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The hidden lightness of Christmas in a season of loss · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

0:09
You're listening to the Hidden Lightness on America Out Loud Talk Radio.
0:12
I'm your host, Jimmy Hinton.
0:14
Well, Christmas is upon us.
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And I want to talk about the true meaning of Christmas.
0:21
After a year in review, and everything that's happened, good and bad, and you know, there's certainly been a lot of good.
0:29
And everywhere we look, we we see good news happening.
0:34
And today I was I was hit really hard.
0:37
And I I'll share this story.
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It's it's a personal story.
0:42
And I wasn't even gonna talk about this today.
0:45
Um, but it just came up.
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And it's it's on my heart.
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And sometimes when things are on your heart, you just gotta talk about it.
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And so that's what today is.
0:55
I I had a whole show planned, and I actually scrapped it.
0:59
And I was like, I I just I gotta talk about this.
1:03
And we got to talk about the true meaning of Christmas and what that looks like in the real world, right?
1:10
Because people are dealing with such hard things right now.
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And so many people think that Christmas is just this wonderful time of year for everybody, and everybody slaps on smiles, and they're all happy, and we're all living happily ever after.
1:27
And it's just not that way for a lot of people.
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A lot of people are really struggling.
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So I want to preface this by saying, you know, my phone this month.
1:39
I I just told somebody this month has been probably one of the hardest months in my life.
1:47
Uh, not for me.
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Uh I'm I'm actually good.
1:52
Um, I'm I'm quite good.
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My family is good.
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We're all doing really well.
1:58
But what I mean is I got so much bad news just literally every 30 minutes.
2:04
So I was out at my mom's house today, and uh she she saw the messages because I my phone kept dinging and dinging and dinging, and she's like, what in the world?
2:18
She's like, are you really that popular?
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I said, I wish I wasn't.
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And she's like, why?
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What's going on?
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I'm like, I I didn't look at my phone.
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So, you know, this was going on for an hour, hour and a half, and my phone just kept it kept dinging, and finally I picked it up, and I said, I I want you to see this, just so that you don't think that I'm crazy.
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That every single message is gonna be something negative, or something bad that's happening in somebody's life, or just somebody needing something frivolous that it's just um ridiculous requests.
3:02
So I I I want to, I'm not gonna read the actual messages.
3:06
I'll I'll just kind of summarize them.
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So here's one.
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Hey, when's the last time you checked the mail at the church?
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Um, I checked the mail, and it was it was really full.
3:22
Are you even checking the mail?
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Uh another message.
3:28
Hey, I need help.
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I'm homeless, and I'm desperate.
3:33
I'm gonna be out in 30 minutes.
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If if you don't get me help, I'm gonna be out in the streets.
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Please help.
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Are you there?
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Please.
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And then my phone rings.
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And it's this individual who left a lengthy voicemail.
3:55
You're my only hope.
3:56
You're the only way that I can get help, which isn't true, by the way, folks.
4:00
I've been doing this a long time.
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It's it's a way to pressure people to make them feel bad if they don't answer quick enough.
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And I mean, this is like 15 minutes of not answering text messages, and they just they're they're they're coming relentlessly.
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And I got another one.
4:20
Hey, can you send me the Powerball numbers from last night?
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I might be a millionaire.
4:29
Um I'm not that's not satire.
4:32
That's not a joke.
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That was from somebody I know very well who's dead serious.
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I didn't answer, and my guess is uh I'll probably hear about it.
4:46
Why didn't you answer me?
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Are you ignoring me?
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All right, this is all within an hour.
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And then my phone rings, and it's a very, very good friend of mine, a childhood friend.
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And I was like, oh, thank God.
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You know, finally I'm getting a call, and every time he calls me, it's just he's such a I call him a sunshine blower because he's always he's all everywhere he goes, he's like blowing sunshine around.
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He's just the happiest person.
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And I mean, I've known him literally since I was so little.
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We went to college together, we just I mean, very, very, very best friends.
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And I'm like, oh, thank God.
5:31
I was like, I need some good news.
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That's literally how I answered.
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I said, Oh, thank God, I need some good news.
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And he didn't say anything.
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I was like, uh oh.
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And he said, I don't know how to tell you what I'm about to tell you.
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And I was like, please no.
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And he was like, There's there's no easy way to tell you this.
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But one of our other, excuse me, really good friends.
6:01
I have allergies on top of everything else in December, allergies in December.
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Um, but he said, one of our very, very best friends, and he said his name, another one of our college friends that we've known for years and years and years.
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He was on his way to work this morning, and he got hit head on, and lost his life.
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You have got to, I know you're not kidding.
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I mean, nobody would call and say something like that in kid, but in my mind, I'm like, you've got to be freaking kidding me.
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I mean, here's here's a young dad, leaves behind four young kids, a wife who absolutely adores the ground he walks on.
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Just a good, good guy.
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I mean, a great guy.
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Oh, and it's birthdays in two days.
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And I look at this and I'm like, it's like God really.
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What are you doing?
7:22
What are you trying to say?
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What are you?
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What lesson are you trying to teach us?
7:27
What lesson are you trying to teach his wife and his kids?
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Is this some cruel joke?
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And we hear about these tragedies, and I I mean, I uh I'm not kidding.
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I I hear these every day, and it's it's not people who are distant.
7:49
It's it's it's not like people I don't know.
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It's it's all people I'm close to.
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I just got a phone call last night that's and and this person who I know I'm very good friends with, uh, just was pouring her heart out, and they're having a family crisis that I I just I wouldn't wish on anybody.
8:15
And I I can't really give details, and I'm not uh obligated to do so, but uh just uh it it was a really really bad situation to where I said I I don't even know how to begin to get you help.
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And all I can say is I just I don't I don't know.
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And I'm so so sorry.
8:39
You know, all these things just keep coming and coming and coming and coming, and they they just they they they have not stopped.
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And again, it it's so easy to go down this bad path and to think nobody nobody's doing well, right?
8:57
In my mind, that's that's what keeps coming back.
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I'm like, wow, no, nobody's doing well.
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But then I remember all the stories that I share, all the stories that I've shared over over the past year, and all the positive things and virtually all of those positive things were in the context of something bad going on in somebody's life.
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You know what I mean?
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Like it's not just people being kind for the sake of being kind, uh, although they are.
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I mean, I I make that argument all day long.
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But all of these stories that I tell, I'd say 95% of them, where people are reaching out and doing kind things for people and doing the GoFundMe's and you know, all these big fundraising events and and changing people's lives and sitting with people and praying with people, and uh, you know, Jay Leno given given food to to the uh first responders and all that stuff.
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All of those things are in the context of major life tragedies.
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And I guess the only way to put that is there's beauty in the ashes.
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That in the midst of extreme heartache and sorrow and pain and all this stuff that's going on in people's lives.
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And I guarantee that a lot of you, a lot of you listening right now are going through something major right now in your life, some major crisis that is absolutely wrecking your life.
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And in the midst of those ashes, when your life burns down all around you, we can find beauty in those ashes.
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And I feel like there's um there's some audio from air traffic control the other day.
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There was a United flight.
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It was a triple seven that on takeoff, they they had an engine go out.
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This was at Dallas.
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And uh in Washington, DC.
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The pilot took off, and I mean, as soon as he took off, he he called in a May Day.
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And I listened to it because my my youngest son just absolutely loves aviation.
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And I let him listen to it.
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I I heard it, and I was like, man, Isaac, you gotta listen to this.
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Listen to how well this pilot performed under extreme pressure.
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And uh, so the pilot gets on, he's like, Mayday, mayday, maybe.
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I I lost one of my engines, and I need to come back right away.
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And so air traffic control right away, as soon as you call a May Day.
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Uh, they uh really give you priority over everybody.
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I mean, all attention goes on on that Mayday flight.
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And so air traffic control is talking to them and just kind of getting as much information as possible without trying to be too chatty, because that's one of the things.
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When when a pilot is going through a severe crisis, they don't have time for chit chat.
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That's one more thing added to their already very heavy workload.
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And they have to focus on the tragedy at hand.
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And they have to run through their checklist, and they have to keep in his case, he had to keep 300 people from from perishing.
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And that was all on the captain.
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You know, in a Mayday situation, the captain will call out immediately, he'll say, my controls.
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And then the co-pilot, the first officer, repeats your controls.
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The reason they do that, the reason that's standard procedure, is because there has to be very clear communication, and that communication has to be received, heard, and repeated.
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So that everybody in the cockpit, they all know that this bird, this airplane, belongs to the captain and the captain alone.
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He has the controls.
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That way, you don't have two different people inputting on the controls and and creating confusion because they found from other accidents that have happened that the more that's going on in the cockpit, the more people try to help, they actually unhelp.
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And so it's the it's the it's the first officer's job to just be there as a support and help run through the checklist and maybe do the communication with air traffic control.
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But other than that, it is the pilot.
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He's the one in the zone.
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He's the one flying that plane.
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And at one point, air traffic control said, okay, uh, do you want to change to this frequency?
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You know, which would have been uh I assume the um the landing tower.
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He was on departure, and he was asking if he wanted to go over to the incoming tower.
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To which the pilot quickly responded, and he said, Nope, stay on this frequency.
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I'm busy.
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So he communicated very clearly, very precisely in that moment.
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I have a lot going on in the cockpit.
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I'm very busy.
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I can't add one more thing to my workload.
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He literally couldn't reach over and turn the dial and change the frequency on his two-A radio.
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Now I have I have a lot going on, I'm busy.
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Stay on this frequency.
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And so they kept him on that frequency, but I feel like that's how it's been this past week.
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I mean, like at some point, I've been so overwhelmed.
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I mean, just the the amount of tragedies that just keep coming, and then I get the, you know, can you give me the Powerball number?
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I might be a millionaire.
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Uh, yeah, you're probably not.
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And I didn't even answer.
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I'm not going to answer.
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Uh, that's just no.
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That's a hard no.
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I'm busy.
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You know?
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And so when all this tragedy is going on, we get overwhelmed.
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We get burdened, and our heart rate goes up and our blood pressure goes up.
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And my mom looked at me this morning.
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She's like, please, please, please take care of yourself.
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Physically, mentally, spiritually, like take care of yourself.
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You have a lot going on.
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And it was a good reminder.
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And uh, so I took, you know, I left her house and I took about an hour and just went on a drive.
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It's the the weather's beautiful, and I just needed to drive around and just be silent.
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Like no radio, I mean absolute silence for an hour.
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I went on a scenic drive and just needed that time.
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But the point is that we all need to take time.
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We need to process.
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We need to remember that there's a life beyond the cockpit, so to speak.
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You know, using that analogy.
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Um it gets it gets busy, right?
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When you have a lot going on and your plates full and there's there's just so many things crumbling all around you.
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It's a good reminder that when you look out the window, you still have to fly, right?
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That pilot still had to fly, which he did.
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He landed very successfully and saved all 290 souls on board.
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Because he was calm, he was collective, he he didn't panic.
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Uh, he just thought his way through it, and he remembered he remembered how to fly.
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That was his job.
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We'll talk more about this after the break, and we'll talk about how we get through this holiday season.
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I mean, it's it's it's tough for a lot of people, but um, man, there's just so much good going on in the midst of all the bad.
17:04
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20:00
There's a reason for the season.
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And it's Christmas, and everybody gets into the holiday spirit, and people shop and they go crazy.
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And by crazy, I don't mean like crazy crazy.
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I mean, uh, they just go overboard with shopping and cooking and go into the celebrations and the dances and the dinners, and you know, people celebrate Christmas.
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And I love that about this time of year.
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But in the middle of all that, there are millions of people all over the place who are really struggling, who are suffering, who have some kind of heartache in their life, some kind of tragedy that's happened in their life.
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And I was mentioning, you know, I I've been getting a lot of phone calls and text messages.
20:48
And I just got a phone call a couple of hours ago.
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That one of my very, very, very, very close friends.
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Um, I mean, one of my best friends from college, and I I just I've gone on so many trips with him.
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Spring breaks.
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Um, he ended up moving up to our area.
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He was from out of state, and he ended up moving within 30 minutes of me.
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And our kids got to got to grow up together.
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And now, just a really, really stand-up guy, good guy, good Christian guy, has a good heart, good father, good husband, good friend.
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And I got the news about two hours ago that he was killed in a car accident.
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He was killed on his way to work.
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They think the driver at this point, then we don't know yet, but they think the driver was impaired.
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At least there were apparently indications that that that was the case.
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And he leaves behind a a widow.
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Great, great, great woman.
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Uh, four young children.
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And it's just, it's, I, I still, I'm at a loss of words.
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I I'm just having a really hard time processing this level of tragedy.
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I've lost so many friends, just so many friends, and I'm young, you know.
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I'm uh I'm I'm I'm not that old, and I just lost way too many friends.
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And um, you know, it's not due to recklessness or people abusing their bodies or abusing drugs or anything like that.
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It's just uh his life, life happens.
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I lost a brother at the age of 42, 10 years ago.
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42 years old.
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He he fell over in front of his front of his young children.
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They witnessed their father's life leave his body.
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I just I can't, I can't imagine.
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I can't process this level of tragedy that so many people are are struggling right now.
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I just got an email yesterday.
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There's uh there's a woman who is about to be evicted, and it was another pastor, he was asking for financial help.
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He's like, look, um, can any churches pitch in?
23:28
There's you know, they're three months behind on uh on the rent.
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There are little kids involved, it's freezing cold, they're gonna be out on the street.
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You know, it's literally every single day.
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And this is excuse me, this is at Christmas time, right?
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There is no discrimination.
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It's not like it's not like the world takes a break, and it's like, all right, we're you know, we're gonna we're gonna let up on you for a little bit because it's Christmas, and so everybody's gonna live happily ever after.
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That's just not reality.
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You know, for millions of people, they're going through major tragedies right now, and heartache and suffering, and uman ruin, health issues.
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I was talking to yesterday with somebody who um he just had a big portion of his lung removed.
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He's battling stage four cancer.
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Yeah, one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet.
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And I was talking to him and his wife.
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And uh, man, it's just multiple times every day, and it it's it's a reminder that there's life beyond our keyboard, and that's a big message.
24:52
And that's part of why, you know, I I was I was kind of fired up the other day about President Trump's message that he put out about Rob Rainer's death, because it's just it's like, man, it doesn't even take into consideration the pain and suffering and and struggle that that people have.
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When they lose a loved one, it changes everything instantly.
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And we've got to be considerative of that, even if, you know, and people were making the argument, they're like, oh, well, Rob Rayner, he was he had no problem dishing it out on Trump.
25:26
So what that doesn't mean you do it back, especially when somebody, when somebody passes away in such a horrific death.
25:42
I've seen people post really awful comments.
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People on the on the uh political right have posted really awful comments, and I'm like, this is exactly what the left did when Charlie Kirk died, and we all denounced it and should have.
25:58
Right?
25:59
It was uncalled for, it's not acceptable, it's not okay.
26:03
So they were doing the same thing, and they don't even see it.
26:08
President Trump was doing the same thing and doesn't even see it.
26:13
But I look at the life of Jesus, and uh, Christmas always reminds me of this that the reason he came, the whole reason why he came was to save us.
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And and really to save us from ourselves.
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You know, we can be absolutely awful.
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We can be our worst enemies, we can be terrible, we can we can do horrific things and think horrific things and have horrific sin in our life.
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And Jesus came and suffered.
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He suffered for us.
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And he did that willingly, and he did it because he loves us.
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And if ever there's hope that I have, and and that's why I'm always hopeful.
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I always remain hopeful, because I look at the problems and the tragedies that that Jesus faced while he was alive, walking this earth, and he lived on this earth for 30 years of his life.
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33 thereabouts.
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And I look at some of the heartaches that that he witnessed and experienced, and he had a tough life.
27:29
You know, I I can't say that about myself.
27:31
I mean, you know, there are definitely some hard things that have happened, but I've never been persecuted.
27:37
I've never been chased, I've never been chased out of towns because people hate me.
27:42
Uh, I've never had to to go into hiding.
27:47
You know, for the first two years of Jesus' life, first couple years, he was his parents had him in hiding.
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They had to flee their country and and remain hidden because of persecution.
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I never experienced that.
28:06
I don't know what that's like.
28:09
You know, just on and on and on.
28:11
You look at his life, and it's just full of heartache.
28:14
He was very new into his ministry, and John the Baptist, he gets the news that he's been beheaded.
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It's like, how do you digest that news?
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And you look at how he responded, and Jesus responded, you know, it's it's interesting.
28:33
You know, I'm gonna settle on that story because there's so many details from that story, and uh the gospel of Mark really records it, I think, in the best way.
28:44
But Jesus is he's gone, he's disappeared.
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And his disciples, they just have these crowds pressing in on them.
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And remember that the airplane analogy, like, hey, I'm busy here, I'm busy in the cockpit, I'm busy in here.
29:02
I can't take one more task, even a simple task, can't do it.
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So his disciples are in that kind of mind frame.
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They're just they're so busy.
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And Mark says that the crowds were pressing in on them so that they had no leisure even to eat.
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In other words, there were there were, and it's in the context of people bringing people because they were sick, they had all kinds of physical ailments and they wanted healed.
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So the disciples are absolutely overwhelmed.
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They're physically exhausted, they're mentally exhausted, they're hungry.
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The crowds are pressing in, they didn't even have leisure to eat.
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And then they're looking around, and and somebody says, Hey, where's Jesus?
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They couldn't find Jesus.
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Now,
30:00
I can't begin to tell you how annoyed I would be in that moment.
30:05
Um just crazy.
30:11
And they're they're they're they're like, where is he?
30:14
Where is he?
30:15
Where to go?
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And then they get the news that John the Baptist is beheaded.
30:19
In the middle of all of that, they get the news that John the Baptist is beheaded.
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And now they're really freaking out.
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They're like, where is he?
30:27
Where's Jesus?
30:28
Somebody go find him.
30:29
Finally, they just get fed up.
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They're like, somebody go find him.
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They leave, they go up on a mountain and they find him alone, and he's praying.
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I think that point they probably were like, what in the world are you doing?
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Like, we need you.
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They tell him that John the Baptist was beheaded.
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And Jesus kind of casually comes down the mountain, joins up with his disciples, and he says, Let's get in the boat and let's go to a um a desolate place so that you can get rest.
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All right, so they get in the boat and they row across the Sea of Galilee.
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That's uh six miles across.
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So side to side, you're looking at six miles, top to bottom, you're looking at 11 miles.
31:21
So they row the six miles across, and Mark records that the crowd found out where they were going, and they ran on foot and met them at the other side of the lake.
31:32
And so as they're rowing close to the shore, there are thousands of people, thousands.
31:40
Now keep in mind, Jesus said, let's get you away from these people.
31:44
You need rest.
31:47
We're busy in here.
31:48
We need we need rest.
31:52
And as they're rowing close to the shore, they see thousands of people.
31:57
The gospel is record that there were 5,000 besides for women and children.
32:01
Estimates somewhere in the like 15,000 range.
32:06
15 plus.
32:09
And I love how the gospels record this.
32:11
It says, Jesus looked on them with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
32:21
That is wild to me.
32:26
And if ever there's a picture of who Jesus is, it's that picture that when people are weary, when people are tired, they're worn out, they're wiped out, they're they're exhausted.
32:39
He still has time to have compassion on people.
32:44
And he begins preaching to the crowd.
32:48
And he must have done so for a while because then it starts getting dark.
32:51
And Jesus says to his disciples who are already wiped out, they're exhausted.
32:54
He says, Why don't you go get food for them?
32:57
They're like, wait, wait, what now?
33:01
You know, fifth 15 plus thousand people.
33:05
There's not enough money in the world that like we don't have money.
33:08
Remember, you told us to when we leave, don't take anything with us except the the shoes on our feet and the clothing on our back.
33:17
Take no extra money for your money sack.
33:19
Remember that, Jesus.
33:21
You told us that.
33:25
So uh Jesus tells them to get food and they get kind of frustrated with them, and then we have the miraculous feeding of the 5,000.
33:32
Jesus takes the fish and the bread, he duplicates it, and he begins feeding the crowds because he had compassion on them.
33:41
But then it's not done yet.
33:43
Then Jesus goes after they're all dismissed, he goes up on the mountain to pray.
33:49
Sound familiar.
33:51
Just like when he was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
33:55
He goes up on the mountain to pray, and he tells his disciples, why don't you get in the boat and go ahead of me and row to the other side.
34:06
That always blew my mind because the whole purpose for them going to this place was to get rest to get away from the crowds.
34:14
Now they're on the other side of the lake.
34:16
They still haven't slept.
34:17
I keep saying lake, it is a lake.
34:19
The Sea of Galilee is not a sea, it's it's a lake.
34:24
Um, but then he tells them row back to the original side of the lake, the west side.
34:32
So they start rowing, they get about halfway across in the middle of the night, about three o'clock in the morning.
34:38
A great big storm comes up, and they're being battered by waves, the wind and the waves, and they think they're gonna drown.
34:48
Jesus is nowhere to be found.
34:52
And then they see him walking on the water.
34:56
And the gospel is record that he was about to pass them by.
35:02
Now, I don't know about you, but that always caught my attention.
35:05
I'm like, wait a second.
35:06
He wasn't walking towards them.
35:08
He was walking past them.
35:11
They're literally out there thinking that they're gonna die.
35:13
They're exhausted.
35:14
I can't even begin to imagine how tired they were.
35:17
He's uh about to pass them by, and then they call out to him.
35:23
And then we have the miraculous uh, you know, the the calming of the storm and and that kind of thing.
35:30
But uh, you know, Jesus yells to the sea, peace be still.
35:36
And it's just this beautiful picture of who Jesus is that even in the midst of everything, when we're so exhausted and wiped out and tired and anxious, Jesus is with us.
35:50
And he calms the storm in our life, and he brings us to a place of peace and quiet.
35:57
Eventually, not on our time.
36:01
And that's the thing we need to remember.
36:04
You know, we want the instant relief.
36:06
We want the instant quiet, the instant calm, rest, celebration.
36:13
We want everything to be easy in our life.
36:17
And a lot of times it's just not.
36:29
But he's with us.
36:32
And I have no doubt he's with my friend's wife and her kids, and he's with us.
36:41
He's with my friends' uh friends and family.
36:48
You know, I can feel God's presence.
36:52
But I have a whole different view of Christmas than I did as a little kid.
36:57
My perspective has shifted.
37:00
And even though we get our kids' presence, I remember that's not really the full purpose of Christmas.
37:07
Christmas is about seeing other people, about seeing them for who they are, seeing them in their pain, and sitting with people, praying with people, calling and checking on people.
37:21
I never used to do that.
37:23
Christmas was always like, yeah, this is family time.
37:28
Now I call and check on people.
37:30
Or I'll shoot them a text.
37:32
Hey, I was just thinking about you today.
37:33
I know today is a really hard day, and I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you.
37:42
We're coming up on a break.
37:45
All of our shows do go to podcasts the next day after the broadcast is heard on talk radio.
37:50
You can hear them on your favorite podcast app.
37:53
Check out the America Out Loud app.
37:55
Be sure to subscribe, rate the show.
37:57
And when we come back, we'll wrap it up and talk about the Christmas, the holiday spirit, and what Christmas is all about.
38:05
We'll be right back.
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39:45
Christmas is upon us.
39:47
And there's just a lot going on in people's lives.
39:50
And I want to be mindful.
39:51
I just wanted to spend today and uh talk about the mindfulness of just checking in on people.
39:59
And
40:00
Being aware that there are a lot of issues that people are facing this time of year is really hard.
40:05
A lot of people have lost loved ones.
40:08
Um I just I just, you know, if if you're just tuning in, I was talking about how a very good friend of mine just called and said that a mutual friend, somebody I've known for years and years and years, um, and was very best friends with him.
40:22
He just passed away a couple of hours ago in a tragic car accident, and uh leaves behind a young wife and four young children, and um it's just tough.
40:37
It's it's there's it's not even the right word.
40:41
It's cruel.
40:43
You know, this time of year uh it's very, very hard on people, a lot of people.
40:51
But in the midst of that, I'm reminded of the goodness of people.
40:55
I'm reminded that I've gotten multiple text messages already, just from other friends, and you know, we're all kind of in that in the loop, and we all know by now.
41:07
And so everybody's kind of texting each other and just checking up on each other, and uh, you know, everybody's ending their messages with I love you, and I just think it I think it shows the goodness in people, and that's what I mean.
41:20
Like that kind of stuff now is so predictable to me in a good way.
41:25
It's so predictable that when a tragedy strikes, people are gonna reach out and they're gonna be like, hey man, I'm I'm here for you.
41:34
And there's not really much I can say, but I'm here for you, and I love you.
41:43
And if you need to talk, I'm I'm here.
41:46
I'm hurting with you.
41:49
And we see this over and over and over again, you know, again, it's it's it's been a a year, just coming up on a year of doing the show.
41:59
We'll have the the year anniversary in January.
42:03
And I hope you all you all have been inspired by the stories that I share.
42:08
I know sometimes it's sometimes it's political, sometimes it's financial, sometimes it's spiritual, sometimes we kind of blend all those together.
42:17
And uh, you know, hopefully you never know what you're gonna get because I just I don't like to be predictable.
42:23
I just I like thinking outside of the box and I like covering all kinds of topics.
42:29
I I just get bored if I'm sticking to the same topic all the time.
42:33
And that's one of the things that Malcolm has been absolutely fantastic and was like, yeah, the sky's the limit.
42:39
Like, just have fun with it.
42:41
And so that's been really freeing, and uh, you know, I I don't take that for granted.
42:47
Um, but to be able to talk about things and talk about positive stories, and hopefully that's making a difference in your life.
42:55
I know over the course of the last year, I've I've I've been changed for the better.
43:02
Uh I I hear these stories, and that's part of the fun is to get to research and to find these stories.
43:09
These are stories that I would never know about if I didn't have a purpose for you know, a reason for searching for these stories.
43:18
But when I search and I find them just time and time and time again.
43:22
I've I I can't tell you how many times I've cried.
43:26
And I'm not an emotional person.
43:30
Like I just don't, I don't cry at the drop of a hat.
43:34
And this year I've spent so much time hearing these stories and finding myself just breaking down crying good tears at the goodness of people.
43:46
And I'm like, my goodness, if if I'm being moved in this way, surely other people are being moved in this way.
43:53
And so why is the media not focusing on these stories?
43:57
I don't get it.
44:00
I know, like I get the whole clickbait thing and the manufactured rage and all that stuff that they want us to have, but my goodness, if they focused on the good stories, I think they'd get plenty of views.
44:15
I really do.
44:17
I think they just don't, they'd I don't know if they're just that miserable that they want to make other people miserable and share all the negative stories, but whatever it is, it's um you know, it's kind of sad and frustrating, but I'm not gonna get hung up on that.
44:32
I'm not gonna fall into that trap and start protesting and being a keyboard warrior talking about how awful the media is.
44:41
I just figure, hey, you know what?
44:44
They're not going to cover it.
44:45
I will.
44:48
And uh so today I just want to talk about the goodness of Christ and what Christ means for us this time of year.
44:57
And not just this time of year, I mean it's all the time, but uh, you know, as we celebrate his birth, the one thing that I always settle on is that he suffered like you and I.
45:10
And both Peter and James talk about rejoicing in our suffering.
45:15
Right?
45:15
They and and so I don't want you to think that today is a complaining session.
45:20
It's not, it's anything but complaining.
45:24
Peter and James both say, rejoice in your sufferings.
45:28
You know, when you suffer for the name of Christ, count that pure joy.
45:34
If you've been worthy to suffer for Christ, that's a good thing.
45:40
You know, don't talk about how God has it out for you, and life is just the worst, and and life is terrible, people are terrible.
45:48
And I feel like so many people get caught up in that because of, you know, kind of precisely because the news is dragging us into that all the time.
45:57
It's like they want us to be miserable so desperately.
46:00
And a lot of people get drug into that.
46:02
And I read some people's posts on social media, and I'm like, my goodness, like are you really that miserable?
46:09
Don't let people take your joy.
46:14
Don't do it, it's not worth it.
46:16
Life is short, trust me.
46:17
Today's a the prime example.
46:21
Life is short.
46:25
And my mom said something to me today, and I I just I love her, she's great.
46:30
Um, I love that I'm in my mid-40s, and my mom is still like one of my best friends, and we just we hang out, and I was out at her place today, just kind of hanging out, having a good time.
46:44
And she said, don't forget to smile and take care of your family, enjoy your family.
46:53
I'm like, oh, I don't, like, that's one thing I do not do.
46:56
I don't sit in my house.
46:57
My house is my sanctuary.
46:59
I do not sit around and feel sorry for myself or uh, you know, get angry and sit around and sulk.
47:08
I just I will never do that in my own home.
47:14
Never.
47:16
You know, my my kids are precious, my wife is precious, my my life is precious, and all of our lives are precious because of what God has granted us.
47:29
He's given us the good pleasure to have free lives and to have freedom here in America and to use that freedom for good and to bless other people, and to take care of our neighbors.
47:47
And that's one of the things that I get so inspired about when people become the hands and the feet of Jesus, and they do things, kind things for other people in the name of Jesus.
48:01
I I just I love it.
48:05
Absolutely love it.
48:07
And I think, man, God is He's smiling down.
48:12
You know, tragedies happen all the time.
48:14
It's that's just part of living in a broken world.
48:19
But the beautiful thing is we don't have to be miserable.
48:24
We don't have to be stuck in this endless cycle of of being angry and always ticked off at other people and always pointing the finger at other people.
48:32
And you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do a show on this uh the woman at Target, the employee.
48:40
Uh I don't know if you guys saw that, but you know, there was the employee at Target, this elderly woman, and she's wearing a Charlie Kirk shirt.
48:52
Like, who cares?
48:54
Who cares if it's a BLM shirt or a uh Charlie Kirk shirt or a Make America Great Again shirt or a Joe Biden shirt?
49:05
Like, who cares?
49:09
But this lady came and just berated her and like cussed her up one side and out the other, filmed it, then put it on social media.
49:17
She didn't get the reaction she thought she was gonna get.
49:21
We'll talk about that in another show.
49:23
But you know, like you don't have to be miserable.
49:27
I just can't imagine.
49:28
I can't imagine for the life of me how much energy it takes to be that angry all the time and to be that bitter and and to harass elderly people to walk up and film them and publicly shame them, put that put videos of them online as you're cussing them out and and calling them names.
49:49
I just can't imagine.
49:51
Like how miserable of a person do you have to be to do that?
49:56
But you know, again, my message is.
50:00
That's such a small fraction of people.
50:02
There are so few people who are who are living that way.
50:06
The overwhelming majority of people are good, good people.
50:12
They're kind, compassionate.
50:16
Talked the other day about the gentleman who delivered a load of firewood to the 85-year-old woman.
50:22
That was another one.
50:24
I watched that video and I just broke down crying.
50:26
I'm like, what a beautiful soul.
50:30
And she, you know, she's crying, and she said, This is the best Christmas present that I could ever imagine.
50:39
And uh, you know, the gentleman said, I hope God blesses you.
50:43
And she said, He already has.
50:46
She's so grateful.
50:48
And it was a load of firewood.
50:49
And again, you know, for him, uh it's his business.
50:54
Like that's what he does.
50:55
He does firewood and all kinds of stuff with with lumber.
51:01
To him, it wasn't that big of a deal.
51:03
It wasn't that hard to do.
51:04
And he just he did it to be super kind.
51:07
And he heard about this woman who was down on her luck, and he wanted to bless her.
51:12
But the great thing is, he was very clear about that, that he did it in the name of Jesus.
51:19
I mean, flat out told her.
51:21
He's like, uh, you know, I'm I'm doing this.
51:24
I'm blessing you in the name of Jesus.
51:28
And I just, I hope God continues to bless you.
51:31
And she said, He already has.
51:34
That's the beautiful side of humanity.
51:36
That's what this season is all about.
51:40
And I keep doing show after show after show right around Christmas time.
51:44
People's giving goes way off the charts.
51:48
People who are struggling.
51:50
I mean, it's not like people just have all this extra money laying around, or at least I don't think they do.
51:57
So, yeah.
51:59
People like to give, they like to bless, they like to help people.
52:02
They roll up their sleeves.
52:04
They, you know, look at all the natural disasters that happen this year every single time.
52:08
People come out of the woodwork and they bless.
52:13
That's who we are.
52:14
It's who we are as Americans.
52:16
Don't ever let anybody take that away from you.
52:21
So here's my hope for all of you.
52:24
I hope, I pray that you bless somebody, that you find, and it doesn't have to be a whole bunch of people.
52:30
It doesn't have to be this big huge project, and you know, oh my goodness, well, I only was able to get a hold of five people and do something for five people.
52:41
Five people, that's huge.
52:45
That's to be able to bless five people.
52:49
That is massive.
52:51
To be able to do it to one person is huge.
52:56
You know, you might be the person that saves somebody that day just by reaching out, just by picking up the phone and calling.
53:06
Doesn't have to be this big, huge, thoughtful thing that you planned out, and oh my goodness.
53:11
And then we get jealous of other people, and we're like, oh, I wish I had the talent to send cards.
53:16
You know, sometimes we catch ourselves doing that in our family.
53:19
People send us these beautiful cards, and we're like, man, that's it's so thoughtful.
53:24
We don't send cards out to people.
53:27
And we need to be better.
53:28
Then we beat ourselves up.
53:29
Oh my goodness, we're you know, we're terrible people because we don't send out these beautiful cards like so and so does.
53:35
Well, guess what?
53:38
We find other ways to bless people.
53:42
My gift is not cards, believe me.
53:44
Card sending, it ain't my gift.
53:49
But there are other ways to bless people.
53:53
You know, and each of you has a unique gift that's been given by God to be able to bless somebody.
54:00
Some of you are just good visitors.
54:02
You literally could sit down and and you're comfortable doing it.
54:08
It's not awkward.
54:10
You're just good at showing up, sitting and listening.
54:15
Other people are great at card ministries.
54:19
They're thoughtful.
54:20
Like everything that pours out of the tip of your pen is just beautiful.
54:25
Every word, every, you know, some people are really good at art.
54:29
It's crazy how creative people are.
54:31
I love it.
54:33
Maybe your gift is cooking.
54:36
You just love to cook food.
54:40
You love baking.
54:42
Do that for somebody.
54:46
Maybe your gift is uh financially you're blessed.
54:51
You see somebody struggling, they can't they can't make ends meet.
54:54
No matter what they do, they're they're trying, but they just can't make ends meet.
54:59
Bless them with an anonymous gift.
55:02
I know somebody just the other day, they were given a 10,000 anonymous donation for a project that they were working on, and she was like, I I have no idea where this came from.
55:17
I have no idea who it could be.
55:21
I love that.
55:24
You know, somebody saw a goal that that she was working on and something she was working towards, and uh, and it's good, and you know, it's it's it's noble.
55:35
And somebody literally just didn't a 10,000 anonymous donation.
55:41
Some people have the gift of giving prayer.
55:46
Some people are just good at praying.
55:51
They can call anybody up and pray with them.
55:55
And it's it's just the most amazing, life-changing thing in the world.
55:59
So find what you're good at, find what you've been blessed with, and bless somebody this holiday season.
56:06
It doesn't have to be right on Christmas.
56:09
You can do it anytime.
56:11
Trust me, there are a lot of heavy hearts right now.
56:16
But there is hope.
56:18
There's so much hope.
56:19
And as Christians, we certainly believe that.
56:23
We trust in God.
56:24
We know that he has a plan.
56:26
Sometimes we don't understand it, we don't like it, but but God has a plan for us, and he is blessing beyond measure.
56:33
And I pray that all of you are blessed.
56:35
Uh, I'm so grateful for you.
56:36
I'm grateful for this audience, and uh, you guys have stuck with me and and listened to me over the course of a year, and I just hope that next year is full of many, many blessings, and we continue to inspire people.
56:50
Give your friends and family an extra big hug.
56:53
Uh, never take life for granted.
56:56
Uh, we just never know when that's going to be taken away.
56:58
Bless somebody and be blessed yourselves.
57:03
You can find more out about my show and get all the latest podcasts.
57:06
If you go to the Mendy Navigation Bar at America Outloud.news under our shows were scheduled.
57:10
You'll be in the know.
57:12
There is a hidden lightness that shines inside of all of us.
57:15
When there's so much darkness that envelops the world, remember that it doesn't take much light to expose that darkness and to ultimately inspire other people.
57:22
Join me in being a light.