Plugged In Podcast
Plugged In Podcast
Episode 24 - Part 2 - March Fatness & Jesus' Farewell Message
When disaster strikes, who's already on the ground providing hot meals, hydration, and a comforting presence? Emily Mew, Director of Emergency Disaster Services for the Salvation Army in Massachusetts, takes us behind the scenes of emergency response in this compelling conversation.
Growing up watching her father serve as a firefighter and EMT, Emily developed a natural passion for helping others in crisis. Today, she orchestrates a network of mobile canteens strategically positioned across Massachusetts, ready to deploy at a moment's notice. These aren't just food trucks – they're command centers for hope when communities need it most.
The reality of disaster work isn't what most people imagine. As Emily reveals, emergencies don't politely wait for convenient timing. They strike "all the time, anytime, in the middle of the night, on holidays," requiring responders to maintain constant readiness. This unpredictability shapes everything from family dynamics to self-care practices, with Emily noting that after days of grabbing quick snacks on deployment, she often craves simple nutrition – "I just need a salad."
One of the most fascinating revelations is about "the bunker" in Framingham – an underground Cold War-era facility with curved entrance ramps designed to prevent gas penetration, massive steel doors, and even a morgue. This glimpse into disaster preparedness infrastructure highlights the decades of planning behind each emergency response.
For those inspired to help, Emily explains how volunteers can easily register through the Salvation Army's database to receive training and credentials. Whether you're interested in serving meals from a canteen or supporting behind the scenes, your contribution matters to communities facing their darkest hours.
Want to learn more about disaster response or get involved yourself? Visit the Salvation Army's website to discover how you can join Emily and her team in bringing practical help and emotional support when disaster strikes. Your hands could be the ones that make a difference when people need it most.
all right, welcome back. Episode number 24 plug-in podcast. We are in part two with our interview with emily mu, director of emergency disaster services for the salvation army here in massachusetts. Emily, thank you for staying with us. We have a couple more questions for you. How can people get involved? So, whether it's volunteering, donating, supporting how can people in Massachusetts who are listening to this show, if they want to get involved, what's their next step?
Speaker 2:So well they could reach out to me directly or just go to our website, which I should have written down before I came.
Speaker 1:We'll put it on YouTube, great. So we'll have your name. I'll put your email address, your personal cell phone no, I'm just kidding, I'll use it for work, though. No, but we can put your information on the screen. Yep, so if you're on Essay Mass Music on YouTube, we'll have all this information for you.
Speaker 2:So if you're listening and you do want to get involved, check out the information on the screen. Yeah, and then they can just sign up as a volunteer through our database and then we would contact them directly and get them all credentialed and all of that.
Speaker 1:Nice, great. What's one thing that most people don't realize about disaster response work.
Speaker 2:Hmm, oh Like how many cups of coffee.
Speaker 3:Do you consume um, oh, oh, uh, like how?
Speaker 1:many cups of coffee do you consume?
Speaker 2:right? Um, yeah, we do. We make a lot of coffee and we drink a lot of coffee. Um, I mean, I think, I think anybody in disaster work realizes this, but yeah, it does happen all the time, anytime yeah in the middle of the night on holidays. Yeah, and it always happens when you're not wanting it to happen, sure, um, yeah, I don't know if that's a little known fact, but it is kind of the reality, yeah, yeah we have some fun questions for you.
Speaker 1:You guys, you guys want to go?
Speaker 4:yeah, all right, I'll do that. Matt wrote this one, but it's why are you? Blaming me. No, I think it's funny I was giving you credits, okay?
Speaker 1:it says if you had lame matt, wrote it just so you know it's preface.
Speaker 4:No, it says if you had to survive a zombie apocalypse only one item from an eds canteen, what would it be?
Speaker 1:oh um I feel lame. Thanks, no, I think's funny.
Speaker 2:I think that's a funny question Bag of chips.
Speaker 4:Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2:One single bag of chips.
Speaker 1:To survive the zombie apocalypse Well.
Speaker 2:I mean you said one item. I mean, okay, I'll take the box of chips. Then, oh, there we go. She had a literal response.
Speaker 4:I guess I was thinking like way A coffee craft Matt was thinking like a knife, like a weapon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was thinking way more morbid, I'm going to take like the Like Walking Dead style. Yeah, I guess I didn't Like the chef's knife.
Speaker 2:I wasn't really thinking about stabbing zombies.
Speaker 1:That's why.
Speaker 5:I feel terrible. We're staying away from them. How do I sustain?
Speaker 2:myself. How do I survive? I love it. One bag of chips.
Speaker 4:It's a Costco size bag. It's a family size.
Speaker 3:You got one Nate.
Speaker 5:Sure, what's one song that always pumps you up before heading into a big deployment.
Speaker 2:Oh God, I wish you'd given me these questions ahead of time.
Speaker 4:Well, nate's other question for you is what is the bunker? Because he says he keeps.
Speaker 5:I've heard about this bunker and I just picture in my mind this battleship like radar screen and like like what he's seen in movies like what you're thinking like a doomsday bunker.
Speaker 1:The situation room?
Speaker 5:yeah, exactly like you're launching nukes and stuff yeah, what's the bunker all about?
Speaker 2:the bunker is in framingham. It is an underground building wait, is this confident?
Speaker 1:is this classified?
Speaker 2:oh no, not at all, not at all um no, it's like built in during the cold war, was like one of I don't know how many. I don't know all the facts, but there's only a couple across the country and Massachusetts has one of them and if I had known you were so interested in it, like last year they had an open house.
Speaker 5:I would love to go visit, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, I could make that happen. Let's work this out Wow work to sound wow, personal tour.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean I can't give the tour because I but there's a morgue in the bunker.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, this is getting better by the second you go down. You go down this ramp, um, and it curves. It's like a. You know it goes down this way, then curves this way, then curves this way, and the reason for that is because, um, gas can't take 90 degree turns so it's like a survival mechanism.
Speaker 2:That's incredible and there's this like really huge steel door that closes. They don't close it, but it can be closed. It's pretty neat, that's awesome. I mean, I wouldn't want to work there all the time because it's underground and there's no windows, but there are, you know, plenty of people that work for me right up nate's alley yeah, that are there, you know daily bat bat cave nate.
Speaker 4:Nate often says when he he says when I retire, I want to work for Disney so I can know what the Disney underground tunnels like under the Magic Kingdom.
Speaker 5:I'm like okay buddy, you do what you want to do. I go down YouTube, rabbit holes a lot on conspiracy.
Speaker 1:Well, a previous guest we had on the show was Captain Megan Lebrecht from Brockton but, she's from Maine and Nate almost organized a personal tour to see a moose. It's like moose quest.
Speaker 4:We're onto something here. He's in it for his own endeavors here.
Speaker 1:I have one more question for you, and then it's going to lead into the next segment on our podcast. But what is your go-to comfort food after a long day responding to a disaster?
Speaker 2:I don't know Bed.
Speaker 4:Bag of chips, bag of chips, bag of chips Probably.
Speaker 2:Actually I do like chips. Okay, the salt is comforting to me, but yeah, I mean something healthy honestly is probably more accurate because the next segment of the podcast is not for you, I know Well. So I always feel unhealthy, like you go long periods of time without eating, without eating anything healthy. You might have like tons of granola bars and snacks all day, and then you know at the end of the day you're like, oh my God, I feel so. I just I need to eat a salad.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Something of, like you know, vegetable, something of nutrients. That's what I was looking for.
Speaker 1:I could probably count on both of my hands how many times in my life I've said that phrase.
Speaker 4:Oh, I can't. I just really need a salad.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaker 5:No, it's taco salad. I wish I could change my ways.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, we are going to move into the next segment of the podcast, and we do want you to weigh in, Okay? So even if you've never had taco before, you just have to imagine what it tastes like. But Nate Loretta, who's taking this March fatness?
Speaker 4:Nate's going to start it and I will provide context.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, do you want me to give a rundown of who won from the first?
Speaker 1:round. Yeah, yeah, we want that. Okay, so in the first round.
Speaker 4:We want that yeah.
Speaker 5:So we had four-fil-A number one seed versus Arby's and unsurprisingly, Chick-fil-A decimated that. I think there was like two people.
Speaker 1:You good with that Chick-fil-A.
Speaker 4:He's going to run everyone by you, because they have salad at Chick-fil-A.
Speaker 5:Director of Health Services.
Speaker 1:Emily Meehls.
Speaker 4:And Chick-fil-A. Director of.
Speaker 5:Health Services Emily.
Speaker 4:Meehl.
Speaker 2:And then following up, that I've never eaten at Arby's in my life. Yeah, I have eaten at Chick-fil-A.
Speaker 1:Okay, chicken is good. It is good. And you said they have divine chicken because they're closed on Sunday yeah they're closed on Sunday.
Speaker 5:Man, I mean something special about that. All right, what's next? And then Wendy's was facing off against Popeye's in our four versus five matchup. Wendy's moved on, but that was a close one, right?
Speaker 4:That was 30 to 62%. Oh, not as close as that.
Speaker 1:We had pretty decent voter turnout. Yeah, around 50 votes, something like that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, 50 votes consistently across, so it was pretty cool, good.
Speaker 5:Yep. Then we had Taco Bell versus Subway Matt's love Taco Bell. Taco Bell moved on to round two. And then number two McDonald's versus Burger King. Mcdonald's moved on. Pretty much the top four seeds all moved on in that region. And then in the fast casual region we had Chipotle versus Matt's favorite Domino's Pizza. Come on, domino's.
Speaker 2:I heard this because I listened to the one right before that you sent me and I was like what you choose? Domino's over Chipotle.
Speaker 5:That has a refined palette, you know.
Speaker 1:I don't need to explain myself here on the Plugin Podcast. I'm a guy that just looks like he enjoys some Domino's. There used to be this joke. So when I was getting my master's degree, I was doing trombone performance and there was this running joke that was like so in Boston you could walk into any Starbucks in the city and you could find a string quartet Like that's just like. And they were just like. Well, where do you got to go to find a trombone quartet? Dominoes, they were. So that's my people.
Speaker 4:Domino's was decimated 28 votes. I was tempted.
Speaker 1:Above. So obviously I run my personal account and I was tempted to vote twice with my mass music account. Sneaky.
Speaker 5:Vote or front. Vote or front no. No, no, I agree he didn't.
Speaker 4:I can confirm he did not. I was tempted.
Speaker 5:But it was 82% to 18.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 5:Move on. Let's move on. All right, all right. And then the next one was number four versus number five in the fast casual Five Guys versus Jersey. Mike's Five Guys moved on, despite the fact that it's super expensive to go there, as we talked about in the last podcast, jersey.
Speaker 2:Mike's is pretty great though. I love Jersey Mike's I love Jersey Mike's and they make their sandwiches. So even I hate it when people make sandwiches and that's their job and it's like all over the place. Tomatoes are all on one side and the meat is all on the other side, or like Jersey Mike's.
Speaker 4:The middle is like a big, like a huge chunk of like the meats there and like nothing on the end.
Speaker 1:I feel that way about Chipotle, so we just talked about Chipotle versus Domino's.
Speaker 4:This is his gripe.
Speaker 1:Here we go, Just kidding. Yeah, contents inside. I feel like you. I'm just like you're paid. This is your job.
Speaker 4:Side comment Nate's college, oh, go ahead.
Speaker 5:My roommate in college. He was fired from Chipotle because he couldn't make the burritos fast enough. Yeah, he got fired, but he used to bring home like three every day before he got fired.
Speaker 2:They look for speed over quality, and then the people that do it fast rip it.
Speaker 4:You should have said this in the beginning. Maybe you would have stand a chance of winning.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying I would get the bowl I do too.
Speaker 4:I never get the.
Speaker 1:I feel really attacked right now.
Speaker 4:No, they don't need to do it right because I'll just mix it all up. No attacking. I feel it In our. They don't need to do it right, because I'll just mix it all up. Yeah, well, anyways, no attacking, no attacking.
Speaker 5:No I feel it, in our number three versus number six matchup it was Raising Cane's versus Shake Shack. Raising Cane's advanced, okay. And then number two versus number seven, panera versus Panda Express. Panera moved on in that category as well.
Speaker 2:Also very expensive, though. Yes, panera just in that category as well. Also very expensive, though. Yes, it makes me mad when I go in and I'm like what you get? Like five bites of a salad and it's like $7.99 for the half.
Speaker 4:It's so expensive, it's so expensive. But it is good, that's the problem.
Speaker 5:You have to pay it's crazy that you have to pay so much for fresh food. It's insane, anyways. And then we move into the sit-down restaurant category. This was close. Number one seed Cheesecake Factory almost got upset by Applebee's. What.
Speaker 4:It was 51% to 49%.
Speaker 1:You were the one that pumped that up, though he did. Nate said during college you went to Applebee's like three times a week which is insane, which is terrifying.
Speaker 5:Actually, and Applebee's like three times a week, which is insane, which is terrifying actually, and I've gone like three times in the past five years, ten years, okay, All right, cheesecake is so diversified.
Speaker 2:It's almost too much. Yeah, you can get like anything you want there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you sit down and you're, just like I'm overwhelmed.
Speaker 4:Yes, I agree. I mean like the menu is like a book, well, book, well you're in, like a palace while you're eating there too.
Speaker 5:Palace the setting of it is crazy.
Speaker 2:Applebee's, I think, wins by name. Everybody's heard of Applebee's.
Speaker 4:I don't know if everybody knows Cheesecake Factory. Well, and I think too, what we're dealing with is a lot of the kids from the division that are on Instagram. What are they going to? They're going to Applebee's. Younger demographic. Elizabeth actually wrote to me. She's like this isn't fair. She's like we need a teenager bracket next year and a refined palette bracket next year A refined palette, and I was like girl, but it was so funny, I was like talk to Nate.
Speaker 5:Well, she also had problems with the seeding and I said you know what?
Speaker 1:Chat GPT created the seeds for me DBC Elizabeth.
Speaker 4:Okay, she's come on the show. Bring her on. Okay, that was a close one.
Speaker 5:In the number four versus number five matchup we had Outback versus Chili's and Chili's as the number five upset Outback.
Speaker 4:I love Outback. That was such a shame for me. Yeah, I love Outback as well.
Speaker 5:And then in number three versus number six we did Texas Roadhouse versus number six, red Lobster, texas Roadhouse versus number six, red Lobster, texas Roadhouse advanced, red Lobster barely got a vote, three votes. Three votes. It wasn't me, was it? No, I don't think it was you. No, it wasn't you. Okay, and then in probably the it wasn't me, was it the upset of the first round? Number two, olive Garden, got taken down by number seven, buffalo Wild Wings. Yeah, buffalo Wild Wings, that's what.
Speaker 4:I'm talking about Long live wings.
Speaker 5:I mean Buffalo Wild Wings is just subpar wings. No, it's not subpar wings. I reject that.
Speaker 2:Really bad service.
Speaker 1:The service is unbelievably bad. Every Buffalo Wild Wings I have ever been to. The service is unbelievably bad, not subpar wings. Get out, let's hang it up right now.
Speaker 4:I'm not passionate about this episode.
Speaker 5:I'm not passionate about this at all. Um, okay. And then in the dessert and coffee category uh, duncan number one seed so unsurprisingly advanced over crumble cookie. Uh, pretty handedly, um, but we did have an upset number five, dairy queen, upset number four, cinnabon, and Cinnabon, how do you say?
Speaker 2:it.
Speaker 4:Cinnabon.
Speaker 1:Thank you. How is it spelled? That's how a normal person says it.
Speaker 5:This is how Nate says it. No, how is it spelled, it doesn't matter. It's a picture of a cinnamon bun.
Speaker 4:It's a play on the word. Okay, just keep going. What's the bun? It's elevated. It's a play on the word. Just keep going. What's the bun? Bon, what does?
Speaker 5:that even mean it's not a bon, it's elevated.
Speaker 1:It's refined. Where's the bon coming from? Cinnamon Bon? I don't know. See, if you don't have answers, you can't claim I'm going to research this. I'll come back next week. Pause Are you Dunkin', dunkin' or Starbucks?
Speaker 2:If it really came down to it If it came down to it, Duncan.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm worried. So we said at the end of this bracket, whatever the ultimate winner is we're going to have on the show for that episode. We're all like a little bit worried. It's going to be Duncan. Yeah, I know, because I'd say, like most episodes would usually have Duncan in front of us.
Speaker 4:Anyway, I really wanted Domino's, he really wanted a pizza.
Speaker 5:We're also in the Dunkin', capital of the world, I know.
Speaker 2:But the reason I would go with Dunkin' just because it's easier and cheaper as opposed to Starbucks, which is super super expensive and they're like super snobby about the ways they talk about their coffees, although that commercial, but the coffee's better. Yes, I agree.
Speaker 5:If you're anything like my wife, and she has the most complicated order in the world and then she gets mad at me it's complicated because it's less carbs. Well, she gets mad at me that I can't verbalize it properly.
Speaker 1:I need like an education in coffee. Wait, what are you getting? Coffee doesn't have carbs.
Speaker 4:No, but like, if you get like a macchiato, I don't want milk, I want like cream or like, if there's. I want like sugar free, whatever so it is complicated.
Speaker 1:So he's right. But also.
Speaker 5:I'm also a moron. When I go to the drive-thru and everything in my mind is scared, sorry.
Speaker 4:Nate will say every order backwards. He will say I would like a coffee with ice in it, a medium with cream.
Speaker 6:I'm like you could have said that so much more efficiently horrible.
Speaker 5:I'm trying to get all the major bullet points nine times out of ten.
Speaker 4:Right, I'm just gonna like lean over and order for myself, but he gets, he gets all worked up.
Speaker 1:I do I will say the efficiency of Dunkin. When I go through the drive-thru I'm just like large hot cream only and like I'm 45 seconds later I'm driving away.
Speaker 4:They're like drive up.
Speaker 1:They're like drive up that always stuns me when I go back to the Midwest and I try to order coffee at a Dunkin' I'm like large hot cream only, and they're like how's your day? Going. Good morning I'm like no, Just give me my coffee please. Transaction, Transaction I used to be this nice I'm not this nice anymore.
Speaker 4:I've changed.
Speaker 5:Nice, it's like just naked.
Speaker 4:We'll go to the Northeast Right, right, exactly.
Speaker 5:Sorry, I didn't mean to get into it.
Speaker 4:Yes, you did it's fine. Keep going, though. All right. What was the next one Number?
Speaker 5:three versus number six. Another upset Ben and Jerry's number six took down number three. Krispy Kreme. Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:That's considered an upset.
Speaker 5:That's an upset what?
Speaker 4:I mean I wouldn't consider it. My dad is upset, mr Krispy Kreme himself he texted me no way. No he did Actually.
Speaker 1:my mom texted for him. Okay, fair, fair hey we're listening to the podcast Dad loves Krispy Kreme. It was like a real parents moment.
Speaker 5:It's amazing, it's amazing Sorry, we couldn't make him proud. No, I tried, I tried. And then Starbucks number two seed took down number seven, rita's, which opens in three days Wait what is Rita's?
Speaker 1:Italian ice, italian ice. That's kind of what I said. It's so good, it's not my jam.
Speaker 5:It's so good.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 4:Maybe it is a-.
Speaker 2:That looks somewhat familiar, yeah.
Speaker 4:It's not like there's. I think there's only one in the area and it's in Walpole, and we drove right over there once we learned that it was there which took us to our Sweet 16.
Speaker 5:So this is the voting of. The Sweet 16 happened yesterday, right, Yep? So we had back to the fast food bracket Number one. Chick-fil-a beat Wendy's Number four. It is now moving on to the Elite Eight. Okay, Taco Bell took down McDonald's. Thank you Good. So now Taco. Bell Thank you listeners. I appreciate you.
Speaker 4:Taco Bell will now be facing off against Chick-fil-A to see who wins the fast food by a margin of one vote.
Speaker 5:Oh, so is me.
Speaker 2:Did you vote twice and only one person voted, can we validate.
Speaker 1:Do we need a?
Speaker 5:recount no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:Just put that poison in my body.
Speaker 5:And so yeah, the final match, or the region champion, will be decided between Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell. Oh, interesting the fast casual region Chipotle, our number one seed was knocked off by five guys by five no.
Speaker 2:I disagree with that.
Speaker 5:Me too, me too. Me too All right go ahead Even though your burritos are always broken.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I would rather have my broken burrito than spend like $25 on a junior bacon cheeseburger with fries. Yes, yes, yeah, that is fair. No thanks, yep.
Speaker 5:And then Raising Cane's lost to Panera, so number two Panera moves on to face off against Five Guys.
Speaker 4:Okay, the winner of that region. Yeah, I was surprised by that, yeah.
Speaker 5:In the sit-down region. Number one. Cheesecake Factory took down Chili's, so Cheesecake Factory moves on to Elite. Eight. Mm-hmm moves on to lead eight. Texas Roadhouse took down.
Speaker 4:Buffalo Again, but that was also by one vote. These are close. These are really close, okay.
Speaker 5:Texas Roadhouse number three took down Buffalo Wild Wings, so now it's a Cheesecake Factory Texas.
Speaker 4:Roadhouse showdown.
Speaker 5:Sorry Matt, I pour a heart.
Speaker 4:Domino's and then yeah.
Speaker 5:Which leads us to an epic, epic, sweet, sorry, whatever matchup this is Wow, you really left us hanging there, Sorry, sorry. So Duncan moved on against Dairy Queen, unsurprisingly, and Starbucks moved on against Ben Jerry's, which leads us to a Duncan versus Starbucks showdown for the battle of the coffee slash dessert region. You're still going, duncan.
Speaker 2:Well, so no, probably not.
Speaker 5:Wow.
Speaker 2:Because I think ease, I would just grab a coffee at Dunkin'. But if I'm going to judge quality, Starbucks is way higher than Dunkin'.
Speaker 1:You can vote however you want. Yeah, but the voting doesn't have to be on quality, because you could be voting on E's.
Speaker 5:If listeners out there.
Speaker 1:If you want to vote for Dunkin', you can't.
Speaker 5:But also you could vote on the app, and the Duncan app is superior, in my mind, to any other app.
Speaker 4:But have you used the Starbucks app? Because it's all so easy.
Speaker 5:I refuse to use the Starbucks app, because they don't understand your orders, my Lanta, you sound pretty scarred
Speaker 4:by this. What order did you Keep?
Speaker 5:going, that's it, so we have those matchups. We keep going, keep going, that's that's it. So we have those matchups. Uh, we now have. We're down to what? The elite eight. So we have eight left and, uh, all the voting now will determine who is the region winner. Uh, to take us to the final four.
Speaker 4:Awesome yeah, crazy thanks, nate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good job, um emily, the. The point of the plugged in podcast is we try to keep people plugged into what's happening in the massachusetts division. Uh, we have found that over time, listenership has grown far past our division. I think I can't remember the exact stats, but something like 305 cities, 24 countries over the two years that we've been doing this. There are people that listen to the show and so, just going beyond kind of where we are at here, we just wanted to say first, thank you for coming on the show, thanks for letting the listeners know kind of what you're doing to help advance the mission of the Salvation Army.
Speaker 1:But when we do have special guests on the show, they're here for a reason and we want to affirm the work that you're doing and we want to, not that you know, our opinions are matter or above anyone else's, but we want people to see what you're doing, that it matters, that you're caring for people and that this work is really important. So we appreciate you and we appreciate the position you're in and the work that you're doing and putting people in the right place. So I just wanted to say hear it from us. Thank you for who you are and for what you do and, if it's okay with you, before you go, we just want to pray for you and the work that you do, and then that'll be a wrap.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4:Thank you for saying yes on this rainy Monday day it is really rainy.
Speaker 4:All right, let's pray. Lord, we just thank you for the work that you give us to do. We thank you for the passions of our hearts. We thank you, lord, specifically for Emily and just hearing a little bit about her story and the legacy that lives on within her of helping and serving people. We thank you for her dad and we thank you, lord, for just the bravery that it takes to be someone who runs into danger after someone they don't know. Lord, we just thank you for that example and we thank you, lord, for that selflessness. I thank you for Emily and I thank you that she just continues to model this life of serving others, getting phone calls in the car with her family, rearranging schedules, kind of just living on the edge of her seat here. Lord, I just thank you for the passion of her heart. I thank you for her story. I thank you for the ways that you are working in her life. I thank you for her children.
Speaker 4:Lord, I just pray that you would bless the work of her hands. Lord, I pray that you would bless her efforts to do good and to meet the needs of her brothers and sisters in her sphere of influence. I pray, lord, that you would give her rest. I pray, lord, that you would give her energy. I pray you'd give her vision and, lord, I just pray that you'd continually surround her with a community that is going to uplift her, that's going to encourage her and speak life into her and lift her up on those days where she is feeling tired and heavy, as she does for so many others. Lord, just bless her and keep her, and we just thank you, god, that for this season, for this time, she is in this position and we know, lord, that you are using her for your good and we just thank you for that. In your name, we pray Amen. Amen.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. That was really powerful, thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank you, thank you Seriously. It's a lot of these unsung hero moments, so thank you for what you do is really just beautiful to to hear and to be enlightened and hopefully people that hear will learn something new about not only you but the work that you are a part of doing. So, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Anything else you want to say?
Speaker 2:No, I don't think so All right.
Speaker 1:Once again, it's been great to have Emily Mew on the show. We'll have her information on the screen if you're watching on the SA Mass Music YouTube channel. We're going to take a quick break on the Plugged In Podcast when we come back. If you're still with us, we're looking at John chapter 13 through 17. This is Jesus's farewell message as we're moving into the Easter season. We're looking at the final things that Jesus says to his disciples and, by extension, to all of us. So, if you're still with us after the break, we're looking at John chapter 13 through 17. Thanks, emily.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:Thank you All right, we'll be welcome back. Episode number 24 of the Plugged In Podcast. It's been a packed episode already, I know, but closing out today's segment, we're going to start a new study of the Bible as we lead into the Easter season. We're going to talk about Jesus's farewell message. Is that what it's called, farewell message? Yeah, okay. So before we get into this, I think it'd be really important. There's a trailer on Right Now Media If you're interested in this study, and it's available to all the Corps officers in Massachusetts Division. We're going to play the trailer, so audio will be on the audio podcast. The video we'll put on YouTube, so let's go ahead and watch that right now you Get alone.
Speaker 6:Figure out a place where no one can get to you and just sit and meditate on these truths, because there's just no way you're going to get it.
Speaker 3:I mean, the reason why I chose to teach John 14 to 17 is I'm just going, god. If there's one passage I really want to know before I die, it's this one. Because you know, we think like knowing something is like at school or in seminary, where they tell you something and then you say, yeah, I know that and I can get it right on a test. No, it's about some miracle happening where the core of who you are, god strengthens you, and now you know these truths. So I'm begging you, don't just breeze through these passages. Figure out a place where you can go, where no one can get to you. It's just you and God, and you imagine being in that upper room and Jesus saying these words to you.
Speaker 1:Nate's going to lead us into this, but this is Jesus' final message to his disciples, right before he's going to be executed, and he knows it's coming yeah.
Speaker 5:Francis. He starts with this question. He said if you knew that you only had a few hours left to live, wouldn't you make sure that your words mattered? That's what Jesus is doing here in John chapter 13 through 17. He's giving us his heart before he goes to the cross. And this beautiful setting. This is one verse prior, or one chapter prior to the start of the actual study. It's kind of like the preamble to setting the stage for what the disciples are going to experience in this last week leading up to Jesus going to the cross. But we read there in John chapter 13, as it starts out Before the Passover celebration, jesus knew that his hour had come to leave the world and return to the.
Speaker 5:Father Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave the world and return to the father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth and now he loved them to the very end the very end.
Speaker 5:It's a beautiful, that's a beautiful passage there, right Jesus. Here's Jesus in the room with his disciples, who he knows intimately because he had just spent over three years together with them, in close quarters, doing everything across Galilee, right and knowing exactly what's to come, knowing that Judas had already agreed to betray him, knowing that Peter was going to deny him three times, knowing that after Jesus went to the cross, knowing that his disciples would be holed up and scared and scattered and in hiding. Jesus knows all these things that are coming, and yet he loves his disciples to the very end. He does not allow any of that to affect his intimacy and this connection, this communion that he shares with them.
Speaker 1:If you watch the video, the Francis Chan does the one thing that really stuck out to me. So when he talks about like. There's multiple times in the video where he says, like don't just gloss over this verse.
Speaker 4:Yeah, when.
Speaker 1:Jesus says that he loves you. Stop, pause and try to even understand what that means. And he's talking about like the God, the power that created the heavens and the earth and the universe and spoke earth into existence, the fact that he would even have anything to do with you, let alone love you Like Jesus loved, like can you, can you like feel that weight? He talks about that in the video and I just like I found that very powerful and it kind of led into what happens next. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, no, like it's it's.
Speaker 5:It's incredible to wrap our minds around this piece of the power, of the incarnation right, which makes.
Speaker 5:Jesus, so much greater than any other God that God would willingly enter into community with you and have personal intimacy with you, the God of heaven and earth right, who is so far beyond and above everything that we experience. And yet he experienced it, he lived it, he shared it and because of that he knows us completely. And so Jesus embodies this humility, he embodies this love, he embodies this servant approach to his disciples. And it says after the meal was over and they're reclining right, he grabs a towel, he grabs a basin and he gets dirty. He gets down in the dirt right and he starts to wash their feet. Yeah.
Speaker 5:And we can really just read that and be like, okay, jesus washed his disciples feet, but like to understand that the God, who existed before we did, loved us enough to wash this stinky, dirty part of our bodies to demonstrate just how he's willing to just surrender and humble himself for you out of love and out of sacrifice and of devotion. Um, can we wrap our minds around that?
Speaker 1:I, I, uh, I feel like. So that in verse six I feel like, uh, simon peter, when jesus came to simon peter, peter said to him lord, are you going to wash my feet? I can can feel the like. Are you for real right now? And Jesus' reply. This is amazing. You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will, yeah.
Speaker 4:I think I read something probably years ago but just how quickly we can gloss over even just like the loving God loving us, jesus loving us, how quickly we can gloss over even just like the you know, loving god, loving us, jesus loving us, how quickly we can gloss over these things. But like, if you think about the feet of the disciples, you know what I mean. Not only did they only wear sandals, they walked on like dirt roads. They probably stepped in like camel turds, right like like, think about the stuff that was on their feet. They were probably well, they were. They were probably very like, very, very dirty.
Speaker 1:There's no way they bathed like as often, not as regular.
Speaker 4:No, and this would have been, like you know, one of the dirtiest parts is the feet because it just touches the ground. And I remember at camp a couple of summers ago I think it was Kristen Kristen's day for morning disco and she brought Sydney up at that time. I can see this picture in my head, but was talking about washing the disciples' feet and she sat on the stage and Kristen, as she was giving her message, she washed Sydney's feet and again, you can't compare our feet today to the scenario of Jesus' day, of, of you know, jesus's day, but the visual of someone bending down, lowering themselves to do an act of love, like an act of service for someone else, um, it's just a beautiful visual and I always see it as I'm reading this and thinking about man, the context of the like, their stanky feet well, and rewind back to what we said earlier this is his final hour right so whatever he is doing must be of the ultimate importance and he says um, I can't find it now.
Speaker 1:Um, I have given you an example to follow yeah, since I your lord and teacher have washed your feet. You ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. That goes right back into. I mean, we just wrapped up the book.
Speaker 5:Study that we've done, but living like Jesus lived, and just think of the cultural implications of this. Like this is a. This is an act reserved for slaves. Like that's how it was in these days. Only slaves wash the feet of house guests. And so Jesus, using something that they don't understand, but someday later they will he submits himself fully to the Father's will. But also he submits himself in humble, loving service to his disciples, and it's interesting how the ones who are enslaved by sin and bondage his disciples.
Speaker 5:he became a slave to set them free, and so it's this beautiful like yeah it's at play and you can easily miss it if you're not looking deep into the text and understanding the context and everything that's going on in that room. And so from that they transition and Jesus talks about the significance of the bread and the wine in this last meal that they share together.
Speaker 5:Right, and this Greek word for this fellowship and this intimacy that's created called koinonia, right, and it's not just hanging out, but it's in the breaking of bread, in the drinking of the wine, in this holy, sacred moment, God's presence is there.
Speaker 5:And so when he says do this in remembrance of me, when you gather and you break bread together and you celebrate the sacrifice that I gave, you're going to be remembering that you were dead, you were lost in your sin, but I came to become the bread of life. My blood was poured out and shed for you out of my great love that comes from the Father. And so Jesus is providing these visual representations that point to the goodness and to the heart and to the nature of God, and he says pass this on, do this in remembrance of me, pass this on to the next generation. May this not just be a trivial moment, but may this be something that informs and shapes the way that you live out your witness and your testimony and share my salvation with the world. And so what we see? There's a lot of deep, deep things at play here, and it speaks back again to the point that the disciples didn't fully understand in that moment what was happening.
Speaker 4:Well, I think it's funny because we often, like, can easily rag on the disciples for not getting it. But my goodness, how many times have I needed to be knocked upside the head to get something? But I think even with Judas he gets such a bad rap, and I mean rightly so.
Speaker 1:He only betrayed you, he only betrayed him.
Speaker 4:But I love how Francis puts it when he's talking about like he betrayed him for these 30 pieces of silver and then after he realizes the magnitude of what he's done, that silver is worthless but it was worth everything for the betrayal.
Speaker 1:But then after the fact, it was interesting thing that Francis Chan said so in chapters 14 through 17. So this is mostly jesus speaking right and the the promises that jesus makes and the things that he said, that he's saying are so mind-blowing and kind of I mean, for me difficult to comprehend. Yeah, um, when you come back back and look at Judas's betrayal in context Judas left the room, yeah, before.
Speaker 4:Any of it, he was able to hear any of that yeah.
Speaker 1:It wasn't for him.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I mean just kind of like I don't know the magnet, I don't know if I've ever really read these chapters in this frame of mind. Yeah, in this frame of mind, yeah, so just kind of, what the author is allowing me to do is kind of like really, pause, really go slow. Yeah, look at these what Jesus is saying, verse by verse. But do you want to move us into chapter 14?
Speaker 5:Yeah, Well, I just wanted to point back to like the emotional highs, right. Like they go from like not understanding what's happening with the washing of the feet to breaking bread together, sharing a meal, and the fellowship and the intimacy, and then, all of a sudden, like Jesus drops his bombshell, that like one of you is going to betray me. And the disciples are looking around and they're like what are you talking?
Speaker 5:about we spend every waking moment with you. We've given up our lives for you. And they're looking at each other and like how could this be? How could this be? Imagine, like, like how that cuts like a knife to, to hear those words coming from the Lord that you've, like, dedicated your life to serve and then kind of moving into the the uncertainty surrounding that, as as Judas abruptly leaves the room and it's like emotions are high.
Speaker 1:Emotions are high. Yeah, I mean it says in the scripture. I mean the fact that they didn't suspect Judas.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like when Jesus says I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at each other wondering whom he could mean. Right, the disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. I think that's John Simon Peter motioned to him to ask who's he talking about? So I mean, I'm just imagining the commotion in the room, but that's just like telling that, after spending three, three and a half years together in close quarters, no one was like yeah, judas has been a little shady. I mean, it might be that guy.
Speaker 5:Like no, there was no hint of suspicion.
Speaker 4:That's really interesting too, yeah.
Speaker 5:And so Jesus takes. When you move into chapter 14, which we're the next session picks up on, jesus takes all of this emotion and he says like this this is happening, but don't let your hearts be troubled.
Speaker 5:Don't let your hearts be troubled. And so Jesus immediately calms their fears. He calms their uncertainty by saying don't let your hearts be troubled. And so Jesus immediately calms their fears. He calms their uncertainty by saying don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. My father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. And so Jesus reminds them, like everything that you have experienced up to this point was preparation, and it was pointing to the fact that, because you are in relationship with me and I am in relationship with the father, there is a place for you in my kingdom. And so, because you know the way and because you've been prepared, you're going to have a role in preparing this kingdom, or how this kingdom is revealed in the world.
Speaker 1:I like the realism of the moment. I mean, so you just said, and you know the way to where I'm going. And Thomas pipes in no, we don't, lord, we have no idea where you're going. So how can we know the way? And then you get this bombshell verse of all time. One of the all timers. Jesus told him I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is From now on. You do know him and have seen him. And then Philip, again with this realism Lord, show us the father and that'll be enough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll be satisfied.
Speaker 1:And Jesus says have I been with you all this time, philip, and yet you still don't know who I am. Right, anyone who has seen me has seen the father. And in the Bible study in the video again, francis, kind of all. They know like we. We kind of look at it through the lens of, like you know, we see God, we see Jesus, we we see the picture, yeah. In their perspective is like if you touch the Ark of the covenant, you die.
Speaker 1:If you touch the mountain that Moses is on, you die. If you walk into the wrong, the Holy of Holies like you die.
Speaker 4:You can't see of god.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they're like no, I haven't seen the father. And jesus says if you've seen me, yeah, right and again. It's that like if you're associating god with this enormous amount of of power and perfection and and just uh, hard to comprehend yes and then someone says no, you have seen him. Yeah, you have seen him, and just yeah and just the gentleness that I mean.
Speaker 4:We just continually read about how jesus's response to the disciples' questions over and over again. He's so gentle, you know what I mean. I just think I think often in my life and how you know, I can be so easily bothered by you know let's call it incompetence, right Like they're just like asking these questions, they've seen these miracles, they've seen him do these things, and that they still have these questions and it would just be like like I want to shake him and be like have you seen what I've done? You know what I mean. But jesus is so gentle in his response and he's so like it's me. I am like you've seen this, you've I've done this. It isn't. Is that how you?
Speaker 1:met. I mean, so, I'm like. So this is just purely speculative, but like, how do you imagine this scenario, the scene, like, like, how, like the volume of his voice, the tone, um late, I'm getting a little bit ahead. Uh, we will talk about this in the next uh podcast but, there is one moment where his disciples uh say at last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. Now we understand that you know everything and there's no need to question, no more riddles.
Speaker 4:Now we know who you are.
Speaker 1:I mean once we get more into these chapters. There is some stuff that I'm just like I don't even I'm not sure what that means. There's a moment where Jesus says anyone who believes in me will do the works that I have done and greater. And I think, like once we get into this study, that's like. What does that look like? What's the vibe?
Speaker 4:of the room.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, like, am I capable of raising people from the dead, like anyone who believes? I mean, these are like and in the, the study, francis says like, don't try to explain these verses away, yeah, yeah, I think that's like really, it's really interesting. Again, I just I don't know if I've read these chapters before with this kind of like weight to the moment so we can easily gloss over.
Speaker 5:Well his response to Philip like it resonates with me a hundred percent when he's like don't you know me, philip?
Speaker 5:even after I've been among you for such a long time and I think of just you know how immersed my life has been, Praise God, Like. I was raised in the church, I spent time in church, I spent time in church, I spent time working at camp and my whole life has been, you know, kind of built and shaped around my involvement in faith and and and church and and all those things. But how many times have I seen him at work among me and still had doubts?
Speaker 5:or or written it off, or fears or insecurities that I just couldn't, for some reason in my humanness, couldn't trust him with't trust him with or just allow him to reign supremely in that situation. And maybe God is saying to you today, even after you've been around me for all this time, how do you not see me? And so the challenge for us, maybe, is God, I want to see you and I want to trust you, and I want to know that your will and your way is best, even when it's difficult to.
Speaker 1:I may not understand it now, but someday I will, as you said, yeah, well, I think we're going to do one more podcast segment and we're going to wrap up this Bible study. So, because today's the first day that we've introduced it, we'll put a pause there for right now. But I want to encourage our listeners as we move into the Easter season open your Bible, get into these verses. Yeah, if you have access to Right Now Media, I really recommend watching the videos. They also come with study guides. I said at the top like I like to think cinematically, I like to think like on the epic side. Yeah, and these videos with Francis Chan, I mean he's like literally recording. I mean it must be in like Utah or like the mountains.
Speaker 1:He's like, on the precipice of like of everything and nothing at the same time, and uh, but I mean there's just like a uh. I keep on using the word weight and heavy but, there is like a seriousness and um, uh, I don't know sense of presence sense of presence to what he's saying. Uh, so can. Before the next podcast drops, take your Bible, read John chapter 13 through 17. These are the moments leading up to before he's ultimately executed but then brought back to life.
Speaker 1:Spoiler alert oh yeah, couldn't get that out. The best spoiler of all eternity, right? Yeah, couldn't get that out.
Speaker 4:The best spoiler of all eternity. Right, exactly.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, if you need access to Right Now Media, you can contact any of us here in the Salvation Army Massachusetts division. There's a lot of people that can get you access to that, but I encourage you to join us along this journey as we head towards Easter. Yeah, any final thoughts on this section for today?
Speaker 5:Well, if you're doing that with a group, there's a convenient discussion guides that come along with that and printable things that you can send, and so it really just helps facilitate the conversation for you and your group as you're studying this part of John together.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I just say, just as Matt has already alluded, to, take your time in it, sit with it, don't rush through it Like you're reading a book, kind of just let each verse speak to you, as the lord intends for it to, and see what, and see what's revealed, see what, see what's revealed in your heart in those moments, and I, I want to say um I think what has helped me allow yourself this the the space to not understand everything yeah I think that's hard. It's hard, but it's true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, allow yourself the grace, the space, the room to read this and to get some of it and maybe not get some of it.
Speaker 1:I think that's part of the journey and everyone's starting from a different place and everyone's starting a different relationship with God and it's very individual and so, anyways, that's my overall encouragement today is to get into your word, into the word. So, all right, very good, good, the next podcast that drops, we'll be wrapping up that and heading into Easter. You guys have any final thoughts for today's show? It's a long show.
Speaker 4:Long show, good show.
Speaker 1:Good show.
Speaker 4:As we were recapping this and talking about Jesus washing his disciples' feet serving people, I just thought, wow, what a beautiful tie into some of the stuff we heard from. Emily and beautiful connection about others and serving others, and you know what a practical way to show God's love. So show God's love this week in some new way. But yeah, be kind to others. Be kind to others. I like that Spring's coming this week in some new way.
Speaker 5:Um, but yeah, be kind to others. Be kind to others. Yeah, I like that Springs coming this week which means well, this week we were recording.
Speaker 4:By the time this drops, it'll be spring, which means spring.
Speaker 5:Everyone youth councils is coming. Mark your calendar. May 16th to the 18th. The theme is I don't know if you can see this on the camera everything, everything. We'll throw up the graphic. Everything.
Speaker 5:Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Uh, really looking forward to just the planning that's coming together for that Registration will be. Probably, by the time this video is out, registration will already be ongoing. Yeah, and so talk to your cop, core officer, um, and reach out to us if you have any questions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the weekend after this podcast drops will be the Yam Overnighter. So on our next episode. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:We'll have a recap of how that went, but I have every anticipation that it's going to be a great weekend. But yeah, yam, overnighter, youth Council, star Search. It's all coming up, beautiful things, all right, that's a wrap for today. On the Plugged In Podcast, episode number 24, with our special guest, director of disaster services, emily Mew. Uh, hopefully you're watching on the essay mass music YouTube channel or listening to wherever you get your podcasts. Uh, until next time, oh no.
Speaker 1:Wow, why am I so bad at this? All right, we will see you next time, you.