1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: The truth is that we have now seen the fruits 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,799 of the world they proposed to us. Right, So, one 3 00:00:07,839 --> 00:00:10,279 hundred years ago it would have been harder. It was 4 00:00:10,359 --> 00:00:13,720 harder to resist. Their world they wanted didn't exist yet. 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,480 And so they were saying, if you just get rid 6 00:00:17,519 --> 00:00:20,719 of this superstitious nonsense and all of this hogwash, and 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,920 you just follow these things, we will reach utopia. We 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,120 will have the best world. Well, now they got it. 9 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,399 They've had it, they've had their chance, and it sucks 10 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,640 and it is not good. And so we have to remember, 11 00:00:37,759 --> 00:00:43,560 and now we have to recapture our confidence, not in 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,280 ourselves obviously, our confidence in Christ, our confidence in knowing 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,840 that Christ is not just the guy that you believe 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,679 it to go to heaven. That Christ is the exemplar 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,520 of the best pattern of how to exist that has 16 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:05,799 ever been manifested in the world. And like I said, 17 00:01:06,439 --> 00:01:09,799 if you're bold and if you know that that's true, 18 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:16,519 people will come. They will be attracted because it's true. Right, 19 00:01:16,599 --> 00:01:18,840 because it's true. And now you know, like I said, 20 00:01:18,879 --> 00:01:21,840 you can lie for a while, and lies are convincing, 21 00:01:21,879 --> 00:01:24,000 and propaganda is convincing, and a lot of us are 22 00:01:24,079 --> 00:01:27,439 under the way to propaganda, but that will run out. 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,879 It has to run out, and in the moment when 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,439 it runs out, you have people that are hungry. And 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:49,159 that's the situation we have now. This is Jonathan Pegel, 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:02:04,439 Welcome to the Symbolic World. Hello everyone, we are finally 27 00:02:04,519 --> 00:02:09,400 announcing our Parodiso class. We have done two already. We 28 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:12,240 have the Inferno, we have the Purgatory, and now we 29 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,039 are moving to Paradise. That is right. 30 00:02:15,319 --> 00:02:19,439 Speaker 2: Dante himself says Inferno that we prefer hell to paradise, 31 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,400 and similarly, most of us prefer to read Inferno, but 32 00:02:24,439 --> 00:02:27,639 when we come to reading Parodiso, we're very confused. So 33 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,960 we're going to be actually taking you through that poem 34 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,800 line by line like we did with Inferno Purgatorio, and 35 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:37,800 actually looking at how Dante very carefully reconciles some of 36 00:02:37,879 --> 00:02:43,120 the contradictory traditions about the heavens in the Christian apocalyptic 37 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,599 tradition and does that through the persons of the saints. 38 00:02:47,159 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: And so this is truly important for us right now, 39 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,719 with the re enchantment of the world happening, we have 40 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,879 to be able to look at those that that did 41 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:57,840 it in the most powerful way that we're able to 42 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:03,639 reconcile the ancient pagan traditions with Christianity with his modern understanding, 43 00:03:03,759 --> 00:03:06,280 the most modern understanding of the cosmos that he had, 44 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,479 and so this is the work that we need to do. 45 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,159 So we need to learn from Dante. So the course 46 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,759 starts November fifth to December third, right, is that what 47 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,120 I've got five weeks two to five on Wednesdays. 48 00:03:18,479 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 2: So the cost is going to be one hundred and 49 00:03:20,039 --> 00:03:23,039 ninety dollars US. But we do have an early bird 50 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:24,960 sale through the month of October, which bumps it down 51 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:26,719 to one hundred and sixty one. You can use to 52 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,919 code early Paradiso and that is good through the end 53 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:31,280 of October. 54 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: And the Inferno and the Pregatorial class are also on 55 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,000 sale at the same time, so you have fifty percent 56 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,960 off during the month of October code Dante fifty And 57 00:03:40,199 --> 00:03:42,360 you know that means you have no excuse. So if 58 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,520 you haven't taken the first classes, now is the chance 59 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:46,599 to scoop all that up. 60 00:03:47,159 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, and if you don't want to watch live or 61 00:03:49,159 --> 00:03:51,159 it doesn't work for your schedule, you'll be able to 62 00:03:51,439 --> 00:03:53,199 follow along at your own pace, just like with all 63 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,479 of our courses. You'll have access to lecture recording, slides, 64 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,520 additional readings, and you can still ask questions and interact 65 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,039 with your fellow classmates in our circle forums. 66 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: And so join us. After all of this suffering through 67 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,879 Inferno and Purgatorio, the symbolic world finally goes to heaven. 68 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:11,479 Speaker 2: Yeah, join us. 69 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,639 Speaker 1: I didn't print out my talk. It's on my laptop. 70 00:04:14,879 --> 00:04:18,199 You know. Is interesting. I think Paul was saying, you know, 71 00:04:18,199 --> 00:04:21,360 we're just caught. We don't even think, oh, I don't 72 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:24,000 have my notes. I just bring up my screen. So 73 00:04:24,079 --> 00:04:26,800 here we are, Rod. Thank you for those very kind words. 74 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,000 And I didn't know much about Touchstone before the invitation, 75 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,639 but it has been really wonderful already to see to 76 00:04:34,759 --> 00:04:42,800 kind of feel the to feel an intellectual advance of Christianity, 77 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,000 and to sense that we have people here that are 78 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,839 thinking about the great problems that we're facing. I decided 79 00:04:49,879 --> 00:04:52,720 to kind of come here and give you some good news. 80 00:04:52,959 --> 00:04:56,879 I think there are actually some very powerful and beautiful 81 00:04:56,879 --> 00:05:01,319 things that happening around us. I do have to start by, 82 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,920 you know, maybe giving you a little bit of the 83 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,279 dark side of why we are here, and then hopefully 84 00:05:08,319 --> 00:05:11,360 then I'll show you maybe help you see where the 85 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,040 bright seeds are planted and where it is that we 86 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:18,680 can pour some water to see the what can grow 87 00:05:18,759 --> 00:05:21,959 out of this difficult time. And so I am an 88 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:27,439 artist mostly I make liturgical art. I studied fine art 89 00:05:27,519 --> 00:05:31,040 in college. Now I am speaking a lot. We're also 90 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,680 writing children's stories doing but I am mostly an artist, 91 00:05:34,759 --> 00:05:37,000 you could say. And so I get my way of 92 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:42,120 seeing through this vision of what we could call culture 93 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:47,040 making culture influence, human influence on the world. And we 94 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,600 know that for the past about one hundred years of 95 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,480 probably more than that, the world of culture has been 96 00:05:53,519 --> 00:05:58,120 taken over by a vision that is a deconstructive vision. 97 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,120 If it's even longer than that, you could probably trace 98 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,759 it all the way back to the Renaissance, where the 99 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,079 notion of culture, or the notion of how it is 100 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,519 that we influence and how it is that we recognize 101 00:06:10,519 --> 00:06:16,759 that which is valuable is presented as disruption rather than continuity. 102 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:23,160 And so we have this sense that novelty is the 103 00:06:23,439 --> 00:06:27,439 thing that is the most important, and we have the 104 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,759 cycles of novelty where cultural agents will present themselves as 105 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,839 a disruption upon that which came before. Right, And so 106 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,360 if you think of the artistic movements. It's very simple, 107 00:06:40,759 --> 00:06:44,079 you know, especially at the beginning of the late nineteenth century, 108 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,800 beginning of the twentieth century, it starts to accelerate quite 109 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,680 a bit, where you have the Impressionists who see themselves 110 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:56,920 as opposing and replacing the academic painters. And then you 111 00:06:56,959 --> 00:07:00,600 have a succession of these revolutions where the cube look 112 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,600 back at the Impressionists and propose novelty on that. You 113 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,040 have different versions of that, and then within a very 114 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,600 short moment of time, it's actually very just a few years, 115 00:07:11,959 --> 00:07:16,800 you basically have the template for what we most people 116 00:07:17,399 --> 00:07:21,879 start to believe that culture is. Which is culture is 117 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:28,480 the act of disruption, esthetic disruption, social disruption that proposes 118 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,839 a type of energy that is all you know, we 119 00:07:31,959 --> 00:07:34,319 have to be aware that it is a true energy. 120 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,040 When you see something new and when you see something 121 00:07:37,079 --> 00:07:41,319 that opposes, when you see something that turns things around, 122 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:47,199 there is a kind of excitement that comes. But we 123 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,639 have to see that this is why we are where 124 00:07:49,639 --> 00:07:54,199 we are. Accelerated cycles of these types of gestures have 125 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,920 led ultimately to the postmodern deconstructed world and the kind 126 00:07:58,959 --> 00:08:02,240 of fragmented realacy in which we are because as those 127 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,439 speed up, and as they become increasingly radical and increasingly 128 00:08:06,519 --> 00:08:12,040 increasingly weird, you end up with this idea that identity 129 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:16,120 itself is revolutionary, which is the transhuman position. That is, 130 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,480 that which makes identity valuable is the manner in which 131 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:24,439 you self identify. Right, you say, this is me, and 132 00:08:24,439 --> 00:08:26,680 that's why like in the weirder stuff, like all the 133 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,959 stuff that's the weirdest thing. You know, this, all the 134 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,480 trans stuff, all the wild LGBT stuff, the furries. The 135 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,600 madness of that kind of world is an expression of 136 00:08:38,279 --> 00:08:43,120 this basic pattern, which is the notion that identity is 137 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:48,600 to be described as difference. Right. That is, to be 138 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:54,039 something is to be different from that, to be to 139 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,279 be the individual, you have to show how you are 140 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,440 unique and you are different from others. Think of the 141 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:03,320 rock and roll aesthetic, think of the punk rock aesthetic. 142 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,159 Think of all of these these ideas, and then think 143 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,919 of a lot of the children's movies, the Disney movies 144 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:14,720 that you've seen. To be something is to be this bright, 145 00:09:14,919 --> 00:09:21,240 innovative moment that is a disruption and is different from 146 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:23,519 the world in which you are. So you rebel against 147 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:28,120 your parents, you rebel against society, You rebel against some 148 00:09:28,279 --> 00:09:34,519 type of moral order, and this is what culture is now. Obviously, 149 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,879 hopefully you can understand that, if you're a Christian, especially, 150 00:09:39,919 --> 00:09:43,679 that this is not sustainable. It is not sustainable. It 151 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:48,200 is a lie. It cannot sustain itself forever. It's like 152 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,960 it's like a self devouring monster. Right, It's a monster 153 00:09:52,039 --> 00:09:56,399 that eats its origin, and then all of these iterations 154 00:09:56,799 --> 00:09:59,840 keep going. It's basically, you know, it's chronos castrating as 155 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,440 far right. It's a very very old story. And it 156 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,879 is also, as Paul said, it is Adam and Eve 157 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,919 in the garden, you know, reaching up and taking for 158 00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:23,080 themselves in order to elevate themselves in opposition to God. Now, 159 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:28,679 everything we heard yesterday, obviously everything we heard today were beautiful, 160 00:10:28,799 --> 00:10:32,440 powerful examples of how that has played itself out in 161 00:10:32,519 --> 00:10:39,000 the world culturally, politically, technologically. All of this is absolutely true. 162 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:45,240 But it's a lie. It's not true. That is not 163 00:10:45,399 --> 00:10:49,039 how the world works. And you can stretch the world. 164 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,120 You can stretch things with sin to a certain distance, 165 00:10:53,799 --> 00:10:57,559 and at some point the rubber band snaps back. Right, 166 00:10:57,639 --> 00:10:59,480 you can do it in your life. You can lie 167 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:02,000 in your life for a certain amount of time, but 168 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,080 at some point, reality comes calling, and that is also 169 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,279 true of culture, and it is also true of anything 170 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,799 that you can imagine, Like you cannot twist the world. 171 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,639 The world has an actual order, it has an actual shape, 172 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,159 and it will return. Now the question is how does 173 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,360 it happen? And this is where really you have to 174 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:30,320 be very attentive to notice how this thing happens. The 175 00:11:31,039 --> 00:11:33,799 phrase of my brother Mattiri, who wrote a book about 176 00:11:33,799 --> 00:11:38,120 biblical symbolism, he calls it the double inversion, calls it 177 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,679 the double flip, something like that. And the best example 178 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,279 to understand it is is actually a clown. Right, So 179 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:51,799 the clown mocks right, the clown opposes the clown is 180 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:58,840 Its existence is irony and subversion. But a good clown 181 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,879 will ultimately, in the end slip on his own banana 182 00:12:02,879 --> 00:12:06,879 and fall. It's very important. That's what makes a clown 183 00:12:06,919 --> 00:12:13,000 a clown. Right, So the king's clown, right, the king's 184 00:12:13,039 --> 00:12:16,840 gesture will make fun of the king, but ultimately the 185 00:12:16,879 --> 00:12:19,159 gesture also kind of has to make fun of himself 186 00:12:19,519 --> 00:12:23,960 in that role. And that's what makes this strange thing 187 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:29,240 turned back on its feet. And so I've been had 188 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,919 coned this phrase. A few years ago. I said watch 189 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:37,120 the Fools. It was like around nineteen, around twenty twenty 190 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,080 when I started to notice that comedians and subversive figures 191 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,879 were starting to out of their own desire for subversion. 192 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:51,559 We're starting to embrace traditional ideas, right because it's like 193 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:55,279 the last rebellion. What do you do when you know 194 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,480 you have a tradition of rebellion, which is what we've 195 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,840 had for one hundred years. You know, the paintings that 196 00:13:01,879 --> 00:13:04,600 you see now in a gallery or the if you 197 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,240 go to the you know, to the Chicago Art Institute 198 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,759 and you go visit the contemporary section, it's basically what 199 00:13:10,919 --> 00:13:14,159 was being done in nineteen twenty and nothing has changed. 200 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,919 Rebellion is not complicated, it's really it's really you know, 201 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,240 we think rebellion is very sophisticated. Rebellion is not sophisticated. 202 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,120 Rebellion is just here's a rule, here's a pattern, and 203 00:13:26,159 --> 00:13:28,639 I'm just not I'm going to do something that doesn't fit. 204 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,360 And that's all it is. That's what the hippies were, 205 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,639 That's what like, you just see what the rule is 206 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,399 and then you do something that's outside that you just 207 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,000 color outside the lines, okay, and there's actually there's room 208 00:13:42,039 --> 00:13:43,440 for that, Like, it's not like that I told you 209 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,600 about the King's gesture, Like there are roles in society 210 00:13:46,639 --> 00:13:50,879 for that type of behavior, but it cannot become the system, right. 211 00:13:51,399 --> 00:13:54,759 You can't have a tradition of rebellion. You can't have 212 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:59,440 your entire cultural enterprise based on rebellion. It's just not possible. 213 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,240 It leads to the kind of chaos and fragmentation that 214 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,200 we're in. And so if you pay attention, you will 215 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:10,320 notice in this upside down world, you'll start to notice 216 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:17,799 places where normality is reinserting itself, and it's always going 217 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,039 to be deeply ironic at the beginning. I'm going to 218 00:14:21,039 --> 00:14:24,000 give you two examples just so that you know what 219 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,000 it is I'm talking about. So, in twenty twenty one, 220 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,200 some TikToker I don't know who it was, who was 221 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:36,000 tired of being told that he was transphobic for not 222 00:14:36,159 --> 00:14:40,720 being attracted to females, coined the term, you know it 223 00:14:40,799 --> 00:14:44,480 super straight? Do you know that term? So he said, Oh, 224 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,360 I am part of LGBT culture, Like, I'm literally part 225 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,919 of your LGBT culture. I just happen to be super straight, 226 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,840 which means my sexual identity and expression is that I 227 00:14:58,879 --> 00:15:02,960 am a cisgender person who's only attracted to cis gender 228 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:10,559 people of the opposite sex. Right now, if you go 229 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,679 now on the Glad website today, you'll see that that 230 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:18,879 is hate right. Superstraight is hate right. But it's important 231 00:15:18,919 --> 00:15:21,879 to see what did you see? What happened there? Right 232 00:15:22,759 --> 00:15:27,200 inside the chaos and inside the rebellion and inside the fragmentation. 233 00:15:28,639 --> 00:15:32,679 Someone is able to distinguish the seed from the earth, 234 00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:36,320 is able to see the difference between the pearl and 235 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,440 the field, is able to say, oh, this is the 236 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,639 shining bit, this is the sparkling bit. If I can 237 00:15:42,759 --> 00:15:47,639 just point to that, it's going to change everything. Another 238 00:15:48,279 --> 00:15:52,360 example online example is the trad wife. You know about 239 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,080 the tradwife, Well, you have to understand that the tradwife meme, 240 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,159 which is women online on like the social media that 241 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:04,159 are influencers really in the worst kind of way, but 242 00:16:04,159 --> 00:16:07,519 but they they have They make videos of themselves, you know, 243 00:16:07,639 --> 00:16:12,480 wearing like wearing very decent clothing and you know, holding 244 00:16:12,519 --> 00:16:16,399 babies and they do all this stuff and you think, oh, 245 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,159 it's silly, it's ridiculous. It's actually in some ways what 246 00:16:19,159 --> 00:16:22,320 Paul is saying, it's like you're feeding the machine. By 247 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,200 doing that, you're basically being subverted into the system. And 248 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:27,840 there's a way in which that is. That is true. 249 00:16:28,279 --> 00:16:31,639 But the thing is that there are some patterns that 250 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:36,840 are truer than others, right, there are some patterns that actually, 251 00:16:37,279 --> 00:16:40,039 if you're a Christian, you know that there are some 252 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,799 things that are true. And if you if you just 253 00:16:42,879 --> 00:16:45,159 if you point to them, if you pull them out, 254 00:16:45,279 --> 00:16:49,440 then they will have huge amounts of let's say, they 255 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,440 will restart the world. They will be what we could 256 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:57,440 call a tool of resurrection. Is a good way of 257 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,200 thinking about it, Okay. And a lot of the story 258 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,559 is beautiful story that we were told last night. They 259 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:05,799 talk about this. This is some of the stories in 260 00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:08,480 the Bible. They actually talk about this, this image of 261 00:17:08,519 --> 00:17:12,960 the fish and the gold, the gold coin in the fish. 262 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,680 Even this the very idea of fishing, and this idea 263 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:20,359 that because you have to understand biblical cosmology, right, so 264 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,920 down below in these waters is the chaos, right, it's 265 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,440 the thing, it's the chaos. It's this image of when 266 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,759 the world falls apart, what happens the flood. Right, when 267 00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:33,359 everything falls apart, the flood comes back, and then you 268 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:37,200 return to this primordial chaos right, and you can feel 269 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,480 it right in the fragmentation. You can feel it in 270 00:17:39,839 --> 00:17:44,640 the fact that people don't know their neighbors in our suburbs, 271 00:17:44,759 --> 00:17:48,839 people don't know each other, that there's political factions that 272 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:53,599 look like it's impossible that they will heal themselves. But 273 00:17:53,759 --> 00:17:57,720 Christ in that story says that hidden in that stuff 274 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,000 there are some bright, shiny bits. There are some things 275 00:18:03,039 --> 00:18:05,839 that are sparkling. And if you want to know what 276 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,680 the future world is, you better pay attention and you'll 277 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:14,440 be able to see where those sparkling things are happening. 278 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:21,160 So yesterday we heard about the miracle of the walking 279 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,519 on the waters, right, and I would like to tell 280 00:18:24,559 --> 00:18:28,359 you that it's happening now. A Christ is walking on 281 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,200 the waters right in front of us, and we should 282 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:37,759 not let him pass by. There are transformation in culture 283 00:18:37,839 --> 00:18:41,720 that are happening, that are showing us that there is 284 00:18:41,759 --> 00:18:46,200 a return to what we can call verticality. And this 285 00:18:46,279 --> 00:18:50,160 is happening at all in all the different fields simultaneously. 286 00:18:50,839 --> 00:18:57,240 Where reductionism materialism is over. It no longer yields sufficiently. 287 00:18:58,039 --> 00:19:02,759 And so you have very prominent thinkers, scientists, all kinds 288 00:19:02,799 --> 00:19:08,559 that are experimenting with notions of superior agency that are 289 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,480 experimenting with ideas of intelligences that are acting on us. 290 00:19:12,839 --> 00:19:15,400 And this is happening all over right now. And this 291 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,599 is why you know, Rod's book is a great example. 292 00:19:18,839 --> 00:19:20,799 There are several books that now are like coming out. 293 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:22,880 Rod has been wanting to publish his book. He's been 294 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,359 like a prophet before time. He wanted to published book, 295 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,480 like five years even trying to publish this book. So 296 00:19:27,559 --> 00:19:29,519 finally gets it published, and then there's like a flood 297 00:19:29,559 --> 00:19:32,599 of Reenschantman books that happen at the same time because 298 00:19:32,599 --> 00:19:35,279 he could see it right from before that. In fact, 299 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:41,960 everybody is yearning and is looking for ways to unite, 300 00:19:42,039 --> 00:19:47,759 and it's happening politically too, right. So many people, young 301 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:53,960 people are realizing that the liberal order, like the liberal 302 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:59,640 classical liberal idea, is not enough, right, that the rights 303 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,680 of the dadividual, that the strength of the individual isn't enough. 304 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:08,319 Because now we're seeing that we're falling apart. Why are 305 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:12,440 we together? What makes us a nation? What makes us 306 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:17,480 a family? What makes us anything except for just fragmented 307 00:20:17,519 --> 00:20:21,839 individuals in the suburbs that have no town centers, that 308 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,720 have no commonplaces, that just exists. You know, like these 309 00:20:25,759 --> 00:20:31,480 broken little bits and it's scary, right, It's very frightening 310 00:20:31,559 --> 00:20:35,599 right now. It's a dangerous crazy time because everybody is 311 00:20:35,799 --> 00:20:42,079 grasping what are these vertical relationships? How do we connect 312 00:20:42,759 --> 00:20:46,119 to that which binds us? How do we do it socially? 313 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,079 How do we do it as people? And it's coming 314 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:55,480 out in all these wild ways, which is interests in fascism, yeah, 315 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:02,920 but also weird religious like UFO obsessions and also you 316 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,559 know the same thing within the kind of LGBT LGBT thing. 317 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,279 It's like trying to provide a solution to that problem. 318 00:21:11,559 --> 00:21:15,160 They're saying, we want work and it doesn't work. I'm 319 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,799 sorry it doesn't work. They're saying, we know we need 320 00:21:17,839 --> 00:21:21,039 something to unify us. If we could only make difference 321 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,279 unify us like, it would work. We could just keep 322 00:21:25,319 --> 00:21:30,160 pushing like diversity, If we could just have diversity, then 323 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,359 it would work. But obviously that's ridiculous, you know, I mean, 324 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:37,079 diversity without unity is decomposition, right, That's what decomposition actually is. 325 00:21:37,599 --> 00:21:39,720 And so but it's the desire. You have to be 326 00:21:39,759 --> 00:21:42,519 able to recognize the desire that people have is a 327 00:21:42,599 --> 00:21:46,240 legitimate desire, and the desire of these little extremists that 328 00:21:46,319 --> 00:21:50,279 are appearing around us, All of those are legitimate desires. 329 00:21:51,279 --> 00:21:55,200 And so we have right now one of the greatest opportunities, 330 00:21:55,839 --> 00:21:58,000 which is you have a whole generation of young people 331 00:21:58,079 --> 00:22:02,680 that are hungry. They are hungry for meaning, they're hungry 332 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:08,440 for connection, They're hungry for some kind of vertical relationship. Right, 333 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:13,359 and as Paul said this morning, just happens that we 334 00:22:13,519 --> 00:22:20,119 have the best story, that we actually have the best story. 335 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,160 We have an image which is not of the machine 336 00:22:25,079 --> 00:22:28,799 as this top down thing with cogs all doing their parts. 337 00:22:29,079 --> 00:22:34,680 We have a body with a head that unites the 338 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:39,839 body together so that it's well fitted in love. That 339 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,839 is the that's the best story. So what do we 340 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:51,160 do now? Right? What can we do? And I want 341 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:58,000 to separate this into basically three ideas and remember, celebrate 342 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,799 and create, and those three we need those three to 343 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:09,000 be together. We need to first remember one of the 344 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,279 things that's happened in the past decades is that Christians 345 00:23:12,319 --> 00:23:16,359 have been on the defense, constantly, constantly on the defense, 346 00:23:16,599 --> 00:23:22,759 constantly trying to justify their story against attacks and against 347 00:23:22,799 --> 00:23:27,440 all of this stuff. And we've kind of been beaten 348 00:23:27,519 --> 00:23:31,519 down and we're kind of ashamed, and we don't quite 349 00:23:31,599 --> 00:23:37,240 know how to answer. And the truth is that we 350 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,599 have now seen the fruit of the world they proposed 351 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,440 to us. Right, So, one hundred years ago it would 352 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,960 have been harder. It was harder to it was harder 353 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:53,519 to resist, it was harder to propose because their world 354 00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:57,079 they wanted didn't exist yet. And so they were saying, 355 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,279 if you just get rid of this superstitious nonsense and 356 00:24:00,319 --> 00:24:03,400 all of this hogwash, and you just follow these things, 357 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,519 we will reach utopia. We will have the best world. Well, 358 00:24:06,519 --> 00:24:11,000 now they got it. They've had it. They've had their chance, 359 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:17,039 and it sucks and it is not good. And so 360 00:24:17,079 --> 00:24:21,079 we have to remember. And now we have to recapture 361 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:27,559 our confidence, not in ourselves obviously, our confidence in Christ. 362 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,680 Our confidence in knowing that Christ is not just the 363 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,039 guy that you believe it to go to heaven. That 364 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,720 Christ is the exemplar of the best pattern of how 365 00:24:38,759 --> 00:24:42,839 to exist that has ever been manifested in the world. 366 00:24:44,039 --> 00:24:47,799 And like I said, if you're bold and if you 367 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:52,480 know that that's true, people will come. They will be 368 00:24:52,559 --> 00:24:56,880 attracted because it's true. Right, because it's true. And now 369 00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:58,759 you know, like I said, you can lie for a 370 00:24:58,839 --> 00:25:02,160 while and my eyes are convincing, and propaganda is convincing, 371 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,039 and a lot of us are under the way to propaganda. 372 00:25:05,079 --> 00:25:07,680 But that will run out. It has to run out. 373 00:25:08,799 --> 00:25:11,480 And in the moment when it runs out, you have 374 00:25:11,799 --> 00:25:15,480 people that are hungry. And that's the situation we have now. 375 00:25:15,559 --> 00:25:21,640 In the Bible, memory is explicitly used to describe the 376 00:25:21,799 --> 00:25:25,200 moment of the shift that I'm telling you about, the 377 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:29,559 moment when the world has fallen apart, has broken down 378 00:25:29,599 --> 00:25:34,720 into absolute chaos. And in that dark moment, there's a switch, 379 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,079 little switch that goes on, and that switch is represented 380 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,960 as remember. Give you two examples. There are many of others. 381 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,559 I'll give you two of the biggest ones. What happens Noah, 382 00:25:47,599 --> 00:25:50,519 The whole world falls apart, Noah's on the waters, everything 383 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:54,200 is over. What does it say after the rain stops? 384 00:25:55,079 --> 00:26:00,359 Says God remembered Noah? Right. What happens when Jonah goes down, down, 385 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,400 down into shale, all the way to the bottom in 386 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,359 the belly of the fish, He says, I remember, I 387 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,799 remember your holy place from the depth of hades, from 388 00:26:11,839 --> 00:26:17,240 the depth of shale, I remember your holy place. And 389 00:26:17,279 --> 00:26:20,000 so that is what we need to be able to 390 00:26:20,039 --> 00:26:25,680 do is to remember, and in remembering it will mean 391 00:26:25,759 --> 00:26:30,279 that we have to pass off so much of the 392 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:35,720 nonsense that the reductionists have laid upon us as Christians. 393 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:41,200 We have to be able to recover and remember the 394 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:46,359 best versions of what Christianity is, the highest version of 395 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:48,519 what it is. And it's powerful, because yesterday I was 396 00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:52,079 really happy to hear that here at Touchstone, you're able 397 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,480 to realize that Christianity is not just a kind of 398 00:26:56,599 --> 00:27:01,160 moral situation about our relationship, you know, how we're going 399 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:02,839 to die or where we're going to go. That is 400 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:08,039 actually an ontological structure. It is a way to understand 401 00:27:08,079 --> 00:27:10,599 the world, and it's a way to exist in the world, 402 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,359 and it is the best one. And if we can 403 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:17,599 if we can recapture that, then then we become the 404 00:27:18,319 --> 00:27:22,119 arc right, we become the transformed, from the dead Noah 405 00:27:22,839 --> 00:27:26,720 in the belly, to the prophet to the to the 406 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,799 pearl that is hidden in the seed. So what does 407 00:27:32,839 --> 00:27:37,279 it practically mean to remember? I see it in three ways. 408 00:27:37,799 --> 00:27:40,839 It's to first of all, change the way we think 409 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:45,400 about what culture and human existence is, to stop thinking 410 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,599 that it is about disruption. Because as Christians, we also 411 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,599 tend to think that it's just you know, we were 412 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,720 we grew up in this world, we lived in this world. 413 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,279 We tend to think that innovation is a good in itself. 414 00:27:58,599 --> 00:28:02,640 We tend to think that thing are constantly have to change, 415 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:07,039 that things have to adapt to the world, right, we 416 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,240 have to just and that all of that is baked 417 00:28:09,279 --> 00:28:13,440 into this idea that in fact it's the change which 418 00:28:13,519 --> 00:28:17,079 is valuable, right, and not the source. It doesn't mean 419 00:28:17,079 --> 00:28:19,519 things don't have to change. Things have to change, right, 420 00:28:20,039 --> 00:28:23,599 But if you change as you remember, that's you can 421 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,880 change because you remember. Do you know what I mean 422 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,200 when I say that, Right, If you're going to the store, 423 00:28:31,279 --> 00:28:33,920 and you know why you're going to the store, and 424 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,400 you have a plan and where you're going, and then 425 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,720 a road is closed off because of construction, then you 426 00:28:39,759 --> 00:28:44,559 will change because you remember. You're not going to change 427 00:28:44,599 --> 00:28:48,000 to adapt the goal or to adapt to like, to 428 00:28:48,119 --> 00:28:50,400 change what it is you're doing. You're going to change 429 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,599 in order to remember. And that is very different in 430 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,640 terms of what the source of our And we also 431 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:03,000 have to be able to rethink of our selves as continuity. 432 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,240 We have to be able to think of humans as 433 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:10,920 people that come from somewhere, people that are continuous with 434 00:29:11,359 --> 00:29:15,519 our ancestors, continuous with the stories, obviously identifying with the 435 00:29:15,559 --> 00:29:20,480 best of it, and not move, not embrace this aesthetic 436 00:29:21,119 --> 00:29:26,160 of constant disruption. So we have no excuses anymore. You 437 00:29:27,279 --> 00:29:30,559 have to know your church history. Really, you have to 438 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,880 know the Bible, you have to know the great thinkers 439 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:41,119 of our Christian faith. You have to learn to know 440 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,920 what is it that Christianity has produced, The beauty that 441 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,880 it has made in its music, in its architecture, in 442 00:29:50,119 --> 00:29:55,920 its art, all of that. In this moment when everything's 443 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,960 falling apart and we're pornified and we're Game of Fi, 444 00:30:01,119 --> 00:30:07,359 those images, they are a moment of memory. They can 445 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,039 be a moment of memory for us, but also for 446 00:30:10,119 --> 00:30:13,480 others too, even for people who aren't Christian. How many 447 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,960 people I mean, I come from an orthodox tradition, but 448 00:30:16,039 --> 00:30:20,960 I know there's so many people that walk into a 449 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:29,000 traditional church and are struck down by beauty. They're struck 450 00:30:29,079 --> 00:30:33,200 down by beauty. Beauty for beauty for us is now 451 00:30:33,319 --> 00:30:37,759 a weapon in a world that is the ugliest that 452 00:30:37,839 --> 00:30:42,279 it's ever been. People don't even know, like they don't 453 00:30:42,279 --> 00:30:46,319 even know people. They go and they go on to 454 00:30:46,519 --> 00:30:50,480 Europe and they'll travel thousands of miles to go see 455 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,880 beautiful things. All right, let's do it. Let's make beautiful things, 456 00:30:56,359 --> 00:31:00,920 you know, but we also have to remember stories. You know. 457 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:02,680 One of the things we're doing now is we're telling 458 00:31:02,759 --> 00:31:06,640 fairy tales, as some of you might might have seen. 459 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:12,960 And the reason is because again, these stories that have 460 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,319 been handed down to us that are images of continuity, 461 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,599 they contain in them something of who we are. Even 462 00:31:20,599 --> 00:31:24,160 if you don't totally understand it, it's okay. They contain 463 00:31:24,359 --> 00:31:28,119 something of what it is that thousands of people, you know, 464 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:32,359 for a thousand years, people have cared about for century 465 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,559 over century, what people have attended to, what people have 466 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:40,119 thought was important. And they transmit these stories through generations 467 00:31:40,559 --> 00:31:44,920 in a manner that it's like almost like an automatic process. 468 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,680 The very fact that some of these stories are with us, 469 00:31:47,839 --> 00:31:49,160 you know, that have been to us, with us for 470 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,119 a thousand, thousands of years, or hundreds of years, means 471 00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:54,400 that they have in them a little bit of a 472 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:58,160 seed of what it is that continuity looks like, right, 473 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,920 because they are images of continenty fairy tales are a 474 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,440 good example. Fairy tales are images of continuity because there 475 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,759 are stories that are passed down generation to generation, and 476 00:32:08,799 --> 00:32:11,200 so we have to kind of think of it that way. 477 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,680 Deacon Seraf and Roland, who's coming up next, he will 478 00:32:15,079 --> 00:32:17,920 tell you about this, and I hopefully pay attention you 479 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,359 will give you some keys to how it is that 480 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,079 we can do that with the way we think of history, 481 00:32:23,119 --> 00:32:25,960 the way we think of our place in the world. 482 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:30,640 So the next thing we need to do is celebrate culture. 483 00:32:31,319 --> 00:32:36,000 For almost every civilization, every tribe, every place in the world, 484 00:32:36,359 --> 00:32:42,039 culture is celebration. It is not ironic, it is not 485 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,079 just for innovation, and it is not entertainment. All of 486 00:32:47,079 --> 00:32:52,359 these are parasites on what true culture is. True culture 487 00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:57,839 is celebration and participation. And so if you put up 488 00:32:57,839 --> 00:33:02,839 a public monument in your town to remember something that 489 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,960 is related to an important moment, an important origin, that 490 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:10,240 is true culture. You know your national anthem, that is 491 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:16,000 true culture. The songs, and obviously you can imagine where 492 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,440 I'm leading this to. All of this has to be 493 00:33:18,559 --> 00:33:23,440 downstreamed from worship, because that is the true art, the 494 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,680 true art, and the true culture is worship. It's the 495 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:32,440 beginning of culture. It's the beginning of everything that how 496 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,599 can I say that it's the beginning of every human 497 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,960 activity is worship, and that's why worship looks the way 498 00:33:39,119 --> 00:33:42,200 it does. That's why worship is singing. That's why worship 499 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,960 is us binding together, uttering the same words together, singing 500 00:33:46,039 --> 00:33:51,759 the same songs together, because it is celebratory. And that 501 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,119 is something that we really kind of have to shift 502 00:33:54,119 --> 00:33:56,319 in our mind. Now, does it mean that we won't 503 00:33:56,359 --> 00:34:01,559 sometimes be entertained, No, that's fine, right, And actually even 504 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,960 this idea that some art or some culture is disruptive, 505 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,839 that is totally normal. That has been part of the 506 00:34:07,839 --> 00:34:12,360 world forever. There are gargoyles on cathedrals, right, and in 507 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,199 medieval manuscripts there's all these little monsters on the edge, 508 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:19,360 and so disruption and questioning and like novelty and surprise, 509 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,159 that's not it's not that it's not part of culture. 510 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:25,719 But it's not in the middle. It's not in the center. 511 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,719 You don't put a gargoyl on the altar. Just keep 512 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:31,880 it in the corners where it's kind of funny if 513 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:35,639 I'm distracted, you know, And that's that is the difference. 514 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,280 So we the first place where the cultural transformation has 515 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:43,159 to happen is is in liturgy. It is it is 516 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:47,639 in liturgical art. I think liturgical art is the future 517 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:52,480 of art. It's the future of art in America, and 518 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,599 there are inklings of this some amazing artists. There are 519 00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:58,400 some what I believe to be some of the greatest 520 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:02,119 artists living that are painting images for churches right now. 521 00:35:03,639 --> 00:35:06,559 You can look them up. Father Siluan Justiniano. He's an 522 00:35:06,559 --> 00:35:13,320 American monk, wonderful guy study contemporary art, mastered, you know, 523 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:17,880 color field painting and modern color theory. Then ultimately became 524 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,920 a monk broke and started to paint icons in ways 525 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:26,719 that are deeply full of memory, right, but also sophisticated 526 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,400 and powerful. And this is happening all over the world, 527 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:32,880 right It's happening in England. There's an artist Aidan Hart, 528 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:37,280 who is legitimately, you know, one of the greatest artists alive. 529 00:35:38,199 --> 00:35:40,960 It's happening obviously in Romania. It's happening in Russia. It's 530 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,639 happening in many countries where the liturgical art is actually 531 00:35:45,039 --> 00:35:50,159 the future. Architecture, city planning, these are the most some 532 00:35:50,199 --> 00:35:52,480 of the most important things. We forget about it. We 533 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,519 don't think about architecture and city planning, but these are 534 00:35:55,599 --> 00:35:59,800 the basis of what it is that humans recognize as 535 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,519 being inside and outside, what we recognize as being above 536 00:36:03,559 --> 00:36:07,079 and below. These are all pre set. Are the reason 537 00:36:07,079 --> 00:36:09,880 why architecture and city planning are the most important, some 538 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,440 of the most important arts, is because they received in 539 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:16,639 the background. People live in them, many people don't aren't 540 00:36:16,639 --> 00:36:19,760 even conscious of them. And for that reason, people aren't 541 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:24,320 conscious of the anxieties that modern city planning and modern 542 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,519 architecture does to us. Like what the anxiety that it 543 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:30,840 that it lays on us and we don't realize that watually, 544 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:35,239 walking through, you know, a series of skyscraper glass skyscrapers 545 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:38,719 is actually an experience of dread, a little bit of 546 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:42,000 dread in that and in that experience, and we're so 547 00:36:42,119 --> 00:36:46,119 used to it because we we there's awe in that dread, obviously, 548 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,440 but it's not it's not. It's not the type of 549 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,719 awe that would make you feel at home for sure. Okay. 550 00:36:55,639 --> 00:36:58,320 And so there are right now movements and all of 551 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,519 you can look into it. There are powerful movements of 552 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:06,239 new urbanism, new city planning, new architects. There are some 553 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,079 little inklings, you know, little things that are happening. If 554 00:37:09,079 --> 00:37:10,480 you don't if you know, I don't want to get 555 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,840 into politics, but uh, Trump's one of Trump's executive order 556 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:20,800 is to force all federal buildings to be designed classically. Right, 557 00:37:21,119 --> 00:37:24,320 so if that works out right, it's already a little 558 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,079 hint what it is. It's like, it's like a glimmer. 559 00:37:26,079 --> 00:37:28,960 It's showing you that something's changing. For that that reached 560 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,760 the top of the pyramid means that there's strength and 561 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,559 there's there's things moving down here. So I would say 562 00:37:36,559 --> 00:37:40,079 that if you're building churches, if you're building houses, if 563 00:37:40,079 --> 00:37:43,480 you're if you're decide if you have to decide where 564 00:37:43,519 --> 00:37:46,840 to live, to take that into consideration that this is 565 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:50,719 something that you can do very practically, and then obviously 566 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:55,719 understands story as participation. We we have for a while 567 00:37:55,760 --> 00:38:00,079 now we have this weird idea about literature. You know, well, 568 00:38:00,519 --> 00:38:04,320 literature is great, but we have this idea that we 569 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,599 should read great books, you know, to be smart and 570 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,239 to kind of know what culture is. There's nothing wrong 571 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:15,760 with that, but that is definitely not the heart of culture, right. 572 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:18,239 The heart of culture are the stories that you live in, 573 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,880 are the stories that are part of you. So that's 574 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,559 why the fairy tales, Right, if you're going to read 575 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,159 the Iliad, if you're going to read the Odyssey, if 576 00:38:29,199 --> 00:38:33,079 you're going to read some of these ancient stories, do 577 00:38:33,199 --> 00:38:37,360 it understanding that these are your stories, that these are 578 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:40,119 the stories that brought us where we are. So you're 579 00:38:40,119 --> 00:38:42,400 going to read the Bible, realize that this Bible is 580 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,880 the story that I am in. I am in that story. 581 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,440 This is not like something that I'm looking at from 582 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:50,960 the outside. But that's true for a lot of other things. 583 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,559 It's true for your own family stories. It's true for 584 00:38:53,639 --> 00:38:57,199 your national story. And that's why there's a great desire 585 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:02,880 to subvert they of the national story because people know 586 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,960 that change the story change the world. Right, If you 587 00:39:06,039 --> 00:39:08,880 change the story, you change the world. So as Christians, 588 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,039 we can be definitely attentive to that and change the 589 00:39:12,039 --> 00:39:15,199 way we understand story. Memorize stories. If you have kids, 590 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:22,360 memorize fairy tales and tell them orally, don't just read them, 591 00:39:22,519 --> 00:39:25,079 tell them orly. Do the same with Bible stories. Tell 592 00:39:25,119 --> 00:39:27,559 the Bible stories to your kids orally too. Read them 593 00:39:27,559 --> 00:39:31,360 from the Bible. Yes, but internalize the stories because they're 594 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:35,159 your stories. They track what it's important to you. Okay, 595 00:39:37,639 --> 00:39:40,000 So the next thing I would like to encourage people 596 00:39:40,039 --> 00:39:47,280 to do is to create. You know, we've also been 597 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:51,559 in a situation for one hundred years where Christian art, 598 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:57,599 Christian artists have been on the outs. Right. We have 599 00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:01,159 been on the outs both in terms of social relevance, 600 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,119 but we have also been on the outs in terms 601 00:40:04,159 --> 00:40:07,519 of quality. So we have to be fair to ourselves. 602 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,880 And one of the reasons why Christian art is irrelevant 603 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:16,880 is because it stinks, because it's not good. And the 604 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:21,639 reason why it's not good is because of the the 605 00:40:21,679 --> 00:40:24,639 two things that I said at the outset. The reason 606 00:40:24,639 --> 00:40:28,039 why it's not good is because most of the Christian 607 00:40:28,119 --> 00:40:32,119 artists have embraced the nonsense of innovation. They have embraced 608 00:40:32,159 --> 00:40:35,480 the idea that art is self expression. Art is not 609 00:40:35,599 --> 00:40:41,000 self expression. That's ridiculous. What an artist should want to 610 00:40:41,079 --> 00:40:45,159 express is something that is far beyond their self. That 611 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,280 is what the artist should want to express. That is 612 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:50,239 true art, and that is that is that is the 613 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,360 art that is transformative. So we have to we have 614 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:56,719 to change, We have to metanoia. We have to stop 615 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:01,280 thinking that way and encourage if you have children, if 616 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:03,800 you have people that you know that are creative and temperament, 617 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:09,519 put the pressure on that they remember and they celebrate. 618 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,440 Christians have made some of the most beautiful things in 619 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:17,039 the existence of the world. Christians have made monuments to 620 00:41:17,079 --> 00:41:20,159 the glory of God. Christians have written music to the 621 00:41:20,159 --> 00:41:24,199 glory of God that is beyond anything that anybody has produced. 622 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:28,960 But we don't remember because we think it's all old 623 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,480 fogy stuff. It's like, no, we need to be with 624 00:41:31,679 --> 00:41:36,079 the times. Well, the times right now, everything's breaking apart, 625 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:38,559 So we're going to have mumble wrap in church? Is 626 00:41:38,559 --> 00:41:41,840 that the next thing? Right? Like? How far do we 627 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,880 go with this? Right? How ridiculous do we become before 628 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:48,880 we realize that we have in our we have in 629 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:53,800 our memory, we have all we need for true restoration. 630 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:59,559 Artists have no excuse not to not to know anymore. 631 00:42:00,039 --> 00:42:03,079 And as Christians, if you run institutions, if you run schools, 632 00:42:03,119 --> 00:42:06,559 if you're a teacher, you have to train yourself. And 633 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,840 you know when you think that we don't do that, 634 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:13,199 like we have your kids look at images of that 635 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:17,079 Christians have produced. Take them to the most find the 636 00:42:17,079 --> 00:42:21,079 most beautiful church in your city and take the kids there, right, 637 00:42:21,119 --> 00:42:23,480 even if it's not your own denomination or whatever, just 638 00:42:23,519 --> 00:42:27,239 so they can see what it is that Christians can 639 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:31,360 make that is beauty to the glory of God. And 640 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,719 this is one of our greatest weapons because like I said, 641 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:40,199 everybody's hungry. Everybody's hungry for it. And know and be bold, 642 00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:43,719 right because this is hard for maybe some of you 643 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,840 to believe. But this is the future. This is the 644 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,880 only future. There's no other possible future except for the 645 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,159 one that I'm telling you about. If you are a Christian, 646 00:42:52,639 --> 00:42:54,960 you have to know that this is the only way 647 00:42:54,960 --> 00:43:00,760 that it can go. Anything valuable that will come downstream, 648 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,159 that will come down the line from this moment on 649 00:43:03,519 --> 00:43:07,599 will have to be to the glory of God. And 650 00:43:07,639 --> 00:43:11,320 look at what's happening. You know, it's like Paul has 651 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:14,119 to you have to plug your ears in mister King's North. 652 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:20,320 You have one of one of the greatest living writers 653 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:24,119 in the English language that came here to tell you 654 00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:27,480 that he wants the world to be submitted to Christ. 655 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:32,239 And he's not the only one. There are weird and 656 00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:36,960 wonderful conversion stories that are popping up. If you're paying attention, 657 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:42,719 you know Ian HURSTI Eli has converted and there are 658 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:46,239 other people in that field. Martin Shaw, who who Rod 659 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,719 has talked about in his book is literally one of 660 00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:53,039 the greatest living storytellers. Barnard, not the not the not 661 00:43:53,199 --> 00:43:56,239 the one of the best living Christian storytellers. No, no, no, 662 00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:01,320 one of the best storytellers in the world. And that's 663 00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:05,559 what's possible. That is really what's possible. Right, And pay attention. 664 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:15,679 Hollywood is collapsing, you notice, I hope, right, yeah, but 665 00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:20,440 in that void, watch what's happening. Be attentive. There will 666 00:44:20,519 --> 00:44:23,719 be voices that will appear in the chaos. That will 667 00:44:23,719 --> 00:44:27,960 be voices worth attending to. And voice is worth encouraging. 668 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:34,079 So be attentive, right, and be ruthless. Don't expect nothing 669 00:44:34,159 --> 00:44:38,039 less than the best, the very best. We have bach 670 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:44,639 like you know, we have shocked. That's all that's ours, right, 671 00:44:45,079 --> 00:44:49,159 Come on, like create the best stuff, you know, And 672 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,079 so I think that we really have to. And like 673 00:44:52,119 --> 00:44:54,559 I said, notice some examples, Like I'll give you one example, 674 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:58,239 not to pick on Paul too much, but there's a 675 00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:03,880 book called Right published by Eugene Vodolaska. Many people probably 676 00:45:04,119 --> 00:45:06,800 know that that is one of the greatest novels that 677 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:09,719 has been written in the past few decades. A Christian 678 00:45:10,039 --> 00:45:14,760 man writing a novel about Christianity with all the subtlety 679 00:45:15,159 --> 00:45:20,360 and all of the complexity of modern as a modern literature, 680 00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:25,760 but looking back and remembering and celebrating in the book 681 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:27,960 in ways that are harsh at a heart, right dosti 682 00:45:28,079 --> 00:45:32,320 fc Sky like, not not saccharine, not not just all 683 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:35,679 of this this fluffy stuff, but really going down into 684 00:45:35,679 --> 00:45:37,840 the core and that like I said, we have the 685 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:43,039 best stories. Read the Psalms, right, I think Christians don't 686 00:45:43,039 --> 00:45:47,880 know about suffering. You think Christians don't know about complaining 687 00:45:48,079 --> 00:45:55,639 and and and yearning and desiring to see salvation. We 688 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,440 have all like the Bible has all the best stories, 689 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:05,480 and so notice and pay attention. And the next thing 690 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:07,960 for those that are creative too, I would say, also, 691 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:15,480 don't be afraid to pillage the Egyptians, right right, And 692 00:46:15,519 --> 00:46:19,039 so it's not just about knowing what Christians have done. 693 00:46:19,079 --> 00:46:21,480 It's not just about knowing what Christians have written or 694 00:46:21,519 --> 00:46:24,159 have painted or have done. But if you want to 695 00:46:24,159 --> 00:46:26,440 be creative, if you want to move into that circle, 696 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:32,559 look at what your enemies are doing, and pillage the 697 00:46:32,599 --> 00:46:37,239 Egyptian take anything, take anything that's valuable in order to 698 00:46:38,519 --> 00:46:42,800 serve God. And so I want to conclude and say, 699 00:46:43,039 --> 00:46:46,199 you know, one of the things we're doing. I'll give 700 00:46:46,199 --> 00:46:48,639 you an example of what in the vision that I'm 701 00:46:48,639 --> 00:46:51,559 proposing to you is we started to we want to 702 00:46:51,559 --> 00:46:56,280 retell the fairy tales. And it's related to a moment 703 00:46:56,559 --> 00:46:59,360 right now. Like I said, Disney doesn't want the fair 704 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:04,679 tales anymore. They actually hate them, they actually despise those stories, 705 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:09,480 and so they're dropping them. Right. But those stories, right 706 00:47:09,519 --> 00:47:12,679 they're they're they they're the pearls, they're the shiny things. 707 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,000 And so in a moment when people are dropping them, 708 00:47:16,039 --> 00:47:19,679 now's the moment to pick them up, right, and to say, 709 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:23,559 let's tell those stories again in the spirit of memory 710 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:29,639 and celebration and no compromise, make them as beautiful as possible. 711 00:47:29,679 --> 00:47:32,800 And so that's the that's the direction that a lot 712 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:36,119 of my creativity is going into. But I think, like 713 00:47:36,159 --> 00:47:39,159 I said, in this particularly that's why my talk is 714 00:47:39,159 --> 00:47:41,880 called this is the day. In this particular moment, right now, 715 00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:48,000 it is it is particularly available for Christians to do 716 00:47:48,039 --> 00:47:52,760 that because of the hunger, and because everybody else is 717 00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:56,599 dropping the ball and all the stories are horrible. Who 718 00:47:56,639 --> 00:48:00,800 even wants to watch Netflix anymore? Even it's not even 719 00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:03,199 like at least, at least there were moments when there 720 00:48:03,199 --> 00:48:05,440 were things that were perverse, but they were at least 721 00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:14,320 well written things things of God. So far, now that 722 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:18,960 they're perverse and they're boring, how did that happen? Because 723 00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:21,280 you think perversion is a pretty easy way to get 724 00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:24,239 people's attention, But it's like to make perverted things boring. 725 00:48:24,639 --> 00:48:29,280 That's how that's how much everything's falling apart. And so 726 00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:34,039 find the pearl, you know, find the stories. Remember, remember 727 00:48:34,079 --> 00:48:46,559 God especially, but remember, and so thank you. If you 728 00:48:46,639 --> 00:48:49,800 enjoy these videos and podcasts, please go to the Symbolic 729 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,519 world dot com website and see how you can support 730 00:48:52,519 --> 00:48:55,760 what we're doing. There are multiple subscriber tiers with perks. 731 00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:58,440 There are apparel and books to purchase. So go to 732 00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:00,679 the Symbolic World dot com and think thank you for 733 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:01,320 your support.