everybody. Hey, everybody, it's Matt. This is the 10-minute Bible Hour podcast, and today we're going to open with a participatory exercise. The rules of participatory exercise around here are as follows. One, I ask you a question, and then rule number two is as soon as you think you know the answer, you have to shriek it as loud as you can, regardless of social

circumstances. And this part's not a rule. It's more of a recommendation. You should shriek that

loudly in a Muppet voice. Okay, we've established the rules. Here is the question. I'm going to

read you something, and I want to see if you can get what it is. Here we go. Once upon a midnight dreary, I'm going to pause there. I'm hoping that maybe one-tenth of one percent of you just blurted out, run around by Blues Traveler featuring John Popper. It is not that, but I think you're cool. I mean, I guess it kind of is that.

So far it is that, but I'm going to keep reading and you're going to see it's something a little

bit older than that. All right. Let me keep going. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered

weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, while I nodded,

nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. To some visitor I muttered,

tapping at my chamber door, only this and nothing more. All right, do you have it? Then go

ahead and shriek it. Great job. I heard your answer all the way over here and also

through time into the past when I'm recording this. It's The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, and I bet some of you

had to memorize that when you were in school back in the day. But whether you had to memorize it

or not, I bet there is one word that stands out to you from this poem. This word

appears 11 times over the course of this poem, I think. I counted it up a mile back. I think that's

right. And the meaning of the poem hinges on how you understand this word, how you interpret this

word. What is it? It's another,

it's another participation thing. You've got to shriek it like a Muppet. That's right.

It's never more, never more, quoth the raven, never more, with such name as never more.

Then the bird said, never more of never, never more, meant in croaking, never more. And it goes on and it goes on. And sometimes,

the best, richest, smartest, deepest water stuff is written that way and it's worth taking the time and putting in the effort to try to really get to the bottom of what that one pivotal word

means. Likewise, we're looking at something exactly like

...