G-Poppers … July 31st, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2649)

G-Pop was perplexed to the point of being perturbed.

Sometimes people insist that it doesn’t matter how and where you were born, and then, in the next sentence, they will turn around and say you should honor how and where you were born by studying your culture.

Which one is it?

Perhaps it would be better to separate it off. For instance, learning your native language is brilliant. Also, pursuing the customs of your ancestry can be enlightening.

But the culture is where we have to be careful. How we treat other people based upon how we view ourselves is not negotiable.

There are many cultures that died because they treated people poorly. There are even cultures that exist today which in 200 years will cease to be because of their record on human rights.

After all, there is no Roman Empire, Greek city-states, Mongols, Huns, Angles or Saxons. Also, the Vikings have disappeared.

Even in the past few months, the American Southern heritage spawned from the Confederate states, which held slavery in place, has been attacked and maligned.

Needless to say, there is no Nazi culture.

There are only three rules to culture. If your culture does not honor these three, it is not worthy of study and it will not survive:

1. No one is better than anyone else.

If your culture believes that your brand of citizens are superior in any way, it will be evolved out of existence.

2. Give freedom to yourself and everyone else.

Any culture that negates the rights of others is eventually extracted from the human family.

3. Be creative in your choices.

If a culture is not evolving toward new answers to face the problems of the new generation, and instead insists on ancient documents for authenticity, then it is not long for this world.

G-Pop sees nothing wrong with learning your native language or following the customs, but until human beings share a common culture of acceptance, tolerance and creativity… we are fostering bigotry under the guise of patriotism. 

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Ask Jonathots … July 30th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2648)

What is the best way to stand out in a job interview? I have three of them scheduled in the next month. I’m a manager in a good stable company, but want to work in a more innovative business environment.

First and most important, there is no correct, accurate, positive and valuable answer for the inquiry, “Tell me a little bit about yourself.”

If you say too little, you look timid.

If you say too much, you look arrogant.

Every company has a different approach, but basically it revolves around three different questions. Every job interviewer wants to know:

1. What do you think about yourself?
2. What do you think about others (co-workers)?
3. What is your position on personal responsibility?

If you go into a job interview understanding that these are the “big three” that need to be answered, then you will know how to present yourself in a better light.

So if you get that infamous request–to share about yourself–break it down into two different parts:

• This is what I believe I can do
• And this is what I’ve been able to prove I can accomplish.

Because we are human beings, we require other human beings to have a balance of confidence and humility. So if you’re going to rehearse for an interview, what you need to do is find a way to keep that balance in order.

Example:

“I have always felt that I was pretty good at dealing with people, but I think that is getting better because the evidence is showing up in the fact that my sales, interactions and productivity have increased when working with others.”

It’s a balance. It shows that you have confidence, but you realize that it’s being put to the test, and will only be proven when there’s a fruitful conclusion.

I also think it’s important in every interview to have a point when you disagree. I’m not suggesting an argument, but in the process of asking you questions, people will make assumptions.

For instance, “At our company, we believe that everybody is valuable and everybody’s feelings need to be taken into consideration.”

Your response: “Even though I agree with what you’re saying in principle, we are a company, and the bottom line is producing and making money. So we have to be careful not to stop every five minutes to work out office conflicts, but instead, be looking out for the good of the company. At least, that’s what I believe.”

And finally, the third thing to take into consideration in an interview is the “Rule of 25.” Try to keep all of your initial answers to 25 words or less. Rambling or running out of things to say and groping in the air for more information is a sure way to come across tentative. Make your interviewer ask you more questions, and give shorter answers.

These are some guidelines which I hope will help you in the pursuit of a new opportunity.

And by the way, best wishes and good luck.

 

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PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant … July 29th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2647)

Namey Name Name

Baptist, Methodist

But Mary called him Jesus

Lutheran, Presbyterian

Pentecostal, Unitarian

Latter Day Saint

Former day Jew

Assembly of God

No assembly required

Christian, Christos Iglesias

His buddies dubbed him Jesus

Catholic, Roman

Catholic, Greek

Catholic, schoolboy

Catholic, priest

Missionary Alliance

Missionary position

From this rock

I set sail

Calm the seas

Hell, it can’t fail

Revelation, Episcopalian

The lepers screamed for Jesus

Gay church

Black church

White church

Country church

Church in the wildwood

Church in the neighborhood

Church of the brotherhood

Every game has a name

But Jesus came to take the blame

Politics failed him

Religion nailed him

Wise folks trailed him

This one called Jesus

So let me say

In my simple way

I know Jesus of the people

Not Christ with a steeple

We were together

Long before he went

Non-profit.

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Cracked 5 … July 28th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2646)

Ways to Save Water During Drought in California

 

A. Wring out your washcloth to make morning coffee.

 

B. Recycle your spit.

 

C. Exercise, sweat and roll in the grass to water your lawn.

 

D. Pee less–think less about water.

 

E. Shower in 3’s.

 

 

 

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Getting in Character … July 27th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2645)

From Act II, Scene VII of As You Like It, Shakespeare asserts that “all the world is a stage and all the men and women, merely players.”

A good performance does not guarantee a good response.

Learning this may be the secret to both contentment and success.

Somewhere along the line, we have acquired the idea that good things eventually receive acclaim. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There are factors at work in the marketplace of humanity that are often geared to eliminate competition by thrusting good ideas, good sensations and even good performances to the rear. Otherwise, mediocrity would have no chance of surviving–and we all know that the mediocre is often hoisted on the shoulders of the masses and proclaimed to be excellent.

So the first thing we must do is establish a standard for ourselves that is higher than present expectation.

There’s a simple reason for this:

If we do receive rave reviews, then we know that it was brought about by concerted effort rather than luck. And if we don’t, we can have confidence that any persecution or retribution that comes our way is more than likely being spawned from some pit of prejudice or jackal of jealousy.

So if we’re not going to always receive what we’re due for our performance, what is the purpose of trying to excel, or stepping out on the stage of life to display our hearts in the first place?

Every real performance which is practiced and perfected affords us four delightful conclusions:

1. We can stop lying.

That in itself should be enough to encourage us toward developing the glorious rendition of our part.

2. Every good performance exposes our insecurities.

Isn’t it fascinating that rehearsal always brings the faults to the forefront, and then we can decide whether we are secure enough to improve them?

3. Performance eliminates conceit.

There is no need to be conceited about something that is obviously good. Conceit is generally birthed in a person who privately fears that what he or she has to share is insufficient. So they try to cover it up with pomp and circumstance.

4. And finally, the pursuit of a great performance, whether regaled with honors or not, gives us a huge opportunity to overcome our fears:

• Fear of failing
• Fear of obscurity
• Fear of being critiqued
• And fear of suffering injustice while knowing deep in our hearts that we’re doing something of great quality

The truth of the matter is, great does not always rate. It doesn’t come with a guaranteed award.

But it does reward us with a true sense of confidence… that we have stepped out and found our best.

 

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Jesonian: The Look of Love… July 26th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2644)

Having just finished rebuking his disciples for trying to chase away the little children, Jesus takes the tots in his arms, lays his hands on them and blesses them.

But more importantly, he tells us that they are the true definition of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Yes, I can always tell when people are truly unspiritual, craggy and have a dying spirit. They’re critical of young humans.

God loves young people.

Matter of fact, in this particular passage of about 20 verses in the Gospel of Mark, we see that Jesus makes this forever clear–because not only does he express great warmth and tenderness to the little children, but immediately afterwards, when a young man arrives, asking questions about how to obtain eternal life, he channels that same affection toward this adolescent.

We refer this chap as “the rich young ruler.”

He is respectful. He is complimentary. But he is dissatisfied.

The things he has been taught have not brought him peace of mind nor a sense of purpose.

The scripture tells us that Jesus looks on him and loves him.

The average churchgoer would think that this is not unusual. Doesn’t Jesus love everybody?

But Jesus didn’t constantly manifest “the look of love.” He was often pissed with hypocrisy, angry with indifference, rebuking self-righteousness, and looking around the room befuddled because people were so unwilling to see other folks healed just because “it wasn’t the right time.”

Matter of fact, this is one of the few times that the Bible tells us that Jesus gave someone “the look of love.”

What did he love about this young man?

1. The kid was still searching.
2. The dude was looking for something good instead of something bad.
3. The young man had faithfully followed what he had been taught to be true.
4. But he had the sense to search for more.

What a great combo.

But Jesus gave him a gift. He offered a simple principle:

Learning stuff is not enough.

Investing your heart is where to start.

He told the young man that he should take his money and get rid of it–give it away to the poor, and make a new beginning.

For after all, even following our theological interpretation of him being a “rich young ruler,” if he forfeited his riches for a season, he was still young and he was still a ruler. He had plenty of time to make his money back again, and because he ruled over people, he could acquire their taxes and ingenuity. He could learn once again how to do it from scratch, and therefore rediscover his abilities and passion.

He didn’t want to do it. He walked away sadly.

It’s a great story, and it links up beautifully with Jesus blessing the children.

The young humans that surround us are the hope of finding the better parts of our message and applying them emotionally–not just spiritually.

Jesus looked on him and he loved him. He realized there was still a chance.

All the young fellow needed to do was accept that religious stuff was not enough–our heart is where it must start. 

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Confessing… July 25th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2643)

XII.

I confess so I can heal.

If I deny, I remain sick.

I suppose I could lie and tell you it only happened one time. But there’s really no sense in confessing to error if you’re going to leave out important details.

Actually, it was the fifth time that my wife and I slipped out of the house after we were sure that our four-year-old and three-year-old sons were sound asleep, and drove ten miles to see a movie, and returned to joyously find our young boys still deep in sleeper land.

But on that fifth time, something changed.

Apparently there was a noise that awakened our two little fellas, and they started screaming and hollering for us–so much that the neighbors, who lived just below, called the police. So when we arrived after seeing our movie, we found the house vacant.

There was no note–no explanation. So we weren’t sure if our children had been abducted or vanished in the Rapture.

Being in our early twenties and extremely immature, we went downstairs and pounded on our neighbors’ door to find out what they might know. Without opening up, they explained that the children had been taken away, and that the best thing would be to go to the local police to find out what was going on.

I remember having the audacity to be angry. It didn’t even occur to me that we were the ones in the wrong and that my boys had been taken away for their own protection.

We spent the next four hours searching for anyone who could give us details, only to discover that our guys were in foster homes and there would be a hearing about the case in six weeks.

Six weeks.

We were devastated.

Honestly, it took us about two weeks to settle down and realize that we had made a very bad mistake, and that we were the ones who were in the wrong instead of slighted.

I will never forget those forty-two days without my kids. And going to court was very painful.

The accusations were strong and had it not been for four weeks worth of tears and repentance, we might have recoiled and gotten viciously defensive, ending up losing the opportunity to become Mom and Dad again.

But because the judge found us to be truly sorry, we were given a second chance.

I remember the day we picked up our two boys. They were a little frightened of us, partially because they had acclimated to a new environment and also because they had been told that we had deserted them.

It took a long time to build back trust.

Although this story seems to be an extreme–something some folks would swear they would never do–I must tell you that the inclination to find undesirable paths when each of us feels inconvenienced gnaws at the conscience everyday.

So even though I am ashamed to share this story with you, I use it as a cautionary tale to myself, to remind my ever-present ego that simply because I can get by with something and have a really good plan on pulling it off, does not make it right.

 

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