Feb. 1, 2025

A Dog’s Life vs Your Life

A Dog’s Life vs Your Life

A discussion about dogs and humans

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A discussion about dogs and humans

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone.

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It is Saturday, February the first, twenty twenty five. It

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is currently one pm Central Time, and I am coming

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to you live from the Theology Central studio located right

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here in Abilene, Texas. So quick question, do you have

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a dog? Do you have a dog? If you do,

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For those who do, I need you to call your

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dog two wherever you are right now, call your dog

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to you. Have them either get up next to you,

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if you're sitting on a couch, have them hop up

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in your lap, have them sit there right there in

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the floor. Look at your dog. I want you to

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look deeply into your dog's eyes. Right Okay. I know

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you think this is crazy. Call your dog to you

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right now. Okay, look deeply into their eyes now. Whether

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you want to believe this or whether you don't. According

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to well a recent book, that dog that you're looking

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at right now, you're looking to that dog's eyes. That

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dog loves their life more than you love your life. Yes,

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according to a book that has been released, a book

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that kind of takes the life of a dog and

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looks at it philosophically and compares it to well, our lives.

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According to this, well, dog's inner world is far deeper

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than you even realize, and they love their lives more

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than we love ours. So we're gonna talk about dogs.

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We're gonna talk about their lives. We're gonna compare their

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lives to us, and we're going to look at something

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that causes us a lot of problems that a dog

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doesn't have to deal with. And one of the reasons

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that dog's life may be better than ours is because

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something we have they don't have, and as a result

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of them not having it, their lives tend to be

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better than our lives, or at least our perception of

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our lives. Oh, we can't have a long philosophical discussion

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about this. I know what you're thinking. Wait a minute,

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this seemed like an odd topic. We'll remember we started

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twenty twenty five, and I told you I'm basically keeping

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an empty notebook right here under the microphone as somewhat

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symbolic of how I'm kind of approaching this year. Right,

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no real plan, no real strategy. Each day, wherever the

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podcast takes us, it takes us, and today it's going

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to take us in. Well, you sitting there looking at

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your dog, that's where it's taking us. You're looking at

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your dog. I can't call a dog to me right now,

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right I can't. I don't have a dog current. I've

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had multiple dogs in my life. All of them have

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passed away. It's always been absolutely emotionally just destroyed me.

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Every single time a dog has passed away, it has

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greatly impacted me. I love animals. I love dogs. I

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always feel like I have like a connection with the animal.

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But well, according to what we know, it seems like

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they well they love their lives more than I've ever

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loved mine. And I know that some people will just

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find that as kind of an interesting titbit. Maybe they

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find it just, oh that's curious, that's interesting. But to me,

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it points to something far deeper, and that's what we're

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going to try to get to. So sometimes I hate

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when I have to stop and explain this. Right. So

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many times I will take a story it could be

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about a pastor or about a church, or in this case,

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about dogs, but I'm trying to get to a deeper issue.

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But some people get hung up on the initial thing, right,

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and I'm like, no, no, say pass that. So I

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need you to see, Patty, this is not necessarily about dogs.

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It's really about us. And again, we possess something that

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a dog doesn't appear to possess. And because we possess

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this one thing, and I'm going to explain it soon,

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it causes us all kinds of problems. So is there

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a way around this? And we're going to talk about

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it in greater detail. Now why am I approaching this

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subject today? Well, I'm going to be honest with you

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and hopefully I can connect this all together. I have

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struggled over the last few days about broadcasting. I told

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you that I was going to find myself in a

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difficult spot because I feel that what's going to happen

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right now is that Christianity in large at large is

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going to become more and more politicized. Christian nationalism, the

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political hijacking of Christianity, it's going to increase, and it's

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going to increase. And so you're going to see this

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mad move within Christianity to talk about politics and to

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defend basically anything and everything President Trump says and does.

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And we are already watching that take place. Okay, So

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we're going to see this. Well, on the other side,

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what's going to happen is you're going to find Christians

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who try to push back against this politicized Christianity, this

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politically hijack Christianity, and this basically Trump worshiping cult that

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much of Christianity is going to turn into. So you

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could spend all of your time fighting against this other. Well,

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if you got one side who's become a Trump loving cult,

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who's political, there God is politics, and you've got the

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other side that's trying to constantly fight it, well, where

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does Christianity fall into the fall in? Where does Christianity

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even go? Where will Christianity be even found? And I said,

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I'm going to do everything in my power. Obviously I'm

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not going to be in the Trump loving cult and

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politics as my God can. So obviously I'm not there.

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But I told you I'm going to do everything in

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my power not to become just all I'm going to

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do is speak against this other thing. I don't want

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to do that. If I do that, I basically have

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to become a news broadcast and just talk about the

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news twenty four to seven. So I've been struggling because

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as much as I don't want to do that. Well,

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there's been some things that's happened over the last few

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few days that has gotten to me emotionally in a

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very deep way, and it's bothered me greatly. When that

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plane crashed and what sixty seven people perished, and while

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bodies were still being taken out of the river, we

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have a president of the United States of America who

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use that opportunity to blame the crash without any evidence

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on the very diversity and equality type policies that his

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administration actually started, like, I mean, we could go that

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even predates it, and he continued he didn't change them,

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what and blaming basically, Hey, this crash occurred because of

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a DEI hire. I mean, come on, it was it was.

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It was horrific. It was it was purely I mean

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it was. Oh man, it was so wrong in so

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many different ways. So do I turn on the microphone

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and talk about that and time and then try to

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go through all the fact checks and go here? I mean,

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and I did all of the research. Okay, here's the

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archive of the website. Even when Trump was under the administration,

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those same hiring policies were in place. They were right

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there on the government website. He did not change them,

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he did not remember, and all the things just proving

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everything he said was a lie. I do I want

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to do that, and and and in some ways I

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want to because well, things like the Christian Post was

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almost and many of the comments under there was supporting

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some of the things Trump was saying, even in some

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cases when it was factually in error. And it's like,

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I can't, I can't do that, So I just refused

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to broadcast. So today I'm going to use dogs and

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their lives to try to get us to this deeper conversation.

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But my awareness of everything going on around me, well,

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it's all going to fit together. So let's talk about

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dogs first, and then we'll talk about us. Let's talk

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about dogs first. All right, this was published. I've got

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an article here that was published at eight am this morning.

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Eight am this morning. Here is the headline, A dog's

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inner world is far deeper than we realize. Right, Okay,

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that's just interesting. That means maybe we should up look

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at our dogs in a different way. If there's something

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deeper going on inside of them, maybe we should have

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a better understanding of what that is. Okay, may make

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us better dog owners, maybe make us have more empathy

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or simple and Okay, it may change the way we

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see our dogs. Okay, that's interesting. But then the next

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line they speaking of dogs, they love their lives more

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than we love ours, And I'm like, well, wait a minute. Okay,

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if the dogs love their lives more than we love ours,

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then I wonder what the secret is. Well, probably the

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first secret is they're not aware of the of the

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crazy things happening in our country and the politicized nature

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of the church. Maybe all these things that bother me,

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the dog is not aware of. So I need to

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have the life of a dog because it'll be better

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than what I'm currently experiencing. Okay, well maybe maybe that's

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the case. Well let's let's try to find out what's

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going on here. Right. The article begins with this, chew

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on this. Well, that's kind of funny. Chew on this.

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It's it's about dogs, and they chew on that. Okay,

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ha ha, that's funny. All right, never mind, right, chew

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on this. A dog's life, even if that means joyfully

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and endlessly chasing squirrels, is more meaningful than a dog

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owner's life. Wow. So the dog. They love their lives

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more than we love ours, and their life is more

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meaningful than ours. So if a dog has more enjoyment,

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and if a dog has more meaning than I have

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in my life, then there's something we're doing wrong. Why

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do we not have the same level of joy and

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meaning as a dog has. Even if a dog just

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spends all day long just chasing squirrels, they're still happier

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and they have more meaning. Okay, so maybe the answer

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is I spend my life chasing squirrels. I mean, come on,

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what's the answer here? Well, this idea has been put

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forth by someone by the name of Mark Rowlands R

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O W L A n DS Mark Rowlands. He is

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a professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy at

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the University of Miami. In his latest meditation on the

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Inherent Happiness of Our K nine Companions, so he has

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spent some time, as this is referred to a meditation

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on the inherent happiness of our K nine companions, our dogs,

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our K nine companions, they have an inherent happiness. I

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don't think as humans we have an inherent happiness. I

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think we have an inherent dissatisfaction. I think we have

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an inherent lack of happiness. I think so. I mean,

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you could argue whether that's the case, but at last,

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in this case, he spent some time studying this. So

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the next paragraph, a dog loves his life with everything

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he has because it's all he has. That's a profound statement.

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A dog loves his life with everything he has because

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it's all he has. He loves his life with everything

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he has because it's all he has. That was rather

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profound when I read that. Okay, let's just take this.

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Let's kind of start bringing some of this philosophy over

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to a Christian perspective. We're supposed to love God with

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all of our heart, mind, body, and soul. Can we

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ever truly love God with all of our heart, mind, body,

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and soul? If God is not all that we have?

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As long as we have other things? Can we ever

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truly love God with all that we are? So you can't.

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Can you truly love God with all that you are

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unless God is all that you have? Let me state

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it this way. Can you love God with everything you

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have until God is all that you have? It seems

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that maybe I'm not saying that this book is obviously

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going in this direction. But it's at least putting forth

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the idea that the reason the dog loves its life

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with everything it has is because it's all he has.

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Well maybe, I mean, I think when we see the commands,

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still love God with all of our heart, mind, Boddy,

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and so again. I don't believe we will ever obey

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it in any way, shape or form. We cannot. I

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believe we're incapable. Why are we incapable of loving God

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with everything inside of us? Well, I would go, I

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would point to human depravity, But maybe there's another reason,

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because God is not all that we have. I'm just curious.

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This raises a lot of philosophical questions, right, I'm just

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curious if your life was stripped of everything, stripped of everything, right,

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no spouse, no hu, no wife, no boyfriend, no girlfriend.

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So no romantic relationship, right, we're fast approaching Valentine's Day? Right,

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no relationship, no romance, no intimacy, no person. Would you

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love God more? Or would you love God bless or

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because you were missing it? Would you become so preoccupied

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with getting it that it would actually be more detrimental

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to your Christian life? Or is it good enough to

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have it? Enough to meet some of those emotional and

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physical needs to such a level where you can focus

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on God. I don't know which way would it go.

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You have your job, you have hopes, you have dreams,

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you have expectations, you have likes, you have dislikes, you

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have all these other things. If you were to have

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everything taken from you and all you have is God,

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would then we would truly love God. So again, the

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the quote is, and I'm quoting directly here, this is

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a direct quote. A dog loves his life with everything

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he has because it's all he has, writes Rowland's And

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this is the name of the book, The Word of Dog,

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What our canine companions can teach us about living a

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good life. So you may want to look up speaking

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I hear a dog barking in the background right now,

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Say that dog barking in the background right now loves

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his life more than I love mine right now, because

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that's all he has. But the name of the book

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is the Word of Dog, What our canine companions can

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teach us about living a good life. You may want

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to look up the book right now, see if you're

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interested in purchasing it. The Word of Dog, What our

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Canine companions can teach us about living a good life.

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Maybe maybe the philosophical thing you need to focus on.

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Maybe the philosophical thing you need to meditate on right

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now is your dog. Maybe your dog is there and

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it's around you all the time, and you ignore your dog.

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You don't pay any attention to it. But maybe your

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dog is a walking, living philosophical lesson. It's an object

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lesson right there in front of us, and we don't

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pay attention to it. Now, let me continue next paragraph here. Rowlands,

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whose previous book was The Philosophy of the Wolf, offers

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not so much revelations of the inner workings of our

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faithful companions, but a philosophical message on how we can

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live a more fulfilling life inspired by the unselfish joy

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dog's experience, even in repetitive tasks such as chasing a ball.

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So the book is not so much there to help

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us understand dogs more. It's more about helping us maybe,

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or challenging us that, or at least trying to show

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us how you and I, as individuals, how we can

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live a more fulfilling life inspired by the unselfish joy

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dog's experience, even if that just means just doing over

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and over and over here chasing a ball, just over

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and over and over. A dog finds unselfish joy deep me,

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just if it finds all the things that sometimes we're lacking,

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even if it seems like a meaningless thing. That because well,

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the dog loves its life with everything it has, because

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it's all it has. Well we'll be like, well, whatever,

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well whatever, well whatever whatever whatever we I mean, I

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mean so many times, I mean there is there is

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there is a I'm already being able to see some

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truth in this, right. When you have a million movies

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available to you, do you find yourself now being much

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I don't like that. Don't like that, don't like that,

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don't like that. But if you only had a few

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available to you, don't you find greater joy when you

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have fewer things than you do when you have many things.

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I think most people find themselves having less enjoyment and

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less contentment the more they have available to them. I

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think there's some truth to that, all right, The article continues,

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If I can speak correctly, the lesson to be learned

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from dogs and the Professor's deep dive is the love

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of life and the action a dog experiences in his

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uncomplicated life. According to Roland's, dogs love their lives more

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than we love ours. That is why their lives are

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more meaningful than ours. So again, once again, it's just

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restating what's already been stated. A dog loves their life

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more than we love our lives, and a dog finds

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more meaning than we find So you look at your dog.

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That dog right there loves it's life more than you

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love yours, and that dog has more meaning in its

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life than you have in yours. That's somebody. It's like,

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come on, now, come on, I feed you, I take

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care of you. Come on, give up your lesson here

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show me why tell me how you figure that. I

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know your dog's not gonna be able to tell you this,

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but you're like, come on, if you've got this great secret,

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I need to figure it out. It goes on. The

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00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.440
article goes on. It is clear that in this two

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hundred and forty nine word treatise that one could benefit

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from a crash course in philosophy one oh one to

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comprehend some of the author's thinking. So, even though it's

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only two hundred and forty nine words, this book about

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the word of dog, it may require kind of a

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philosophy one oh one class. I don't know if you've

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ever taken a philosophy one oh one class in college,

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but I mean, I think everyone needs to have a

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basic understanding of philosoph I do because I believe so

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many times Christians don't approach things with some philosophical questions,

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and when they are, when they're confronted with philosophical questions,

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they tend to fall apart. I'm not saying philosophy provides

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us the answer, but philosophy. I mean it used to be.

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If you go back into history, you know the two

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major areas of academic study with philosophy or with theology

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and philosophy. I mean the two went hand in hand

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to some level, but we could have I think that's

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missing in a lot of Christians minds. They don't have

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a philosophical approach. And the article continues, and fair warning,

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there are no cuddling puppy tails or tips on how

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to interpret answers to typical K nine owners questions such

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as whether their dog really loves them or whether their

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four led companion is really happy. So, in other words,

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this book is not there to show you, hey, when

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your dog does this, It means this when you this

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book is not about any of that, right, this book

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is about dogs, but it's really about us and our

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approach to life instead. So this is what the book does. Instead.

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Roland leans on the deep and our philosophy. And here's

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here's the name of the philosopher. Here right, here's the

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name of the philosopher. Are you ready? Because this book

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is very much based on the philosophy of this particular

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philosophy philosopher. His name is Jean Paul Sarta Sarta. Some

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may say Sartre, but I think it's sorry now, not

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sorry sor tu. I think is how you would say

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the name Jean Paul Sarta or Sartre that I always

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want to make it the heart Sartra, but I think typically,

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especially the French French pronunciation, we kind of keep that

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final r, probably more subtle, so it would be Jean

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Paul sorta, I think is how it would be. I

348
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want to say Sartra, I almost want to say sor,

349
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I almost want to shar Tra, But sorta, I think

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is the correct way to say it. Now if I'm

351
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saying his name incorrectly, Those who have taken philosophy and

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you learn how to remember the names of the philosophers

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and state them correctly. You can correct me, okay, but

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I would say Jean Jean Paul Sarta. That's the name

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of the philosopher this book is borrowing from the philosophy

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of this particular philosopher. I cannot stress that out if

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you if you don't know the if you know the philosophy,

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and the main thing you need to know about this

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person's philosophy is that he was a key figure in

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existential philosophy, and he discussed reflective self awareness. That's the

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key reflective self awareness. Just keep that in mind, right

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because when you if you were to look at this

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book about dogs, and I still think you need to

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look at it, this idea of self awareness becomes the

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key issue. So why is a dog happy? Why is

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a dog's life more meaningful, more happy than you? Why

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does a dog love its life more than you love

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your life? Possibly because the dog may not have something

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that we have and it may deal with this idea

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of self awareness where the philosopher Jean Paul Sarta focus

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is focused on this idea. Now, the Dog book takes

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a slight detour from this philosophy. Let's go back to

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the article, because I think this is very important, all right.

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So the book leans on the deep and our philosophy

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of Jean Paul Sarta to answer those questions and to

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decipher the unspoken wisdom that dogs exhibit. Rowlands himself is

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a serial dog owner and had far more than a decade.

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He had far more than a decade when he actually

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lived with a wolf. He maintains that a dog can

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experience more joy and more human and more than a human. Okay,

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let me read this again. So he maintains that a

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00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:20.759
dog can experience more joy than a human because man's

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best friend is not burdened by what the philosophers are

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00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:37.200
to referred to as reflective self awareness reflective self awareness.

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The philosopher mentions this reflective self awareness, but Roland says,

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dogs don't have reflective self awareness. And it's reflective self

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00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:54.599
awareness which cripples us, which has such a profound impact

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on your life. In my life, we have this reflective

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00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:02.240
self awareness which literally just it's lays to waste our life.

390
00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:06.039
If it tears it apart, it cripples us, it hinders us,

391
00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:12.400
it's detrimental. So a dog doesn't have crippling self awareness.

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So therefore a dog's life, they're more happy, they have

393
00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:19.400
more joy, they love their life, they have more meaning

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00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:23.400
than we have because we have this thing called self awareness,

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crippling self awareness. Just keep this in mind, now, get

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00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.799
in the name of the book is the word of dog,

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what our canine companions can teach us about living a

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good life. And the cover has a picture of a dog.

399
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Right there again, Mark Rowland's R O W L A

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00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:45.880
N D S. You may want to look up the book.

401
00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:48.319
I'm assuming it's available on Amazon. I typically I go

402
00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:51.119
and check, but I did not. Now, he goes on

403
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:53.160
to say, so I just want man now, once I

404
00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:58.319
got to that part in the article, Hey, the issue

405
00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:01.880
between dogs and people is dogs do not have this

406
00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:06.200
crippling self awareness we do. That's why the dog enjoys

407
00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:08.160
their life more and all of those things. Once I

408
00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:11.319
saw that crippling self awareness, and that's that almost made

409
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:13.119
me leave the article and leave the book and start

410
00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:15.640
pursuing that way of thinking, which we will circle back

411
00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:22.559
around too. So I will I will go here in

412
00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.400
the book. I will at least read a little bit more.

413
00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:30.680
In the book, he argues that dogs have no capacity

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00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:36.279
for reflection, but they do have pre reflection. They know

415
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:43.079
they exist relative to other objects in space, blissfully unaware

416
00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:46.440
that it may be anything more than a moving ball

417
00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:53.039
they are chasing. Keep this in mind. So a dog

418
00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:56.920
does not have the capacity for reflection, but they do

419
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:00.960
have pre reflection. They know they exist relative to other

420
00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:05.599
objects in space, and they are blissfully unaware that it

421
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:07.960
may be anything more than a ball they are chasing.

422
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.039
They see the ball, they're chasing it. They're blissfully unaware

423
00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:15.960
of anything else. And at that point, that's that's I mean,

424
00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:20.960
that's crazy to even think about, all right. Roland writes

425
00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:26.920
that his distinctively dangerous German shepherd Shadow, who basically that

426
00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:29.960
his dog. Because of kind of how aggressive he is,

427
00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:33.119
he is typically banned from peaceful dog parks. He has

428
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:36.680
no awareness of the impact on his environment when he

429
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.640
starts fights with every male dog, assaults females, or marks

430
00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:45.200
on occupied park benches. His lack of reflection keeps him

431
00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:48.799
out of polite society. So because this dog has no

432
00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:52.720
ability to reflect well, in some cases, it leads to

433
00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:56.200
problems for everyone else, but he's blissfully unaware of it,

434
00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.480
he says. According to the author, because this, this dog Shadow,

435
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.000
and there's a picture of shadow here has the ability

436
00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:10.559
to experience pleasure in the smallest acts, chasing, chasing some

437
00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:13.480
bathing iguanas on the banks of a canal in Miami.

438
00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:17.440
He finds complete pleasure and the smallest thing in the

439
00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:19.960
smallest thing, because at that point it becomes unaware of

440
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:27.599
anything else. He never the dog, never actually catches one

441
00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:29.920
but the dog. But the big dog is willing to

442
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:35.160
repeat the game every morning, all right. And then he

443
00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:39.400
goes on, gets into some Greek mythology. Here goes on, Uh,

444
00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:44.680
now I'll skip down. Finding meaning in life is hard

445
00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:51.240
for us, but it is easy for dogs. The happiness

446
00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:55.359
of his dog shadow, the happiness that originates and erupts

447
00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:59.279
from his from his deepest nature. Meaning for us is hard,

448
00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:04.240
one achievement and one rarely attained. It is judged in

449
00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:07.559
the judged in the terms of meaning. It contains shadows.

450
00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:10.400
Life eclipses mind. So when it comes to just meaning,

451
00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:13.559
the dog finds meaning easy. It's just it kind of

452
00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:17.119
just comes from inside and just finds meaning. Where we

453
00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:20.039
try to find meaning, Maybe we try to find meaning

454
00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:23.440
in something outside of ourselves. Maybe we and so as

455
00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:26.000
a result, the dog's life has more meaning than us

456
00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:36.200
because meaning is something elusive that we are chasing. It

457
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:39.720
goes on to say that dogs are both actors and

458
00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:43.880
authors of their lives, and not spectators or critics, unlike humans,

459
00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:47.039
who are creatures of reflection and doubt that in time

460
00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:51.079
can possibly riddle one with cancer. The author interprets meaning

461
00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:54.079
and life as authentic happiness, and that the lives of

462
00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:57.200
dogs are typically more meaningful and filled with more love

463
00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:59.960
than the lives of humans because they are not burn

464
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:07.440
by reflection and have only one life to live. So

465
00:30:07.640 --> 00:30:10.960
it gets deep into this concept. Whether whether you agree

466
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:14.640
or disagree, it brings up some radical points. So I

467
00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:19.359
can go on here and I could read more about it.

468
00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:24.200
But yeah, the last paragraph says meaning in life exists

469
00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:28.599
wherever happiness erupts from nature. If you want to know

470
00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:32.160
the meaning of life, get a dog, because dogs lead

471
00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:36.039
more meaningful lives than we do. Working out why this

472
00:30:36.119 --> 00:30:38.319
is so is what the book is all about. So

473
00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:40.640
why do dogs have more meaning in their life than

474
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.880
you do? Well? The book again, the name of the

475
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:46.440
book is entitled The Word of Dog. It's about that.

476
00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:49.480
Now you you may think this is just philosophical nonsense.

477
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.279
You may think it's ridiculous, and I understand, especially many

478
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:54.599
Christians are going to say this is stupid, this is stupid,

479
00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:58.599
But you're missing the point. It's not about whether you

480
00:30:58.680 --> 00:31:01.599
agree about dogs having a mean life. If they're more happy,

481
00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:05.359
you can disregard the dog. It's about the fact that

482
00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.599
we possess something that all of us, at least will

483
00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:13.319
We can all agree on this. We possess self awareness.

484
00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:20.279
Because we possess self awareness, that's the very thing that

485
00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:24.440
cripples us, that's the very thing that can be detrimental

486
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:28.640
to us. And that's why dogs, according to this philosophical perspective,

487
00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:32.799
their lives are ultimately better than us and our lives

488
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:40.839
because they don't have this self awareness. So I started

489
00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:43.240
doing a little bit of work on this subject, right,

490
00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:45.640
I started doing a little bit of work. So I

491
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:52.519
spent some time looking at Jean Paul Sarta his discussion

492
00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:56.039
about self awareness. He has a work called Being in Nothingness,

493
00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:59.400
and he distinguishes between two modes of consciousness. I'm not

494
00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:02.240
going to get into all of his philosophy here, so

495
00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:05.720
I'm just going I'm just gonna skip past all of

496
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:07.640
that because there was a lot of work. I did that.

497
00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:11.880
But in the book The Word of Dog, it is

498
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:14.960
argued that self awareness is a thing that cripples us.

499
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:17.480
So I had to do a little bit of work here,

500
00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:24.720
all right. So in the Word of Dog it appears

501
00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:28.880
to explore philosophical themes related to human self awareness and

502
00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:32.759
how dogs by contrast. No, please note this, all right.

503
00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:36.160
So it's this idea of self awareness that's what we're

504
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:40.000
really talking about, right. The dog discussion just gets us

505
00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:46.119
to our self awareness. When we consider self awareness, dogs,

506
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:55.599
by contrast, embody a more immediate and unburdened way of living. Rowlands,

507
00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:59.000
a philosopher known for his work on animals and consciousness,

508
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:02.720
has previously argue that human self awareness can be a

509
00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:10.039
source of suffering. It leads to existential anxiety, regret, and

510
00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:17.839
over analysis, where dogs live more instinctively in the present moment. So,

511
00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:21.440
once again, the whole philosophy this writer brings to the

512
00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:23.880
concept of self awareness. Let me listen to it again.

513
00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:31.920
That self awareness is the source of suffering because self

514
00:33:31.960 --> 00:33:39.839
awareness leads to existential anxiety, leads to regret, and it

515
00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:46.279
leads to over analysis where a dog just lives instinctively

516
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.279
in the present. The dog doesn't live in the past.

517
00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:54.359
Dog doesn't live in the future, lives in the present.

518
00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:57.799
Now see, now we can start moving past the dog.

519
00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:01.279
Now you're like, wait a minute, this is sounding I

520
00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:11.079
think I can see where this is going. All right, now,

521
00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:13.920
so let's look at this idea of how self awareness.

522
00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:15.679
So I want to I want to go into more

523
00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:18.199
detail there about the book and about the philosophy. But

524
00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:22.559
let's move past the philosophy. Let's just now forget everything else, right,

525
00:34:22.599 --> 00:34:26.119
that's that's that's just the car that drove us here.

526
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:28.079
Now now we can get out of the car, all right,

527
00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:31.639
the whole discussion about dogs and all of that that

528
00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:33.199
gets us to where we are. Now we can get

529
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:35.480
out of the car and we're gonna pull over at

530
00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:39.599
at a rest stop here on the highway called self awareness.

531
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:43.079
Let's spend some time looking and considering self awareness, all right.

532
00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:52.679
Self awareness is often seen as one of humanity's greatest

533
00:34:53.119 --> 00:35:03.360
cognitive abilities, but it can be absolutely crippling, especially from

534
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:08.039
a philosophical perspective, from a psychological perspective, and from an

535
00:35:09.239 --> 00:35:13.159
uh and from many, maybe many other perspectives. More so,

536
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:17.960
from a philosophical and psychological perspective. Self awareness is this

537
00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:21.480
amazing ability that we as humans possess that dogs may not.

538
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:25.320
But because we possess this, and we we would argue,

539
00:35:25.320 --> 00:35:27.599
I think from a believing that we're created by God,

540
00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:30.599
that we were given self awareness. That's the idea that

541
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:33.199
we became a living soul. God breathed into us when

542
00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:36.199
we became a living soul. That self awareness is a

543
00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:40.719
part of that that makes us distinct from animals. And

544
00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:43.760
we may say this is an amazing thing. But when

545
00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:47.840
you have something that can be amazing you, sometimes we

546
00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:51.239
may not. We may overlook all of the problems that

547
00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:59.320
it can cause us. Jean Paul Sarta if I'm saying

548
00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:03.639
his last name, and other philosophers I could go, I

549
00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:06.480
could go name a number a number of philosophers. They

550
00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:10.519
tend to argue that self awareness forces us to confront

551
00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:18.559
our own freedom, responsibility, and mortality. See, unlike animals, we

552
00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:23.119
don't just act. We typically reflect on our actions. We

553
00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:26.400
typically reflect on the meaning of those actions. Sometimes we

554
00:36:26.440 --> 00:36:30.079
reflect on the consequences of those actions. And when you

555
00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:37.559
all of this reflection leads to paralysis by analysis. We overthink,

556
00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:43.000
we overthink our decisions, we fear regret, and we become

557
00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:48.159
stuck and an action. We tend to overthink, we tend

558
00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:52.719
to overanalyze, we fear, we don't Oh if I do this,

559
00:36:52.760 --> 00:36:54.920
I'm gonna regret it. Don't do this? Oh wait wait,

560
00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:59.840
and sometimes we get stuck. Indirection or inaction I should

561
00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:02.119
say probably not in direction and action would be the

562
00:37:02.199 --> 00:37:04.840
exact word. I said. Indirection and action would be the

563
00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:08.440
right word. Correct. I think that would be correct. I

564
00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:11.400
think we can agree with that. We can become paralyzed.

565
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:13.079
What do I do? What do I do? What do

566
00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:14.800
I do? What do I do? What do I do?

567
00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:18.199
What do I do? Because you're because you're over analyzing it,

568
00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:21.360
you're overthinking it. I do that a lot of times.

569
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:23.840
I Mean, I always try to be very transparent with

570
00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:27.559
the podcast, right, I'm constantly like, so do I keep

571
00:37:27.559 --> 00:37:29.400
doing the podcast? Do I not do the podcast? Well?

572
00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:31.199
Why do I? Well? If I don't stop the podcast,

573
00:37:31.239 --> 00:37:33.400
I can regret stopping the podcast. Well, what about this?

574
00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:35.039
What about this? What about that? What do why do

575
00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:36.920
I do this? Well? How would it impact me this way?

576
00:37:36.920 --> 00:37:41.840
What about do I broadcast today? Well? If I broadcast today,

577
00:37:41.960 --> 00:37:44.559
say I'm so preoccupied with this Trump situation and I

578
00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:45.880
don't want to do this, and I don't want to

579
00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:47.400
do that, and I don't want to become this, and

580
00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:49.039
I don't want to become that. And well if I

581
00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:50.599
talk about this, and I'm going to tick off people,

582
00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:52.079
and do I want to find myself in the middle

583
00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:54.400
of controversy where everybody's getting ticked off? And then what

584
00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:56.519
if I do if I offend the remaining audience that

585
00:37:56.559 --> 00:37:58.199
I have, Well, what about this? And what about Oh?

586
00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:01.280
Just just like boom boom boo, boom boom, slap myself

587
00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:07.119
fifteen times and say stop. That's all because of self awareness.

588
00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:14.079
Dread of mortality. Being aware of.

589
00:38:14.039 --> 00:38:21.079
Our inevitable death can create anxiety or even a sense

590
00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:26.000
of nihilism, right, being nihilistic, just being like nothing matters.

591
00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:29.360
I'm going to die anyway. Okay, if you've been listening

592
00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:31.920
to the podcast, you know, you know I've been talking

593
00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:34.760
about that. I probably have maybe ten years left of

594
00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:37.800
my life, maybe maybe getting close to nine years. Maybe

595
00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:40.480
because if I look at the history of my family

596
00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:44.800
line and when everyone died, I've already outlived my way

597
00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:47.840
outlived my mother, way outlived my mother because she died

598
00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:52.039
so young. Okay, I mean I say, hmm, I don't

599
00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:54.079
think I get past this. I don't, and if I don't,

600
00:38:54.280 --> 00:38:57.119
I could go through all the other things that I

601
00:38:57.159 --> 00:38:59.480
looked at. My one of my daughters was looking at

602
00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:02.840
my family life. She's like, you're not going to get

603
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:07.239
past this age, right, So that's being aware, right at

604
00:39:07.239 --> 00:39:09.800
some point in life. It may not you may not

605
00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:12.199
be there yet, but one day you're going to wake up.

606
00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:13.559
I don't know what day it's going to be, and

607
00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:19.519
you're going to kind of look and go, hmm, well,

608
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.440
if I look at the calendar, I got fewer years

609
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:27.719
in front of me than I do behind me right

610
00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:31.079
now now, because when in some stages of your life,

611
00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:34.920
you're just looking at moving on to the next thing, right,

612
00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:38.960
you're not considering how you're moving towards your death. Now.

613
00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:41.280
Of course we could pass away at any time, but

614
00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:44.159
I'm saying, you become very aware because of our self awareness. Right.

615
00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:46.480
I'll never forget. I was I was going to the

616
00:39:46.719 --> 00:39:51.440
uh VA Hospital in Big Springs, Texas, and I was

617
00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:54.519
listening to just a number of podcasts on the on

618
00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:56.679
the way there, and I was listening to a lot

619
00:39:56.719 --> 00:39:59.519
of podcasts about reading and books, and it was this

620
00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:04.320
mother and daughter right talking about how many books they

621
00:40:04.360 --> 00:40:06.760
read a year and how they read together, and the

622
00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:09.840
mother made this like profound statement that was so depressing.

623
00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:12.000
She was like, you know, I've kind of made the

624
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:13.320
list of books that I want to read, and I

625
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:16.400
kind of realized these are probably going to be the

626
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:19.320
last books I ever read. Based on her age, based

627
00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:23.079
on about life expectancy, that her list. She may never

628
00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:24.960
even get to that list, but if she even was

629
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:27.599
to get through that list, that's probably it. Those are

630
00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:29.920
going to be the last book she's ever going to read.

631
00:40:29.960 --> 00:40:33.000
And she got somewhat emotional because she loves reading. She's like,

632
00:40:33.079 --> 00:40:39.280
this is probably it's that's a profoundly, like, you know,

633
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:42.679
depressing thing. I mean, if I take my love for

634
00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:45.440
music and I'm like, if I was like, I'll probably

635
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:47.639
like this is going to be the year where these

636
00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:50.440
will be the last albums I will ever hear Like that,

637
00:40:50.840 --> 00:40:55.800
that's self awareness. So we can become paralyzed with over analysis,

638
00:40:55.800 --> 00:40:58.000
and we can begin to develop a sense of dread

639
00:40:58.519 --> 00:41:01.639
over our mortality or maybe kind of just a nihilistic

640
00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:07.440
kind of just like it's all coming to an end. Oh,

641
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:11.079
and then because of our self awareness, we can develop

642
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:16.440
a fear of meaninglessness. We begin to feel maybe there's

643
00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:19.719
no inherent meaning to life. Maybe we then feel the

644
00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:22.679
need that we have to create that meaning. Then this

645
00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:27.159
can become overwhelming. You become overwhelmed. Well, I think there's

646
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:30.000
meaning in this, But am I just creating this meaning?

647
00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:31.960
And if I'm the one to create the meaning, then

648
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:34.719
does the meaning really have meaning? Oh? No, so then

649
00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:38.119
that can become overwhelming. Now I think the more self

650
00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:46.719
aware one is, the more problematic these things become. You

651
00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:50.920
see psychology and psychology, it would be argued that if

652
00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:55.280
you have an excessive self consciousness, if you really have

653
00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.719
a self consciousness that's kind of kicked into high gear,

654
00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:05.039
it can ultimately detrimental. See, when you become too focused

655
00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:11.519
on yourself, we may feel constantly that we're being judged

656
00:42:11.559 --> 00:42:15.920
by everyone. Right. This can lead to social anxiety, can

657
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:19.199
lead to shame, It can lead to a distorted self perception.

658
00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:21.719
If you're constantly thinking everyone thinks this, and everyone thinks this,

659
00:42:21.880 --> 00:42:24.679
and everyone thinks this, and everyone thinks this about you,

660
00:42:24.679 --> 00:42:28.000
you're gonna feel constantly judged by everyone. Even if you're

661
00:42:28.039 --> 00:42:30.679
not being judged, you're just gonna constantly think you're being

662
00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:34.800
judged because you're such You're kind of your self consciousness

663
00:42:34.840 --> 00:42:37.840
has been kicked into high gear. Your self awareness been

664
00:42:37.880 --> 00:42:44.760
kicked into high gear. You can begin to develop unrealistic

665
00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:50.519
standards for yourself, you begin to compare yourself to others,

666
00:42:51.159 --> 00:42:55.920
or you have kind of an idealized version of yourself,

667
00:42:56.239 --> 00:42:58.400
and it will I mean, you can say, here's what

668
00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:00.800
I want to be, this is what I should be like,

669
00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:04.840
this is kind of the idea, your ideal, idealized idea.

670
00:43:04.960 --> 00:43:07.599
You're you're kind of like you're I almost want to

671
00:43:07.639 --> 00:43:10.880
say the idol of what you create, an idol of

672
00:43:10.920 --> 00:43:13.800
what you think you should be, which is whatever you

673
00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:16.599
may be, perfect or whatever the case may be. And

674
00:43:16.599 --> 00:43:19.360
then you're never gonna get there, so you're gonna result

675
00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:23.000
in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction. You may have kind

676
00:43:23.000 --> 00:43:27.000
of an idealized way of how you should look, Well,

677
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:29.360
guess what, no matter how you think you should look,

678
00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:33.760
no matter how you want to look, here's the inevitable reality.

679
00:43:34.159 --> 00:43:42.119
Life age is going to radically transform that idealized way

680
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:44.920
that you think you should look, that that ideal way

681
00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:47.800
that you it's going to destroy that, it's gonna you're

682
00:43:47.800 --> 00:43:49.440
gonna wake up one day, look in the mirror and go,

683
00:43:49.559 --> 00:43:51.840
what happened? Well, now what do you do? You've got

684
00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:54.559
to you are confronted with a reality that never will

685
00:43:54.599 --> 00:43:56.679
live up to the ideal of what you want to

686
00:43:56.719 --> 00:44:01.519
look like and the way you want to be. You may,

687
00:44:01.760 --> 00:44:04.480
in your mind, want to always be this way, and

688
00:44:04.519 --> 00:44:07.719
you can go all kinds of things about your physicality

689
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:11.000
or height, whatever they do, whatever, and you may and

690
00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:16.679
you'll live in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction. I think

691
00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:19.639
in the same way this can happen religiously. You have

692
00:44:19.679 --> 00:44:22.000
this ideal idea that this is the way you're going

693
00:44:22.039 --> 00:44:23.519
to be as a Christian, and you're going to be,

694
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:25.519
and when you don't ever get to that level of

695
00:44:25.559 --> 00:44:27.760
perfection that you think you want to be, you're going

696
00:44:27.840 --> 00:44:30.920
to find yourself becoming perpetually dissatisfied. And that's why I

697
00:44:30.920 --> 00:44:34.199
think the Gospel is very key here, the actual Gospel,

698
00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:40.440
not this you know, corrupted gospels that still become about

699
00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:47.239
self and your performance. I think what happens when you

700
00:44:47.280 --> 00:44:51.440
have this excessive self consciousness, this excessive self awareness, I

701
00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:55.519
think you begin to struggle with being authentic. You try

702
00:44:55.559 --> 00:45:00.239
to construct an acceptable self, and it can make you

703
00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:05.199
feel completely disconnected from who you truly are. You try

704
00:45:05.239 --> 00:45:08.679
to create this idea of what you should be, and

705
00:45:08.719 --> 00:45:11.280
you're no longer becoming authentic to who you are. You're

706
00:45:11.320 --> 00:45:17.159
trying to always be something you're not. Again. I think

707
00:45:17.159 --> 00:45:20.719
this is very I think this is a problem in Christianity.

708
00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:23.880
We can't ever be authentic. We always got to pretend

709
00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:27.000
to be holy and righteous and God because we can't

710
00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:28.800
be like, well, I really feel this way, and I

711
00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:30.719
really desire this, and I really think this, and I

712
00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:43.199
really because this self awareness it cripples us because it

713
00:45:43.239 --> 00:45:46.519
gives us the burden of anxiety. And we talked about

714
00:45:46.639 --> 00:45:50.840
the paralysis of over analysis or paralysis by analysis, this

715
00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:54.559
dread of mortality, this fear of meaninglessness. We talked about

716
00:45:54.599 --> 00:45:57.039
almost this tyranny of the self. I think we could

717
00:45:57.039 --> 00:46:00.639
refer to it as that the successive self consciousness which

718
00:46:00.719 --> 00:46:06.320
leads to feeling constantly judged, developing unrealistic self standards, and

719
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:10.320
we begin to struggle with being authentic. This leads to

720
00:46:10.440 --> 00:46:17.599
emotional suffering and regret. See, unlike an animal, humans, we

721
00:46:17.639 --> 00:46:23.880
relive the past. We relive past everything over and over

722
00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:29.760
and over, and we typically begin to anticipate future failures,

723
00:46:29.960 --> 00:46:34.719
future problems. So we relive past and we almost anticipate

724
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:37.360
negative future. Well, this is going to lead to a

725
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:44.239
lot of suffering and regret. This temporal self awareness contributes

726
00:46:44.280 --> 00:46:47.960
to guilt and regret. We dwell on past choices, often

727
00:46:48.039 --> 00:46:50.639
unable to move forward. We have a fear of the future.

728
00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:54.039
We anticipate failure or hardship. That makes us hesitant to act.

729
00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:57.119
And then this leads to what many refer to as

730
00:46:57.119 --> 00:47:01.760
an imposter syndrome. Well, we question whether we truly are competent,

731
00:47:02.039 --> 00:47:05.119
even when evidence suggests otherwise. We begin to question, well,

732
00:47:05.159 --> 00:47:08.079
am I really? Am I really this? Am I really that?

733
00:47:09.039 --> 00:47:23.800
And we begin to question everything. See Jean Paul start

734
00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:29.719
to He describes how self awareness is shaped by others perceptions. Well,

735
00:47:29.760 --> 00:47:35.280
that's oh see, I don't I'm not a fan of this. See.

736
00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:38.639
When we realize that others see and judge us, we

737
00:47:38.679 --> 00:47:41.079
may start experiencing a couple of things. We may experience

738
00:47:41.079 --> 00:47:43.800
a loss of freedom. We begin to act not for

739
00:47:43.880 --> 00:47:48.559
ourselves but to fit into societal expectations. So I can't

740
00:47:48.599 --> 00:47:53.519
stand that, right, No, other people's perceptions, other people's thoughts,

741
00:47:53.760 --> 00:47:58.000
other people should not impact my freedom. In fact, I

742
00:47:58.039 --> 00:48:01.199
almost want to rebel and people or expect that I'm

743
00:48:01.199 --> 00:48:02.920
not gonna do what you want. I'm not gonna do

744
00:48:02.920 --> 00:48:05.360
what you think. I'm gonna do the opposite. I can't

745
00:48:05.400 --> 00:48:08.000
stand that. But a lot of people experience that, and

746
00:48:08.039 --> 00:48:13.159
we The same thing happens within christiendom. You enter into christiandom,

747
00:48:13.320 --> 00:48:16.840
there are these expectations placed upon you, so you begin

748
00:48:16.880 --> 00:48:22.000
to act for them as set of for you. We

749
00:48:22.079 --> 00:48:27.239
deceive ourselves, typically into thinking we are defined by our roles.

750
00:48:27.559 --> 00:48:29.440
I must be this kind of person, or I must

751
00:48:29.440 --> 00:48:32.320
do this. But because we want to be defined by

752
00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:34.599
something and think, so we look for something to give

753
00:48:34.679 --> 00:48:39.679
us a definition of about ourselves. And so then what

754
00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:45.199
happens is we become disconnected from our true self. Because

755
00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:48.400
we're playing a role in society. We become we almost

756
00:48:48.440 --> 00:48:51.039
become so disconnected with our true self. I don't ever

757
00:48:51.119 --> 00:48:53.159
know if we even know who our true self really is,

758
00:48:53.559 --> 00:48:57.480
because we're so preoccupied by because we become so self aware,

759
00:48:57.800 --> 00:49:00.320
and then we become self aware of other people. And

760
00:49:00.360 --> 00:49:03.159
then now, oh see, dogs don't have any of these issues.

761
00:49:06.320 --> 00:49:08.760
Now you contrast this with animals and the book The

762
00:49:08.800 --> 00:49:13.079
Word of dog. It suggests that animals, specifically dogs, are

763
00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:16.119
free from the burdens of reflective self awareness, that don't

764
00:49:16.119 --> 00:49:20.239
agonize over past mistakes, that don't worry about an abstract future. Instead,

765
00:49:20.519 --> 00:49:25.840
they live directly in the moment. Now, this fits perfectly

766
00:49:26.119 --> 00:49:30.159
with philosophies. Basically, Buddhism is the first one that comes

767
00:49:30.199 --> 00:49:32.280
to my mind. I probably could, I could probably think

768
00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:36.599
of some others, but I think there's a Christian connection here.

769
00:49:38.760 --> 00:49:42.480
Now I could go look at some philosophical and psychological

770
00:49:42.519 --> 00:49:44.079
ways to deal with this, but I want to look

771
00:49:44.079 --> 00:49:48.440
at it from a philological perspective. All right, I want

772
00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:50.400
to look at it from a philological perspective. Now we've

773
00:49:50.440 --> 00:49:52.840
taken a lot, so we pulled over. We spent some

774
00:49:52.960 --> 00:49:55.320
time on the side of the road dealing with a

775
00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:57.360
self awareness. Now we get back in the car. We

776
00:49:57.519 --> 00:49:59.559
drive down a little way. Oh, there's an exit, and

777
00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:03.039
it's philological consideration. Let's stop here at this building called

778
00:50:03.239 --> 00:50:05.639
Maybe we'll say as a church. Right, I know churches

779
00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:08.400
don't really do theology, but we'll pretend that this church does.

780
00:50:08.480 --> 00:50:12.320
So we're gonna walk into a church and say, hey, self, Now,

781
00:50:12.719 --> 00:50:16.119
dogs got us to that stop on self awareness. We

782
00:50:16.159 --> 00:50:18.280
spend a lot of time talking about self awareness and

783
00:50:18.320 --> 00:50:21.280
all the problems it can cause. Now, let's consider things

784
00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:25.039
from a philological perspective. All right, When you look at

785
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:30.000
Biblical theology and it comes to the subject of self awareness,

786
00:50:30.559 --> 00:50:36.119
all right, Biblical theology would address both the burden and

787
00:50:36.199 --> 00:50:39.960
the redemption of human self consciousness. So I think the

788
00:50:39.960 --> 00:50:46.000
Bible would acknowledge the burden self awareness has self consciousness has,

789
00:50:46.679 --> 00:50:49.559
but it would also talk maybe about the redemption of it.

790
00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:58.559
The Bible, I think, recognizes that self awareness is crippling. Now,

791
00:50:58.719 --> 00:51:04.320
is self awareness crippling just as self awareness alone? Or

792
00:51:04.440 --> 00:51:07.840
is self awareness crippling because of our sinful nature? That's

793
00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:10.039
a question we have. I haven't even bothered to even

794
00:51:10.239 --> 00:51:14.760
begin to scratch the surface on that. I think Biblical

795
00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:21.000
theology provides a framework for overcoming the negative effects of

796
00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:26.320
self awareness, and I think the key is identity in Christ.

797
00:51:27.159 --> 00:51:30.000
Let's let's consider all of this, right, Let's consider the

798
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:36.239
burden of existential anxiety. Existentialists like the philosopher that we've

799
00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:40.159
talked about. They argue that self awareness forces us to

800
00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:45.159
confront our to confront our freedom, our mortality, and meaningless.

801
00:51:46.719 --> 00:51:48.599
I think I think that they acknowre that we are

802
00:51:48.639 --> 00:51:51.960
confronted because we're self aware. We are confronted with the

803
00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:53.960
concept of freedom. Can I do what I want? Kind

804
00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:56.000
of act? I gotta worry about other people, et cetera,

805
00:51:56.039 --> 00:52:00.159
et cetera. Mortality, I'm going to die meaningless to have

806
00:52:00.199 --> 00:52:02.960
any meaning in life? Do I create my own meaning?

807
00:52:03.079 --> 00:52:05.559
All of those types of things. The Bible seems to

808
00:52:05.599 --> 00:52:10.280
at least acknowledge some of this anxiety. Mark Chapter eight,

809
00:52:10.360 --> 00:52:12.920
verse thirty six. For what does it profit a man

810
00:52:13.119 --> 00:52:17.199
to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Well,

811
00:52:17.199 --> 00:52:19.679
that seems to argue, Hey, look, look what's more important.

812
00:52:19.920 --> 00:52:22.360
All of these things are your own soul. Well, that

813
00:52:22.440 --> 00:52:25.000
seems to now be pointing you in a specific direction.

814
00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:30.880
It deals with mortality. P. One hundred and forty four

815
00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:33.840
to four. Man is like breath, His days are like

816
00:52:33.880 --> 00:52:38.599
a passing shadow. The Bible acknowledges the futility, the vanity,

817
00:52:39.039 --> 00:52:41.679
the shortness of life. It's here and it's gone. Okay.

818
00:52:41.679 --> 00:52:45.400
The Bible seems to acknowledge these things. Hebrews nine twenty

819
00:52:45.440 --> 00:52:49.880
seven would then add a different thing. It is appointed

820
00:52:49.920 --> 00:52:52.360
for man to die once and after that the judgment

821
00:52:52.480 --> 00:52:55.880
it adds this new thing to be concerned with right judgment.

822
00:52:59.480 --> 00:53:04.119
The Bible seems to not just leave humans alone and

823
00:53:04.239 --> 00:53:06.880
this awareness. Right. The Bible doesn't just say, hey, these

824
00:53:06.880 --> 00:53:09.000
are things that we are aware of. These are things

825
00:53:09.000 --> 00:53:12.719
that we deal with. Here's some realities. Right, do you

826
00:53:12.760 --> 00:53:15.840
go after all of this lose your own soul or

827
00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:17.760
do you focus on your soul at the expense of

828
00:53:17.800 --> 00:53:20.639
all of this? Life is short. Oh, there is death

829
00:53:20.679 --> 00:53:23.800
and then there's judgment. But the Bible seems to not

830
00:53:23.880 --> 00:53:28.599
just leave us with this awareness of these things. Ecclesiastes

831
00:53:28.639 --> 00:53:31.719
twelve thirteen seems to show that meaning is found in God,

832
00:53:32.159 --> 00:53:37.880
not something that we can construct. Ecclesiastes twelve thirteen. Fear

833
00:53:37.920 --> 00:53:40.199
God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole

834
00:53:40.280 --> 00:53:42.280
duty of man. That if you look at the book

835
00:53:42.280 --> 00:53:44.880
of Ecclesiastes, which is basically a journal when someone is

836
00:53:44.920 --> 00:53:48.639
attempting to find meaning, Ultimately the meaning is found in God,

837
00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:51.320
not in self, not in a self something that we

838
00:53:51.400 --> 00:53:54.880
have to construct meaning or create meaning. It's found in God.

839
00:53:54.960 --> 00:53:58.079
But again, can we ever truly find meaning in God

840
00:53:58.360 --> 00:54:00.519
unless God is all that we have, Because as long

841
00:54:00.559 --> 00:54:02.679
as we have everything else, you're going to find some

842
00:54:02.880 --> 00:54:05.480
sense of meaning, some sense of identity, and all of

843
00:54:05.519 --> 00:54:07.840
these other things. So I think that's always going to

844
00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:13.639
be a problem. Obviously, the idea of mortality is addressed

845
00:54:14.280 --> 00:54:17.239
in Christianity. Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life.

846
00:54:17.280 --> 00:54:19.960
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he

847
00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.039
live John eleven twenty five. So mortality so meaning is

848
00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:27.960
supposedly found in God. From a Christian perspective, mortality is

849
00:54:28.039 --> 00:54:32.320
answered in eternal life, which is found in Christ. Freedom

850
00:54:32.400 --> 00:54:35.360
is not terrifying, but directed by God's sovereignty. Trust in

851
00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:36.760
the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean

852
00:54:36.760 --> 00:54:40.360
on your own understanding. So we don't worry about our freedom.

853
00:54:40.719 --> 00:54:43.400
We surrender it to God's sovereignty. But that still leads

854
00:54:43.400 --> 00:54:53.599
to lots of questions. Now if we look at it

855
00:54:53.599 --> 00:54:56.920
from a philological perspective, this idea of the tyranny of self,

856
00:54:56.920 --> 00:55:02.320
which we've already discussed see modern psychology and modern philosophy,

857
00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:07.360
suggests that an excessive self consciousness leads to anxiety and security,

858
00:55:07.519 --> 00:55:13.159
and being an authentic the Bible seems to acknowledge this problem.

859
00:55:13.159 --> 00:55:15.960
The heart is deceitful above all things and is desperately

860
00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:20.920
sick who can understand it as Jeremiah seventeen nine. So

861
00:55:21.400 --> 00:55:24.760
the hardest, deceitful above all things, and is desperately wicked,

862
00:55:24.800 --> 00:55:28.079
according to some translations, and who can understand it? Roman

863
00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:30.119
seven twenty four. Wretched man that I am? Who will

864
00:55:30.119 --> 00:55:33.639
deliver me from this body of death? The Bible seems

865
00:55:33.639 --> 00:55:36.280
to state that there's this additional problem. It's just not

866
00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:42.760
this excessive self consciousness, excessive self awareness, it's this depraved

867
00:55:42.800 --> 00:55:50.000
nature inside of us. The Bible argues that rather than

868
00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:55.400
defining ourselves by personal achievement or our societal roles, the

869
00:55:55.440 --> 00:55:58.039
Bible tells us to find our identity in Christ. We

870
00:55:58.159 --> 00:56:00.519
are not our own. You are not your for you

871
00:56:00.559 --> 00:56:03.360
were bought with a price on Corinthians sixth nineteen through twenty.

872
00:56:04.119 --> 00:56:06.920
You don't your identity is no longer found and who

873
00:56:06.960 --> 00:56:09.000
you are, what you are, what you look like, what

874
00:56:09.039 --> 00:56:11.639
you do, what you don't do, whether you fail, don't fail.

875
00:56:11.800 --> 00:56:14.960
It's not even Your identity is not even found in

876
00:56:15.159 --> 00:56:17.199
how good of a Christian you are in the eyes

877
00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:19.880
of other people. None of that really matters. Your identity

878
00:56:19.960 --> 00:56:27.800
is found in Christ. We Again, this is positionally speaking,

879
00:56:28.679 --> 00:56:32.039
we are new creations. We are not defined by our past.

880
00:56:32.400 --> 00:56:34.159
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,

881
00:56:34.239 --> 00:56:36.119
the oldest pasted away. Behold all things that become new

882
00:56:36.159 --> 00:56:39.480
Sewo Corinthians five seventeen. That is positioned. Practically, I'm still

883
00:56:39.519 --> 00:56:42.079
the same old person, but positionally I'm completely new. That's

884
00:56:42.119 --> 00:56:49.880
a completely different identity. Our worth is found in God's love,

885
00:56:50.039 --> 00:56:54.440
not human approval. See what kind of love the Father

886
00:56:54.480 --> 00:56:56.199
has given to us that we should be called the

887
00:56:56.280 --> 00:56:58.320
children of God? And so we are first John three

888
00:56:58.320 --> 00:57:04.360
to one. Existentialists may we say we must create meaning.

889
00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:06.760
The Bible teaches that meaning is given by God. This

890
00:57:07.000 --> 00:57:10.239
liberates us from the tyranny of self invention. We don't.

891
00:57:10.440 --> 00:57:13.880
We're not bound by self tyranny because we give all

892
00:57:13.880 --> 00:57:16.719
of that up. And what do we find? Well, everything

893
00:57:16.800 --> 00:57:19.840
is found in Christ. Everything is found there. Our identity

894
00:57:19.920 --> 00:57:23.400
is there, Meaning is there, eternal life is there. Everything

895
00:57:23.440 --> 00:57:34.760
is that, purpose is there. The philosophy leads us to

896
00:57:34.800 --> 00:57:38.559
this idea of emotional suffering and regret. Humans uniquely relive

897
00:57:38.639 --> 00:57:42.320
past mistakes fear of future failures, and it leads to guilt, regret,

898
00:57:42.360 --> 00:57:44.800
and anxiety. But what does the Bible say for when

899
00:57:44.800 --> 00:57:47.719
I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning

900
00:57:47.760 --> 00:57:51.119
all day long Psalm thirty two to three. Who can

901
00:57:51.159 --> 00:57:53.679
say I have made my heart pure, I can clean

902
00:57:53.800 --> 00:57:57.599
from sin Proverbs twenty nine. The Bible acknowledges this guilt.

903
00:57:57.800 --> 00:58:02.400
Bible acknowledges this shame. The Bible presents forgiveness as far

904
00:58:02.480 --> 00:58:04.880
as the east is from the west, So far does

905
00:58:04.920 --> 00:58:08.320
He remove our transgressions from us Psalm one three twelve.

906
00:58:08.719 --> 00:58:10.800
God removes all of our sin as far as the

907
00:58:10.840 --> 00:58:13.000
east is from the west. We find complete and perfect

908
00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:21.800
forgiveness in Christ. Philippians four sixes. Do not be anxious

909
00:58:21.800 --> 00:58:24.880
about anything, but in everything by prayer as supplication, with thanksgiving,

910
00:58:24.960 --> 00:58:28.039
Let your requests be made known to God. So future

911
00:58:28.039 --> 00:58:31.320
anxiety is done away with. We don't have the burden

912
00:58:31.360 --> 00:58:33.800
of our own redemption. We are redeemed by the work

913
00:58:33.800 --> 00:58:38.000
of Christ, not by what we do. So and our

914
00:58:38.039 --> 00:58:40.920
guilt is completely removed. So a lot of these things

915
00:58:40.920 --> 00:58:44.199
that self awareness should lead to we find the answer

916
00:58:44.239 --> 00:59:06.000
in Christ. Got pages and pages of notes here. Existentialism,

917
00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:07.800
which is kind of the philosophy that we're kind of

918
00:59:07.800 --> 00:59:11.760
dealing with here, tends to leave humans with freedom but

919
00:59:11.840 --> 00:59:16.320
no comfort. That because we must end up creating meaning

920
00:59:16.400 --> 00:59:19.599
in a meaningless world, where biblical theology presents a completely

921
00:59:19.599 --> 00:59:24.320
different solution. The Bible would say self awareness is crippling,

922
00:59:24.719 --> 00:59:27.480
but this is because of sin and our broken relationship

923
00:59:27.519 --> 00:59:33.119
with God. So how the Bible tends to approach us is, yes,

924
00:59:33.159 --> 00:59:36.159
we have self awareness. The reason it's crippling is because

925
00:59:36.159 --> 00:59:39.239
of sin. Sin is the reason that make self awareness crippling.

926
00:59:39.320 --> 00:59:47.199
That's interesting. The answer from a Biblical perspective is not

927
00:59:47.320 --> 00:59:49.800
to escape self awareness. We don't leave it, we don't

928
00:59:49.840 --> 00:59:54.039
abandon it, but we read direct a self awareness to God.

929
00:59:54.199 --> 00:59:58.920
We become God aware instead of self aware. And meaning

930
00:59:59.199 --> 01:00:03.199
is not something we construct. It is revealed by God

931
01:00:03.280 --> 01:00:08.480
and fulfilled in Christ. So we understand we have self

932
01:00:08.519 --> 01:00:11.840
awareness and we see the impact of sin upon self awareness.

933
01:00:12.199 --> 01:00:15.079
We then move from a self awareness perspective to a

934
01:00:15.119 --> 01:00:18.639
God aware perspective, and then we do not construct meaning.

935
01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:27.280
We find meaning in what Christ did. Now this has

936
01:00:27.320 --> 01:00:31.079
a historical setting. This has a historical context. But I

937
01:00:31.119 --> 01:00:35.440
think these words speaking of God God, or you keep

938
01:00:35.599 --> 01:00:40.000
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you

939
01:00:41.360 --> 01:00:44.280
because He trusts in you Isaiah twenty six to three.

940
01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:48.199
That has specific connotation, but the principle still there is

941
01:00:48.239 --> 01:00:51.440
applicable if we could really put our mind on God

942
01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:54.679
and keep it there. But all these other things. Self

943
01:00:54.719 --> 01:00:59.719
awareness draws our attention towards self, and the more we

944
01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:02.159
felcus on Solf, the more all of these problems that

945
01:01:02.199 --> 01:01:10.639
we have outlined begins to arise. Now I'll stop right there.

946
01:01:14.719 --> 01:01:17.440
I wish I had some profound way to wrap this up.

947
01:01:17.480 --> 01:01:19.679
You're sitting there looking at your dog and you're like, Wow,

948
01:01:19.800 --> 01:01:24.119
I didn't know you could teach me so much. The

949
01:01:24.239 --> 01:01:27.559
dog loves its life with everything it has because it's

950
01:01:27.599 --> 01:01:31.320
all that it has. The dog does not have crippling

951
01:01:31.360 --> 01:01:35.159
self awareness. It lives in the moment. It finds pure

952
01:01:35.280 --> 01:01:38.199
joy and whatever it's doing in that moment because it's

953
01:01:38.239 --> 01:01:40.760
not aware that anything else is even around. It only

954
01:01:40.840 --> 01:01:45.599
has focused on that the dog. This concept of focusing

955
01:01:45.639 --> 01:02:01.320
on the dog brings us to these bigger issues self

956
01:02:04.360 --> 01:02:15.119
and everything around us. Ultimately, I don't know the right

957
01:02:15.119 --> 01:02:21.000
words cripples us, destructive. I think it depends on your life.

958
01:02:21.079 --> 01:02:23.199
For some people, they I think you can look at

959
01:02:23.199 --> 01:02:25.440
this a couple of ways. For those who have a lot,

960
01:02:25.880 --> 01:02:28.599
they got a family, they got a great relationship with

961
01:02:28.639 --> 01:02:31.039
their spouse, they have intimacy, they have all of these,

962
01:02:31.199 --> 01:02:34.920
you know, the hierarchy of needs. Their needs are being met.

963
01:02:35.360 --> 01:02:39.639
They have to have food, shelter, they have intimacy, they

964
01:02:39.679 --> 01:02:43.960
have this. I mean, okay, I mean you still may

965
01:02:44.039 --> 01:02:45.880
find some way to not be happy with it and

966
01:02:45.920 --> 01:02:50.079
be but you really probably should find yourself being pretty good.

967
01:02:50.280 --> 01:02:53.199
Other people they're not. They don't even have those hierarchy

968
01:02:53.239 --> 01:02:55.320
of needs being met. They're they're they're not. It's not

969
01:02:55.320 --> 01:02:59.360
even being met. And I think that I think very

970
01:02:59.360 --> 01:03:01.800
few people live with a hierarchy of needs being met.

971
01:03:01.800 --> 01:03:03.960
I think a lot of people live lives without that,

972
01:03:05.360 --> 01:03:08.039
and and that can be very difficult. And how to

973
01:03:08.360 --> 01:03:11.400
then survive those hierarchy of needs that we've talked about before.

974
01:03:11.519 --> 01:03:15.280
Maybe we'll talk about them again some point. What do

975
01:03:15.320 --> 01:03:19.639
you do? Well, it's it's easy for the people who

976
01:03:19.679 --> 01:03:21.920
have most of it going. Well, you should just find

977
01:03:21.920 --> 01:03:24.760
it in God. You should just find your contentment in God.

978
01:03:24.880 --> 01:03:26.719
Why did this person do this? And why did this

979
01:03:26.760 --> 01:03:30.280
person do that? Just find it in God. Well, it's

980
01:03:30.320 --> 01:03:32.679
great when you hop in your car with your little family,

981
01:03:32.760 --> 01:03:35.199
go back to your little house hold hands seeing kumbaya,

982
01:03:35.679 --> 01:03:40.559
it kiss and and everything is wonderful, but it may

983
01:03:40.599 --> 01:03:49.039
not be that way for everyone else. But whether you

984
01:03:49.119 --> 01:03:56.760
have it or don't have it, I don't know. Again,

985
01:03:57.559 --> 01:03:59.840
I don't I think it's an unreachable. I think it's

986
01:03:59.880 --> 01:04:03.280
a reachable in one hand, to ever truly be like, well,

987
01:04:03.320 --> 01:04:05.159
all that I have is God, So God is all

988
01:04:05.199 --> 01:04:09.039
that I have. So then therefore it's easy to say

989
01:04:09.039 --> 01:04:12.679
that you can. But because you have this self awareness, See,

990
01:04:12.679 --> 01:04:16.280
it's one thing to say, well, God is all that

991
01:04:16.320 --> 01:04:20.159
I have. Son, then you love God and you're committed

992
01:04:20.159 --> 01:04:22.639
to God with all that you have. As long as

993
01:04:22.679 --> 01:04:26.400
you're self aware of all of these other needs, wants, desires,

994
01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:29.719
and you are aware that other people around you have

995
01:04:29.800 --> 01:04:32.239
some of those needs and desires fulfilled and that you

996
01:04:32.280 --> 01:04:35.480
are left without many of them, it's going to be

997
01:04:35.519 --> 01:04:37.679
hard for you just to look to God because you're

998
01:04:37.960 --> 01:04:42.440
you would have to completely lose your awareness of all that. Well,

999
01:04:42.480 --> 01:04:44.880
you would have to lose your self awareness completely. You

1000
01:04:44.880 --> 01:04:47.440
would almost need your self awareness to be removed, and

1001
01:04:47.480 --> 01:04:50.360
it's never going to be removed. And because you have

1002
01:04:50.400 --> 01:04:53.440
self awareness that is also influenced by sin, you see

1003
01:04:53.480 --> 01:04:57.800
why then our only hope. Really, this is why I

1004
01:04:57.880 --> 01:05:00.920
know everybody wants a Christianity. There's so true transforms us

1005
01:05:00.960 --> 01:05:04.000
in practical ways. But the reality is our hope is

1006
01:05:04.039 --> 01:05:06.840
not in a practical transformation. Our hope is in a

1007
01:05:06.880 --> 01:05:13.360
positional sure security, a positional security where hey, I'm a

1008
01:05:13.480 --> 01:05:23.519
mess practically, but in Christ perfect content, everything is perfect.

1009
01:05:24.719 --> 01:05:26.360
But the name of the book, let me go back

1010
01:05:26.360 --> 01:05:31.400
to it. That sparked this bizarre some may see it

1011
01:05:31.400 --> 01:05:33.800
as bizarre is the name of the book. I'm opening

1012
01:05:33.880 --> 01:05:37.840
up here the word of dog. What our canine companions

1013
01:05:37.840 --> 01:05:41.000
can teach us about living a good life? Now, what

1014
01:05:41.039 --> 01:05:43.320
I think it should do is I think when you

1015
01:05:43.360 --> 01:05:47.320
look at your dog today, you're like, man, you got

1016
01:05:47.320 --> 01:05:49.920
it really good your life. You're more you're happier with

1017
01:05:50.119 --> 01:05:52.920
my life. You are you're you're happier with your life.

1018
01:05:53.159 --> 01:05:54.880
You have more joy in your life, you have more

1019
01:05:54.920 --> 01:05:58.119
meaning in your life. You're you've got it good. But

1020
01:05:58.159 --> 01:05:59.760
you can say, well, what does that say about us?

1021
01:05:59.840 --> 01:06:03.119
And when that gets us into these philosophical issues of

1022
01:06:03.280 --> 01:06:07.840
self awareness, which then raises all of the issues we've discussed.

1023
01:06:07.840 --> 01:06:10.639
And I tried to compare that to how some of

1024
01:06:10.679 --> 01:06:13.039
this can be fulfilled in Christ. I did not leave

1025
01:06:13.119 --> 01:06:14.960
us with a lot of good answers. But it's now

1026
01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:18.519
been sixty six minutes and we've had this lengthy discussion

1027
01:06:18.840 --> 01:06:27.280
all started with a book about dogs. All right, I'm

1028
01:06:27.280 --> 01:06:32.920
going to stop there because one, I've been going for

1029
01:06:33.000 --> 01:06:36.000
an hour or two. It's seven hundred and fifty seven

1030
01:06:36.039 --> 01:06:38.519
degrees up here in the studio, because it's like ninety

1031
01:06:38.519 --> 01:06:41.119
seven degrees in West Texas today. I've got a little

1032
01:06:41.119 --> 01:06:47.320
bit of hyperbole. And because I have things I want

1033
01:06:47.360 --> 01:06:50.280
to do today, things I want to do for fun,

1034
01:06:50.559 --> 01:06:53.360
things I want to do to be entertained, things I

1035
01:06:53.480 --> 01:06:58.320
want to do because well, we have all these wants,

1036
01:06:58.400 --> 01:07:01.920
needs and desires because we are aware of everything else. See,

1037
01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:04.599
a dog would just be like, oh, I'm broadcasting. That's

1038
01:07:04.599 --> 01:07:06.519
all I care about. That's all I care about, because

1039
01:07:06.519 --> 01:07:09.639
not aware of anything else. Hey, just catch that ball now.

1040
01:07:09.800 --> 01:07:11.360
Once it moves on to the next thing, it already

1041
01:07:11.360 --> 01:07:13.519
forgets about the last thing. Well, we're not very good

1042
01:07:13.559 --> 01:07:15.480
at doing that, are we. So I'm aware right now

1043
01:07:15.480 --> 01:07:18.719
that I'm sitting here hmmm, right over here to my right. Oh,

1044
01:07:18.800 --> 01:07:21.840
I got all my stereo equipment. See, before I even

1045
01:07:21.880 --> 01:07:23.960
started this, I really wanted to be listening to music.

1046
01:07:24.079 --> 01:07:25.960
That's what I really wanted to do, and I thought

1047
01:07:25.960 --> 01:07:27.639
in my mind I would end this at just the

1048
01:07:27.719 --> 01:07:29.960
right time that I could give myself an hour of

1049
01:07:30.039 --> 01:07:32.880
pure music before I go do other things that's going

1050
01:07:32.960 --> 01:07:35.800
to take up the rest of my afternoon and evening. See.

1051
01:07:35.840 --> 01:07:37.440
But then when I'm doing the things that I want

1052
01:07:37.480 --> 01:07:38.880
to do this evening, I'm going to be like, well,

1053
01:07:38.920 --> 01:07:41.119
I do need to be And now I've got response. See,

1054
01:07:41.159 --> 01:07:48.559
we're so aware of so many different things, and your

1055
01:07:48.599 --> 01:07:50.400
dog is not going to be worried about any of

1056
01:07:50.440 --> 01:07:56.000
that today. But the answer is not becoming like a dog.

1057
01:07:56.639 --> 01:07:59.719
The answer is found in a philological approach, which I

1058
01:07:59.760 --> 01:08:01.920
did try to explain there at the end, even though

1059
01:08:01.920 --> 01:08:03.480
I had to move through it at one hundred miles

1060
01:08:03.519 --> 01:08:09.719
per hour. But maybe we'll return to this in some way. See,

1061
01:08:09.760 --> 01:08:14.039
this is what happens when you have a podcast and

1062
01:08:14.119 --> 01:08:18.079
you just have an empty notebook underneath the microphone. Everything

1063
01:08:18.199 --> 01:08:22.720
goes to the dogs. Waitn't that funny? Come on, wasn't

1064
01:08:22.720 --> 01:08:26.600
that funny? No, nobody thinks that funny. Everything just goes

1065
01:08:26.640 --> 01:08:29.640
to the ducks. Get it? Because we're talking about a

1066
01:08:29.640 --> 01:08:34.840
book called The Word of You. Okay, well, I'm gonna

1067
01:08:34.880 --> 01:08:36.800
go tell that joke to a dog. I'm gonna leave

1068
01:08:36.840 --> 01:08:38.479
my house, go next door and tell that joke to

1069
01:08:38.520 --> 01:08:40.600
a dog and see if the dog thinks it's funny.

1070
01:08:41.319 --> 01:08:45.279
Dog will think it's funny because dogs are better than people, right,

1071
01:08:45.600 --> 01:08:48.560
maybe Okay, I don't know. All right, thanks for listening.

1072
01:08:51.000 --> 01:08:55.359
That's a lot to think about. God bless