Jonathots Daily Blog
(2005)
I was sitting in the left lane on my drive over to Chesterfield, Michigan last night to share at Grace United Methodist Church, backed up behind a bunch of cars, wondering why someone had created a light that only stayed green to give enough time for three cars to turn. It was a curiosity.
I also watched carefully as some cars passed me, trying to get further up in line and stick their noses in to make greater progress. I felt my human ire rise over their presumption. And then I realized that I had departed in plenty of time, that I wasn’t any better than anybody else and that everyone was having to wait their turn–and though I saw a number of cars in front of me, when I looked behind me, I saw there were even more cars to my rear.
I was in the middle.
That’s where we spend most of our time. Usually we don’t win the race; we’re not first place. Fortunately, we’re usually not in last place, either.
We spend most of our lives … middlin’.
If we would learn to enjoy that, deal with it and find great comfort in being surrounded by fellow “middlers,” we might just end up becoming more pleasant and easier to get along with. But we live in a society that pushes us to be first place and tells us to cover up our mistakes if we end up being the caboose.
So we never enjoy where we are.
I’ve had a fantastic week, meeting amazing people. It’s been my great excitement to write jonathots to you everyday.
Yet yesterday a friend of mine asked what I planned to do to expand my work. You see, friends are not always friendly. They think they’re being ingenious when they pipe out the 
sentiments of our culture, which basically tells us that “we’re all good” while simultaneously applauding only those who gain notoriety. Here are the two things I know to do:
1. Find a place where you can do what you’ve been called to do, perform it excellently, don’t hurt anybody else and relish the people around you.
2. Don’t be afraid to try something new if it comes your way–but don’t be frustrated if beautiful things continue to happen, yet they don’t seem to be terribly expansive.
There you go.
Tomorrow I go to First United Methodist Church in Mount Clemens. It isn’t, by the way–I mean it isn’t the first United Methodist Church ever, and it certainly won’t be the last. The truth of the matter is, it’s the Middlin’ United Methodist Church, filled with middlin’ people, who will have great lives if they learn to enjoy their surroundings and the folks standing next to them … as they wait for their turn in the road.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about personal appearances or scheduling an event
Jonathots Daily Blog 