Hope Unfiltered: Just the Basics Dr. Joey Kramer

One of the greatest theological virtues is that of Hope. The month of October was full of chaos in a way that almost caused people to be paralyzed in fear, further driving division and destruction into the world. However, I can find a small thread being woven through everyone right now and that is the desire of Hope. It has been said that Hope is the anticipation of that which is yet to happen. For most of us, we are Hoping for a time in our life where peace is realized on all fronts. Today's episode takes a different direction helping direct our spirit in the direction of focusing on Hope as it relates to our soul.

In 1934, BJ Palmer stated: "the only thing permanent is change...progress is evolution....growth is a flight of stairs." When I think about the pursuit of health, the immediate image that comes to mind is bland food pyramids from the FDA, cheesy commercials on TV, and the latest drug to help us curb our gluttony as westerners. Quick fixes and lies is the best description I can give. However, since 1934, and probably even earlier, the observation by Palmer is the most accurate reflection of what it takes to achieve health. Today, I unfold what it means to fight to climb the stairs to health.

When you pursue anything worthwhile, especially regarding health, there are two statements that can almost be considered a principle of the task. First: it is going to take a long time. Second: expect setbacks to happen. However, there are a vast majority of people who have been conditioned to believe otherwise by mainstream media. The people who we are "supposed to trust because they are an expert" preach that health is achievable with little to no effort: just take this pill, this shot, or get this minimally invasive procedure and everything will be fine. However, if you truly look at the data, we are more unhealthy now than we have ever been in the history of recorded civilization. I believe this is a result of these simple lies wrapped up in a majority of truth. So, in order to break this down, it is better to be honest from the get go and not create a false sense of hope. Anything worthwhile is going to take a ton of time. It takes time to get fat sick and nearly dead just. It will take just as long, if not longer to get in shape, healthy and thriving in live. And guess what...along that journey, set backs are going to happen more often than not. It isn't a cake walk. In fact it will be the most challenging thing you ever do. However - if you prepare yourself now, knowing that setbacks will happen, you won't be shocked when they do and you will be more like to commit to the actual process of creating the level of health you desire to create.

Over the last few weeks, I have developed a slight curiosity with J.R.R. Tolkien - the author. Many of you will recognize the name from his writing of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." A podcast I listen to on a rather frequent basis featured a professor who spoke for 3 hours about his character as a man and how that provided for him the opportunity to craft the world of The Lord of The Rings. You see, Tolkien was a man of virtue, and one virtue shone through specifically in his life: that of Fortitude.



Now, if you have never heard of fortitude or a virtue that is okay. I have found that when working with words and definitions, it is best to go directly to the source of their origination.



According to the Cambridge dictionary: virtue is a good moral quality in a person


According to the Catechism: Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. “The Lord is my strength and my song.” “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”



In short, fortitude is the ability to choose what is right even when everything inside of us and outside of us is telling us to run away in fear. It is the ability to stand firm in pursuing good in the face of danger and potential suffering. In our pursuit of personal self excellences, fortitude is a non-negotiable.



While western society seemingly collapses in the moral and social pursuit of what is good, it is up to us to be the change.



Over time, the idea of personal self excellence has cultivated in me the understanding of what it means to pursue the basics. The basics are the virtues of life. Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance. These are the basics that have been eradicated from our modern pursuit of cultural relativism and agnosticism.



Instead, I have learned that when we choose to continually develop these virtues in our everyday life, we begin to see people who are of good cheer who have overcome the world. We see people of Hope who are committed to the process of developing self excellence in every area of their life.



Or as brave Samwise Gamgee states:

'But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten.'

Instead of being forgotten, make your life a tale that matters, pursue the virtues daily and you will be amazed by the tale that is told when you arrive.

For the majority of history, humanity has communicated using stories. Stories that have been passed down between generations. Stories of our own lives and personal history. Stories of challenges we faced and stories of challenges we lost. What is most important about the story format, in my opinion, is a two fold answer. First, they give us the opportunity to imagine ourselves (something we rarely do today because the dumb phone does it all for us) in the position of the character and how we would respond to the given circumstances. Second, they allow us for introspection about our own journey and where we have been and more importantly where we are going. What is most interesting to me, in the year 2023, is the story we are told regarding health. I believe that this story is convoluted mostly because truth is suppressed or avoided, theory is idolized, fear is capitalized upon, and the victim is you. Health care companies are making record profits off prescription drugs and state of emergency therapeutics that are all tied to political agendas. Health has become: a diagnosis, a symptom, a label, an identity, a political tool...the list goes on and on. However, if you really look at health, health is actually an expression of an interior state manifested in an external body. It is a complete state of well being in mind, body and spirit. It cannot be reduced down to the story of a symptom that we are presented with by mainstream media and legacy medicine. Hence, the story of farming...you cannot gather a harvest if you refuse to do all the work before hand. Unfortunately we have put the cart before the horse in western medicine causing a majority of people to surrender their trust for a solution that rarely works. Instead, I propose to you the allegory of farming as a great way to plant the seed you seek to harvest - especially as it relates to the level of health you desire.

Last week a poll was dropped by an MD that I follow that asked the following question: When will America pass the 50% obesity rate? Excuse me? You mean to tell me that approximately almost 150 million people, yes...million, are obese in America. I was blown away - I had to go "fact check" this and sure enough, we are approaching the 50% obesity rate rather quickly. Why? In my opinion, an all out war on indoctrination and social conditioning has taken place over the last 40 years to create an environment in which we are all fat sick and nearly dead and reliant upon the medical industrial complex to solve all of our issues. If you have a disease or a diagnosis we have a pill, potion or a surgery to solve all the problems! Remember ozempec? The miracle obesity drug? That suddenly is pulled from the market from the remarkable amount of people getting paralyzed stomachs from it...yeah. The truth is, as a people we have become too comfortable, almost to the point of being a zombie. In today's episode I break down the basics of how we win back our health with the cold hard truth about what it takes to win the war against the conditioning of the medical industrial complex.