Jonathots Daily Blog
(2810)
Pictured is the big toe on my right foot.
No air-brushing, make-up, special effects or plastic surgery were involved in the presentation of this shot. (I did take the precaution of slathering the big fellow with lotion to counteract some dryness.)
I was born with two big toes–one on my right foot and one on my left. In the course of the journey, I lost the one on my left foot due to an infection.
I must be candid and tell you that I’ve always taken my big toes for granted. But when I was recovering from the amputation, I discovered that the big toe performs an important function: it gives us balance. It allows us to have a swagger–a smoothness to our gait as we walk and run.
I did not need to relearn walking, but I did notice a difference, and occasionally had to catch myself from falling because I assumed that the “Great One” was still in position on my left foot.
So I realized that as the big toe functions, so follows the foot.
- A nice foot is beneficial to an ankle.
- A solid ankle supports a busy leg.
- A busy leg gives purpose to a torso.
- A torso is a great resting place for a head containing the brain, which barks orders to all of the members.
Now, popular thinking would be to give special attention to the brain because it is the more advertised authority figure. But having lost my left big toe, I will tell you–if you can get your big toe to react properly and stay healthy, since it is the furthest point from the brain, you can pretty well guarantee that everything in between is jim-dandy.
Yes, a healthy big toe bodes well for the entire human apparatus.
As you can see, looking at mine, it’s a little dry and the toenail is crusty and could use the benefits of a pedicure.
That’s the good news.
Here’s the better news: the same information transfers to our society. While we spend so much time trying to change the minds of people in the world around us or force our ideology in their direction, we would do much better to focus on the big toe of our faith, belief and lifestyle.
There’s too much religion, too much theology, too much politics, and too much knowledge with no learning going on for the good of the common man–and of course, the common woman.
So what is our emotional big toe?
What is our spiritual big toe?
What is the big toe of our mental process, which assures us that our thinking is heading in the right direction instead of being deterred by selfishness and greed?
I think any time we walk away from the Golden Rule, “love thy neighbor as thyself,” we are completely out of balance and capable of falling.
And even in the case of the Golden Rule, there are days we don’t love ourselves enough to give others adequate affection.
Yes, there are times that I stub my toe, and it hurts so much that I don’t want to walk on it, nor be around people and have to explain my limping.
Part of the Golden Rule is knowing that when we feel good about ourselves, it is the best time to bestow the same blessing on others. And when we feel like crap, we should lock ourselves away and rejuvenate before forcing our misgivings on our brothers and sisters.
I guess it’s safe to say that life is about being on your toes and getting a foothold.
There’s truth to that.
So having only one big toe, I watch it carefully because it lets me know what’s going on in the rest of my body–and also, to a certain degree, the stability of my brain.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
G-Poppers … June 1st, 2018
This is the amount of time that has passed since Abraham Lincoln offered the Executive Order of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves.
But the slaves aren’t free.
With the mixture of lingering bigotry, cultural confusion, social fears and entitlement entanglements, the American black man or woman will never be free–until we stop the foolishness of color-coding our choices.
Of course, the most ridiculous notion is the recent declaration that these individuals are “African American.”
It is insulting. They have lived here longer than many white people and this is their country–not the unfortunate prison which they’ve never been able to escape.
If we had made the same progress in the medical field over 155 years, we would still be amputating limbs because a bone is broken.
In the transportation system, the Wright Brothers might have recently discovered the possibility of flight.
In the business world we would still be clinging to twelve-hour days, with no restriction on child labor laws and women relegated to nothing more than secretarial duties.
I don’t know–if you parallel the educational system to the progress we’ve made on racial relations, we might have evolved to the four-room schoolhouse.
It is no longer a mar on the American image–it has become our image.
Our musicians and artists rallied against South Africa and boycotted the country to get rid of Apartheid. I wonder what would happen if they refused to work cities in America due to the mistreatment of people of color?
Three things must happen:
1. We must disband the different approaches to culture, and really take up the banner of being a melting-pot–a single culture called America.
2. The black community should be given the question of the doubt in its conflict with the police department. We’ve done this with women who accuse men of sexual harassment–the men are basically considered guilty because of the accusation. Why is this not true with the police? If police are here to protect and serve, and someone does not feel protected and served, then they must place the onus of responsibility on their officers.
3. We need to get rid of anything that is spoken before the word “American.” African, Irish, European, Mexican, Hispanic, Asian, Indian–whatever the prefix. It does not extol these individuals–it targets them.
155 years is too long to solve a problem that should have been rooted out through the educational system within two generations.
We have just decided not to do it.
It is time to change this pernicious piece of history, and in so doing, show the rest of the world that we are a “shining city on a hill,” and we are prepared to lead the way in human rights, including the equality of race.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this inspirational opportunity
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: African American, amputation, apartheid, Asian, bigotry, black race, child labor laws, color coding, educational system, Emancipation Proclamation, entitlement, European, four-room schoolhouse, free the slaves, G-Popper, Indian, medical field, melting pot, Mexican, police brutality, racial equality, sexual harassment, shining city on a chill, South Africa, Wright brothers