Some Total–October 10, 2011

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Changing minds. 

There are people who think that revising the mental process of the human race is the necessary step for our success and ultimate survival.  They believe that education is the doorway to discovering ourselves and the unique choices that will make human life possible.

I disagree.

I believe the notion that human beings can be transformed through inundating their minds with information is not only implausible, but perhaps cruel.  We are not mind-body creatures.  We are emotional beings who, through the evolution of maturing, finally realize that if we take our feelings and filter them through our spirit, which is the image of God, then we actually can renew our brain with ideas which are workable.

Simply telling someone they “need to do something” may be the best way to manufacture frustration instead of productivity. It’s the difference between being an “every” person  and a “some” one. People who insist that we, as a race, need to become better at thinking also believe that everything and everyone need to work together every time. It is the quest for utopia while living in what we know to be an imperfect situation.

• This is why we become angry with each other–because when everyone doesn’t do everything right every time, dissapointment fills the air and we begin to nit-pick at each other.
• It’s why there are wars–because when everyone doesn’t honor every agreement every time, we feel the necessity to go kill part of them.
• It’s why there are divorces–because when that special “everyone”–our soul mate–doesn’t do every thing he or she said they were going to do every time, we assume we have fallen out of love.

“Every” people have too much confidence in the human will and brain.  We’re just not that good. 

All of us are “some” people.  Sometimes we do some things for someone.  Some of our efforts are successful and should be celebrated instead of being isolated off as examples of “rightness” as we criticize each other for not doing it every time.

Human beings are a “some” total. 

 This is the reason the Bible says that we are both the “light of the world” and also conclues that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” It may be a contradictory thought to most folks, but it is actually very human.  Sometimes we are the light of the world–we help others care for the sick and reach into our hat of talents and pull out a magical rabbit.  But sometimes we become self-centered, insecure and frightened, and hide in our caves, taking pieces of charcoal to draw pictures of the monsters that terrify us right outside.

It is comforting to know that God loves us on both occasions.  And it is wonderful to realize that the more we become like God in our feelings, and ultimately our thinking, the better we will get along with each other, and the less frequently aggravation will gnaw at the corners of our souls.

Yes–the key to truly loving your brothers and sisters is two-fold: (1) Learn what they can do and what they can’t; and (2) before you ask them to do what they can do, find out if they’re having a “good day.”  Now that’s love.

Politics thinks that things should happen every time for everyone.  It’s foolishness.

Religion believes that everything should be pure and good and everyone should be moral and every time we have a chance to worship, we should be excited to come into the presence of God. It makes me giggle.

As long as we contend that human beings are capable of greater and greater understanding through the revelation of mere knowledge, we will secretly–or even openly–hate each other for our obvious shortcomings.

I have a family and I have friends. I gave them all a gift from my heart–I learned what they can do and what they can’t do, and I have taken that “some” total and mercifully applied it to their efforts, being able to praise them now more often than I criticize them. Do I get as much accomplished as I might if I were an “every” person, being more demanding? I don’t know and I don’t care.  At the end of my journey, I will not be evaluated on whether I finished my “things to do/life list.” I will be judged on how I treated my fellow men.

Do you want to grow by leaps and bounds in a single day? Simply acknowledge that human beings are emotional and that sometimes they will do some things for someone. 

Anything else is just downright vicious.

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Jonathan sings “Let”

Jonathan Sings “Spent This Time”

Jonathan and his partner, Janet Clazzy, play “The Call”