered thine enemies into thy hand and

him ties of all and the king of Saddam said. Abraham. Give me the persons and take their goods to thyself this, that there were the goods that Avram that the rescue of the kings and Abraham said to the king, Saddam, I have lived up my hand unto the Lord. What does that mean? it means I've made a vow. That's what it means that that's what that phrase me. I've made a vow to guard the possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take anything from threat even to a shoe lace. I won't take anything. That's yours, lest you should say, I've made Avram, rich I'll, take only that which my young men of Eden and the portion of men that went with me and Aigner, ashcombe and memory. Take their portion, and so Abraham decides here he's made this immense sacrifice and done this credibly, brave act and rescue dear nephew and rescued the kings goods, and

and they offer him a reward, and he says I'm not going to take the reward and the reason for that is that he doesn't want to contaminate the the the ethical purity of his actions he didn't want to be paid. He doesn't want it. He doesn't want to benefit from doing. He doesn't want to fight. So what is it exactly doesn't want to Ben it inappropriately from doing the right thing? It's something like that, and so it's another testament to his character and very complex testament. Right because he's not a see he's. Not a good man and any simple sense I mean look what's just happen. He's he's did an armed he's mounted unarmed of. He's he's, led an army into battle and in part and and participated in the slaughter, refuses to benefit from except to get back. What was his that's it. He refuses to benefit from it, except

get back what was rightfully his, and in that way he maintains a covenant with God, even to a shoe latchet. Anything though, never so smaller mean less thou, shouldst Kramer share with God and the owner due to him. This is from Matthew Pool was an english nonconformists theologians. Commenting on that line even to a shoe latchet, I e any though never so meaner, small, less thou, shouldst claim a share with God and the owner due to him whose blessing alone I do, and I will all my riches or less, I should say Abraham is enriched with my spoils and, however, he pretended kindness and charity, yet indeed it was his covetousness that put him upon this work. After these things, the word of the Lord came and Abraham division saying fear not Abraham. They shield and I exceedingly and I exceeding great reward, the vision issue again.

Where we went through that last week, fear not Abraham thy she'll deny exceeding great reward and Abrams said Lord God. What can you give me? seeing as I'm childless jobless, and that's the only thing that matters tabled at this point, and this you're out of my house, is this an easier of Damn Damascus, no kin and Abraham said Abrams said behold to me, has given no seed and low one born in my house is my near and behold. The word of the Lord came up to him. Sing this shall not be there in air, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bottle. Should be nine here, so he gets promise the impossible once again and he brought the broad and said now look towards the Heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them- and he said, unto him social thy seed B and he believed in the Lord and counted to him for righteousness.

You see in that this this this is the covenant idea, this belief, because here's the belief. It's the willingness to act as if the world is constructed so that, if you do the right thing, the best possible outcome will occur. It's a decision, that's the covenant. The decision about how to live in the world, because the This can't be there before you make the decision. Right, and so you might heads your best to no one in christ- comes back in the book of revelation to judge people because it comes back as a judge and virtually everyone gets cast out with the chaff and not saved with the wheat,

here, he said something very interesting appears in the vision with the sword coming out of his mouth. It's a horrifying vision, any divides the the invites humanity into the damned and save or the debt. Yes, the damned and saved. I said something very interesting: he says to those who were neither hot nor called. I will spew you out of my mouth and it's it's it's it's a disgust metaphor right and what it says is that the worst punishment isn't waiting for. Those who committed to something and did wrong. The worst punishment is reserved for those who committed to nothing and stayed on the fence. I'm not really something to that's really something to think about, and this also something I believe to be true, because I see that

stasis is utterly destructive, because no progress. All there is movement backwards, there's aging and suffering, and no progress, and so did not commit to anything, is the worst of all transgressions. To commit means to put your body and soul into something to offer your life as a sacrifice means that you are willing to make a bargain with fate bargain. Is I'm going to act as if, if I give it my all, then the best possible thing will happen because of that due to North sea. The analogy between that and the the active facing is to misunderstand the story completely and has to be an act of faith. Because how are you going to know you can look at other people, but that isn't going to do it? It's at Kierkegaard was very clear about the sort of thing that certain sorts of truth that you can only learn for yourself through experience and that's a course way, but also has to go out alone right. He has to leave this. Can it's it's an individual

It's the individuation process like dying at something that you do alone is no way you can tell what is within your grasp, let's say, Lets you make the ultimate sacrifice? no way of finding out without actually making it, and so that's the sacrificial act right. That's that's ray. Emphasised in the act of Abraham, Lincoln upon the sacrifice, Isaac and think about that is Abraham, he's been doing, he's been like breaking up into pieces trying to progress forward through STAR nation and tyranny, and war and deceit and the potential loss of his wife and child business like everything that can really before you in some sense Finally, God grant some Isaac when he's all its impossibly gets Isaac, his son and then what does do next to say. Well, you know that son that you been waiting for so for so long It's like I like to see just exactly what you're made of so. I think you should offer em up as a sacrifice,

I mean it's a very barbaric story in a sense, and maybe in more than just the same, but Abraham does contain his covenant he's going to make the sacrifice he's may willing to make. This is the thing he's willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary, to keep a covenant with God intact, and that's that and that's the decision? Well, maybe it's no surprise that people don't do that and he believed in the law any counted it to him for righteousness, and he said to him. I am the Lord that brought the out of her of the child is to give this land to you to inherited, and he said Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherited, and he said to him. This is a soccer official story again taken EF. I have her of three years and a goat of three years in a row of three years,

Little dove any young pigeon thoroughly specific, actually, and he took all these and divided them and laid each piece one against another. But the birds divided. He not now there's a reason for that and I dont know the reason for it and when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, apron drove them away and when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abrams and low. A horror of great darkness fell upon him. How did mean he was afraid of the dark, which is what I thought it meant when I first read it, it isn't what it means. It means that he fell into a trance or something like And then he was enveloped by absolute horror. So that's how the story begins and here's the commentary from Joseph Benson, who is an English Methodist Minister, who lived in one thousand seven hundred and forty

I was born in seventeen, forty nine and when the sun was going down about the time of the evening evening, oblation washing for he abode by them praying in waiting till toward evening a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, but this was not a common sleep through weariness or carelessness. Sloop is that's supposed to be sleep, not a common sleep through weariness are currently carelessness, but a device next, to see that being hole We taken off from things sensible. He might be wholly taken up with the contemplation of things, spiritual. What really makes you wonder what Abraham was up to in his campsite, so he was participating in something that enabled experience and lower or a horror of great darkness fell upon him. This was designed to strike or upon the spirit of Abraham into possessed him with the holy reverence wholly fear prepares the soul for wholly joy God, humbles first and then lift up.

Echoes of psychedelic experience and he said unto Abraham. No of a surety that those siege he'll be a stranger in the land that is not theirs and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, also that nation, whom they shall serve, I will judge and afterward, shall they come out with great substance and thou shalt go to my father's in peace, Thou shalt be buried in a good old age in the fourth generation. They shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorrhites is not yet full commentaries of Joseph Benson once again, They should come hither again. Hither to the land of Canaan, wherein thou not are now The reason why they must not have the land of promising position until the fourth generation is because. Nicky of the amorrhites was not yet for the righteous God is deserved. It

in that the amorous shall not be cut off till they arrived at such a pitch of weak wickedness and therefore till it come to that the seat of Abraham must be kept out of possession. So the interpretation of the story, essentially, is that Abrahams descendants will end up in slaved in Egypt for long a lengthy period of time and eventually come back to the land Cain events interesting to because this is part of Abrams Bargain with God and in this divine vision I mean he's been promised everything. But it's a pretty tough bargain because you know when we, when God is pushed or reveals himself. Let's. He says: look you're gonna, get your damn descendants, you know but not going to me it's it's it's to be a tough journey. They're gonna, be slain slave for a very long time, and eventually Burke and you won't see if you'll be dead long before them, and so it's a realistic

promise in a sense- and you might say well able is so did desperate to keep the faith. It is willing to read good into what isn't good, but I think I think I don't think that's the right way to look at and I think the right way to look at it. Isn't the people who wrote these stories were very realistic and they knew that Even if things turn out well for you are meeting was still going to be real. You know I was gonna, be some fantasy. It's like let's say you have a family that flourishes. People are still gonna die this, going to get sick they're still going to have just going to be a live. You know with all of his suffering, but it'll be but it'll be a life, that's rich enough and complete enough, so that it'll justify its its nature essentially, and so it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between the pieces Albert.

American theologian commented on this. The oven of smoke and lamp of flame symbolise the smoke of destruction in the light of salvation their passing passing through the pieces of the sacrificial victims and probably consuming the mess and accepted sacrifice, are the ratification of the covenant on the part of God, as the dividing in presenting of them were on them, of April? In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abrams saying unto thy seat. I haven't given this land from the river of Egypt unto the Great River, the river Euphrates, the key nights in the candidates in the cabinets, etc. Now, sir, I Abrams wife bear him, no children and she had a handmaid wait a second, I think we'll stop their untiring out and it's just at its none. Twenty nine to that's very good place to stop. So yes, so so I should

I should close properly and just some up so what happens here is that that Abraham enters into a covenant with God to act in the world and the action is, Venture story essentially and the adventures repeat- and there and punctuated by success in certain sacrifice and re contemplation right in it. So it's this it's this journey. It's the it's. The heroes journey appeal. I'm here there's a crisis. I collapse I reconstruct my up to a higher place in life is like that continually and that's the story of Abraham and that's all contain though it's all contained in this is the thing that so cool, because that is what your life is going to be like, whether you plan on your life or not, it's going to be punctuated like

Maybe it won't go up, maybe it'll go down. The question is: what sort of container do you need to be and in order to tolerate the movement up and down, and that's what the story of Abraham provides, it provides a it provides a description of covenant. That's like the Ark, the covenant. The Ark are the same thing right except the covenant is the psychological equivalent of the Ark and the covenant is have faith in the structure of existence and go forth. That's the covenant ended and the story is that's the best possible solution that you have at hand. On this conversation meaningful, you might think about picking up dad's books, maps of meaning the architecture of belief or is newer, best seller, twelve rules for life, an antidote to chaos both of these, extend much deeper into the topics covered in the Doorn be Petersen. Podcast siege be Petersen dot com for audio e book and text links or pick up the bucks ear. Bookseller remember

check out Jordan, be Petersen, dot com, slash personality for information on his new course, which is fifty percent off, Hope you enjoy this episode if you did, Let her friend now or leave a review. Next week's episode is a continuation of the biblical series and its titled Abraham Father of nations. Talk to you that follow me on. My: u to Channel Jordan, be Petersen on Twitter at Jordan, be Petersen on Facebook Doktor Jordan, be Petersen and Instagram Jordan Dog be DOT Petersen. Details on this show acts to my blog information about my tour dates and other events and my list of recommended books can be found on my website, Jordan. Petersen, dot com, my online writing programmes designed to help people strayed note. There pasts understand themselves in the present and develop a sophisticated vision and strategy for the future can be found itself authoring, dot com that self authoring dot com from

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