Bridging the Gap 110 Talk #XI (transcript)

Welcome to 110 Talk, where everything is on the table.

And this is episode number 11 and the topic is bridging the gap in different areas of life.

I've narrowed down five different areas where we can discuss bridging the gap.

The first is worship.

The second is the dark and the light.

The third is what was and what is to be.

The fourth is in songs.

And the fifth is in what we are versus what we are becoming.

So in regards to worship - this is the thing that ties the planet together.

It's the thread for hope, for religion, for community, for even our private moments, and for all of our faith.

And I think it's something worth talking about, being so prevalent in so much of humanity.

I actually attended church for the first time in a long time recently.

And the pastor said that everyone can have a ministry.

Everything can be a ministry.

And I thought that was a really interesting concept - what you're working on, what you're putting out into the world, the words that you see say can be a ministry.

Obviously, a church or a temple can be a ministry. And it's all thread through the public dialogue.

Now, when I was young and growing up, I did go to church a lot. My grandfather Edwin had baptized me and my sister. My grandmothers were singing in the church choir when I was growing up. And actually, I'm still trying to get an audio recording from my grandfather of something she did with the church group because she actually created a record and I wanted to sample it in the back of one of my songs. My grandfather Edwin also married my parents in San Francisco.

And recently, I had the opportunity to go to a church in southern California, drive by it, actually, because it's falling off the cliff in a landslide. They're having to relocate it. But I was able to drive by where he used to preach and be a minister.

I was talking with somebody of about the church that I attended.

And the first question that I got was, well, what denomination is it? Is it Baptist? Is it Presbyterian, Catholic or Protestant? All the different labels that we slap on Christian faiths specifically.

And my response was, why does it matter what denomination it was?

We might have slightly different versions, but we worship the same God mostly, worship the same Bible and the same word. What does it really matter what specific denomination it was?

It made me think back to the labels that we inherently put onto different religions.

I think it is beautiful for people to have their own ministries, whether they are a pastor or a churchgoer or just worshiping in their own life.

One of the ways that sermons resonate with me is when people are using the love of God in their preaching and not using the fear of God, which a lot of us have, but for tactics that can be considered manipulation in sermons. That's something that always resonates more with me is when we use the love of God , when we're talking about sermons and preaching and the word rather than the fear of God. Everybody has their own sense of what resonates for them and no way is wrong. But that's just how it resonates for me.

And I started looking at some of the different religions, some of the major ones in the world.

And I think being a bridge between different religions is actually noticing some of the commonalities that we have between religions, even when we don't entirely understand the other religions or know exactly what every nuance is .

I mean, Christianity, according to the internet, has about 2.3 billion worshipers and is by far the largest religion with Catholic, Protestants, Baptism, all the different denominations included in there.

Judaism does worship one God and their literature is based on the Old Testament.

And even Jesus in Matthew 5:17 said he did not come to abolish the Torah or the prophets, but to fulfill them.

And I think that the commonality there also, notably, is the Ten Commandments, which both Christianity and Judaism, as I understand it, abide by.

Islam is another religion that has one God, Allah. The prophet Muhammad actually usually spoke highly of Christians in many ways. One of the beliefs of about both Muhammad and Jesus is that they were prophets. I believe that the Islam actually believed that Jesus was a prophet, but he was not the actual Son of God. I think that's where some of the difference comes in. But again, it's one God.

Buddhism and Hinduism. Actually I've been taken to Buddhist temples and I love the chanting. I love the practices and I think it's a really beautiful religion. While these two religions do not believe in one God, they do believe in ending suffering through practices like meditation , mindfulness, ethical conduct. Hinduism has this idea of Dharma, which is their cosmic order order, one's duty in life. And they believe in reincarnation called Samsa.

As I I think about all these major religions and understand that there are a lot of different perspectives on them and we can't get into all those details, the bridge that I see that really threads all of them together is this idea of righteousness and doing what we can to be righteous in this world, do the right things, treat people with respect, take care of the poor, give back, act with integrity. I think that no matter what religion, this idea of righteousness, some call it ethical conduct, or righteous living, is truly what threads together all humans in all religions. I think that that is something beautiful.

In the church that I attended, they were actually talking about the concept of 'you can't serve two masters.' You can't serve both God and money. And I think that is interesting. They also brought in one of my favorite passages of Matthew 6:19 about not storing up treasures here, but storing up treasures up there. Because we can't take the treasures with us.

I think human freedom in this world is giving people the choice to worship how they want to. And yes, let's bridge the gap and identify that there's a lot more commonalities than sometimes is obvious on the surface or the way we talk about these things. It is the freedom to allow people to worship how they do want to worship.

In the service that I went to, they were actually talking about a mission trip that they're going on to Cambodia and Vietnam to spread the word of Christianity and about how it's actually dangerous to do so in some of these eastern countries.

I think that to get to a place of having more people free in this world, people will be able to study and worship in whatever religion they choose. So as I wrap the worship part of bridging the gap, I would just say that the conversations that you have in the world about faith, whether it's with your family or your friends or your communities, they are your own form of ministry.

What you say matters and can affect someone else's life and faith.

So let's be mindful of that and let's use it intentionally.

The dark and the light, we can also think about this as the difference between evil and good.

So how do we bridge the gap between that those two things?

I don't believe that people are inherently evil , but I do believe that evil can definitely work through people.

Sometimes, even people who have been consumed by darkness , they may actually somewhere underneath the surface want to switch sides and believe that what they had originally envisioned before life happened, before the darkness happened, is possible again.

I would encourage all of us to not write something off just because of what has been and what was, but think about it in terms of what can be.

And we should be open to the possibility of people repenting and switching sides.

Because there is a lot of latent ideas in us, ignored ideas, neglected ideas and visions that can be reignited, I truly believe.

I think sometimes bridging the gap between the dark and the light is about having the courage to speak up for something that is right, even if it's not popular in the context of whatever current culture war or public discussion is going on. This can include things like speaking up for people of other religions, of somebody of a different ethnic race as you , sexual orientation, disability, whatever it is. Bridging the gap is for something as simple as standing up for what is right and speaking, even if it's not popular, might not get you them views or them likes or them subscribes, but it is the right thing to do. Even if it's not something that you can see, people will notice.

There is a Bible story from Esther where she actually stood up and saved the Jewish people. She She was King Ahasuerus. She became his new bride and she was not called to talk to him and she decided to go anyways. She famously said, "if I perish, I perish." She saved so many Jews in that moment because she stood up for what was right. And in result, justice was done.

I would encourage all of us, myself included, to look at the context of the moment and decide, where can we stand up and say something that matters? We're not just saying things to say them, but we're saying them because they're the right thing to do.

Where can our voice add some weight at this moment in time?

The next topic, as it relates to bridging the gap, is about what was versus what is to be. Here I want us to think about where do we or have we bridged the gap?

What is something in our own lives that we hold together? It could be family related, community related, something within our friendship circles, professional life, or the company that we work for. It doesn't necessarily have to be loud and visible, but that thing that we do, whatever it is for us, is important.

Often people don't really notice the bridges as they're driving across them. They don't consider all of the steps that that went into creating them, call it the scaffolding, as they were being built. Regardless, they are driven across. We we all can be bridges in our own moments of our life.

One quick example that I'll just give without talking too much about myself is when I was in corporate and I had this client that I had helped start the team with. This was a very large company that is very famous. I was the person that was there from the beginning into having it be successful. When the company relocated to another state, I was the one that they sent along with the account relocation because I was the one who knew how it all worked. I was the one that could train all of the people and how to do the job successfully. I was the one who had built the relationships with the client that would help us to ensure continued success . This is not something that would have been very visible because it's not like I was doing it to get credit. I I was doing it because I wanted to help bridge the gap to the new team and the new vision of this account evolving and continuing to be successful.

Little things like that where you have the knowledge, you have the relationships, you have been in a situation - that is more valuable, I think, sometimes, than we even realize. Whatever yours is for you, because trust me, there is something and it's big in your own personal story. I would say hold on to it, internalize it and never forget it because it's a part of your story that they can never take away from you. It might hold a key to unlock other things, other roles that you can play in the future in being that bridge or teaching other people how to be that bridge. Even if it's way in the past, such as the example that I just used in my own life, it's a skill that you will always have and it's always a part of you .

Let's be bridges in building the future and acknowledge where we are bridges.

The next topic is bridging the gap in songs.

So, as a songwriter, I pay special attention to lyrics of the the songs that I am listening to that I come across on the internet or on the streaming platforms or the radio.

I'm very attentive to lyrics.

And I take the lyrics that I write very seriously as well.

And everybody consumes music differently , right?

Sometimes we put ourselves in the position of the vocalist and we're thinking about somebody or a past relationship or a future idea. Other times, maybe we just want to sing and it feels good. Or maybe it's just background noise. It's like, Paul, this is not even that deep. It's just background noise to me.

But if you are a lyricist or sensitive to the messages of songs, I like to think about bridging the gap between what has been said and what can be said, thinking about whether lyrics that I'm writing or that I'm consuming, whether they accurately reflect me or what the person who's writing it is actually trying to say.

And so I'm listening and I'm thinking, is this lyrical content feeding my soul or is is it draining my soul? If it's the latter, I may need to rethink some of the music that I'm actually consuming.

I think bridging the gap here is about consciousness in creating and also consuming.

So if we are making a song, how can our lyrics better reflect who we are and what we want to portray in this music? Or if we're listening to a song and it's bringing down our vibe, it's draining our energy, maybe we need to look at a new artist or a new genre.

Let's vibe out to good music. Personally, if I'm listening to a song and it's all about, oh my gosh, this person wronged me and I'm the victim, I'm like, bye. I don't want to hear none of this. I think it always takes two to tango and I think it's okay to call out truths and you don't want to run away from those truths or water them down, but it always takes two to tango.

Let's do some acknowledgement of our own roles in the situation and let's take some responsibility there and let's move towards a place of personal growth.

I thought I would include this part about songs in bridging the gap because music is always, was always will be such a big part of my life.

Circling back to the very first bridge of worship, I will say that singing has always been one of my favorite parts of church. I was singing in the church, not in the choir or on the stage, but I was in the front row. I was singing. I was feeling the music. I was doing my little dance moves in the front row and I was having a blast.

Music belongs to all of us, not just the music industry . And I want us to consciously think about what we're writing and what we're consuming as it relates to music.

Finally, let's look at bridging the gap from who we are now to who we're becoming.

Life is unpredictable.

Life is more interesting than any fiction novel, TV show or screenplay.

Nobody could make this up even if we tried.

I couldn't make up my life and the sequence that it's followed and you couldn't make up yours either.

If you're still here in this audio with me for pure purposes, then you are probably like me working on becoming a better version of yourself.

One of my other favorite passages in the Bible is Luke 6:31. I think of this as the golden rule of treating others how you want to be treated.

And I actually want to flip this and say to treat yourself how you want to be treated because you are here, you are in the world doing the work on yourself. I want to encourage all of us, myself included, to be kind to ourselves and to be patient with ourselves, even though maybe we haven't always made the best decisions in the past. We've made some wrong steps. We've even had catastrophes and drama and conflict.

I want us to be kind and realize that we are human and we are never going to be perfect, but we will keep walking and we will keep doing that in our work on ourselves. You were born beautiful when you came onto this earth. You're doing the work and who you are becoming is an even better version of yourself, working towards that path of self-actualization.

As we talk about righteousness and worship and treating people with respect and integrity, I want us to just all remind ourselves, to treat ourselves with that same compassion because we're working.

One reason that it's important to treat ourselves with this compassion is that we live in such a polarized landscape in internet, in media, in everything that comes at us.

There is such a sharp pointed contrast in everything that we consume.

It's even true when you're talking about the sermons like we were talking about in the beginning. It's like using the fear of God or the love of God .

It's the contrast between doing something right now or taking the time to build it and let it develop.

It is painting something as inherently good or inherently evil when we know that there are a lot of complexities that go into it and a lot of energies working within it at its core.

That is why I think instead of thinking in these terms of contrasts, we have to really step back and decide what is our position in this. How do we want to think about things, even though this is what they are saying about these things?

If you're here doing this work of becoming, I want to tell you that everything happened for you because you are still here.

You are still working on yourself.

You are still alive and you still have a bright future ahead of you.

There may be some crazy, unjust things that have happened to you, but they have happened for you to make you a stronger person, the beautiful person that stands in front of you in the mirror today.

Even if people in the past, or even now, have conspired against you, the universe is conspiring with you.

So hold on to your faith, whatever that means for you. Stay aligned, continue doing the work and I'm your advocate.

I am here for that.

I continue to do my own.

You are worthy.

You are valuable and let's bridge the gap in the places that we need to build a bridge and let's step in this new part of the year.

We are about 2/3 of the way through and we are now entering the third period of 2025. I look forward to connecting with you and from my heart to yours - love and light.