PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant … June 22nd, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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To He Who Robbed Our Pulse

(Dedicated to the Souls in Orlando)

How easy it is to kill

To end the dreams of Jack and Jill

Who went to fetch some fun

‘Til confronted by your gun

Removing all their will

 

You claim faith in God

But then prove you’re a fraud

By destroying His greatest desire

You make the message a liar

Placing the young in a tomb.

 

Did anyone see your hate?

Could they stop the fate?

That crushed the hopes of so many

And produced the graves aplenty

Making the children helpless

 

It is time for a simple path

To expunge the bloody math

And let us look for a friend

Instead of promoting the end

Of God’s great human embrace

 

So as we contemplate the morrow

Let us rise from festering sorrow

And push to find something brighter

Lifting burdens, making things lighter

Listening instead of yelling

Laughing instead of cursing

And talking instead of shooting.

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G-Poppers… April 17, 2015

 

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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G-Pop settled into a comfortable chair, grabbed the remote and readied himself to watch a movie that had been recommended to him by his son.

Granddaughter came in and struck up a conversation.

Granddaughter: What’cha watching?

G-Pop: It’s a movie your dad said was really good.

Granddaughter: Cool. Can I watch it with you?

G-Pop: Uh…no, I don’t think so. It’s a grown-up thing.

Granddaughter: Why do people always say that? What do they mean by “a grown-up thing?”

G-Pop: Well, it means that there are parts in the movie that are very grown-up and should only be seen by adults.

Granddaughter: Why is that? What would those be?

G-Pop: Just things that you don’t need to see right now because you’re not ready for them, and adults might find interesting or entertaining.

Granddaughter: Like what?

G-Pop: Well, like a murder mystery where they show you the murder and it can be pretty violent.

Granddaughter: Yeah, I get that, but is it interesting or entertaining to you–to see somebody murdered?

G-Pop: It’s not that the murder is entertaining. But the story that goes along with it can sometimes be intriguing…

Granddaughter: What does intriguing mean?

G-Pop: Well, it’s another word for interesting.

Granddaughter: So what else? Because I’ve seen people killed in movies.

G-Pop: I understand that. But sometimes the way they’re killed is pretty, well.. you know. Bloody.

Granddaughter: So do you like blood?

G-Pop: Once again, it’s not that I like the blood. But sometimes that scene, being really strong, makes the story more interesting.

Granddaughter: I don’t understand.

G-Pop: Exactly. That’s why you shouldn’t be watching it. Because you don’t understand.

Granddaughter: So you watch it because it’s interesting, and even though you don’t like the bloody scenes, you watch them anyway because you want to follow the story. Is that right?

G-Pop: Kind of. But it also has other grown-up things in it.

Granddaughter: Like what?

G-Pop: Somehow I knew you were gonna ask that. Well, bluntly, like romance.

Granddaughter: You mean kissing and stuff?

G-Pop: And lots of stuff. Stuff you don’t need to see right now because you need to be living the life of a girl instead of a woman.

Granddaughter: Do you like the kissing and stuff?

G-Pop: I suppose so. But it is grown-up kissing and stuff. It’s not the kind of kissing you have in your Disney movies. And before you ask, I would not know how to explain to you what grown-up kissing and stuff is. You have to talk to your mom and dad about that.

Granddaughter: I’m not trying to interrupt you, G-Pop, but are you saying that you watch the movies with the violence and the kissing and stuff and you kind of don’t look at that stuff very much and only put up with it so you can get the story. Is that right?

G-Pop: Sorta.

Granddaughter: So do you like some of the violence and the kissing and stuff?

G-Pop: Well, I filter some of the stuff out and I take some of the stuff in.

Granddaughter: How do you do that? Doesn’t it all get in your brain?

G-Pop: I suppose it does, but then I kind of push the stuff out that I don’t want and let the other stuff stay.

Granddaughter: You can really do that? I can’t. If I see something bad it sticks in my mind. It must be part of getting to be a grown-up–figuring out how to chase bad stuff out of your head.

G-Pop: I suppose.

Granddaughter: Well, thanks for talking to me. I won’t bother you any longer. Enjoy your movie.

Granddaughter left the room.

G-Pop sat for a long time. He thought about his movie. Then he began to wonder if he really needed it. He was watching it to kind of prove to his son that he was still cool.

So did he want to see it?

Did he want more violence in his life?

Did he want additional images that he had to kick out, that tried to hang onto his memory?

He couldn’t decide. But time had passed and other things needed to be done.

G-Pop left the room.

 

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Three Ways to be Spirited Without Becoming Religious … August 28, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

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I shall refrain from beating the dead horse of religion (even if it’s one of those horses of the Apocalypse).

Religion has historically, and even currently, displayed the by-products of its foolishness and bloody miscalculations. The reason religion has been so unsuccessful is because it works under the faulty premise that we are trying to please a God who has already told us that He’s pleased. Upon finishing His creation, God said, “It is good.”

There you go.

Yet at the same time, to try to run away from the “spirited” side of life in an attempt to avoid the superstition of religion, one can end up creating a vacancy while simultaneously failing to fill one.

So let me tell you the three ways I believe you can be spirited without ever falling under the flea-infested dogma of organized religion:

1. Let people know you’re human.

It was eloquently phrased in the Good Book: “By your fruits you shall be known.” Being human is not an insult nor an excuse for weakness. It is the honor of possessing the greatest soul and intellect on our planet.

But we are also vulnerable–and we become valuable to each other when our honesty allows for revelation.

2. Let people know you have hope.

Once again, well phrased with the passage, “Let your light shine before men, that they’ll see your good works and glorify the Father in heaven.”

There’s no power in being human if you’ve given up on your race. Yes, I’m human, but I’m hoping for so much more. I’m reaching for vistas beyond my carnal senses. I’m believing for better.

3. Let people know you’re learning.

For after all, the kingdom of God is within you. Every new revelation, discovery and spiritual explosion is going to come from the hearts of men and women.

Certainly we can garner comfort and joy from reading the testimonies of the forefathers in the scriptures, but unless we’re writing a living testament through our own learning process, we become worshippers of a book instead of lively stones of faith.

These three things appeal to everybody.

They are completely accessible simply by having a pure heart.

And these three things produce fruit, which lights up the world with the knowledge that God is not dead … but has established a kingdom within your heart.

 

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Creedless … August 6, 2012

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I have never been very enthusiastic about reciting things in unison. I will participate from time to time, but it always kind of reminds me of the scene in the movie, The Omen, when the followers of the anti-Christ mime his words back to him through what sounds like a really spooky echo chamber.

But a couple of weeks ago, I found myself in a church where they were reciting the Apostle’s Creed. “I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried …”

At this point I stopped speaking with the rest of the sheep. It just seemed strange to me that in this particular discourse, we leap from Jesus being born straight to suffering under Pontius Pilate.  Wasn’t there a life in there somewhere? Weren’t there thirty-three years of dynamic existence, with the establishment of the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, raising the dead, teaching us to love our enemies? Where is that in the creed? Is the high point of the life of Jesus of Nazareth best expressed in explaining to all future generations that he died? What if we taught history that way?

“George Washington was born in Virginia and many years later he contracted pneumonia, was treated with leeches, was weakened and passed away.”

“Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky in a log cabin and through the passage of time was shot in the head during a theater performance.”

“Adolf Hitler was born in Germany and one day was found dead in a bunker in Berlin.”

Not only would we have a dearth of material to offer for our history classes, but our children would have no comprehension of the struggle, discovery and journeys of these figures who peppered our landscape with both greatness and evil deeds. The National Education Association would be up in arms.

It makes me wonder why the ministers and congregations are not equally as distressed when Jesus is presented only as a redemptive pin cushion to buffer the punishment for our sins.

No wonder our young humans are choosing to walk away from the religious system in favor of Sunday morning outings at the park with the family. Why go to church? If someone is dead, as a courtesy you put flowers on their grave once a year–which is why people show up for Easter. It’s only polite, you know.

Let me dispel some myths:

First of all, concerning this creed–Jesus did not suffer under Pontius Pilate. When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he absolved Governor Pilate of all responsibility, and laid the cause and blame for the atrocity of the death of Jesus at the feet of that day’s present Jewish religious leaders. If you will pardon my phrasing, I know it’s not kosher to blame the Jews for judging Jesus Christ. They had a bad day. Of a truth, they represented us all, who probably would have been equally as intolerant of someone insisting on tolerance. But it was their watch and they were asleep at the wheel.

Next: Jesus came to earth to show us the Father. For those of you who have been taught that he came to earth to die for our sins, you might want to take another pass at reading his own representation of his mission–because hours before they put nails in his hands, he announced, in the Garden of Gethsemane, to his Father through prayer that he had completed his work.

So what is the cross? It is the greatest act of sacrificial bravery in the history of mankind. It is the final proclamation of love from someone who knew that it was unacceptable to take away the free will-choice of those who wished to kill him. It was an action meant for treachery, which God, as always, brought around to our good.

So the act should be revered and respected for bringing about the salvation which we so frantically attempted to avoid, but it should never be put in predominance over the life, work, heart and mind of Jesus.

Perhaps I mis-titled this article. I called it “Creedless.” I’m not “creedless.” I believe everything in the Apostle’s Creed. It’s just that there is so much more I hold dear, and it is these assertions that make my Christian life meaningful–not the bloody, untimely death of my dearest friend.

Of course, all of this is going to play out. Every one of us will die and find out once and for all what is truly going on beyond our beatless heart. Here are the two possibilities: we will either meet God, our Creator, who certainly can’t be a God of love and also contend that we are so foul that He needed to grab His nearby son to expunge our blackened spot with his miracle blood. No, if there is a God up there, He is, as the Good Book says, Someone who desires mercy instead of sacrifice. So spending all of our time commemorating the death of his son ranges in quality from futile to annoying. As God said to Peter, James and John at the Mount of Transfiguration, “This is my beloved son. Hear ye him.”

There you go. It is just very difficult to hear the words from someone who has been relegated to being a prop for propitiation.

On the other hand, if we pass on and discover that there is nothing beyond the great pale, just paler circumstances, to have spent our lives rallying around the tomb of an executed savior will certainly seem useless when available to us was the spirit and message of a man who wanted to teach people to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

So you see, I have chosen what I consider to be a better path. If there is a heaven, God will have love and mercy as He promised. If there is no eternity, if you don’t mind, I will use the example of the life of Jesus, take that love and mercy, wrap it up and deliver it to the world around me.

 

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