The ancient Taosurfers were cool cats. They had poise. They demonstrated balance. They exuded integrity and compassion. But today, Taosurfers seem like bums to some. They seem not to be players. But maybe they’re playing a different game altogether. We discuss chapters 15, 20, and 67 of the Tao Te Ching. Jeff discusses how some racists in his world led him to lose his cool; Stacie applies Lao Tzu to the situation in order to explore more effective ways of being an antidote to a toxic situation instead of internalizing the poison of hate.

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What does it mean that praise and shame invite anxiety and fear? Praise puffs you up; shame tears you down. Trying to stay on top brings fear that you will fall. Fear of failure keeps you from rising up.

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Focusing on flashy things blinds eyes to beauty. Listening to a cacophony of voices makes it hard to hear the truth. Too many spices will dull your taste buds. Lust for luxury will drive you mad. Riches entice men to evil deeds.

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his show is dedicated listener question about what to do when you detect that a future pastor is a wolf pup, that is, a potentially dangerous clergy person in the making. How do we nip in the bud potentially abusive behavior without being too intrusive or outrageously in people’s business?

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Thirty spokes meet at a hub. The empty space at the center is what lets the wheel go ‘round.

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Can you balance your mind and body and grasp the unity of everything? Can you soften your breath and become like a sleeping baby? Can you rinse from your eyes whatever is clouding your vision?

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This episode is dedicated to a question from a listener who works in Christian education. They ask: How do I help change the culture of a church so that it's life giving & not authoritarian? In other words, how does one practically apply some of the themes we care about at Protect Your Noggin for the wellbeing of our kids? After minute 30, we give our actual interpretation of the Tower of Babel, & we discuss why non-Christians should want the Bible taught in public schools as an important historical document that has had a profound influence on global culture.

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For this episode, Jeff asks Stacie (a death doula, AKA, end of life doula) to take over the episode and offer comfort and wisdom to our whole society the way should would work with an individual who was facing his or her mortality. This comes from our realization that, while we want to promote hope in our times, we also don't want cheap hope, or the sort of shallow positivity that covers over injustice without remedying it.

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Overfill your cup: it will spill. Over-sharpen your sword: it might shatter, when it really matters. Amass wealth: you can’t protect it. Excessive pride in riches and prestige will only leave you in disgrace.

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Listen in on a discussion of moral injury, how it shows up in the Bible, & how we might read accounts war and violence in antiquity. Jeff interviews guest Dr. Brad E. Kelle is professor of Old Testament & Hebrew at Point Loma Nazarene University. His academic work focuses on the OT prophets, warfare in ancient Israel, trauma studies, moral injury, and the history of ancient Israel and Judah. He is author of The Bible and Moral Injury: Reading Scripture alongside War's Unseen Wounds (Abingdon, 2020).

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To discover the greatest good flow like water. Water pours life into all creatures without striving. It pools in places men disdain. This is how it’s like the Tao. So make your home in low places. Draw from the deep well of the heart. Offer kindness to others. Let your words be sincere. Govern justly. Let your work be your art. Remain present with everyone you encounter. Live without striving and people won’t try to pull you down.

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…the sage puts herself last yet comes out ahead. She dies to her ego yet she finds life. See how this makes her selfless? And this is how she becomes her true self.

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The spirit of the valley is deathless.She is called the Mysterious Mother. The womb of the Mysterious Mother is called the source of heaven and earth. It flows endlessly, almost imperceptibly.

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The cosmos is unbiased, treating all living things like sidewalk chalk drawings. The sage is unbiased, treating all people like sidewalk chalk drawings.

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Once we perceive beauty in the world, we also discern ugliness. After we gain knowledge of goodness, we also recognize evil. Existence and the void give birth to each other. Difficult and easy determine each other. Long and short measure each other. High and low position each other. Tone and silence make melodies together. Before and after march in the same parade. Therefore, the sage manages life without dominating, and teaches through living, rather than preaching. She lets the living things sprout without judging them, then lets them flourish without trying to own them. The sage creates art Without making it her identity. When her art is complete, she lets it be. This is why it endures forever.

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The Tao seems like an empty vessel, but when you pour it out, it never ceases to flow. It is fathomless! A wellspring of all that exists.

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The sage emancipates men from mental slavery, and restrains the crafty from their manipulations. Surf the Tao and everything will be okay.

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We made a list of seven reasons why the Tao Te Ching helps people from all (or no) faith tradition protect their noggins and learn to outfox religious wolves. In other words, this is an explanation of why we thought this text was ideal for our next set of lessons

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Once we perceive beauty in the world, we also discern ugliness. After we gain knowledge of goodness, we also recognize evil ...

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