I'm Marcia Joyner, and this is Cannabis Conflict, a 10,000 year audit. And for those of you that had been with us the last couple of years, you know that there comes a time when we need to talk about A, yes, cannabis, but we also need to take a look at some other parts of our history. We know that right now we are dealing with dear old Uncle Sam and how crazy it is with cannabis. But there's more to Uncle Sam and the craziness. And so I have a friend that all of you know, Theo Alexander has been with us since the very beginning of this series. Theo not only has his own business with cannabis, and he services veterans and helps them through so many things with cannabis. However, I asked Theo to be with us today because Theo is a descendant of the people who went through the horrors of the Tulsa race riots, the massacre of what was the Black Wall Street. So Theo, thank you so much for coming back. Thank you for giving us a firsthand account, you know, that because most of what we read is written by the conqueror, the people that actually created the riot, that we don't get a sense of what the riot was like, the massacre was like, except from people who, well, you're as close to firsthand as we can get, but your ancestors, your family went through this. Now, just to give you a background, this was 1921 and Tulsa at that time, was that Greenwood? It was the Greenwood history. It was unbelievably successful. It was a Black neighborhood with doctors and lawyers and dentists and pharmacists and banks and schools, hospitals, libraries. All of these were Black owned, gorgeous place, and that's why it was called Wall Street, Black Wall Street. And also Little Africa. Little Africa. That was another nickname that was attributed to Black Wall Street. So, tell us about the success of this area. Black Wall Street was centered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the districts of the streets of Greenwood, Archer, and Pine with a street set, you know, cordoned off the section of Black Wall Street. In the heyday, late 1800s up to 1900s, Oklahoma was starting to welcome settlers who were free Black slaves to open territory. This is prior to it being called Oklahoma, so that's a state. It was a place where, it was a place of refuge for a lot of people escaping the south in the tragic slavery situations that was going on along with the Jim Crow. So they settled in Oklahoma, in Oklahoma, and they established Tulsa there, and Tulsa developed into what they call a Black Macca. Prior to any other state having any kind of conservable Black wealth being shown as success even during those times of oppression and slavery and things like that and also coming out of World War I, a lot of people in the war effort brought their families there to settle. And the fortunate thing was, Oklahoma had a large oil reserve, Tulsa, which has one of the best ports, one of the most successful ports. This is what contributed to the wealth of Tulsa, which was Black-owned. And it was considered the wealthiest place on the planet at that point in time in 1921, with the oil reserves and also with the success of the bankers and success of the doctors and lawyers. Many of them contributed to first-time interventions or first-time surgeries, things like that. But we were very fortunate to have Oklahoma, or prior to Oklahoma's territory, to have that land below the Mason Dixon line even, settled by successful Blacks. And we were doing our thing back then. And so your family was in this area, in that city or town? Yes, my family. Well, it was part of the city, but it was a district. Is that correct? Yes. It was part of Tulsa, north side of Tulsa. If you look at the city grid of most states in the United States, only two, only clue cities that are settled by Blacks are set on the north side. Now, the north side is usually contributed to caucasian wealth and things like that. So Memphis, Tennessee, and Tulsa, Oklahoma was the only two cities that were set up in the north, which was the affluent section. And yes, my family came up from northern Texas in the early 1800s. We settled in around the Bristow and Langston area. And at the age of five, my parents moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the early 70s. And so we settled there, and we were... I wasn't aware of the Tulsa massacre until the age of 13. A lot of times, it's swept under the rug, like you said, the powers to be the tell the story of the newspaper owners and things like that, the broadcast stations. In that era, in the United States, across the United States, there were similar events happened. And you talked about the Elaine massacre recently. Yes. You had Rosewood in Florida. You have a series of events happening in the early 1900s and to the mid-1900s. And I would dare say that we still suffer from some of those things and some of those policies today, even as we see innocent Black death being taken by law enforcement officers in no regard for Black life. So how did this massacre begin? The story goes, there was a gentleman by the name of Dick Rowland, which is an entrepreneur in the area. Because it was segregated at that point in time, you could only use certain bathrooms at the top of the tower where the incident occurred. There was a restroom that was for color. So you had to take the elevator with an operator up to that where the restroom was on. You'd be able to do that. So Dick Rowland, which is one of the young men who entered the elevator cart, and back then they had elevator operas, as I said. I believe the lady's name was Sarah Page, a young white girl. And well, it's told that when Dick got onto the elevator, he missed his step because he was off from practice to intimidate our press or cause injury to Blacks at any cost. And so it was said that the elevator operator stopped the floor. Prior to it leveling off, when Dick Rowland walked onto the floor, he stumbled into her. And she let out a scream. At that point in time, that heard, and you were a Black man, it was something dealing with a white person.  So when that incident occurred, both of them exited the elevator. Dick went one way, she went the other way. And soon to come, a lynch mob formed to come apprehend him for assault or rape, that's what they were saying, of a young white girl at that point in time. And it just transferred from a lynch mob to anger. As far as the, it seemed like the whole county told us to convene on Black Wall Street at that point in time, with local law enforcement and collusion with... Oh, of course. To, you know, to cordon off the street after the lynch mob had formed. And there was a series of incidents that happened. Black wealth was not to be taken for granted at that point in time. We knew the time that people were living in. And so we wanted to protect our wealth. And at that point in time in the United States, it was not illegal. You didn't get any kind of repercussion for killing Blacks at that point in time. You still don't. Yes, it was an average of two Blacks that were lynched a week. And even by newspaper and postcard depiction. You know, that's how we know some of the things that were happening at that point in time. But so the people in Tulsa, we're not going to stand for that. So we had a lot of World War I veterans. There were a lot of the entrepreneurs, the pillars of the community, the pastors of the church, things like that. And there was an armed guard that stood guard at the courthouse or the jailhouse where Dick Rowling was being held. It was common practice for a lynch mob to come right to the steps of the judicial system or the courthouse. And the law enforcement would turn the person over for them to be lynched in the public. So a series of lynchings had gone on, probably that week, and Tulsa was not going to stand for it. And so there was a shot fired. We don't know who fired the shot. There's many different stories said.  And things transferred, you know, transpired after that. It was very drastic. So how long did it take? How long did all of this last? It last, I think a series of four or five days total. The first day being the most devastating because people were seeing the planning that went out. The National Law was called in, the Marshall Law was called. And the World War I veterans, you know, there were white plansmen that were in the area were very, very jealous. I guess they despised the wealth of Black Wall Street and Tulsa, Oklahoma, when some of them were still living on dirt mattresses, what you call the hillbillies. And so at that point in time, you know, the Klan was very strong. The Klan was reinvigorated as a union group because there was a lot of out-of-work white male World War I veterans. And so when they did collaborate, they deputized those type of people. And they already had their guns from World War I, because it was all common practice to bring guns with you. No one took them back. Government didn't want them.  Some of them were all pilots. They had their crop dusters. They dropped napalm and fire, well, not napalm, but other means of high flammable fluids on some of the structures. So they bombed. They bombed Black Wall Street. This is why you see the destruction that was so vast. So, yes, they bombed it. But prior to bombing it, they went in and looted the wealth. A lot of these people were jewelers. They were bankers. They were not impoverished people. And so they took that. Oh, boy, it's kind of... Yes, it's heart-wrenching. It is. It is. And it was happening across the nation. It is. My mother was at Fisk University, and she says there was a lynching every weekend. This is Nashville. And she said there was a lynching every weekend just outside of town. And the mob would come, the local folks would come, and they would take souvenirs from the lynched person, their ears or whatever. Yes, and that was what took place, the savagery that took place, because also with the Native Americans and the Indian Wars, they did the same. They bought scalping and things like that. So taking souvenirs was something they intended to do. And then the tragedy even is that when they were lynching, they would bring their children there to watch. And some of the postcards depicts the people smiling and having fun as someone was being roasted over a fire while being lynched at the same time. So we had a very, very savage history in our nation, but this is 1921, less than 100 years ago. We're coming up on the centennial of that event. And to us, there's plenty past that event. Black Wall Street never regained its wealth at this point in time. We're still investigating exactly how many people were murdered. And even upon the murder of so many, even when people went back to reclaim their owned land and to borrow money to rebuild, there was ordinances and legislation put into place where insurance was not made available to any of the people who came back to reclaim their own property or to reclaim the property because of the massacre, because of the looting, because it was being burned down. So in effect, that was exactly what they intended to do to just wipe it out. Yes. And so this kid was an excuse? He was definitely an excuse. They used him as a scapegoat. Did they kill him? No. He was apprehended and he was also released. Dick Rowland, I do believe he's still, if he's not still alive, I'm not sure. Oh, of course. That was a long time ago. Yes, but it was said that him and Sarah Page were actually a couple. She had just filed for divorce when the state she was coming from. When she moved to Tulsa, she gained a job and she started dating and she was dating a, she didn't really understand that how strict it was. Sure she did. Well, she never pressed charges on Dick. They tried to get it to press charges. She never pressed charges. But the mob ensued anyhow using as an excuse. Of course. Yes. But they actually have children together. Oh, yeah. They settled in another part of Oklahoma and actually had children. And I guess they lived their life, but that's an unknown story. I can't really verify that, but people in Oklahoma, we understand that. You understand that. The tragedy was caused because of that. We have to take a break. When we come back, I want to know more about the story. Okay. We'll be back in one minute. Hi, guys. I'm your host, Lillian Cumick from Lillian's Vegan World. And I come to you live every second Friday from 3 p.m. And this is the show where I talk about the plant-based lifestyle and veganism. So we go through recipes, some upcoming events, information about health regarding your health, and just some ideas on how you can have a better lifestyle, eat healthier, and have fun at the same time. So do join me. I look forward to seeing you. And Aloha. Aloha. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough of Sister Power here at Think Tech of IE. And Sister Power is all about motivating, empowering, educating, and inspiring all people. And we have various subjects here. Sister Power is here at Think Tech every other Thursday at 4 p.m. Again, my name is Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, host of Sister Power. We look forward to seeing you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at Sister's Empowering Kavaii at gmail.com. Look forward to chatting with you soon. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Marcia, and we're back. This is Cannabis Chronicles, and if you joined us late, it doesn't look like Cannabis Chronicles, but we have taken this opportunity to talk about a part of our history that is not known. And with the occupant and the White House, it scares me to death that we may be headed back to this very thing, this time in history. So I asked Theo to join us. Now, those of you that have watched Cannabis Chronicles, you know he's brilliant when it comes to cannabis. In however, he is also from Tulsa, Oklahoma. And his parents went through this horrors, and then grandparents went through the horrors of the Tulsa, or what they called the Wall Street, Black Wall Street massacre. So I asked Theo to talk about it, because this is something we don't talk about. We don't talk about where we were, what the last time we went through this.  So you were telling us about Tulsa, about this Greenville, which was Greenwood, which was the Black Wall Street, and all of its wonders.  Yes. And as I say, Tulsa was unique because it was the biggest massacre on American soil up until the Oklahoma City bombing, which is also Rapture Street from Tulsa. So we have two major incidents in the two major cities in Oklahoma that depict the views on some of the government. Well, I would say anti-government views, because the people in the Black Wall Street were taxpayers. We were lending to the white sharecroppers even at that point in time. They were coming to get farming equipment and other things that they needed to survive.  And unfortunately, you know, the same resentment for Black life is alive and well. On a lighter note, we had a lot of great things that come out of Tulsa. A lot of people are familiar with Charlie Wilson and the Gap Band. People don't know that Gap is an acronym. It stands for Greenwood, Archer, and Pine. Oh. Yes. So this is why, you know, a lot of things, you know, that I asked for that came out of Oklahoma and moved west and move north and move east, Black Wall Street. You can imagine if Atlanta experienced a massacre in the scale of Tulsa right now, you would imagine that how many people would, you know, it would be a mass exodus to many different places in the United States. Well, tell me, how many people do you know? How many people lost their lives? We know they lost their fortunes, but how many lost their lives, you know? Yes. Well, no one knows exactly. This is something that Tulsa Race Ride Commission right now is investigating. They want to resume the bodies of some of the locations that were discovered here recently. It was always considered to be mass graves, but the city would never entertain the idea of going in and doing an investigation to find out the facts. So at this point, the estimates are slightly above 300, but we know there was way more. Oh, yeah. Of course it was. Way more. So what is the commission now? So the commission convened. What's the name of the commission? This is the Tulsa Race Ride Massacre Centennial Commission. We're coming up on 2021. This happened in 1921. So the 100-year centennial is coming up. And so they're planning a lot of things. Greenwood District is still alive and well. It's been sectioned and pardoned off. Some of it still remains in the hands of Black ownership. Very slight, very small percentage of that. But in the grave sites, the commission was put together because they went to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to argue for explanation because the story was kept from me, you know, and many others out of the history of Oklahoma and history of the world for many, many years. As I said, I was 13 years when I first found out about it. A lot of people won't talk about it today. So what they did was in the early 80s, they went and started a former commission of successful Black entrepreneurs and legislators and mayors, and they put together the commission who started to ask and demand even compensation and also explanation for what happened then and why is it not taught in history in schools? So one thing that the commission did was they installed the Department of Education in Tulsa and Oklahoma in general, a curriculum. Two types of curriculum was a one-day curriculum and then another was a five-day curriculum. The one-day curriculum is for people who just need to be acclimated about the history, kind of a nutshell approach of what happened, and it's taught from grace, third grade up until your junior year as an Oklahoma history course in college. So it covers a broad, broad scale of the age groups that need to know and understand. You can see that curriculum or a lot of other things that depict the history of Black Wall Street and Tulsa, Oklahoma at Tulsa2021.org. It's a very great site. There are a few videos and also some of the things that you should know about Black Wall Street and what we're doing today to commemorate. Yeah, now repeat that again the name of the website. The website, what the commission's called the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission and you can find that website at www.tulsa2021.org. So can anybody take the curriculum? Can anybody, I mean you don't have to be in a class and Tulsa can outside people? Yes, the curriculum is there to teach the history of those Tulsa Race riots. Teaching the history often helps you to understand where you need to go in the future. Yes, of course. If we don't know our history, we're doomed to repeat it. And we're headed down that road as we speak. Oh boy. And like I said, I don't think things have changed too much from these days of taking, you know, of the massacre. Like I said, Rosewood, Elaine Mastery. There were so many things happening between that time period, but if you look today, if you look at the list, the ongoing list of innocent black life that is taken in the public with video and nothing, nothing has happened. These people go to a grand jury and are acquitted almost 100% of the time. Yes. And it's very... It's the same, it's the same. And that man in the White House caters to them. That is who he's talking to. Yes, you know. And that's why I wanted you to do this, so that young people, especially those that know you, know, get a sense of where we've been. So that, you know, you can't just say, oh well, you know, we really need to take a look at all of... I'm just sorry that we can't do all of it. Yes, I understand. But we need to open the door. You need to have people tune into the curriculum. Yes. We need... There's so many videos online about Tulsa. Yes, terrible. If you just Google on YouTube or just go to YouTube and put in Tulsa Race Ride or Tulsa Lenshing 1921 or Tulsa Master 1921, Black Wall Street, a plethora of videos and information depicting the rich history, oral and both written of blacks in the United States. We didn't come over here in slavery. People don't understand that there were natives or indigenous cultures just like the Aborigines. There were indigenous cultures there in Oklahoma that resided before they listed that as a native territory and pushed all the other tribes to Oklahoma. We were there, you know, no matter what they called us, what we called ourselves was successful, God fearing. And it's unfortunate that we don't see that today. Probably anyone that's taught that, you know, their taught slavery helped to build America, but they don't teach you that the people who were enslaved were engineers, architects, medics.  This is why they were enslaved to build this great nation. And as we come upon 2020 and there's many legislators arguing for reparation. Well, I don't know how you, and I'm not going to pretend that I do know how you would do reparations fairly. However, what I think could happen. And that would be free. Absolutely. Because that's paying it forward. Yes, that's one of the things that. That would pay it forward that because you need an education and especially now where jobs that we think of today will disappear. So we need to be educated for tomorrow. Yes. And I would say that the education should be directed towards skill learning skills. Trade skills because those are the jobs that are going to show up all of this new artificial intelligence. Right. We need to enter into the innovative and the creativity and the movement that's happening right now with technology and things. And I think that we have a surplus of young people and people who are professional at this point that are leading that fight and leading that, you know, the interest into that world, including the world of hemp, of course. Yes, of course. We haven't talked about camps, but I would say, you know. And the hemp industry opens up a plethora of opportunities. Yes. When we started the show a couple of years ago, they said there were 50,000 products made of hemp. Who knows what they are now? How many? Exactly. Exactly. And so, I mean, along with teaching trade skills and teaching, you know, the regular curriculum, having retuition would be definitely a plus if we look at the rate of debt. Oh, my gosh, yes. That young people, I'm still paying my student on. So, I mean, the rate of debt that we incur just getting an education to go to a job that doesn't exist sometimes. The debt doesn't exist, yes.  You'll never be a lawyer, a doctor, a policeman. Those days are past, but what do we need to survive? We need those skills. We do. You do. Well, we have been, this has been a real pleasure to spend the time with you. And, of course, you will come back and talk, we'll talk more about Camo as we progress. So, thank you for this, and I think our audience, I want to thank you all. And again, do you have an email at the webpage for this? The webpage, the easiest way to get in contact with this. Well. Just one information to further your knowledge is to contact them at www.telsa-tulsa-2021.org. Again, that's www.telsa-2021.org. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. And we'll see you next time. Aloha. Aloha.


my face feels extra puffy today I don't know why maybe it's because I was so damn tired last night and it's pretty early the sun is up it's gonna be another hot one way around 100 who wants to go ride bikes me I'm wearing my fancy riding shirt today you'll notice it has somewhat of a collar and a pocket very useful okay off you go so apparently I need to be putting more sunscreen on my feet oh dear Lord almost time to go ride my bike again today all right says it's gonna be 98 degrees today in Gothenburg I don't care if it's a thousand degrees I just don't want headwinds somebody please turn the wind machine off screw our bikes oh boy you know what's tender right now besides my heart my ass man yesterday did a number on my booty son is up I don't feel any wind so far ladies and gentlemen it's another beautiful day to be on planet earth no flatties no crashies no whammies no headwindies most importantly that sucker is going fast look at that see this bird behind me it's been following me for like a mile just chirping protecting me mornings are my favorite part of bike touring everything is just still quiet the sun is low on the horizon the temperatures are cool and crisp the birds are always chirping giant semis are flying high it's peaceful this tiny town called Cozad and a woman on Instagram wrote me last night said hey I work in Cozad I'll come out and say hi to you hi there nice to meet you it's crazy to think that I have viewers in such small towns my sweet mama just sent me a text check it out it says excessive heat index in your area today and tomorrow drink lots of water and keep your neck gaiter wet to cool you oh and be safe and have fun love you mama taking good care of me even when I'm far away I'll take this moment to talk about my mom a little bit I know that my adventures stress her out she of course she's a mom she gets very nervous she's scared that something could happen to me but she tries her best to support me and it means a lot so even though mom I'm sorry you have full white hair gray hair because of maybe my adventures I don't know why but thank you for the love and support it means the world to me you see that thing flap flap flap it away that's not necessarily good it's a bit of a crosswind today so it's not as bad as yesterday but man come on win give me a break and these birds again they love hey buddy these birds love following me maybe it's cuz I kind of go their speed maybe they're my guardian angel birds check it out I love this why are you following me I quite enjoy it I've never experienced that on a bike tour before and if I have I just haven't noticed it I was riding by and I had to come see this look at this Odessa auto sales looks like they only have a used tractor left come and get it I had to get some ice cream right I mean it was right there and so easy today feels good today feels a lot better than yesterday I was trying to get through this town in a timely matter but then this happens beans that digital sign right there says it's 97 degrees it's not even close to a hundred it feels like springtime out here time since I've oh laid on is now on the right side of me so I'm putting sunscreen all over the right side of my face love Casey's because they have beer and ice cream but they also have a beer cave and it's a gigantic walk-in cooler and it is so amazing oh my god it's it's like being in the North Pole oh I wonder how long it takes until they kick me out of here oh this feels so incredible my nipples are getting a little hard a few moments later damn it is hot out here oh it's crazy hot like this feels like a big thick blanket just wrapped me up right when I walked outside thank you Casey's I don't know what happened to my sweet little Lincoln byway highway 30 but it got really busy there are big trucks left and right like that one right there I need to find a smaller road this was just not gonna work it hit 100 it is impressively hot I have to say I felt a hundred plenty of times usually in Colorado where it's a dry heat but this humid heat holy hell it is oppressive smooth black pavement it really does make a big difference your tires just roll so much smoother and I also love tailwinds and gigantic semi trucks there's my bird you can see a shadow I swat her hi there can I get a medium Oreo blizzard oh this is a tough city to navigate there's 50,000 people that live here and I don't quite know where I'm gonna stay tonight cuz big towns are really hard to camp in like in the town like town parks usually don't let you do that so I'm gonna have to get creative reduce I don't know I don't do this blizzard's gonna bring me the answers I'm confident of that so I've decided that I'm gonna keep on going I'm gonna pass right on through Grand Island the Google route has been going north all the way to Council Bluffs for the rest of the route and today Highway 30 just turned into a cluster so much traffic so I'm hoping this other alternative route has less traffic there's only one way to find out here's the tall corn check it out a free campground oh my god I don't know if I've ever sweat this much in my entire life my body my shirt this is not from soaking it with water that a straight sweat the Sun was beating down on me so hard those last 20 miles I'm glad I pushed it felt good I felt like you know when Michael Jordan talks about being in the zone that's how I felt I was just boom powering down here in the highway was so much better than Highway 30 not much traffic beautiful light the cornfields you could see him going on forever and ever oh man felt really really good I probably filled up my water bottles all four of them three times and bought other drinks along the day oh man it's been a long time since I've been this exhausted but I feel feel really good about it it's not like headwind exhausted it's like yes I went fast and I went forward and it felt good it is oppressively hot that's still like 90 something it's 10 p.m. there's no wind and I'm just sitting in my tent dripping I'd rather be on my bike actually I should have just ridden all through the night it's like 10 o'clock and this young man comes by he goes are you Ryan dozer and I was like what who are you my name is Carson I'm from Aurora I just saw Ryan's Instagram post about him I saw the road he was on and I knew that this was the town that I live in I'm like oh I better go down to the park and see if he's camping here and sure enough here yes what did you tell your parents I said I looked at the watch I'm like I'll be right back I think I know a bike rider who's in town and they were my mom was freaked out she's like what if he's a serial killer and my dad's like if he's a serial killer why would he be putting on Instagram wherever he's going so and I'm a vegetarian so I doubt I'm gonna kill humans if I don't even kill animals yeah awesome so tell you said you like bikes why do you watch my channel um I actually found you with love cycles or whatever I just started watching and I've watched so many of your videos oh that's awesome why do you love biking dude um I don't actually know I started when I was like in sixth grade and I just I bike around town a whole bunch I'm kind of known as the biker around town it's just really relaxing to put on some music and just go for it how many people live in this town 4500 I think something somewhere around there are there many bike riders here not like me no I am so glad you came and found me sir this is so cool man and we have this spooky light right now spooky light anyway but I wish you all the best and if you ever any questions about biking or whatever let me know man I'm I'm here for you I am not a serial killer killer mom I'm not a serial serial killer and can you turn down the heat I wish I could it is what 93 93 it's what time is it 10.03 10.03 ah my man boom I think we just woke up everybody in the campground but sorry


There's a crisis on Europe's borders as it tries to control the massive influx of refugees. It's also a threat from within. This is not an eight-month problem. The Syria war started in 2011 and we all know that it's much harder to play catch-up to solve a problem than it is to anticipate a problem. So the resilience of these people is huge and never forget that Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian. I mean, that's our ability precisely to increase equality of opportunities in our region. There's a fundamental clash between the welfare state and open border, meaning that the welfare state not only gives a lot of people, but it also makes it hard for this welfare state to absorb people.  That does not mean, however, that Europe doesn't need effective screening and admission measures. We have a few weeks precisely to concretely deliver European options in order to fix the situation on the short end. Otherwise, for sure, you will have nation-by-nation solutions. The higher you build the wall, the more you empower the smugglers. And if we only deal with the symptoms of this problem, we will never be able to be in a position where we can manage this.


G'day, mate. Forty here. Welcome back to Forty University. Today's class is psychology. So what are the evolutionary benefits of depression? What are the evolutionary benefits of sadness? Why did we evolve to feel sad at times? Like what's in it for us? What's the payoff? Like how on earth could getting depressed be evolutionarily adaptive rather than maladaptive? Also, culture plays a huge role in in depression. So I'm looking at this terrific 2007 book The Loss of Sadness How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder by Alan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield. So they make the point that an American woman who goes into major depression because she held hands with a man and then has had no further contact with that man. All right, she's not experienced a sufficient loss to explain her depression symptoms because American cultural values don't define the situation as humiliating. Having held hands with a man and then losing contact with him is not socially stigmatizing. And so if a woman gets depressed in response to the absence of any special meaning, social cultural meanings here, this seems pathological. In contrast, in many Islamic cultures, a young woman who has any physical contact with a man whom she does not marry can face social stigmatization and degradation. So any touching, however innocuous by Western standards can lead to serious social consequences in places like Afghanistan or Pakistan. But let's get back to why on earth do we get sad? What are the evolutionary benefits? Because sad people tend to display less initiative. They are less motivated. They increasingly withdraw from everyday activities. Happy people, by contrast. Participate more widely in life. They have more sexual partners. They're more sex. They have more food. They have more access to money and resources and all sorts of other things that increase survival and reproduction. So under ordinary circumstances, we would think that consistent levels of a negative mood should be selectively disadvantageous. Right. So why would intense sadness responses be naturally selected through evolution? What are the special circumstances in which the benefits of temporarily experiencing depression or extreme sadness outweigh the obvious costs? So what are the particular contacts? And only in those contacts do states of a low mood have increased fitness precisely because they make people less active and less motivated. And perhaps the best analogy is acute pain from an injury. So that acute pain stops activity and it's adaptive because it helps people avoid further damage to the tissues. By contrast, chronic pain unrelated to any underlying physiological damage is harmful in the same way that ongoing depressive disorder unrelated to circumstance is harmful. So what could be some reasons that we evolved to feel intense sadness and depression? So one explanation is attraction of social support. It's a cry for help. So the withdrawal, inhibition, vegetative aspects of depression mimic illness and they signal to others to draw the suffering individual back into the group. So postpartum depression, all right, may arise under circumstances such as poor infant health and lack of social support and it functions as a signal that mothers will reduce their childcare efforts until they receive more support from the group. Now, there's a good rejoinder to this that depression tends to tends to drive people to reject rather than to offer support. So we typically respond with avoidance and rejection rather than support of depressed people. So perhaps only non-disorder, non-pathological sadness that arises in appropriate situations that attract social support. So we often have intense mobilization of ritual expressions of sympathy after bereavement and other serious losses while dysfunctional depression involving severe and sustained states of despondency without sufficient situational cause will tend to alienate an anger of the people and will diminish social support and will lead to isolation and rejection into fitness disadvantages. So another theory is that depressive symptoms of despair may protect infants in the immediate aftermath of the parental loss. So if a person withdraws sometimes, that makes them less of a target. And then there's a different theory here that Darwin proposed that the initial period of loud protest after a significant loss, right, screaming, that has attention getting benefits. So presumably both strategies have their purposes at different times in different situations after a loss. The psychiatrist John Bulby proposed, he's the very influential John Bulby. How do I explain John Bulby? He developed attachment theory.  So he says the prospect of the pain of depression and sadness following a loss of attachment motivates people to vigorously seek reunion with lost loved ones and to not give up the lost tie and to protect their important attachments. So grief at the thoughts of loss allow social bonds to persist during frequent temporary absences. So grief after the death of a loved one is a byproduct of an adaptive response to attachment losses that were not permanent. Then there's another evolutionary explanation for deep sadness. There's the protection from aggression after a status loss. So when people become depressed and sad, they experience lower testosterone, elevated cortisol and retardation and behavior. So this is deeply rooted in the reptilian brain is present in most vertebrates and all mammals. So animals also get depressed like dogs slink away when you yell at them, like apes and monkeys and chimps, they all get depressed. So negative behavior, negative mood, negative thought arise as adaptive responses to circumstances of defeat and subordination. So in general, when you look at the people around you, those who are consistently defeated by life are much more likely to be depressed and sad than people who are winning at life. And this may be an adaptive response. Maybe it's part of an involuntary subordinate strategy, ISS, involuntary subordinate strategy. So it's a state of inhibited action marked by withdrawal, lack of assertion, nervousness and anxiety. That's what most people go through when they fall in social prestige. So maybe this goes to primitive brain algorithms that assess our relative strength, our relative weakness, our relative power, our relative status. And then we adjust our actions accordingly to produce sponsors of flight, fight or submission when we confront others.  What about people who don't experience and exhibit real emotions? Well, in some, I'm sure that's evolutionarily adaptive in some circumstances. So I would think in more isolated circumstances like in Northern Europe, a more stoical approach to life may well be evolutionarily adaptive while growing up, evolving in a place where there are far more people and there's far more social connection, then that would probably elicit a different adaptive response, a more expression of your emotions. So in some circumstances, I would expect that a detached and unemotional response is going to be evolutionarily adaptive and in other circumstances, a valuable emotional response to loss will be adaptive. So I think for most people most of the time, sadness and depression are adaptive reactions, adaptive responses to subordinate positions from which there's no possibility of escape. So what about not being able to feel anything? Well, I'm sure that there have been situations that people have evolved in where lowered intensity of feeling is evolutionarily adaptive. So in life, the defeated party who fails to defend territory or loses a status contest, they could respond with anger and aggression rather than concede to the winner, but an open expression of aggression and anger could very well lead to serious injury or death of the defeated party. So many of the symptoms of intense sadness and depression communicate that you, the loser, will not confront winners. You will not attempt to gain dominance and you're giving up the status struggle. So submissive responses from the loser protects the loser from further aggression by showing the dominant that it is safe from additional challenges and that the dominant need not feel threatened by your continued presence as a loser. So subordinates that make submissive responses may be more likely to survive and reproduce than those who respond to loss more aggressively. So this theory explains the situation-specific qualities of the depressive response. They are adaptive only when facing potential defeat by stronger adversaries. So the inhibition of self-assertion would be naturally selected to occur in certain contexts of loss. It's also compatible with the widespread finding that depression is more common among people and among animals at the bottom of status hierarchies. And this explains the persistence of depression among those who are in enduring states of subordination. So almost universally women are more likely than men to be in subordinate positions which may account for their double the rates of men in their rates of depression. And so sadness is frequently an appropriate and adaptive response to reductions in status. What's your take on depression as a neurobiological disorder? I'm sure it is sometimes. So depression is a dysfunctional response when it's not appropriate to the context and it's harmful to you. The current medication based treatment model I'm sure it works for some people. It's of no benefit to others and actively does harm to others. So I'm sure it varies. I do strongly disagree with the DSM-5 that if you have five of these nine symptoms of major sadness that you've got major depressive disorder if you have these symptoms over two weeks because extreme sadness is often an appropriate response in a certain context such as loss of status, loss of assets, loss of earning power, loss of a romantic partner, loss of a spouse, loss of a child, loss of health, loss of the use of a limb.  Then here's another adaptive response for major sadness. It can promote disengagement from non-productive activities. So you noticed I haven't done much live streaming over the past month. So I used to do on a typical day a three-hour show. Now on a typical day I do about a 30-minute show. So sadness arises when people cannot obtain a crucial resource that is important to them. So I didn't feel like my show was working. So I stepped back from my show. So my lack of activity in creating and producing a show is you could understand that as a perhaps as a symptom of sadness or like I don't feel sad but it's just a stepping back from my habitual activity of doing a three-hour show. So depressive experiences may be adaptive when they disengage people from their investments in unproductive efforts. So I felt like my investment in producing a three-hour daily show was not productive. I have not read Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker. So I am reading right now from a terrific 2007 book The Loss of Sadness How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder. So I am disengaged from my investment in producing and delivering a three-hour daily show because I didn't feel like it was a productive use of my time and energy. So depressive experiences can be adaptive when they disengage people from their investments in unproductive efforts in unreachable goals and goals with low probability of success. So I have withdrawn from an activity that I was doing for about three and a half years because I came to see that it was not a good use of my time. So by withdrawing what do I do? I share the light of Torah. That's what I do. I'm a light unto the nations bro. So disengagement helps people step away from unproductive efforts from unreachable goals from goals with a low probability of success. And so by stepping away from doing my three-hour daily show I'm making possible eventual re-engagement with new more productive activities. So over the past month I've been spending more time earning money. I've been spending more time just recuperating and chilling from my efforts at earning money. I spent just time without feeling a burden to produce or create. So it's kind of an in-between time. Everything we do is in between. We're always in between one thing or another. But this feels like particularly an in-between time. I'm not sure where I'm going forward. So I'm just kind of disengaging from what I was habitually compulsively doing so that I could think a second time, think a third time, just take some time out, see what my spirit prompts and writing in my journal. Is it kosher to use Alexander Technique while on psychiatric medication? Sure. What are my thoughts on OnlyFans and is sex work really work? Well, my thought on OnlyFans is that the major credit cards essentially decide what kind of content can be monetized and what can't. So essentially it's in the hands of Visa and MasterCard and they respond to social incentives. So it's not just that Visa and MasterCard are imposing these standards on us. They are responding to social incentives such as articles in the New York Times. So suspending current activity accompanied by intense ruminative activity. That's what I've been doing. I suspended my three-hour daily show. I accompanied it with intense ruminative activity that is characteristic of depression. I mean, I don't feel depressed. May facilitate the difficult shift of energy to new projects or attachments. It's hard to change. Like change is stressful. Strange change isn't easy. We tend to follow a path of inertia. I was following a path of inertia. I was churning out three-hour shows that not many people were watching. So eventually I got to the point. I think a triggering point was reading that Colin Liddell profile of me for affirmative right where he described me as an unsuccessful live streamer. And I thought, yeah, he's absolutely right. I am unsuccessful live streamer. Let me just take a break. So let me cease my current level of activity of three-hour daily shows. Let me accompany that with intense thinking. And this may facilitate the difficult shift of energy to new projects and to new attachments. So intense sadness responses usually emerge after life crises. And during a life crisis and after after it, people generally forced to reevaluate their futures. So they are adaptive taking time out from activity is adaptive and helping individuals avoid rash decisions. You take all possible dangers into account and you don't overestimate the chances of success in new activities. So that's, I guess, the mode that I am in now. So in this situation, pessimism, lack of energy, fearfulness can prevent calamity even if they perpetuate misery. So the transient nature of most normal sadness allows the individual to emerge properly motivated by newly selected goals. So depressive disorders that involve such severe loss of motivation that efforts cannot be channeled into new pursuits. Obviously, that's dysfunctional. Have you considered going back to your own interview streams with some of the more intriguing distant right personalities? Yes, I would like to do a lot more interview shows. That also wore me down, like setting up interviews such as with Judas Maccabeus. Like I'd set up all these shows with him and at the last minute he'd say, oh, can I show up 30 minutes or an hour late or he wouldn't show up at all. He'd show up two and a half hours late or he'd have some other pressing obligation. And so I planned to show around him. I prepared for a show around him. I'd set up notes and questions to be around him and he doesn't show up. So that's tiring. And so I thought, let me just, instead of trying to schedule more shows with people who don't show up or show up late, let me just take a break from scheduling more shows. Would I ever work with Dover and Jen? Sure. So a sad or depressed response after significant losses or defeats in status, contest or the collapse of your meaning system or inability to reach your goals, can have functions that explain why such responses are naturally selected. So the communication of a low affect after losses of attachment can attract support and sympathy from others. And its anticipation can sustain relationships. The submission of depressed people in subordinate positions can prevent punishment from dominance and promote survival. Lower motivation, physiological slowness can disengage people from unproductive forms of activity and allow them to pause, reassess and eventually engage in more productive endeavors. So different situations produce different types of symptoms. So social losses tend to be followed by crying and emotional pain. Failure to achieve goals is usually associated with pessimism, fatigue and a lack of pleasure and hedonia. So these explanations are not mutually exclusive. Different types of situations produce different reactions that meet specific adaptive challenges. Luke, John David Ebert has hit rock bottom and so visible on his Twitter. Luke Fordshire was the only place he ever met a dude who was bipolar and alcoholic. Bye-bye.


Feelings and emotions. Every day of my life is full of feelings and emotions. I can say that time is sensitive person, but there are a lot of events in my life that impress me somehow. Every day I see people who I love, it's my family, but I also have to contact people who I don't like very much. Sometimes I might have a disagreement with someone. Though I try to control my feelings, I feel stressed after that, but I don't show that. I try to be happy and do things which make me feel happy. For example, I listen to good music. I read books which help me to understand myself. I might watch a movie where main heroes overcome all the hardships and in the end feel free and happy. I believe that emotions should be taken under control.  You can't laugh out loud even if there is something very funny. It's absolutely wrong to give up when something goes wrong. When I was very little, I watched an impressive movie, Gone with the Wind. The main heroine was Scarlett O'Hara. She was a strong woman with hard life. But whenever she felt like giving up, she said, tomorrow is a new day. She told me that you can't give up if there is the slightest chance for good outcome. There is always hope for a better future.


Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining class. Shalom to all of you. Welcome to all our in-person students and our online students. Thank you, Ravili, Nina, John, Jack in, and Shivkumar for joining class this morning. And also, welcome to our e-learning students who will be listening to the lecture later on. OK, before we continue looking at the parables, stories that Jesus taught us, we all love stories. So today will be more like a story time and just learning the truths from those stories, the revelatory truths from the stories. We'll just pause for the word of prayer. So can one of you please lead us in prayer, please? Prince, you'll pray? Thank you. Amen. We were looking at chapter 7, Kingdom Parables. And we were looking at some of the important truths about why Jesus spoke in parables. So we looked at John chapter 3, verses 9 to 13. And we tried to lay a foundation about why Jesus spoke in parables before we explored the first parable, that is the parable of the soul. Or before we look at the parables that Jesus taught, we thought we will lay a small foundation. So we looked at John chapter 3, verses 9 to 13, where Jesus is having a conversation with whom? Nicodemus. And so what was the concern that Jesus was raising with Nicodemus, OK? But what was the concern? Of course, he's sharing the truth with him, but what was the concern that Jesus had? He's sharing with him some important truths about the Kingdom of God. But what was the hindrance in the conversation? He was not able to understand the teachings, OK? So Jesus is telling him that I'm explaining you things from the natural and you're not able to understand it. So if I'm telling you things from the spiritual world, from the world I come from, from the Kingdom of God, from the Kingdom of Heaven, how are you going to understand it, OK? So then he goes on and we looked at certain truths that in Matthew chapter 13, verses 10 to 17, OK? Why Jesus spoke in parables? Why did Jesus speak in parables? OK, so what does he tell his disciples? He says, Jesus says that to the disciples, the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to them, OK? Which means what? Yes, the grace has been given for them to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom, OK? So this he's talking in context of the disciples. He's telling the disciples that to you has been given the mysteries of the Kingdom. Matthew chapter 13, verses 10 to 17. Meaning, what is he meaning by this? He's saying the grace of God has been given to all of you to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. But what did he say regarding the general public? They have yours, but they cannot hear. They have eyes, but they can't see. They have hearts, but they cannot perceive or they cannot understand the mysteries of God, OK? So how is Jesus going to explain to them the truths, the mysteries, a revelation of the Kingdom of God to them? Through the parables, OK? So in order to bridge this gap, OK, in order to communicate to them the mysteries of the Kingdom, Jesus is saying, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to speak to them in parables. And what is parables? OK, earthly stories. He's taking stories from our world and helping us see things from his world, OK? So he's taking scenarios or case stories, so to say, from our world that we can see, that we relate to, that we can understand. And using those stories, he's going to reveal to us some spiritual truths or the important revelations of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. Or he's helping us see things in his world, even as we look at things from our world. So even as we look at things in the natural, he's going to reveal the spiritual truths or the spiritual things to us, OK? And another thing he pointed out in the same Matthew chapter 13, he says, for whoever has to him, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him, OK? So what did Jesus mean by saying this? We looked at this last week. He was doing a recap. He says, for whoever has to him, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. So what is Jesus trying to say here? Can you take the mic, please? OK. Whatever the Lord is revealing to us, we should build on it. We should give attention to that so that the Lord will give you more. If you are taking it lightly, the chance of... Yeah, what is given to you, the little that is given to you will be taken away. So he says, in the Kingdom of God, you know, if you have more and you're going for more or you're desiring for more, then what will you have? Abundance, OK?  So Jesus is saying, here's something very important about the Kingdom of God, and he's talking about this in the context of revelation, OK? The context here is about revelation, OK? It's not talking about your finances or your property or the money or something. He's talking here about revelation. And he's saying all this is concerning in the context of understanding the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, OK? So if you got revelation and you're going after more or you're desiring after more, then God is going to give you abundance, but if you're not doing anything with what you have already received, what you have, OK, with the little revelation that you've got, then you are at a risk. What is a risk?  So we need to take, you know, concerning the revelation, we need to take the mystery to the Kingdom of God very, very seriously. So God, when God reveals to us truths or revelation from His word, mysteries from His word, we need to take it very, very seriously. Because if you take it seriously, then we are going to and we want more, we desire more, then we will have abundance, OK? And then what else does he say? If you take these mysteries and you desire for more, you understand these mysteries, you're going to receive abundance. What else are you going to receive, he says? What does he tell the general crowd? You know, I speak to them in parables.  They will be healed, yes. They will be converted. They will repent. They will experience my healing. They will experience my salvation. So what is the point here? The point here is so when you get an understanding of the revelation of God, it not only opens your life to receiving more or abundance of it. It also opens up your life to the working of God. OK, so you see how important it is for us to read God's word, to understand, you know, and to receive it. Because only when we read God's word, when we understand the mysteries, when we receive those truths, it's going to convert us. It's going to cause us to repent. It's also going to bring about salvation. It's going to bring about healing. And it's also going to open up your life to the working of God. OK, thank you, Nina. John, she says, those who appropriate the truth revealed more will be given. OK, so here we see it's so important for us to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God, understand the secret truths regarding the kingdom of heaven. And it's important because we must enter because that must enter in our lives before we can begin doing the work of the kingdom. OK, God wants us to invest in understanding the mysteries or the truth in his word. OK, so we need to get our priority right or we need to put it in right order. Once you get an understanding of the mysteries, you pursue the mysteries. And when you get the understanding of the mysteries, it opens up your life for the saving, healing, and the delivering work of the Lord Jesus Christ or the delivering work of God in our lives. So we need to get our order right or priority right. First, you need to pursue the mysteries of God. You have to understand the mysteries of God. And once you get an understanding of the mysteries of God, it opens up your life to the saving, healing, and the delivering work of God in our lives. And then we looked at the parable of the... Sorry, before that, there's another thing that we looked at in Matthew chapter 13. OK, what does it say in Matthew chapter 13 versus 34 and 35? Can somebody read that please? Matthew chapter 13 versus 34 and 35? Matthew chapter 13, 34 and 35. All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables and without a parable, he did not speak to them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, I will open my mouth in parables.  So now the other foundation that we can lay regarding parables is this that when Jesus was speaking the parables, he was actually doing what? He was fulfilling the prophecies. But what we need to also see is that these parables are now unveiling to us the things that are hidden from the beginning of time. So yes, he spoke in parables to fulfill the prophecies, but what we also need to see is that these parables are now unveiling to us things that were hidden from time past, from the beginning, from the very foundation of the world. So within every parable is not just a story that we can enjoy, but there is some hidden truth, deep revelation or deep hidden truth. So that is what I left you with a challenge last week saying that we would have heard these parables many times as children, even in churches, many of them preach these parables. When we were in Sunday school, we would have colored these parables. But this morning, let's look at it in a sense that what is the deep revelation or the deep hidden truth that I can receive about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven from these parables. So we want to get a grip of the mysteries. We want to get a grip of the truth, the hidden truth, since the foundation of the world. And you can tell God, God, open my eyes to see the deep truths in your world. Open my ears to hear what you are speaking and open my heart to understand, to perceive the mysteries and how your kingdom is working so that I can receive healing, wholeness, deliverance, even as I look and study your parables. So the intent of these parables that you're going to study is not just because you have to sit in this course or you have to study this course, but we can look at it differently saying, God, even as I am studying these parables, I want to receive your mysteries. I want to understand it so that I can receive healing. So I can receive your deliverance. So I can receive your provision. So that is the intent with which we need to begin looking at the parables, some of the parables that we will be studying and that is what we need to go after understanding and also saying, God, I want to experience your working in my life. So can we do that this morning? Just deep down in our hearts can we just say that prayer and we can begin looking at the parables. So last week, we began looking at the first parable. What was the first parable? The parable of the sore and the seed. Now, the parable of the sore and the seed is the parable of the kingdom or the king's word. So the seed is the word of the kingdom or it is the king's word and is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 13 and also in Mark chapter 4 and Luke chapter 8. So we read through Matthew chapter 13 versus 18 to 32 last week. So Jesus tells the people this parable and were they able to understand the parable? No, okay. So the disciples come to him afterwards and say, can you please explain the parable of the sore to us? Because this is the first parable that Jesus is speaking to them. And so he goes on to explain the parable of the sore to them. Okay, he says in verse 19, let's look at verse 19. Can somebody read that please? Verse 19. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom. Yeah, so here he says, anyone who hears the word of the kingdom, okay? So the parable of the sore or the seed is the word of the kingdom. It's the king's word. It is what the king of this kingdom has spoken. It has to do with God's word. And so Jesus is saying, listen, I'm revealing something to you about the kingdom of God. And it is a very familiar story. It's about a farmer going to sow his seeds, which I'm sure it's all around them. They can see it all around them. So he's saying that the parable of the sore has to do with the word of the kingdom, the king's word, what the king has spoken or the word of the king, okay? So he says that, you know, God's word is the word of the king. It's the word of the kingdom. And it is his primary way of working in his kingdom. So how is, what is the primary way that God works in his kingdom is when he releases his word, when he speaks his word. So he says, when the word is spoken, when that word is spoken, that word can fall on, the seed has to fall where? On the ground. So what is the ground here? Our hearts, okay? So he says, when he releases his word, that word has to come onto the ground or into the ground, which is your heart and my heart, okay? So when the king wants to do something or he wants to work something, what does he do? He just releases his word, the word of his kingdom. And when he releases the word of his kingdom, his intention is that his word will come and fall on the good ground, that is our hearts, okay? But Jesus is saying, I want you to understand a couple of things. I want you to understand a few things. Even as I release this word, even as this word goes forth, there are some things that will hinder this word, which will affect it from fulfilling what that word has gone forth and what God has spoken into our lives. So the king can speak into our lives, but there are some things that can hinder that word from affecting us or hinder that word from coming into fulfillment or hinder that word from coming into its divine destiny and its divine purposes. So what are those things? The first thing he says is they are the birds of the air, okay? So he says Satan is like the bird of the air who comes and takes away that word, okay? He wants to come and take away that word, sorry. Why does he want to come and take away that word? He knows the power of the word, okay? Purpose in your life, yes, very good. He does not, he knows that it will fulfill the purpose of God in your life. He does not want that word of the king to become an experience in our life. Because when that word comes into our life, we can experience the word in our life and he doesn't want us to experience that word because he wants us to live in his lies, right? In his lies and his deception. He's the father of lies. If we look at our, if we look at our own lives, if we examine our own lives, if you examine our own thoughts, most of it is what? They're believing the lie of the enemy, right? I'm no good, I'm stupid, I'm not intelligent, I can't do anything properly, I always fail, I can't be a good mother, I can't achieve this in life, I've been a failure, nobody loves me, nobody cares for me, I'm not a worthy person, I'm not a valuable person, I can't be this, I can't be that, the constant things, I'm always sick, I can never receive healing, I can never do this, no one can speak nicely to me. All of those things are lies of the enemy. So he's wanting to just remove that seed so that we don't experience God's word in our life because he knows God's word is powerful. And when that word comes into our life and we understand that mystery, when we receive it, it's just going to be so powerful and his work in our life is totally nullified, okay?  So when you don't understand, when does he come and take away the word? When you don't understand what God is speaking to you, when you don't get the revelation of what God is speaking to you. Remember you said when you, it'll be given to you but if you understand, pursue, if you get a hold of that revelation, you will get more abundance but if you don't, whatever you have, you risk losing it. So this is the risk of losing it because Satan will take away that word, okay? So the important thing is for us not to just read God's word, not just to sit in service and just listen to what the pastor is saying or not just sit in class here and just attend the lecture but to understand the deeper truths, understand the mysteries and that is why you and I need to pray like the psalmist prayed, said God open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things of your word, okay? Look at what the psalmist says, God open my eyes that I may see wondrous things or wondrous truths from your word. What does it mean? It means that God, you're telling God, God, I just want to go past the letters that I read. It's not just a ritual that we read God's word every day. So you're saying, God, I just want to go past the letters. That means I just don't want to read what is there, okay? And make sense of what is there. I want to get a deeper understanding, a deeper truth, a deeper mystery of what is in it because when I read it, when I understand it and I receive that mystery, it will ensure that it will produce what you want to produce in my life, okay? So it's important that we understand what we are reading. And if you don't understand what we are reading, what happens? Satan has a freedom, the liberty to come and take away what is sown. If you don't act on what the pastor is preaching and teaching in church, you don't hold on to it, you don't write it down, you don't mull on it, you don't meditate on it, you don't give thought to it, Satan will come and take away what has been sown. That's why if we ask some of us, what did you read in your quiet time yesterday? We may not remember the full thing. Why? Because we just read it for the sake of reading it, but we have not kind of understood or we've not meditated on it throughout the day. So we have to be like cows. Why cows? Yes, they bring it back, regurgitates it and they bring it back and they keep on chewing on it and chewing on it and chewing on it and break it, break it, break it, break it down till their stomachs are able to digest. So that is what we need to do, okay? The reading God's word, there might be something that strikes you, but you need to hold on to it and think about it the entire day. That is what means you're understanding, you're getting deeper into understanding God's truth and that is when you will receive an abundance of the revelation. So sometimes when you hear men and women of God preaching and teaching, we can think, hey, I read the same passage, I didn't get all of these truths, where did they get these truths from? It's because they are looking deep into that passage. Even I'm sure you and I, when we have to preach God's word, we take a passage and we are trying to understand what should I preach, what should I teach? And then we receive so many truths and you're saying, hey, I never even thought about this. I've read this passage so many times, okay? So because why we are pursuing deeper truths from those passages, okay? So if we don't do that, Satan has the freedom to come and the liberty to take away whatever is sown in us, okay? So you and I, we need to pray and say, God, open my eyes that I can see, open my ears that I can hear, open my heart that I can understand, okay? And now we can also pray, God, remove the sleepy, added sleepy mode that I am in, give me freshness of spirit and mind to listen to your truths and to understand your mysteries, okay? And then he said, now there is the word when it comes into your life, you know, they can also be rocks, okay? So first we looked at the birds of the air that can come and take it away. And then there are rocks that can hinder the word of the king from coming into pass into your life. So today the king might be speaking something to you, okay? The word of the king has come forth, okay?  It could be in a written word, what you're reading from God's word, it could be a prophecy that somebody is, a prophetic word that somebody is speaking to you or it can be the Holy Spirit that reminds you of some words or the Holy Spirit is reminding you of a verse and speaking into your situation or your life in the present, okay?  That can hinder this word from being fulfilled. So what are these rocks? What are these rocks? Look at Matthew chapter 13, what does he say there? Verse 20, can somebody read verse 20?  Yeah, 21 as well. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while for when tribulation or persecution arise because of the word, immediately he is troubled. No, he who? So what happens to the, what are those rocks? Tribulations, persecutions, hardships that we go through, okay? So when the seed or the word of God comes into your life in any of the forms that we saw, you know, does it bear root? Yes, there is a little root that comes up, but what happens when there is persecution, when there is affliction, when there is hardship, when there is trouble, what happens? But the word that the king has spoken will not allow that word, the rocks will not allow that word to affect your life or bring it into fulfillment. It will rob you of that word and that word will become very, very ineffective in your life, okay? So we need to be careful of the rocks, okay? There's nothing wrong with the word of the king that has come forth because it is a word of the king.   And there's nothing wrong with the word that the king speaks because it is the incorruptible word. It is the word that, you know, abides forever. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will never pass away. This is incorruptible word, it is this powerful word, but there are rocks in our life. There are afflictions, there are difficulties, there are persecutions that happens in our life and all around us. And that can withdraw that word that can produce in our life, okay? So we need to be careful that even when we go through difficulties, persecutions, we should never miss out on the word that God is speaking to us in that situation. Take hold of it. Don't look at those mountains, those giants, those circumstances, but hold on to God's promises, hold on to God's word, okay? And then he said, listen, there are also things called, we looked at the birds of the air, rocks, and then thorns, okay? Thorns are what? The cares of this world, the deceitful riches, the worldly desires, the lust for the things of this world.  Come slowly, it comes without you even knowing, okay? It will hinder the work of the king from being fulfilled in your life, okay? And then he says, finally, you know, depending on the condition of your heart, whether your heart is in a good condition, prepared to receive, to understand, to spend time, you know, the word of God that comes, it takes root.  When you believe that word, it will retain in your life and it will bear fruit, okay? It will bear fruit 30-fold, 60-fold and a 100-fold, but that depends on the condition of your heart, okay? So here is a mystery of the kingdom of God that Jesus is revealing, how the king works by his words, okay? So he's basically talking about how the king speaks, how the king reveals truths is true and how he reveals what is going to happen in his kingdom or in our life is true, words. And then he says, you know, how, what are the things that would choke that word from coming into fulfillment and how we need to be careful, okay? So if you want God's word to work in our lives, he says, you know, we need to be diligent, sincere to receive, okay?  The word is coming to you. It is the word of the king, the word of his kingdom and every word that the king speaks into your life or for his kingdom is designed to produce in your life, okay? But we need to be careful of the birds, the rocks, the thorns, because they have the potential of hindering the word of the king and hindering the word of the kingdom to be fulfilled in our life, okay? And what does Jesus say? If you understand this parable, what does he say? You will be able to understand all other parables. What does Jesus mean by saying this? If you understand this parable, you'll be able to understand all other parables, okay? This is the basic foundation. This is how the kingdom operates. This is how the king works in his kingdom to the word of God, okay? You need to use a mic, yeah. If we understand it, we can understand. If you understand, you can understand other parables also maybe like they will get to know, yeah, how to take that parable as a word and apply it. Okay, you will understand how to take that parable as a word and understand it, okay? It's a key to understand all the other parables. Okay, it's a key to understand, but what is the key? So he's saying, if you can understand this natural story, it's a natural story that you see, okay? A story from your world and a story from your world that is communicating a powerful truth or a mystery from my world, the world that I come from, the kingdom of heaven.  Then you know what you're able to, that you will be able to understand all other parables.  So the key point here is we need to take God's word seriously, okay? Because Jesus was going to be preaching and teaching a lot of things to them. So he's saying everything I'm preaching and teaching is truths or mysteries from the kingdom of God. And I want you to take those truths of what I am teaching, the words that I'm teaching, I wanted to take it seriously because this is the word of the kingdom. This is the way God is going to be working in your life, okay? And you don't see the book of, the word of God very, very lightly, okay? And if you treat it lightly, you're not allowing the king to work in you because he works in you through his word, okay?  And we need to take it very, very seriously and allow his seed to be sown into our hearts so that we can bear fruit, okay? Then he told another parable about the good seed and the tears in Matthew chapter 13, verses 24 to 43, okay? So can somebody please read Matthew chapter 13 verses 24 to 43. Another parable he spoke, he put forth to them saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept his enemy came and sowed tears among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tears also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tears? He said to them, an enemy has done this. The servant, the servant said to him, do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, no. And lest while you gather up the tears, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And at the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather together the tears and bind them in bundles to burn them, but rather the wheat into my barn. Another parable he put forth to them saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Another parable he spoke to them, the kingdom of heaven is like a lemon, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all livened. All of these things, Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables and without a parable, he did not speak to them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things, kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us a parable of the tears of the field. He answered and said to them, he who sowed the good seed is the son of man. Oh, okay. The field is a world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tears are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tears are gathered and burning the fire, so it will be at the end of this age, a son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as a son in the kingdom of the father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid. And for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant. Okay, thank you. So here we see in Matthew chapter 13, verse 24, Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in the field, okay? So he goes on to say another parable and he says another story about the kingdom of God and he's revealing something about this unseen world that Jesus is coming from. And he's saying, here's what is happening. He says, a man goes out to sow good seed in his field and the enemy also comes quietly, silently, maybe the night and also sows bad seed alongside the good seed, okay? Then all of a sudden the seed sprouts and there is crop that is coming out. And what does the man find out? He finds good things, the good plant growing, but he also finds the weeds that are growing alongside the good crop, okay? So his workers, people working for him come and say, can we go and clean up the field right now? And what does the master say? No, don't do it, okay? Why shouldn't you pull out the weeds now? It'll also uproot or destroy the good crop, okay? So he says, let them grow together and at the end of the age, which means what? The harvest time comes, he says, I will send my reapers and what do my reapers do? They will sort out the good crop from the weeds and what is going to happen?   So they come to him and say, please explain to us this parable, okay? So Jesus is saying, this is something very familiar story from your world that I've taken, okay? And they say, yes, Jesus, we understand the whole thing about farming, okay? We understand about the weeds and the good crops, but what is the spiritual truth that you are trying to convey to us, okay? So Jesus says here is the spiritual truth. He's saying the man who sowed good seed is whom? Yes, the son of God or the son of man and that is Jesus Christ. And who are the good seeds? Yes, we, the sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. So you and I are good seeds. You and I are sons and daughters of the kingdom of God and God has sown us where? In the world, he has sown us in the world. So we need to begin to perceive and we need to begin to look at ourselves as what? As good seed, yes. As good seeds as sons and daughters of the kingdom of God, as good seed in this world that God has sown us here in this world, okay? And are we alone in this world? Only good seeds in this world? No, there are also bad seeds. There is even a devil that is sowing bad seeds which are water, wicked people. So we are in the midst of even wicked people. Okay? There are wicked people all around. But why has God sown us here? In the midst of wicked people? To extend this kingdom? Okay? Okay, it's not God who sown us in the wrong place. Okay? But why has God put us here in this world? Why doesn't he take us away? We have to live for God. We have to fulfill his purpose here on earth. What is his purpose? To bring his kingdom here on earth. Is Asher his kingdom here on earth? Make his kingdom manifest here on earth as it is in heaven, okay?  What is the kingdom mandate? We saw, we studied it, chapter one and chapter two. At this kingdom come his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So we are here to release the kingdom of God amidst a wicked generation, okay? So we need to see ourselves as sons and daughters of the kingdom of God. We need to see ourselves as good seed, you know, working in an environment that God has put us in. So, you know, whether you are at the workplace, okay? Whether you are at home, you know, you are living in a locality, you're living in a community, you're living in an apartment, you know? There are people who are wicked around you, okay? So we don't focus on those bad seeds, we don't focus on the wicked people, but we need to understand why we are here, okay? Why has God placed us at such a time as this in this time and season over here? So even where you are living, you're home, you know, whether you're living in a hostel, but you're living in a locality, God has put you there for a significant purpose and a reason. And what is a significant purpose and reason? To extend His kingdom in that place, in that space, in that environment, okay? So God wants His kingdom to grow, to thrive, to flourish in the place that He has planted you.  So we need to see ourselves as good seed. Yes, there are bad seeds that the enemy comes and sows, and but we as sons and daughters of the kingdom of God, you know, we are in a position here to manifest His glory, to manifest His glory so that His kingdom, culture kingdom, lifestyle, His kingdom values, His kingdom presence can invade in and through our lives, through the people that we reach out to, through the people that we come to contact in. And then He continues the story, He says, you know, at the harvest time, and what is the harvest time resembling here? The end of age. So the reapers are whom? The angels, they're going to come, they're going to separate the sheep and the goat, they're going to separate the good seed and the bad seed, okay? They're going to sort it out and the end is coming and Jesus says, I will vindicate the good seeds, but the bad seeds will be dismissed. That means they'll be thrown into the lake of fire, okay? And then He uses the same truth, okay? Now not in farming, but He uses the same parable, the same truth, and He brings out another story. What is that? Parable of the? No? No? Not leaving. The same context. Good seed and bad seed. The same context, He tells another parable. The fishing story, the dragnets, the parable of the dragnet, the fishing story, Matthew chapter 13, verses 47 through 50, okay? We'll stop here, we have one more minute, okay? So He brought out the same truth, brought out the same truth using the fishing story, Matthew chapter 13, verses 47 through 50. Okay, we'll stop here and then we'll continue after the break.