Death & Orthodoxy | Kate Middleton Baltimore Bridge & Call for Spiritual Vigilance | YBT012 CWP060

I found myself reflecting deeply on how swiftly life's tide can turn with the recent news of Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis. This episode brings to light the fragility of existence, not just for the Duchess but for each of us, as we navigate the tumultuous intersection of mortality and faith. Our heartfelt discussion traverses the private battles of public figures like Kate and King Charles, inviting listeners to explore the complex interplay between notoriety and the humanizing experience of facing illness. We share our thoughts on how such news can shock us into contemplating the universal inevitability that is mortality, and the necessity for compassion and discretion in the public eye.

As we venture further, the conversation assumes a spiritual dimension, examining how personal trials can serve as profound agents for spiritual growth. Echoing the trials of Job, we consider how life's inescapable end can awaken a deeper connection to the divine, urging us to get our spiritual 'house in order.' Our exchange reveals how the threat of diseases like cancer can strip away our worldly attachments and realign our pursuits towards eternal truths. We cross into the terrain of existential preparation, forgiveness, and the role of lifestyle choices in our overall health, threading these elements into a tapestry of spiritual vigilance.

The episode concludes with a poignant reminder of life's unpredictability, as we recount the tragic bridge collapse and the heroism of first responders. Such stark instances of mortality remind us to live in a state of preparedness, finding a balance between the carefree birds of scripture and the need for practical wisdom in a world rife with unforeseen circumstances. We close with a reflection on faith, noting how it guides and steadies us against the backdrop of life's fleeting nature, and instills a hope that transcends our mortal coil. Join us as we grapple with these profound themes, seeking solace and understanding in the embrace of faith.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

There's two of these software problems.

Speaker 2: 0:02

What you guys are saying is I should become a dentist.

Speaker 1: 0:05

Oof, you're absent-minded.

Speaker 3: 0:09

Explain it. I didn't get it. It went over my head.

Speaker 4: 0:13

God of the simulator or the supreme being.

Speaker 1: 0:16

I am not an atheist. I've never been an atheist. I've never been an atheist.

Speaker 3: 0:19

People are too afraid to believe that they have control over their own actions. Hi, welcome to Cloud of Witnesses. This is a new episode of yes, but my name is Jeremy.

Speaker 1: 0:28

Joshua here, Hello, it's Robert here. This is John. This is Dominic.

Speaker 3: 0:38

You guys, welcome to another episode. Today we've got a kind of a heavy topic. We're in the midst of Lent, pretty much smack dab in the middle in some ways, although Posca is going to be here before we know it and today the topic is death, mortality, and we've got some things to show you. We're going to start by talking about this recent announcement and update here. Can you guys see the screen? Yes, here we go.

Speaker 6: 1:07

In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I'm now in the early stages of that treatment. This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment, but, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, charlotte and Louis in a way that's appropriate for them and to reassure them that I'm going to be okay.

Speaker 3: 2:01

So you see there that Kate Middleton has been diagnosed with cancer and it sounds like they've been trying to help her already. It's something that surgery, gentleman, that she went through in January, to your understanding, was that to try to help the cancer or was that how they discovered it? Do we know?

Speaker 2: 2:25

cancer or was that how they discovered it? Do we know? Sounds like she's saying that that's how they discovered it that maybe they didn't think it was cancer until after they got it out and were able to do a biopsy. Another thing I'd like to point out real quickly is that you know she's responding to people's concerns that they weren't sharing all the details early on, and it sounds like she gave a really good reason. I mean the first reason being that, even though she's a public figure, she does have some rights to privacy, but also shielding her children from this information coming at them in a way that they couldn't handle. So she needed time to make sure that she could control how that information reached her children.

Speaker 3: 3:04

Absolutely. That seems more than reasonable, doesn't it? You know? I think it's so easy for us in the regular world, as normal people, to judge those who are in public positions, and these positions of power or notoriety etc. Certainly in the public eye. And I think it's stories like this you know, joshua, to kind of piggyback off that that remind us that. Yeah, you know, she gets driven around in limousines, she's got security guards, I'm sure. I doubt she's ever had to worry a single day whether there's enough money in the bank account for x or y or z, and yet here she is still a young woman. Um, I think, robert, you said she's in her early 40s, if I heard you yes, I think she's 42.

Speaker 3: 3:54

Yes and she is facing a life-threatening uh reality. Now you know, unexpectedly.

Speaker 1: 4:02

It's quite humbling, I can imagine I think, yeah, that's a very shocking news indeed for herself, of course, and her immediate family. And, uh, of course, the, the king charles himself also was diagnosed with with cancer as well. Uh, not too long ago I believe it was prostate cancer. So it's uh, you know it's been in the news that here's the royal family of Great Britain getting a double whammy. You know they were.

Speaker 1: 4:31

You know there's some criticism that they haven't really been forthright, you know, because we still don't know about her prognosis in terms of you know, was it? You know what kind of cancer is it? What stage is it in? So I mean, you know she doesn't look like she's, you know, deathly ill. But you know, if it's late stage cancer, you know it could be really really bad, but they're not forthcoming with that.

Speaker 1: 4:57

So people are a little bit, I think, somewhat justified. People are a little bit, you know, upset about that. You know, being a public figure. But, like you guys said too, of course there's the privacy issue and that's of course also something, and they don't want to alarm. You know they don't want to alarm the public and create more, more, you know, kind of an overreaction if they disclose. It is like stage three or four or something in a late stage, then people may just, you know, really, you know, get bent out of shape that way as well. So, yeah, it's a fine balance.

Speaker 1: 5:27

It's a difficult thing, but the issue of mortality, right, because this news, of course, is not pleasant news this idea of death, then, is just unexpectedly just brought forth here.

Speaker 1: 5:39

She is a beautiful young person, right, and you know, a mother of a young family, three children, like you said. She's wealthy, successful in all of this, and right in, you know, she's just gets smacked, you know, with this news, this horrible thing, and so that that news, though is someone is something that we all have in in common, right, not not perhaps the prognosis, but but we all have a death sentence on us, don't we? We all are living in a corrupt world and our bodies are corrupt or we don't live forever, and so I think this is actually a really good lesson here for us, that we should prepare ourselves to receive this kind of news. We should be attentive to this thing, that we all have this sentence, if you will, hanging over us, and that, not to get gruesome or depressed about it, but to be realistic about it, to say, yeah, this is, you know, I will not live here forever on this world, and to be realistic and sober about that and live our lives accordingly.

Speaker 2: 6:44

And to be realistic and sober about that and live our lives accordingly. Yeah, watchfulness comes to mind. Christ said to watch right. And so we're watching for his coming to us, or, by his grace, are going to him, by his grace are going to him, but either way it's that same watchfulness that there is an end that we need to be mindful of, as you said.

Speaker 3: 7:16

Yeah, you know, john Dom, love to hear your thoughts as well. What I can't help but be reminded of in her position is the story of Job. In her position, is the story of Job right A man who was wealthy, had it all, had a family as well, et cetera. And you know he was allowed to be tested, you know, for his salvation ultimately. And we know that Job, of course, was faithful. And it just makes me wonder.

Speaker 3: 7:45

I don't know Kate Middleton's story at all and I don't know her faith. I don't know if she has faith at all, et cetera. But I certainly hope and pray that, if she doesn't, that maybe through the course of these events, that maybe this is the wake-up call that she needed, um, that that there is a uh creator that she's going to have to face, uh, maybe sooner than she might thought, have thought originally, and maybe sometimes that's what it takes to create a change in someone's heart yeah, I think, you know, as, as an orthodox christian, I mean, we have the perspective that, you know, even like illness and uh, illness and all these trials that we have in life, I mean, they're meant for our repentance.

Speaker 5: 8:36

You know, there's, there's a purpose as to why these things happen to us, um, and it's not that god himself, like, inflicts these things. It's just he allows these things to happen, ultimately for our good. You know, like with the story of the Job, I mean, it was for the testing of his faith ultimately, you know, and also an encouragement to all of us who would live after him. You know that God is still compassionate and merciful. You know the people who are going. You know, through these strategies, I mean, even in, like in my life, um, when, back when I was a teenager, I mean, I had, I had a knee surgery that, uh, that took me a while to kind of just uh, heal from, but, um, that was that was definitely looking back on it. Now, that was definitely a means that God used to to bring me closer to him. And this is this is way back when I was still an evangelical, you know.

Speaker 4: 9:35

So I heard um, a priest, describing our personal deaths as a mini apocalypse, personal deaths as a mini apocalypse. The world itself is moving towards the end of days, towards the final judgment, and, in a microcosmic sense, we ourselves are waiting for our own apocalyptic end, when the body starts to waste away and decay, when we start to see the signs of the times that we are now at the very end of our lives. We start to feel that our bones were starting to have osteoporosis, we start to suffer, you know, a back that's hunched over. We start to feel more, or at least less, immune to sicknesses and illnesses as we get old, and these would be the signs that, okay, your life is about to end. You need to prepare yourself, and these pains that we suffer are supposed to push us towards that. You know. So as human life ends, so the world will end, right.

Speaker 4: 10:45

The sun itself. We just recently saw an eclipse. The entire, the whole sky was darkened for at least a good, you know a few minutes, and that usually is itself described as a pointer to where this world is headed right. I'm not saying that we're immediately going, everything is going to immediately end, but basically a forced signaling of the coming of a new era, or at least the coming of the end. And so death, yes, is supposed to be that wake up call. Right, like when the sun goes down. You know, we prepare ourselves for the next day. Right, we prepare ourselves to go to sleep.

Speaker 4: 11:30

Scripture says, you know, let not the sun go down on your wrath, to dispel all of that before the sun goes down, just as, I guess, figuratively speaking, the sun goes down on this entire world, and so we have to prepare for that. Let not your son go down on your sins. Let not your the sun go down on your, on your laziness, whatever laxity that we suffer from and whatever areas of virtue that we might be lacking. We have to get that in order before we finally face our own ends.

Speaker 3: 12:04

John, I absolutely love that. That is, you know, those are sobering words. And how true is that? Right, we're told so explicitly. If we do not forgive our brothers, their trespassings and sins, our sins will not be forgiven. And so how much more the fact that our mortality is potentially tonight? Right, it's potentially tomorrow, we have no idea when. That's right. And for us, uh, to heed that call. Right to have our house in order, if you will, joshua. You started us off by mentioning, um, to be watchful. Right, the the to be ready with our lamps with filled with oil. Right, we're ready for the bridegroom to return. Um, it's, it's so important, and it's stories like these, you know, maybe, I don't know, fortunately or unfortunately, right, it takes tragedy sometimes for even us, as other people, to to wake up to that.

Speaker 2: 13:05

So I I appreciate that. It brings into focus what we control and what we cannot control. Yeah, you know. So it's like we cannot control that. Everything in this realm, this world that we find ourselves, is touched by corruptibility. We cannot control that. So, ultimately, what can we control? We can try to control our own state of our own soul, our disposition towards god, our disposition towards God, our disposition towards this world. So when we start to see the death of this world, it can call us to not be so attached to it and then to focus our eyes on the kingdom, where we hope, by God's grace, to spend eternity. So it really puts things in perspective for us to not hang on. You know, like Christ said, where your treasure is, your heart will be also right. So, like you guys hit on before, she's someone who has all the material means, but none of that gives her full control over the corruptibility of the world that we find ourselves in true, right.

Speaker 2: 14:17

So it is.

Speaker 3: 14:18

It is a great equalizer um in that sense so, joshua, could I I'm sorry I'm gonna jump in real quick here, guys, because I was. I appreciate that and I where my mind was going with this as well is this idea of cancer the reality? Cancer? I'm sure you guys might know the statistic, but something like six out of 10 Americans will die of cancer.

Speaker 1: 14:43

Six out of 10.

Speaker 3: 14:45

So all of us here, we are more likely to die of cancer. And, robert, it goes back to something you were talking about, which is the fallen world. Right, our bodies are not immortal, our bodies are wearing down. Right, there's entropy and, joshua, tied to things I know you're interested in, it makes me think about even the fallenness of our diets, right, and what we're, consumerism, and what we're told to consume, and the things we put into our bodies, the, the environments we put ourselves in, which I believe, I think science has shown contributes to, you know, cancer, all these carcinogens, etc.

Speaker 1: 15:30

And look, here we are reaping the consequences of this fallen world if I can come back to job for a moment, the story of job that you mentioned before, jeremy, I think there's another element there. Uh, his friends right, his quote-unquote friends were counseling him and giving him, you know, some tips, you know some advice, or they, at least they thought it was good advice, and I think we can see that. You know, there is an element of, uh, you know god is angry with you. Uh, you did something wrong. Um, uh, you know, see, ah, you know, uh, you know you, you know you, you need to be punished, like this, this idea that you deserved to get cancer or something, or or, if you see somebody that is in an unfortunate situation, see, they must have done something wrong.

Speaker 1: 16:20

God is angry. God is setting it straight. You know God is a just God and I think that's an awful picture. I think it's an unchristian picture of life and of reality that God is not out to punish people and cut them down. Rather, he seeks, you know, for all to live the abundant life, even though we have a short time here.

Speaker 1: 16:43

I think you know death is unnatural, it's against life and God is life. So I think death is not some kind you know can be used by God. Of course he can redeem it somehow and use it for our salvation, but it is not something that I think is just God's you know, kind of automatic, you know normal way of doing things. You know I, you know. So this is something that I see you know happening, where people say, ah, you deserve, you know you deserve this, you must have done something. You know happening where people say, ah, you deserve, you know you deserve this, you must have done something. And the other, the other thing, is the other element. Maybe we don't see it in Job, but we can see it all around us in our own lives, that there's distractions.

Speaker 1: 17:23

We actually lull ourselves to sleep, deluding ourselves, thinking well, you know, you know, maybe I can live really long or we have these kinds of ideas about our future that we really have no control over, like Joshua said, but somehow we think we do have control and I think that's a real trap and it's you know, I fight it all the time. I think I have this control and, of course, you have to go with day by day. You have to plan, you have to be, you know, wise and think of the future. But that's a fine line. The moment you start thinking that you know it's set in stone and you've got a sure thing ahead of you, uh, you know it's, it's pure delusion at some point. So I think that it's very, very, very important to you know, to watch out for that you know, to be at least aware of it yeah, I mean a lot of people.

Speaker 4: 18:15

You know, the people who are leaning towards socialism are obsessed with equalizing people's wealth and status. Well, they already have what they want because death, as they say, is the great equalizer. Rich and poor, young and old are all just as impoverished as one another in the face of their end. The end itself will reveal just how impoverished all of us are, including the wealthy and the powerful. The wealthy and the powerful are just as helpless and powerless in the face of death, just as we are, just as any homeless vagrant.

Speaker 3: 18:53

To that point. I would like to share this with you guys, and then I'm going to let you guys continue this seemingly unconnected but, I think, still very connected to the idea of mortality. John, I love what you're talking about there. The wealthy are not impervious to death, and here we have. Of course, everyone has heard the story of the bridge that collapsed when the cargo carrier crashed into it. This is footage here. We'll watch it just briefly, a little bit of this, but, robert, you pointed out, I believe, that there were people who were filling potholes.

Speaker 1: 19:29

Yes.

Speaker 3: 19:30

And they were some of the casualties. So you've got it of all segments of society right what the absolute sorry for the language you guys dude, no way, we just watched that shit of course, bro yo shine a light on you, shine a light on you oh, these people saw this live

Speaker 2: 19:53

they saw it happen yeah.

Speaker 3: 19:55

That is a monumental moment, that is insane, oh goodness. Yeah, here, it is right here, this quick moment Yo.

Speaker 6: 20:02

What the f***.

Speaker 3: 20:04

Oh, wow, what the f***. Absolutely, absolutely tragic and without None of the people had any idea. Right Would face that.

Speaker 1: 20:19

Well, it's a crazy accident when you think about it, because a ship of that size has multiple fail safe and redundant systems and generators and power. You know power systems that that you know they can fall back on power. You know power systems that that you know they can fall back on, and I don't know all the details, maybe nobody does yet, but I believe that, at least I think, both of the of the power systems the main and the, and the and the and the failsafe system failed, um, and you know, and so little time to change direction and apparently you know you lose control. So they lost control of the rudder and the steering and all this, and so it was just you know, and there's nothing they could do about it so, yeah, just the, the suddenness, I mean the suddenness with which that can come, um is is what stands out to me there.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Um, god rest the souls of those who were working there. Um, yeah, I mean, and again not having really any control. It's like you said, robert, it's such a I mean, low percentage kind of accident, right for all those failsafe mechanisms to also fail and and uh, so it's just something that I I don't think they could have imagined, even as a possible way, um for them to spend their, their last few moments their, their last few moments on earth, yeah, yeah, filling potholes.

Speaker 1: 21:58

So you think a crew of eight men, uh, from uh, honduras, if I'm not mistaken, um, and you know, I believe six of them died, uh, one, uh, gravely wounded, may still be in the hospital, I'm not sure, but, and then one I believe was recovered, uh, you know it has recovered. Uh, it's my understanding. Okay, yeah, so tragic, wow, you know, here they are just working, working, working on their, on their, on the road, you know, working filling potholes on the bridge. Uh, you know, 1, 30 in the morning, like you said, what can you plan about this? Right, I mean, what can you do about this? I'm sure, I mean, what can you do about this?

Speaker 1: 22:36

I'm sure they had all kinds of safety, you know, safety things in place, and I heard that the police were that were diverting traffic for this construction, for this filling of potholes on the bridge, were very quick to respond and actually save many casualties by stopping traffic. When they saw, when they got the call from the ship, uh, that it was, uh, that it was about to, you know, hit the bridge, the police, I believe, on both sides of the entrance of the bridge, were able to stop traffic from entering and so many casualties were prevented. So you can kind of see the heroic element, the the heroic aspect on this on the flip side. You know the people coming together, people coming and standing, you know in the way of death to prevent, you know casualties. So yeah, what a tragic thing, what a tragic thing.

Speaker 4: 23:29

This can also. We risk being deceived by the distance of these events and think to ourselves this happened in a place that's not even close to where I live, so I'm fine, right. But when Christ was speaking of the Tower of Siloam, which fell and killed at least a couple dozen people and killed at least a couple dozen people, and when he was referencing a group of zealots who were being put to death by Pilate, christ immediately warned his disciples not to be arrogant with regards to those who suffered their fate, because he also said if you do not repent, you will also likewise perish. He's not saying necessarily that anyone who suffers this were guilty, perish. He's not saying necessarily that anyone who suffers this were guilty, but he is saying that death is as close, that death was as close to those people as it is now close to you, right, and I actually um had several people that I know personally who have gotten into some horrible accidents, um, you know, and died very, very unexpectedly, you know, one of whom even ended up with like a, like a stroke that put him in a coma, uh, for several months, unexpectedly, even though he's like in his mid. He was in his mid thirties when this happened.

Speaker 4: 24:47

So, yeah, I mean it. You hear about it in the news, but you also hear about the stuff happening in your immediate circle, whether it's in your family or your, or in your social circle. So that's why, every time we watch the news or every time we see these videos, we should not deceive ourselves into believing that this is actually happening far away. No, actually, this is pretty close, it's close to home, and we should always keep ourselves into believing that this is actually happening far away. No, actually, this is pretty close, it's close to home, and we should always keep that in mind. It's two millimeters away from us.

Speaker 5: 25:27

An interesting coming out of the story I was reading two weeks ago is that, um, so the company that that own that cargo ship, um is an international one, based off, uh, based off in Copenhagen, and um, the, the crew of that particular ship had told the, the coast guard of the United States had told them that there was uh safety concerns on the boat, um, multiple times, but they were all ignored by the company itself.

Speaker 5: 26:02

Um, so it probably explains why all those like those safety measures had had failed, and so I think it was just an accident, uh, waiting to happen. And I think it also kind of points to as well as, like you know, at least like here in this country, you know, there has been like a competency crisis, or competency crisis, you know, in the workforce, you know, ever since, you know, really since 2020 started, and so I think you're starting to see that, um, not companies and parts of government, I mean people just don't care anymore about being efficient or taking responsibility over over these simple but pretty important procedures. You know that happen in the everyday work environment. So I mean, god willing that stuff like this doesn't happen, but I mean, like what we saw last year, you know, with the train crash in ohio. You know, I like I said it's, there's going to be more, I think, more of these accidents happening again and again.

Speaker 3: 27:07

So yeah, john, for whatever reason, your video is not showing, just so you know.

Speaker 3: 27:17

I'm actually driving right now, so yeah um, and yeah, we'll wrap this up soon, because I know we'll want to be mindful. I an idea I'd like to throw out at you guys, uh, to get your thoughts here, maybe, as we wrap this up, there's this interesting dichotomy, or juxtaposition maybe, of this being watchful. Right, as you started us off, joshua, mentioning we are to be watchful. Right, christ may return at any moment. Our lives may be over at any moment. Right, we are always to be prepared, as John was saying.

Speaker 3: 27:53

And yet I'm thinking of teachings of Christ where he says don't worry about tomorrow. Right, even I take care of the sparrows, right, and they don't worry about tomorrow. You need not worry about tomorrow either. And it just takes me back home to faith. Right, all of this calls us. We have to live by faith. We can't put up our hope in worldly things. We can't trust our governments, right, can't trust the car we drive uh, you know, it turns out. You can't even necessarily trust that others are going to do their jobs appropriately or that a tree is not going to fall through your house, right, all of these things. And so I'd just like to get your guys' thoughts on that as we kind of wrap this episode up, the idea of that faith with death right around the corner.

Speaker 2: 28:43

Yeah, again, it's like what we can control and what we can't. So faith is that essential aspect of the disposition of our soul and how we're referring ourselves to god. So, again, not to trust in those things that, with all this technology, suppose it fails, safes fail, that's right, um. So to have our faith ultimately in christ and to be surrendered to god's providence that, even if something is outwardly, um, a disaster, that you know god will use everything for the good of those who love him, and so it really is a surrender of expectation and like, like, uh, like the orthodox saying goes, if you die before you die, then when you die you don't have to die right so yeah, sort of already, already accepting the, the physical death, so that we don't have to undergo the, the spiritual death, and I think that faith calls us to that faith calls us to to die before we die in its fullness.

Speaker 1: 30:01

Yeah, I think it's a realization of the ultimate, you know, kind of the ultimate thing we need to prepare, right, this is not a call to be sloppy and to say, well, I don't have to wear a seatbelt, or you know, that's kind of like tempting God, right, that's that's being stupid, that's being foolish, and there's warnings in the scriptures about being foolish and not being prepared, so so, but but faith is not a call to just, you know, be sloppy and do whatever, because tomorrow, you know, like you know, yes, faith said is, you know, is the, like you said, the disposition of the heart that says let's not worry about tomorrow. Like Jesus said, do not worry about tomorrow, because what can you really do? You can't even add a little length to your hair, right, what can you do? You can do nothing like that. So I think there is that disposition of faith, but then also hard work, also preparedness, also preparedness, and they're not, you know, they're not in opposition. The faith and preparedness and wisdom and hard work are not, you know, opposed to each other.

Speaker 1: 31:04

So sometimes you kind of see that where people think oh well, you know, Jesus says not to care, and then they think that that's just like a call to you know, to kind of be sloppy or something. Yeah.

Speaker 4: 31:18

There's a difference between, yeah, being careless and also having faith in God's providence that everything will work out if we abide faithful to his commandments. I mean, that's the whole thing about preparedness. Right, You're preparing as you are commanded, meaning that if we are preparing for our end, we are in obedience. So the act of preparation is an act of faith, because we trust that God's ways and his commandments will see us through. You know it'll see us through these times, yes, so I mean we have to be very watchful, of course, and being watchful doesn't mean, oh, I don't trust God. Being watchful means that you are doing as Christ told us to, and that is to not fall asleep, not to become sluggish and sluggard and lazy.

Speaker 4: 32:04

The proverb says that it is the sluggard who will face an unexpected death with great regret, who will face an unexpected death with great regret. I'm basically butchering the verse, but it's saying that, yeah, being inattentive will lead to death. And that kind of brings me to what Dom said about how there were safety concerns about this bridge before it fell, and that tells me it wasn't purely an accident, but rather the fall of this bridge was part of a longstanding pattern of you can say negligence, so the more negligent you are about yourself, the closer you are to your own destruction. So death doesn't it may come suddenly from our vantage point, because we're, you know, not omniscient, we don't have foreknowledge but it comes for a specific reason.

Speaker 4: 32:57

Now it's not always because of sin, that it's not that it happens, but usually when it happens it's due to some, something that we we've been missing, something that we've been neglecting, and so at at some point we're going to have the news broken to us and maybe we'll even have a very horrible diagnosis from our doctor that will absolutely shatter our reality. Maybe it was because there was a certain lifestyle that we've been living that led to it. You know, I'm not I'm not saying this about you know, kate Middleton at all, but like on our side, at least it could lead to that. If we ourselves are negligent, even about our bodily health, all these things follow a pattern, and certain things, certain patterns, lead to life or to longevity, and certain patterns lead to death or collapse or a tragic fall right. So it's not ultimately even an accident. It follows a particular order.

Speaker 3: 33:55

Amen, amen. You guys, if I can leave our audience with this, and that is, you know, I'm not sure where you are in your life right now, whoever's watching this, but you know, kate Middleton, anyone who's being faced with a diagnosis of cancer or the loss of a loved one. Orthodoxy, the Christian faith, offers that hope, that comfort. We're in eternity, now right. And even when we lose our bodies, eventually, when the death of this body comes, paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We have that beautiful, wonderful hope that God, in his infinite mercy, will be faithful if we endure until the end, and so I would just encourage any of you watching this now that are curious about orthodoxy find a local parish in your area. Go talk to the priest. There are ways that you can be prepared to face these issues of mortality. And so I'll leave it at that. I'm Jeremy. It's been great. Robert, joshua, tell us where people can find you, and thank you so much for joining us, robert. Robert, we can't hear you. You're muted.

Speaker 1: 35:17

I'm not sure what you meant by that where they can find me that's fine, yeah this was Robert. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 3: 35:26

I don't know you can edit all that do it again, robert, just say it one more time yeah thanks everybody for listening and talk to you soon thanks everybody.

Speaker 2: 35:40

I'm joshua. At some point I may have a channel coming up called the son of none son of none. Depending on when you see this, it might already be up, or you can subscribe ahead of time to encourage me to actually produce that content. Amen, yeah.

Speaker 3: 35:55

Joshua, we will follow the course of you talking about it right through these episodes as they come. Yeah, really. Oh, john, sorry You're there. Tell us about you, john.

Speaker 1: 36:10

Yeah, I'm John.

Speaker 4: 36:12

You can definitely find me on cloud of witnesses on some of the episodes I've been in and, yeah, and if possible, I'll even catch you at church year round amen, amen.

Speaker 3: 36:24

All right, gentlemen, it's a real pleasure. Thank you, god bless you and those of you listening. Thank you for watching to the end. By the way, nick wanted to be here, guys. He was having some technical issues, so hopefully we'll see Nick on the next one. Bye, bye.