So after Sunday's win with the Ravens, not only beat one of the AFC's hottest team, they beat them boys down. Stephen A. Smith said, he still has questions about one Lamar Jackson. Let's hear it. What do I always say about the quarterback spot, Molly? It's about accuracy. It's about accuracy. And by the way, when it counts. So I took the liberty of doing my own research. Like Lervin and I went back into the archives and I looked at it. Lamar Jackson has played in four playoff games. Three of them, he's failed to reach 60% completionism with his passes. The last time we saw Lamar Jackson in the whole season, he overcame his maladies, first two years, 2018, 2019, by being Tennessee last year. With 70% of his passes through for 179 yards, obviously had a Russian touchdown. He did his thing in that game. Then he went up against Buffalo. He was held to three points, completed 58% of his passes. Lamar Jackson has been dominant in the regular season. Dominant. He's been that way since he took over as a starter. 35 wins. Like five passes, 35 wins, and then what we talk about five or six losses and 35 wins in the regular season. Lamar Jackson is spectacular. You get all of that in the regular season. But you see when you, when we start talking about you, when we use words like greatness or what have you, what solidifies that? Playmaker, Super Bowl champion, Hall of Famer. What solidifies that? It's what you do when it counts. Who seasons when it counts. Now we saw him perform against Kansas City. Second week of season or so. Second, third week of season. Big time performance. We saw what he did yesterday. Okay, we saw what he did on Monday Night Football and that comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts. We saw all of that. But the reality is that he's phenomenal. We've seen all of that before. What we're waiting to see is that when you've got the Patrick Mahomes and the Josh Allen's of the world, potentially a Justin Herbert of the world or anybody else standing there as roadblocks to the ultimate glory you are unquestionably in pursuit of. When we're looking for that, where are you? Steven A., I got some words for you. Clean though, of course. Yeah, this feels like a dream. So YouTube team keep it clean. What's going on? It's Aang Graven here with another video and boy, it's crazy because we have over the past couple of weeks alone have received more DMs about stuff that Steven A. Smith has said more than we ever have in the entirety of Lamar Jackson taken over at the starting quarterback for the Ravens. But it just seems as though with Steven A. Smith, we can already tell, especially with this most recent clip, we can tell that Lamar Jackson is never, never, ever going to be good enough for Steven A. Smith. He is never going to get the approval of one Steven A. Smith. And like I always say, if Lamar ain't your style, that's fine. If you would rather another quarterback, that's fine. There's no problem with that. But at the same time, even if something is not your style, you got to acknowledge when it's working, it's working. And if it's successful, then it's successful. So with Steven A. Smith's latest clip, we will call it, why are we, why are we talking about, why are we sort of moving the goalposts again?  They had these charges wanting to move back to San Diego. That's how bad they beat them. But they demolish the charges. So instead of, oh man, these Ravens, they top team in the ASC and they literally are cause they five and one all by themselves. But instead of that, Steven A. Smith, after week six, after week six, there are 17 games to be played this season. But after week six, Steven A. Smith is looking around like, man, I don't have anything that I can say bad about these Ravens and more particularly Lamar Jackson in the regular season. So you know what? After week six, you know what? Let me advance 12 weeks in the future because let me advance to where we get to the playoffs and we're in the playoffs. All right. Oh, I got a banger now. Watch this. Lamar Jackson, I don't trust his accuracy. I still question his accuracy. And I question, he needs to prove himself in the playoffs. Now, does Lamar Jackson need to prove himself in the playoffs? Yes, he does, even though he, I mean, he has already, but we are, especially as Ravens fan, we want Lamar Jackson, we want Lamar Jackson to prove everything in the playoffs. And we want him and the Ravens to walk away victorious come February. But Steven A. Smith was also saying that Lamar Jackson that he needs to win and be accurate. He needs to do it when it counts because that's when all the greats do it. That's when all, he said, we could talk about Lamar Jackson being phenomenal and da da da da da, but yeah, he does that in a regular season. I need to see it in the playoffs. And it's crazy because when that's your go-to, if that's your, especially if that's your go-to at this point in the season, then you've already proven that you believe this guy is phenomenal. You've already proven it because if it's after week six and your biggest argument against the Lamar Jackson is, well, he's got to prove it in the playoffs. I need to see it in the playoffs. I need to see all this greatness come playoff time. If that's the conversation after week six, then Lamar has won you over, my friend. He's won you over. And I know that Steven A. Smith, we know he's a Steelers fan, which is fine. But as an analyst, as a professional analyst, and we know Steven A. Smith, he's one of the more popular analysts.  Call it what it is. He ain't got to dance around it. We ain't got to tiptoe around it.  We ain't got to try to avoid it. Just say, man, Lamar, he, that dude is something serious. That dude is real deal. You know what? I questioned his play style before. I questioned if it would work. I questioned if it would be sustainable. Remember that word? I questioned if this thing could last. I questioned if he would finally be figured out. I questioned if defenses would catch on to him. I questioned all this stuff throughout these years, but the Mark Jackson and these Ravens, they just keep on winning. And it's crazy because I remember, and again, it's not all fans that are like this. And it's not all fans of a particular fan base that are like this. But this reminds me back in 2019 and 2019 season, the Ravens were getting ready to play these undefeated Patriots. These Patriots, they were what, I forgot what it was, eight and old, nine and whatever that record was, they were undefeated. But a lot of us Ravens fans were like, they are undefeated, gotta give them that. But they haven't really played the best competition yet. They haven't played the best.  They take care of business. But we were like, I don't know about that. So then the game came and the game went, Ravens rolled all over. They took care of business against them Patriots. And the Mark Jackson is undefeated against Tom Brady, by the way. But anyway, after that game, I remember in the live stream, I remember in the comments section of the post game thoughts video. And I just remember so many Patriots fans saying, you got us now, but do it when it counts. Do it when it counts. And it was like, I always feel like that's so cringy when people say that, do it when it counts. And they say that after a regular season game. Had they been having a conversation about, do it when it counts after a pre-season game, that would be one thing. Had they been saying, do it when it counts after a scrimmage, that would be another thing. But for somebody to say, do it when it counts. We need to see it when it counts after a regular season game, especially a regular season game against a conference opponent. Does that not count? Does that regular season game not go towards playoff seating, if both of those teams make the playoffs? Does that regular season game not mean anything? Or are we just throwing away regular season games now? So with Stephen A. Smith, with his words, it's like he's contradicting himself to the max. We need to see Lamar do this when it counts. Oh, my friends, it does count. Because had he not done it in regular season, then we wouldn't be having none of this post-season talk at all. Had the Ravens not been so successful under him in regular season games, then playoffs, he said it best. So artists, we need to see it when it counts talk. Again, that lets me know that he knows that Lamar Jackson and these Ravens are real deal. This lets me know that even though he said, oh, I still got some questions about Lamar Jackson. No, you don't. No, you don't. We know you don't. You know you don't. This is one of those things where these media guys, and I love how my guy, I forget his strong opinion sports. I love how he said it in one of his episodes on his YouTube channel. He said, media guys aren't football guys. And when he said, it's like oh, that was so fire. Because it's true. But in this case with Stephen A. Smith, I enjoy Stephen A. Smith. I know that he is a, just like Skip Bayless, that's why them two, they work so good together. They are almost professional trolls almost. And we know ESPN, when ESPN, when things a bit rough, they're like, all right, we gotta throw out some crazy, all right, Bart Scott, go do your thing. But anyway, with Stephen A. Smith, this seems as if this is one of those things where somebody just does not want to come out and say, hey, I was wrong. Hey, you know what? I thought, I originally thought this thing, but my fault, y'all, I was wrong. I really had this opinion formed in my mind that I really thought was fact, but turns out I was wrong. And it takes a real man to admit that about anything, not just about sports, but just in life period. It takes somebody with a lot of character, a lot of humility to admit, hey, I was wrong. I remember when we were watching the coach game on our live stream the other day, I kept telling people, it's not over, it's not over. It's Raven's gotta play better than perfect to get this thing, get this win, but it ain't over. A lot of people say, oh, this game's over. In grade, what you talking about? The game, it's over, it's a wrap. But then when the Ravens came back in one, a lot of people were like, hey, we were wrong. We thought it was over, I was wrong. And I really appreciated that because it takes, again, takes somebody with a lot of character to admit that they were wrong. Now me, I love being wrong about the Ravens in a good way because I picked the Ravens to lose against the Chargers. I didn't, again, y'all know, I thought their defense was not gonna be able to hold it down, but I was dead wrong. And I've admitted that several times and I got no shame in admitting it too because I love to be wrong about stuff like that. But these guys, they're a real deal. And the sooner that Stephen A. Smith admits that without trying to do these outlandish takes and trying to move the goalposts 12 weeks in advance, then I just don't get it. What's the point? What's the point? Why not just say, hey, look, you know what y'all? Yeah, they stay something serious. But a lot of people, they just don't wanna do that, especially when it comes to Lamar Jackson, because you know, some people have said some just wild stuff about him. But again, as we all know, I've been saying this since 2018, he is never going to be good enough for some people. I love y'all team, keep it clean. I appreciate y'all. And just like when it comes to realistic opinions about what Lamar Jackson and Stephen A. Smith has, I'm out.


These are the three things that you should have taken away from Malcolm and Marie the movie I probably should have done this when it first came out But February is a busy month for me because it's Valentine's Day month, and you know I get busy The number one lesson that people should have learned from Malcolm and Marie the film is that business and relationships don't mix So separate them you want to know why leading business Individuals put pen to paper and get lawyers involved even though they are working with people who they've golfed with for decades People who they would gladly invite their kids birthday parties They do that because they acknowledge that feelings are fickle and money should never be so if you are in a romantic Relationship with someone and you notice that your contributions to their work are becoming above and beyond what a Romantic partners should do that's we get to say this is now a totally separate relationship that we have to nurture and Categorize and structure in a completely separate way So we shouldn't be watching Malcolm and Marie and saying Malcolm should have thanked Marie Malcolm should have given her her props because she gave so much we should have been saying Marie should have gotten lawyers involved to Represent the contribution that she had to this film the invaluable contribution because without her it never would have been As successful as it was and that should be noted with more than just to thank you In an alternate universe the ideal set of events shouldn't be that Malcolm went on stage After getting an incredible round of applause and then said thank you to the audience and immediately after thanked Marie and told everyone how integral she was to the project the actual ideal would be that there was a ravenous applause from the crowd and then Malcolm gets up and Marie doesn't even have to look for permission because she gets her Ass up too because she has listed herself as a co-creator and knows that those applause are also meant for her And there's paperwork to confirm that reality The second big takeaway that I got from that film was not the importance of communication But instead the importance of non communication So much of what was said did not need to be said so much of that honesty wasn't actually Honesty it was cruelty and that is because when we are in a state of fight or flight all we want to do is get to a place of righteousness and Security and the easiest way to do that is to attack someone else you often hear people say that when someone's mad That's when the real truth comes out. It's really not That's one a very one-sided version of the truth because there's two sides to every coin for example Malcolm you are a work obsessed ego maniac You are a self-centered asshole is very similar to Malcolm I'm inspired by how much you devote yourself to your art and the excellence that you get as a result of that devotion However, when we're angry, we don't actually add that second part in we just lean heavily into the first part Even though we acknowledge that much of the things that we hate about our partners Contribute equally to things that we adore about them and in this film You would see that play out where they would actually give back-to-back monologues that would be all doom and gloom you're terrible and the next one You're incredible and awesome when we're calm. We can marry those two things together when we're angry It's very difficult for us to do so which is why we should say less when we're angry the flip side to the non Communication component though I will say this is talk up sooner if you see something trending in a particular direction The time where it boils over and falls off a clip is not the time to say You should have worn a harness You saw all throughout this person gearing up to make this fatal flaw in not thanking you when they didn't cast you in the film When they weren't giving your kudos all the way through when they weren't including you as a writing partner when your name wasn't in the Credits and so it was trending in that direction anyways, but you waited you tested to see if in the final hour They would say something you set yourself up for disaster and disappointment in that case So communicating as soon as you notice that trend starting to happen is going to save you and your partner so much time And so much drama And the very last thing that I took from this film is that people need to Redefine what a toxic relationship is This as said in the film was this couple's worst argument they've ever had in their entire relationship I saw so many bids online that the two of them should break up that this is a terrible connection that this is the hallmark of incompatibility And that they bring up the worst in each other when you actually think about it other than saying some very terrible things this argument as Blunt and as gruesome as it was could have been a lot worse And I think that you just like me were waiting for it to get a lot worse a lot more violent So that to be said Did they really bring out the worst in each other or were they just able to see the worst in each other? And did they feel too comfortable leaning into that reality when it felt convenient for them in order to protect themselves? What I want to say is that before we go and brand all Malcolm and Marie type couples as being toxic If our friend tells us they had a really bad argument with their partner last night our go-to shouldn't be Leave that person and here's why one Give some grace the fact that very few of us are taught how to effectively communicate in romantic relationships Especially during times of distress and drama and number two We aren't taught how to manage romantic relationships Let alone romantic relationships that have the added layer of a business component on top of it So it's likely that people are gonna end up in some trouble when they try to mix the two together a little bit more Grace and also an acknowledgement of the good they did for each other I saw a lot of people talking about how they brought out the ugly sides of each other Which there was some ugly sides, but what about the fact that through this connection? This person was able to create their best piece of art They have been struggling for years to find their voice as a filmmaker and through this loving union They were able to tell a very important story in a very impactful way and on the flip side It empowered the other person to get clean and get off drugs to start believing and working on their own Self-love and to acknowledge their own power to me There's a lot of beauty that came from that connection and even if they did break up, you know after that film finished filming I still think it was a worthwhile connection that brought them to somewhere healthy and hopefully they continue on that trend to work on Themselves so that the issues they had that night don't arise in future relationships or if they stay together Don't ever come up again in their relationship period. All right I know you have some thoughts because I saw so many think pieces on this movie What was the number one takeaway that you got from it?


Today, I wanted to share with you guys a really neat web browser plug-in that solves a problem that I was having. So recently, I decided to move away from Firefox as my main web browser. Now, I'm one of these people that I typically don't use the same default programs all the time. Anyway, I have several web browsers installed on my system, but recently I've decided I want to use more of these alternative web browsers. In particular, I've recently introduced you guys to LibreWolf, and several months back I introduced you guys to the Brave browser. I really like both of those browsers, but I have some issues with those browsers. And one of the issues I had, well, let me just show you in LibreWolf. So LibreWolf, this is a new tab. Now, let me click on another new tab. This is another new tab. These are blank tabs. I don't like the new tab feature in LibreWolf just being an empty tab. I like, you know, the way Mozilla Firefox typically does is you have some quick links, some hot links, you know, some bookmarks that you can set for the pages you go to all the time. Maybe you can put a little search bar there. Maybe you can get the time and date or the weather or whatever. You know, the standard home page kind of thing that you get with Firefox. I was looking for something like that to go in LibreWolf. I was really looking for some kind of extension that solves this problem. And the one I found was so incredible. I wanted to share it with you guys, because it's a really neat extension, but also it's a really neat extension because it works on Firefox-based web browsers. It also works on Chromium-based web browsers. And this extension is called Tabless. So what Tabless does is it creates a beautiful customizable new tab page for Firefox and Chrome and of course browsers based on Firefox and Chrome, which is most web browsers out there. So you can download Tabless for both Firefox and Chrome. So if you have a Firefox-based browser like LibreWolf, you can go grab the extension from there. If you have a Chromium-based browser, you can grab Tabless by clicking on this link. So let me get back into LibreWolf. What I would do in LibreWolf is I would go to this website, addons.mozilla.org and then search for Tabless. Well, if I can type it correctly, Tabless. There it is. And just click on that and add to Firefox, which also will add it to LibreWolf because LibreWolf is essentially Firefox. And once you click Add to Firefox, you are good to go. And if I click on a new tab here and I'm going to go to Addons, you should now see Tabless somewhere in your list of extensions. Just make sure you turn that on. Tabless is extremely customizable. So let me show you how I have mine customized here. I have weather. So this is the current temperature. This is the actually the high of the day, the low of the day. This is the current time. I have a search bar, which is customizable as far as the search engines. You can search traditional search engines like Google or Bing, but if you want more privacy respecting search engines, you can search DuckDuckGo, Quant, StartPage and a few others. Then you have the ability to add hot links, quick launchers, basically bookmarks if you will.  Same thing with my library page. Same thing with Distro2.com, which is my mastodon instance. I'm always going to these. So it makes sense to have those links on my new tab page. And to give you an idea of just how customizable this is, let me go in here. For background, I have it set to a color gradient because I have so many of these quick links here. And I set it to an image. Sometimes this white text is not very readable, especially if the image has a lot of white or light colors in it. But if you prefer images, unsplash. And this is, you know, this changes an image every few minutes. You can adjust how often it changes the image, but you get these beautiful, these gorgeous nature photographs and things like that as your image. By default, I think the only settings it has are the only widgets it has is the date and it has a widget that basically greets you. It says hello or good morning. You know, I guess based on the time. Let me show you in Brave. So Brave is a Chromium-based browser. I installed the Chromium plugin for tablets. And this is what it looks by default. It's just the time and then a greeting. It just says hello. You can give it your name. So it always responds with your name. So hello, Derek. Good morning, Derek. Good evening, Derek. Whatever it happens to be. And of course, by default, the images are the unsplash images. But again, you can go in here and just start adding widgets. So you go to add new widget. And I could add a new greeting, literature clock, a message. I could add a quotes widget, which is really neat. It's just random quotes here. So that's kind of nice. I actually don't mind having something like that. I could do the weather widget. Of course, I'd have to give my location. I'll turn that off. There's the search box. And if you want to adjust the order of these up here, I want the search box, you know, near the top because I'll probably be searching for stuff all the time. So I don't want the search box below the time and probably below the greeting as well. We also have a to-do widget, which would be interesting. You have the plus sign here. So I could do plus and I could give myself a new to-do, such as make a video about Tabless. I could hit that. And now I have that to-do item right here on my new tab page just to always remind me because I'll probably always be clicking new tabs, opening new tabs in your browser, as many of us often do. So that's nice to leave yourself a quick note. For those of you that want to play around with the fonts, you can play around with the fonts in all of the widgets. So if I wanted to play with the time font, by the way, the time is set to 24-hour digital. I could set it to 12-hour if I prefer. I can display minutes. I can display seconds. I'll turn off the seconds. That's a little bit too much time going on. I can open the font settings here and I can change the font to... Maybe I want the font to be bold. And maybe I want to change the color. I don't know if the color actually changes. Yes, so we can change the color if we wanted to. Although I think white makes a lot more sense here. If I wanted to change fonts, I know I have mononoke nerd font installed on my system because that's my default terminal font. So that's the only one I know for sure I have. Just right off the bat. So let me change to mononoke nerd font. There you go. I just changed that font. Now, obviously, that doesn't look as well as the standard font that's going on. So I'm just going to quit playing with that. I'm just going to leave that as is. Probably the most interesting widget, though, is the bookmarks widget. So let me go into add new widget and let's see, quicklinks is what they call it.  You can set the number of columns. For example, remember my LibreWolf, the number of columns I had was five columns. So you can set that to, you know, one, two, three, whatever it is you want. I'm going to set it to one column because I'm just going to add a couple just for demonstration purposes. They already have the tabless URL here. So I will just link to that and I'm going to click add link and now I have this little link icon here. If I click on it, it will expand out to tabless, but we typically don't want to see the URL of the quicklinks. So is there a way to... It says links are always visible. I could turn that off because we added a second one. Well, let's add a second one. Let's go to distrotube.com and then distrotube and click on that and there we go. There's tabless, there's distrotube. I can, of course, click on it and it will go to distrotube.com and then again, the links are hidden. You have the little link icon. Now, if you don't want that to ever be hidden, which I don't, I just want all my links to always show. There is a setting in here. Links are always visible. Just tab that on and now, when you go somewhere and come back, it doesn't have that little chain icon anymore, right? So your links are always there. So that was just a very quick look at the tabless web browser extension in Brave, which is a Chromium-based browser, and LibreWolf, which is a Firefox-based browser. Now, for me, I really wanted to show you guys that because it solved a serious problem I was having with LibreWolf and I know a lot of you guys are probably trying out LibreWolf and you don't like the empty tabs. So really, check out tabless. The other great thing about tabless is it is free and open-source software. The source code for it is hosted over on GitHub and it is licensed under the GPO. Now, before I go, I need to thank a few special people. I need to thank the producers of this episode. I need to thank Absi, Dallas, Devin, Fran, Gabe, Corbinion, Mitchell, Lacommy, Archfix, and 535, Chris, Chuck, David. The other David, Donnie, Dylan, Gregory, Lewis, Paul, Pic, BM, Scott, Wesson, Willie. They are the producers of this episode. They are my highest-tiered patrons over on Patreon. I also want to thank each and every one of these fine ladies and gentlemen. All these names you're seeing on the screen right now, these guys help support my work. They are supporting me over on Patreon because the DistroTube channel is sponsored by you guys, the community. If you'd like to support me, look for DistroTube over on Patreon. Alright guys, peace. I wonder if Tabless works in the links browser.


I'm like the queer man who never married or dated anyone and just walked around to those 12 best friends is about family value and family. Anyways.  They get into it and I'm gonna respond today. As you guys know, this is my full-time gig. This is what I do and I can only do it because of those of you on Patreon that support what I'm doing and equipping people to follow Jesus daily. So if you enjoy the content, if you want to support what I'm doing here, click the link in my description and sign up and become a part of our Patreon family today. It would be a huge blessing. Now, on to the video. Okay, get your popcorn. It's time to watch. I also love when people get on like Jesus for like family values. I'm like the queer man who never married or dated anyone and just walked around to those 12 best friends is about family values and family. That's a spicy way to begin the conversation, but okay, I'll bite. You're talking about Jesus. He doesn't have family values. Jesus isn't somebody about family values. These Christian conservatives are trying to focus on Jesus as some sort of, you know, conservative guy, but Jesus wasn't that way. He was a queer guy who didn't have a home. He was a hippie. He hung out with a bunch of dudes and that's just the way it is and, you know, all sorts of Christians. They insert their own beliefs into this, but that's the truth of what's going on. Excuse me. I think you might be the one inserting your own belief into this whole situation. I see folks do this all the time. Progressive Christians and they'll insert this idea that maybe Jesus is a little sus.  Like maybe something was going on there. Wow. You were really inserting your own messed up perspective of what's going on. You have nothing to back that up, but the truth is is that you do that because you want to justify your own behavior. That you're disregarding what the whole Bible says. That's the truth of it. If you look at what the Bible says and how God is oriented sexuality, it's very clear that that is so counter to how God operates and yet it's pretty pithy and it's pretty maybe, you know, enticing to say something like that because you get everyone robbed up. You get everyone a little bit angry at you for saying something so counter-intuitive.  Jesus is queer. What's your evidence? What's your evidence? The God that I believe is much bigger than a Bible. My God is liberative. My God, he is non-binary.  He says, my God wouldn't be like that. My God is beyond the book. My God, it doesn't just, you know, isn't just about the Bible. He can be kind of what I want him to be basically because without the Bible, that's what he's creating in his mind. Maybe you're thinking, man, this guy, what is he doing?  And yet, hey, like in the midst of all this, guys, let's look at our own hearts and say, wow, God, where have I looked at you in the way that I have wanted to? Where have I characterized you and kind of pushed away what the Bible says and say, God's not like that. God's like this. My God is different. My God doesn't, you know, he doesn't care so much about this stuff. I can kind of keep this in my life. I can kind of keep this sin because my God doesn't care. And maybe you don't say it so blatantly, but that's what we can often do. So I want you to be careful when you're watching this video, watching through, you're not just like, man, these guys are totally off base and they're so lost and, you know, that's true. But also look at your own heart. That's what I'm doing here. It's like, look at my own heart and say, God, where have I been an idolater? Where have I chosen my sin above what is said in your word? Because it might sound really nice to say my God is beyond the book, but that's God's divine revelation that he's given to us.  Just your personal opinion, your own personal revelation. That is just sinking sand. Jesus said so much about so many things that he cared about.  And are you telling me that this was such a hot button issue for Jesus that it just magically didn't appear in any of the, that they just forgot to mention that he talked about homosexuality? I don't buy it. Let's just say that 3000 years ago, that's the way God thought. Okay, but God can change God's mind. God can grow and evolve. God is everlasting and ever-changing. So if we say that God can only ever perceive something one particular way, aren't we then saying that we're, we have the capacity to put God in some little God box? Wow. Wow. Wow. I don't even know where to begin with that. That was interesting. That was interesting. He said that God is ever-changing and ever-evolving, and God can change his mind on something. And that is literally contradictory to what God has said. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's what the scripture says. So you saying that God is ever-evolving and ever-changing, and he's going to change his mind about all this. I don't know where you're getting that from, but it ain't the Bible and it ain't God's word. And then you say, okay, well, hey, if this was such a big issue to Jesus, why didn't he mention it? Hey, maybe you're asking this question and it's genuine. I don't think it's particularly genuine from this guy because he seems very hostile to the whole idea of what the Bible actually says. But hey, maybe you're asking this question. That is a good question. Well, why didn't Jesus mention anything about this? But then you need to understand this. When you look at the Bible, it's not just about, okay, Jesus comes on the scene and finally he's saying good stuff, and he's basically bashing everything else that was said. That's not a lot of people portray what Jesus did.  And this is how you actually need to believe. A lot of people believe that.  But that's not what's going on whatsoever. Not at all. God in the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament. Okay, a lot of people say God in the Old Testament, he's a big meanie. He sets up all these rules and Jesus came to free us from all those rules. And so we don't even, you know, they don't even apply to us today. Okay, I understand the fact that, you know, we have all sinned and we're guilty before God. That is true. And we can't do the law can't save us, right? The law, that's true. The law can't save us and only Jesus can save us. That's all true. But when we look at the moral code of the Old Testament, I'm not talking about the ceremonial code, or I'm not talking about just the different things that they did as part of that civic culture, right? I'm saying that the moral code of God does not change. So when God says, man shall not lie with man, as man lies with woman, we don't see that and say, oh, okay, I guess Jesus kind of disposed of all the rules and we just pay attention to what Jesus says. And if it didn't matter to Jesus, then it doesn't matter to me. No, Jesus said, you've heard it said of old so many times. And yes, he added to it. He said, you have heard it said of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, if you look at a woman with lust, you've already committed adultery with her in your heart. He didn't say, hey, you've heard it said of old, don't commit adultery. That's kind of patriarchal sexuality and you don't really need that. That's a sexual ethic that I no longer adhere to because I'm God and I changed my mind. He didn't say that. And so this idea that Jesus didn't mention something specifically, it's not relevant. No, well, Jesus reaffirmed the Old Testament so many times in the fact that we need to be understanding that what is in the Old Testament and reaffirmed in the New Testament as well with Paul, this is something that we take into our hearts. This is something that we understand and we believe. People say, oh, you know what, I just kind of listen to what Jesus says. I hate to break it to you, but Jesus quoted the Old Testament a lot. Well, I don't think purity culture is the answer in saying, don't have sex for marriage. I also don't think the other answer is do whatever you want whenever you want. And so a conversation that we have in our community regularly is how do you develop a healthy sexual ethic as a person in Los Angeles in 2023? If the divinity of God is in you and is in every other person which is something we believe, then how do you treat them? Wow, there is a lot there. I'm pretty passionate about this, the idea of purity culture and where people misunderstand, I think what harmful purity culture is. When I talk about purity culture on my channel, I am specifically targeting things that are extra biblical. And when we talk about purity culture, I think that is what has been the most harmful is when people put extra boundaries on sexuality, utilization of shame and guilt and not really coming at it from the restoring grace of Jesus and how he can be in our life when we have sexually sinned. And yet people will use this term purity culture all the time and use it really broadly saying that the idea that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, that is purity culture. That is harmful. No, that's not purity culture. That's just a biblical Christian ethic, sexual ethic, right? That's from the Bible. So that's not purity culture. I think there's so much harmful purity culture that has happened. We'll talk about that later in this video where we need to say, hey, God has forgiven that. God is forgiving us. He is bringing restoration. He's bringing new life and a newness and making us a new creation. That's beautiful. You don't need to live in that shame and that guilt. But we're not going to dispose of what the Bible actually says about sexuality. It says, hey, this is actually a sin. That's actually wrong. She says, hey, we can't say that, we're not going to say sex outside of marriage is wrong, but we're also not going to say that everything is right. Right? Okay.  My friend, you have that in the Bible, but you just don't want to pay attention to it. God's orchestrated things so beautifully, man shall leave his father and his mother and become one flesh with his wife. Yes, there is sin. Yes, there is brokenness. Yes, there's healing that needs to take place if there's been sexual sin in the past, but that is a beautiful place to be that God is bringing about life literally through childbirth, but both pleasure and that we're sexual beings, so that's a good thing.  Look at the Bible.  So there's a reason that sex is pleasurable, right? And God desires for us to have pleasure. What God also desires from us is to be respectful and kind and compassionate. That's facts. That's facts. I agree. And if people are consenting adults and it's life-giving to them, then why shouldn't that be celebrated? I want you guys to be really careful. Maybe you come across somebody that speaks this way. A lot of folks speak this way where they say, hey, you know, if it's two consenting adults and it's life-giving to them, they feel so deeply that this is who I am. Why would that be a bad thing, right? And you can apply that to a lot of other areas. Hey, you know, if I'm in a relationship and my girlfriend and I really want to sleep together and it's life-giving to us, it's actually really good for our relationship because we feel closer. Why is that a bad thing? Why would God be against that? Well, friend, you're trying to insert your own morality. You're trying to insert your own definition of what is good into this equation. You got to realize that that is what you're doing. So when we say, okay, why is that a bad thing? We need to get to the root of what is good and what is bad. Who sets up this moral world anyway? It's God or it's me. If it's me, then I say, well, you know, hey, it's Jill, it's good. But where do I draw the line? Well, it's just I'm kind of creating my own foundation as I go. I'm creating my own sense of morality. So many people do this. Life-giving, it's life-giving. You hear that language. It's very Christianized language. It's life-giving to us. The Bible defines what's life-giving. It's actually leading you on a path to destruction. It's actually waging war against your soul. That's what the Bible says. But we're undoing what you learn, specifically for the women in our community. Women and queer people in our community have just been under such shame around their sexuality. I literally remember because they would separate the girls and the boys very binary. There was like a male youth pastor who's probably 21 and he has a cup of water. He passes around. Every single girl spits in the cup of water. And then at the end, he holds it up and he says, now who would want to drink this? That's literally disgusting. That's just disgusting, right? And you, when I talk about harmful purity culture, that's it, that's it. You imagine a girl or boy in that youth group that has since actually, and they're seeing this take place. How are they experiencing this?  And there's healing that needs to take place. You know, there's repentance that needs to take place, but there is forgiveness. All is not lost. That is the message that needs to be. All is not lost, but the message that is so often pushed at young people, especially through purity culture, is that all is lost, that you've made a mistake that can never be reversed. You can never experience godly or healthy sexuality because you've broken things so badly. Yeah, it's going to take some healing. Yeah, it's going to take some, some work, but God can bring about restoration in a powerful way. And that is the message that we should be sharing. There's a classic sermon by Matt Chandler, where he talks about taking this woman that they had kind of known in their college to this youth event or young adults college event, kind of thing.  And then he takes the rose back and he says, who would want this rose? And Matt Chandler, he says, Jesus wants the rose. Jesus wants the rose. And that is one of the most powerful sermons. And it makes sense because, look, that's what we all are. We're all those tattered roses. We're all broken and torn up and we've made mistakes and yet we need that forgiveness of God and God comes to us and he says, Hey, I see your brokenness. I see your mistakes and your regrets and I want to forgive you. I want to give you a new life in me. What advice do you have for young queer Christians? Number one question I get from folks exploring is, do I have to choose my sexuality or my spirituality? Can I have both? I feel like the big question I had was like, do I have to choose my vision for my life and my calling? I hate that word, but I can't think of another one. As a pastor or my spirituality or my sexuality. And so it's just nice to be like, yeah, there's no choices anywhere. There is a choice and it's not just a choice for LGBTQ people to make, but it's a choice for all of us to make. Will we pick up our cross, deny ourselves and follow Christ? Will we do that? Sin has a stronghold on us. That's the truth of it. Sin is so enticing and it is so attractive that many people will never want to let go of it. They might know, okay, I know God is, He's real and I know Jesus died on the cross. I know all of those things. I know the gospel. And yet I don't want to let go of my sin because it's so attractive. It's so comforting. It's so pleasurable. Yet God calls us by His grace to lay it down, that's the decision that you have to make. And it's not a decision absent of God. No, God is the one that gives us that faith and gives us that strength in order that we can truly be free of that sin. That doesn't mean that we're perfect. That doesn't mean that we never desire those things again or our heart isn't pulled to those because there is a battle between the indwelling spirit that is within us and the flesh there at war with one another. And so we still experience temptation. There's nothing wrong with having those temptations still be around, but it's about will you give into them? God says that He has given us everything that we need in order that we can run and deny those temptations. And so, friends, hey, regardless of what your temptation is, maybe it is towards homosexuality. Maybe it's just you want to sleep with somebody. You want to live in lust or you want to live in greed or covetousness, whatever it is. Yes, today God is calling you to a decision. He's saying, will you lay that down at my feet and follow me? Will you repent of those things and trust in me for forgiveness, for new life? Friends, I hope you enjoyed this video. If you got something from it, subscribe because I'm putting out new videos every single day this week. That's something new for me. I'm trying it out, so I hope you guys enjoy the content and be sure to subscribe on Patreon. Sign up today. That would be a huge, huge blessing. You guys don't know how much that helps me out. So thank you so much. And until next time, God bless.


Hello, everyone, this is Federica and I'm talking to you from Bergamo, which is a city in Northern Italy, very close to Milan, and which is now the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in Italy so far in the city and in the whole area around it more than 700 people died because of the coronavirus and we are living a full emergency. Hospitals are full in the whole area and so many people who need hospitalization have been transferred to other hospitals in other cities, both in Northern and Southern Italy and the city cemetery is full and so this is the second time this week that military trucks had to bring bodies to cemeteries in other cities and in other regions. This area, the city of Bergamo and all the area around it is very important for Italian economy and it's full of big firms and companies and smaller firms and companies which are strategic in the manufacturing and automotive sector. So, for this reason, even though we are on lockdown, we are living a partial lockdown because on one side we are confined in our houses in schools have been closed since February 2, but on the other side, these companies and these firms are still open and people, thousands of people are still forced to go to work every day. Since most of these companies are also large, it's impossible for the workers to practice social distancing and so they just come in contact every day and many of them as well as workers in smaller stores, especially in grocery stores, don't even have personal protection equipment and so they just use whatever they personally have at home. So, we are living this emergency but in this partial lockdown, because the city government, the government of Regione Lombardia, the national government and Confindustria, which is the organization of Italian employers, do not want to make a loss in their profits and so they do not want to shut down these companies even if only for a couple of weeks. But this is making us lose many people that we love. It's making us lose family, parents, friends and coworkers and it's also causing a very difficult and dangerous situation for everybody. So, as long as the lockdown is going to be partial, the situation is not going to change. We really think that we need to shut down everything for a couple of weeks and maybe we can stop the spreading of the virus.


Dwi'n climbsydoedd yn teitio'r cyflawn i gael y cyflawn cwrin o'r troi, yn ôl'u syniadau, ac mae'n dod llawer o'r cyflawn i gyllideggisio'r ddewid am y bai chael, ac mae'n defnyddio'r cwrin o'r hyn i'ch gael yn treffwyr. Diolch yn fawr o'r fag moddon nhw'n gweithio'r pethol. camps Panther and Countless More Friends, neighbours, families and co-workers gathered in localities across the world to celebrate the bicentinery of the birth of Baháulá, the founder of the Baháig faith. The weekend's festivities involving people from diverse ethnic, social and religious backgrounds constituted a powerful demonstration of global solidarity in a world seemingly ever more While joyful, reverent and uplifting, the celebrations provided rich opportunities for those present to reflect on Bahaola's life, his teachings and their implications for today's society. Bahaola was born in Iran in 1817. Though blessed with saintly character and uncommon wisdom, he was made to endure 40 years of suffering and exile. Yet Bahaola's teachings speak to the nobility of the human spirit, the good in us all. The society he envisioned is founded on principles that will safeguard that virtue and integrity. At the heart of Bahae teachings is the principle of the oneness of humankind. Bahaola compared the world of humanity to the human body, an organism whose functioning is governed by co-operation and reciprocity. While once viewed with skepticism, this fact that humanity constitutes a single people and our world is essentially interconnected is now widely accepted. However, the oneness of humankind has far-reaching implications. It implies a transformation in the very relationships that bind society. It demands that all forms of prejudice be eliminated. Bahaola tells us that prejudice in its various forms destroys the edifice of humanity, whereas the light of unity is so powerful that it can eliminate the whole earth. This oneness also demands an equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, including universal access to education. It calls for a set of economic relationships that allow wealth to serve the interests of the entire human family. The oneness of humankind affirms the principle of unity in diversity. Fundamentally, the Bahae writings see every person as a spiritual being with unique talents and capacities, as minds rich in gems of inestimable value. Everyone has a part to play in carrying forward an ever-advancing civilisation. As parliamentarians then, serving in a period of unprecedented global change, may your work reflect the principle of the oneness of humankind and all that it implies for a vibrant, unified Scotland playing its part in an interconnected world.


Andrew would not be able to go to your typical high school prom by himself. Loves to get dressed up and to dance. Prom time, especially at this time of year, is important, but it also sidelines children with disabilities. And I can't think of a mom and dad going to bed at night knowing that their child will never have a prom to go to. The Cinderella Ball makes sure that it's the finest event and the finest child-friendly and student-peer collaboration and everybody together is celebrating. Mary Mary, Grammy Award-winning duo, returned again for their fourth year and celebrated the Cinderella Ball. In addition to that, we had Pierre Garçon from the Washington Redskins join us. I enjoy helping people and, you know, teaming up a organization that does the same thing. It's always a good thing, a blessing, you know, it's a good thing to see and it definitely inspires me to keep going. My most favorite part of the Cinderella Ball is to watch every smile that comes off the red carpet and they walk in and they see Cinderella. And then they have the perfect opportunity to have the dance, whether it's in their wheelchair or whether it is they're able to use their walkers to dance in. This is a program that it's designed for their needs. And I love it when I can see that one of their dreams has come true.  You just see kids having fun, you don't see disabilities. You see happy kids having a great time and being accepted for who they are.


Hey everyone, welcome to Path to Nowhere. We're having a December 6 server maintenance. I'm not sure if this announcement was announced in detail in our several social media outlets for the game. So I'm going over the server maintenance. So this is the same. It's going to be on December 6, 5 a.m. to 9. This is going to be 9 a.m. UTC plus 0. If you guys are in the Philippines like I am, this is going to be happening at around 5 p.m. in the afternoon. Okay, so also please take note that Wonderland Adventures will also end. So this is going to happen at December 5 at 4.59 server time. So this is happening today. Okay, at December 8 server time surveillance order, flames of resurrection will also end. Please take note of the times and there is a compensation for this event. 200 hyper cubes and 60 stamina addition for us. New content, this shadow, new EX stages available. Again, this is going to be good to test out what we have been doing with our roster so far.  So this is going to be helpful. Border darkness, time limited, event starts, rename card available for purchase permanently. New interrogation available also for Luvia Ray and new supervision incidents are coming. Optimization for the game, fix an issue causing wendy skills, speed cut being only effective ones. Fix some image display bugs. I haven't seen that much in terms of bugs. Fix some text issues, optimize Wolverine's image in this interrogation and moving on to the event announcement itself. Okay, so we have this shadow, new chapter is available. This one is going to be open only if you unlock 6-12. So you'll have to work hard to unlock this if you haven't had this yet. So your entry for this is going to be the main page tap, main page, this city tapped at the top right, right icon, this shadow to enter. Info, the stages are always available after you have unlocked them clear, high difficulty challenge stages to unlock. Shadows chasing light, exclusive avatar frame and get lots of hyper cubes and also we have border darkness. So this is where we can mine a lot of hyper cubes and other resources, unlock requirement clear, mission story, re1-9 reunited at salva. Event time is again going to be December 6th up to December 20th. Info, reach requirements for specific missions to get various resources such as hypercrubs and that is it. Again, this event is ending your wonderland adventure. So you better finish up on this event and this banner, Irene's banner is still going to be ongoing up until December 12th. Okay, no, not December 12th. It's going to be December 20th. So if you guys have still some summoning to do with Irene's banner, I would suggest you try to, you know, not take your time but have a little bit of urgency if you want to still summon on this banner. So that is it guys for the two events, event announcements and the patch notes for the game that we'll have that we'll have on December 6th. So thank you very much guys for staying this far. Take care, stay safe, this is Warden and I'm out of here.


In the previous video, we essentially found the following procedure for computing the change of basis matrix to B from C. That is, B and C are two bases for a vector space V. And so what we are going to do is we're going to create a matrix whose columns are augmented in the following way. Basically, we take all the vectors from the B basis and we put those in the left-hand side of our augmented matrix. And that's going to be our coefficient matrix, so to speak. But then we take all of the vectors from C and we're going to put those on the right-hand side of those as well. And so we get this matrix, this augmented matrix, but then the right-hand side actually might have several columns instead of the one column we've often done. And that's because the row reductions to row reduce B into the standard basis for fn right here. And I should mention that the standard basis would look something like 1, 0, 0, however many zeros, 0, 1, 0, et cetera, 0, 0, 1. So it just has a bunch of zeros in these diagonal positions. One's along this diagonal, zero's everywhere else. The standard basis for fn right there. B will transition into the standard basis here because B is a basis. We've seen this before that as we were trying to check whether a set of vectors is linearly independent or not. When you row reduce it, it'll turn into the standard basis. And I guess there's a little bit of a caveat there because you could get the standard basis over a bunch of rows of zeros or something. You could get something like that. So what I mean is you have like a 1, 0, 0, maybe like that, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0. You could get something like that where there could be like these rows of zeros. But we have to have a pivot in each column to be linearly independent. And because of that, you can zero everything above the pivot and zero everything out. So you'll get something like this where here this would be our standard basis E. And then maybe there's some zeros in the bottom. That is a possibility here. So B will transition into the standard basis. And then C is going to transition into this change of basis matrix, which again, there could be a bunch of zeros on the bottom, which isn't such a big deal. You're going to get some zeros on the left-hand side and on the right-hand side, which since if B is a basis, you're going to get zeros on the left-hand side. If you don't get zeros, then actually B wasn't a basis. Now, if you didn't get zeros on the right-hand side, that would actually suggest that either C is not a basis or B and C don't span the same thing. So any inconsistency really means that B and C are not bases for the same vector space. And so as that's not going to happen, we're going to get a bunch of zeros so it'll be consistent. And then the change of basis matrix will just be this matrix on top. And this actually further suggests why we denoted the change of basis matrix the way we did. How we have the C on the right and the B on the left and the arrow transitions from right to left. I mentioned it beforehand, as it was a consequence of the matrix equation where the change of basis matrix from C to B, you're going to multiply on the right by C coordinates. And this will give you B coordinates on the left. That's part of it, but it's also this formula right here. You take your old basis C, you put it on the right. You take your new basis B, you put it on the left. You re-reduce this matrix and it'll transition you to the change of basis matrix you get. And then let's do an example of that, right? So let's take three vectors from R4. The first vectors B, we'll call B1, 11-30, B2, 10-24 and B3 is 300-2. We're going to take another basis for that same, for that same vector space C1 will consist of 63-21-26, C2 will be 15-5, negative 23-12, C3 will be 3-2, negative 8-4. So it's not too difficult to show that both of these sets of vectors, the B's and the C's, are B linearly independent, but it turns out in the process of computing the change of basis matrix will actually show that these are linearly independent. I'll point that out along the way. So these both form a basis for a subspace of R2, R4, excuse me, these vectors live in R4, but I only have three of them, so I can't span all of R4. It's gonna make a three space inside of R4. So how does one compute the change of basis matrix? So what we're gonna do is we're gonna take the matrix B augment C, so we're gonna take the three vectors from B and then we're gonna augment that with the three vectors from C and we're gonna row reduce that. I'm skipping over the steps right here and so let's see what happens. So if we then take the three vectors from B and we row reduce that, it's gonna row reduce and you're gonna get pivots in each and every column. This indicates to us that the set of vectors B1, B2, B3 is linearly independent because we have a pivot in every column. Now, because we have three vectors in R4, there was no way we were gonna get a pivot in every row. So we do end up with this row of zeros, but that doesn't clash with the fact that we are linearly independent here. And so if we actually call this subspace in question, we'll say that W is equal to the span of the Bs, B1, B2, B3. So by construction here, W is the span of the Bs, therefore B is a spanning set for W. It's a linearly independent spanning set, so B is necessarily gonna be a basis for W. So just kind of by construction, that was the case that happened. Now, what happened as we row reduce this? Well, like I said, we have this row of zeros on the left-hand side. So this always should give us pause because if you have a row of zeros, there is a possibility of inconsistency, right? But on the right-hand side, this row of zeros is matched up with a row of zeros. And so there actually is no concern whatsoever. We can ignore this row of zeros.  This vector right here, 36 negative one, this is right here, the Corbin vector for C1 and B1 coordinates, and B coordinates, excuse me. This would be the vector 36 and negative one. You don't put the zero at the bottom because B only consists of three vectors, B1, B2, B3. We need the coefficients of B1, B2, B3. The zero doesn't have any bearing here. The Corbin vector would only contain three vectors. And the other thing we should mention, you know, just to do some more examples, the vectors C2B, the Corbin vector for C2 would be the second column right here. It would be five, four, and two. And then the Corbin vector for C3 and B coordinates would be the vector two, one, zero, like we see in the matrix above. So we can describe each of these Corbin vectors. But when you put the Corbin vectors together, let me clean this up a little bit. When you put the Corbin vectors together, this right here, ignoring the rows of zeros, gives us our change of basis matrix right here. The fact that this system was consistent showed us that C was in fact a subset of, that was a subset of W. Each C1, C2, C3 are in W because of the consistency happening right here. And likewise, if we argued that the set C was likewise linearly independent, then it would be a basis. And this is of course also the change of basis matrix in consideration here. So let's then use this change of basis matrix. So for example, if we take a vector X, which is in C coordinates, let's say that C coordinates are two, negative three, and four, right? So X is a vector in R4. So there should be four coordinates, right? But that's with respect to the standard coordinates of R4. And since this vector X belongs to this three dimensional subspace, we only need three numbers to describe the vector X. And if we use the C basis, those numbers will be two, negative three, and four. How do we convert this into B coordinates? Well, to get B coordinates, we will times the C coordinates of X by the change of basis matrix to B coordinates from C coordinates. This change of basis matrix we found from the previous slide, we multiply that by the coordinate vector we have for C coordinates. And this is just the usual multiplication here. We're gonna take the first row times the first, or by the vector right here.  And you can see that six plus eight is 14, takeaway 15 is a negative one. Next, then you take the second row of the matrix and times it by the vector right here. You're gonna get two times six, which is 12, three, negative three times four, which is negative 12, and then one times four there, which it gives us four. So that checks out. And then for the last one, you take the third row times the vector right here. This would give us negative one times two, which is negative two, two times negative three, which is negative six, and then you get a zero. So that gives us a negative eight. Hence the calculation we saw right there. So what we see about our vector X is the following. We see that in B coordinates, X looks like negative one, four, negative eight. So what that means is X is the linear combination negative B one plus four B two minus eight B three. But we also saw the C coordinates of X, two, negative three, four, so that says that X is the linear combination two C one minus three C two plus four C three. And so both of those linear combinations will produce X, although it's with different bases. Now, if we were to insert the original interpretations of B one, B two, B three into this linear combination, we could compute that vector X as a vector in R four. Same thing, we could plug in the C vectors from before and we could get X as a vector in R four. And now that'll actually become negative 21, negative one, negative five, and 32. But the thing that I'm trying to emphasize with these coordinate vectors is that yes, X belongs to R four, so we can describe, we can describe X as a vector with four bits of information. But because X belongs to the subspace, we can actually describe X with only three bits of information, whether we choose B coordinates or C coordinates, we only need three numbers to describe this vector X, even though it's in four dimensional space. So that's the issue at hand, do we really need all of the information to describe this vector? And this idea of representing a vector with less information than the ambient space would expect, this is sort of like the basic idea behind data compression. So like when you zip your file on your computer, you're trying to compress or decompress some images, it turns out that when you store data, you might store it in a more compact way, maybe using some type of coordinate system. But then to use it, you have to decompress it into the larger vector in R four perhaps. And that takes a little bit of time, but you can store then the information with a lot less information because you only need three bits to store the same stuff. Because it's like, okay, it's three bits plus a basis. Well, if you're only storing one vector, that's a lot of data. But if you're storing like tens of thousands of vectors, then you actually can get some efficiency by storing the data using some stored basis and then the coordinate vectors would be more efficient. And that's why it takes time to load things sometimes. Your computer's got to compute what all the data points were by decompressing them by solving these linear systems of equations. Coding theory is also based upon this same basic idea. And so this brings us to the end of chapter two and this idea of coordinates has very important applications as I'm alluding to right now at the end of this video. In the next chapter, chapter three, we are gonna transition from studying vectors to studying matrices. We've seen a lot of matrices in this chapter. This video itself was talking about the change of basis matrix, which we'll see this one again in the next chapter. So stay tuned for those videos. You should probably see the link of them right now. Bye everyone.


If you're a fan of any kind of fantasy, you undoubtedly know about Lord of the Rings, with its beautiful story, complex characters, and its imaginative and colorful world. The significance of Lord of the Rings for the fantasy and sci-fi genres as a whole cannot be understated. If you were to ask any fantasy writer, chances are today they would cite Tolkien as an influence in some way. His world-building, personalities, and character archetypes have influenced nearly every corner of literature in a profound way. To be honest, just sitting down to write this episode was a daunting task. There's so much lore in Middle Earth, including its expanded universe, where do you even start? Now, in case you didn't already know, not only was Tolkien influenced by many religious, spiritual, philosophical, and even metaphysical sources, but there are even numerous underlying spiritual messages throughout his work that holds great wisdom if you know where to look and how to apply it. To start with, since there's so much to cover, we should point out that we're going to be doing it on a movie-slash-book-by-book basis, starting with this episode on the Fellowship and ending with Return of the King to wrap it up. Now, at its heart, the central theme of Lord of the Rings is the quest. On its surface, we see a kind of normal fantasy thing. The heroes have to overcome the Dark Lord by going on this great journey of self-discovery to vanquish the darkness both in the world and within themselves. And in Lord of the Rings, it's depicted through the temptation of the One Ring and the journey to save Middle Earth from its destruction. But where Lord of the Rings begins to get very interesting is when you look at the actual pacing of it. The story is completely flipped on its head compared to your average story trope. See, the heroes are not seeking a treasure, but are questing to destroy one instead. If you were to look at the same story from Sauron's point of view, the tale really is a quest, with Sauron trying to get the treasure back, with the evil Black Riders replacing the traditional errant knights seeking the holiest of holies. Huh. In that sense, Sauron kind of is like Evil King Arthur, and the Ring is like The Evil Grail. Interesting. The movie begins with a bit of a backstory, giving us an awareness of the Rings and the races. We learn about the villain, Sauron, who forged the Rings of Power and delivered them to the leaders of the races who could be controlled, humans, elves, and dwarves. These Rings, bestowing power to the bearers, also binds them to the Dark Lord, which sets the spiritual tone of the story, the idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the deception that evil will use to ensnare others. In giving these Rings to the leaders of the three races, Sauron essentially inflicts his hold upon the world. But as Sauron's power grows, there are also those who fight back, and we see the fall of Sauron at the hands of Isildur, but who is unable to destroy it, another powerful lesson for us still, the temptation that power has over us. What could this Ring represent? The story says that into the Ring, Sauron poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life, and so the Ring ultimately comes to represent these qualities in the form of greed. This can be reflected in our daily lives as any kind of temptation, such as money, fame, or sex, all of which can be used to subjugate or manipulate others into doing what you want. In addition to this, the Ring bestows the wearer with invisibility, providing a false sense of security, which we also see in this idea of greed, for as you generate more money, or fame, or what have you, it gives you this sense of security. But true security, as the story also teaches us, comes from our connections that we have with our friends and our family. One of the things that Sauron creates is feelings of absolute despair through facilitating the creation of evil forces, such as manipulating Saruman to do his bidding in creating an army of orcs and Urukai. Gandalf, on the other hand, has the reverse power supporting everyone to resist the temptation of despair and rekindling hope and courage wherever he goes. That Tolkien was conceiving these works during England's darkest days during World War II, gives a special context to this power to resist fear and despair that you'll hope in its place. It would seem also that Tolkien uses this narrative, especially the easily swayed humans, to describe the over-inflated ego and the dangers of what can happen when your desire and ambition are left unchecked. From this viewpoint, it appears that the Fellowship is on a quest to destroy the ego and ultimately free the world from the dark influence of desire and temptation. Tolkien had lived through two world wars, including the routine bombardment of civilians, the use of famine for personal gain, concentration camps and genocide, and the development and use of chemical and nuclear weapons. And so much of this story, although based in a different world than ours, is very much rooted emotionally and contextually in very serious and real events in history. The story raises the question of whether if the ability of humans to produce that kind of evil could somehow be destroyed even at the cost of sacrificing something would be worth doing. Now, if any of this talk of desire, temptation and evil sounds familiar, that's because Tolkien was devoutly Catholic, a trait which he himself admitted to having been a profound influence on his writing. While it is interesting that he never included a direct form of religion in his main body of work, the themes, moral philosophy and cosmology of the Lord of the Rings reflects his Catholic worldview. Christian themes are ever present in so much of his work. More so in the later books, especially Return of the King, which we'll cover when we get there. There are many ideas that focus around death, resurrection, forgiveness, grace, repentance, and of course, free will. In fact, even Tolkien himself said, Of course God is in the Lord of the Rings. The period was pre-Christian, but it was a monotheistic world. And when questioned who was the one God of Middle Earth, Tolkien replied, Delving a bit deeper into the language of Middle Earth, even the name itself comes from the Norse Midgard, which was the name for our Earth. In fact, the influence of North mythology for Tolkien was huge. There are some really good videos out there on YouTube that talk about the mythology of Lord of the Rings. So if you want to go deeper, we really recommend looking this up. Everything from the characters to the environments are so rich in symbolic meaning. Let's take Gandalf for instance. Speaking purely from Tolkien's point of view, Gandalf was mostly based off of the Norse god Odin, who is a bit different from the Marvel version that you're probably familiar with. Odin in Norse mythology is described as the wanderer, an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide brimmed hat, and a staff. Tolkien, in a 1946 letter nearly a decade after the character was invented, wrote that he thought of Gandalf as an Odinic wanderer. Much like Odin, Gandalf promotes justice, knowledge, truth, and insight. In fact, his battle with the Balrog in the minds of Moria was meant to spiritually mirror that of the battle with Surtur, the fire giant in Norse mythology, with the ensuing collapse of the bridge of Khazadum mirroring the prophesied collapse of the Bifrost during Ragnarok. Interestingly though, it should be said that Ragnarok was not seen as the end of the world as it is often thought of, but rather the transition into a new cycle. And this is essentially what happens in the Fellowship. With the fall of the Balrog and the collapse of the bridge, it gives way for the journey to unfold. Gandalf had to fall in order to be reborn as a higher, more ascended and powerful being than he was before. As we looked at, there are several key races in the story, of which seem to spiral around the elements. This is not spelled out directly by Tolkien, but it would appear as though the humans reflect the element of fire, showing their passionate ways, leadership qualities, and also a bit of their own destructive power. And also in Return of the King, we see that it is time for humans to take the throne as the new world leaders, further reflecting the fire being the closest to the godhead in the alchemical systems. The dwarves are earth, for probably obvious reasons. The elves are air, with their both living in the trees, their precision, their mental acuity, and awareness of the world, and hobbits as water, being natural, flowing, and most importantly, having nurturing qualities, a trait that is often described as the highest form of the divine feminine, manifested through the alchemical element of water, or the emotional body. If we were to count wizards and orcs, we would see angels and demons join the fray with the elements of ether and voidness, the latter of which stands for a lack of substance. Now, speaking of hobbits, the Shire itself represents an idyllic haven, where the hobbits live in harmony with nature and each other, creating an environment of peace, love, and pleasure. Even though not all hobbits get along and are particularly stuck in their ways, their ways are that of connection with the spirit of the earth. In many ways, living in the Shire might be what we would think would be the end goal for many characters, a peaceful haven where evil doesn't exist, reminiscent of the English countryside. As the story opens, we see Bilbo celebrating his 11th first birthday, which in the book also just happens to be on the same day as Frodo celebrating his coming-of-age birthday as he turns 33. In Sacred Numerology, 1-1-1 signifies manifestation and prosperity. This number's main symbolism is manifesting thoughts into reality and is also said to symbolize awareness, uniqueness, motivation, and spiritual awakening. This makes sense as shortly after Bilbo's celebrations, he slips away to go on a new journey in his life. Frodo's age is also hugely significant, as 33 in Christian numerology is the age that Jesus was when he was crucified in the year 33 AD. We might even go as far as to say that no number holds more esoteric significance than 33. The number three is significant in all major religions, with there being a trinity for Christians and even a trinity of goddesses or deities in many ancient cultures. The number 33 was also important to secret societies and is often concealed within significant literary works. There are even 33 degrees in modern Freemasonry. At the Vatican there are 32 archways on each side of the courtyard with a giant obelisk in the middle and the Pope's cassock has 32 buttons with his head representing the 33rd. Furthermore, the first Temple of Solomon stood for 33 years before being pillaged. Alexander the Great also died at 33 and Pope John Paul I was murdered after being in power for only 33 days. And if that all wasn't interesting enough, in the movies we see all of this happen on the 22nd of September. So altogether we have 111, 22 and a hidden 33. When we first meet Bilbo and Gandalf, Bilbo is unwilling to give up the ring, a sign of being unable to let go of his worldly attachments and temptations. Eventually, after much persuasion from the wizard, he gives it up and is relieved of a huge burden, symbolic of him relieving his ego of its duty. When Gandalf returns later to visit Frodo, he casts the ring into the fireplace, revealing the engraved Elvish script. Isn't it remarkable how the black speech of Mordor can be so beautiful and yet so evil at the same time? It's a scenario reminiscent of Lucifer, who was said to be the most beautiful of God's angels, don't you think? Along with strength of will, the value of wisdom is also integral to the underlying spirituality of Lord of the Rings. Although I'm sure Tolkien never intended it this way, we find the Elves to be an embodiment of and reminiscent of Taoist wisdom. Like the Taoist sages, the Elves, for the most part, are free of the discontent that so affects humans. They love the natural world and govern their lives in harmony with it. They dedicate their creative power to fashioning things of beauty that enhance the natural world without damaging it. Their dwellings bring to mind the dwellings in the great Taoist landscapes, habitations in harmony with their environments. All of this, like the ideal government of the Tao De Ching, is so at odds with our actual world that fantasy is an apt term for it. But it does bring to mind the kind of world that beings who are born with inner contentment might create. And in doing so, reminds us of the degree that the world we have in fact created is much born out of our own discontentment. Leaving up to their meeting in Rivendell, Frodo is stabbed by a Nazgûl blade that begins to slowly infect him, which Aragorn says can only be healed by Elven magic. If we look at it from a higher perspective, the Nazgûl are creatures of necromancy, fueled by dark magic and hatred. By being stabbed, perhaps that hatred and despair begins to slowly enter Frodo, and given that Elven magic is born solely out of love and compassion, it is the only thing that can heal a wound of fear and hatred. Much like his own current situation, love is the only true remedy for fear. It is no coincidence that Frodo meets Bilbo here again, as the environment itself is one of healing and repentance. Now the first book and movie is called The Fellowship of the Ring, and on a base level it arguably represents the bonds of brotherhood and family, and this idea that no one race is better than another. In this, we find that even once enemies can become friends, such as Legolas and Gimli. Although the Fellowship was not meant to last, the establishing of this shared intention between all of them is ultimately what allows the entire story to transpire once they reach Rivendell. During the Council of Elrond, we see that the presence of the Ring and the Conversation stirs everyone to arms with each other. And truly, if each of them tried to destroy the Ring on their own, they would all fail and ultimately become corrupted by its power. The only one who can do it is Frodo, because he represents the purity and innocence of the natural soul, and even then the Ring still gets to him slowly but surely by the end. Nevertheless, only by having a united Fellowship made up of each of the world's races can they hope to succeed. There is undeniably a lesson of cooperation here, only by working together and lifting each other up can we accomplish something seemingly impossible. There is more power and unity than in separation. From a spiritual perspective, perhaps a lesson here is that by creating and maintaining an environment of mutual trust and harmony, and working together and creating a space for that kind of movement and growth to occur, can we too do the impossible and curb our own desires and egos, allowing us to exist in harmony with our world collectively. Also, it is interesting that the Fellowship numbers nine people, two humans, an elf, a dwarf, four hobbits, and a wizard, along with there being nine Nazgul. There's probably some strong numerology in there somewhere, as nine is a very significant number numerologically. But for now, let's just say that the two groups create a sense of balance, one for one, so to speak. Throughout the story, we also see the theme of personal sacrifice over and over. I wonder if this was inspired by Tolkien's own spirituality, reflecting Jesus, who gave his own life because it was what must be done. Frodo went on the journey to take the Ring to Rivendell, and then all the way to Mount Doom, sacrificing his old life, his old way of being, and things would never be the same again for him. Further, it was Gandalf's decision to allow Frodo the choice to take either the mines or the mountains after leaving Rivendell, a choice which ultimately led to Gandalf's death and Christ-like resurrection. While the majority of these scenes take place in the next film, it is significant that Gandalf dies fulfilling his purpose, protecting and guiding the others. In doing so, he is allowed to return to life as a much more leveled up Gandalf the White, taking the place of Saruman as the benevolent white wizard. The color symbolism here cannot go unmentioned, as his transition from gray to white is arguably symbolic of him shedding the veil of night, to quote our good friend Thoth from the Emerald Tablets, and becoming a true ascended being. This transition into ascension is also present with Galadriel in Lothlorien, towards the very end of the film. For people who have only seen the movie version of The Lord of the Rings, we see a little context for Galadriel's actions and words after she resists taking the Ring. Even the book version does not provide the full context, but in the appendices at the end of the Return of the King and in the Silmarillion, we learn that Galadriel's character flaw is the desire for power. This flaw she shares with her ancestors, who were exiled from the far west, do largely to their pride and aggression. Though sharing in this exile, Galadriel was always torn by her love of the world and its beauty and her desire for power. Through the ages of Middle-Earth, she steadfastly pitted her will against the will of Sauron and in doing so served in the protection of beauty and harmony against chaos and destruction. With this background, we can better understand the scene where Galadriel finally has offered the Ring of Power by Frodo. A part of her had obviously long desired for such an opportunity, yet she is able to resist this temptation and in doing so, she finally can relinquish her desire for power. On this, she knows that the condition of her exile has been lifted and she can now return to the far west, symbolic of her own ascension and moving into a new life for herself. Even the Gifts of Lothlórien themselves have spiritual meaning. Frodo's Light of Erendil that illuminates the darkness seems to signify light as a purifying energy that provides hope, warmth, and shows the way. Interestingly, there is a slight difference in the Gifts that Sam gets from Galadriel. In the movie, he receives an elven rope, but in the book, he receives soil from Galadriel's garden and a seed, which he uses to replant the trees in the Shire after it's destroyed, signifying a spiritual rebirth and ultimately the resurrection of the Earth. The movie ends with Frodo disbanding the Fellowship under the guise that the Ring holds too much temptation to be able to keep the group together. Once again, he makes a heavy sacrifice for what he sees as the greatest good. But like always, love is still the answer. Samwise, knowing Frodo as a friend, immediately guesses where he's going and follows him into what is quite literally the mouth of hell, signifying that the bonds of brotherhood and family transcend even the darkest of darkness. And on that note, let us now bring this first episode to a close. There is so much more that we could have got into here, and believe me, it was very hard to condense this into just one video. But hey, at least we've got two more to go. We will expand on each of these themes and delve more into them as we make our own journey to Mount Doom by working through the story here on this channel. So make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell if you want to tune in for the next release. There's a new episode of Hidden Spirituality every week, so we'll see you again in a few days for something new.