You Can Do to Be a Bridge to the People Around You
Cracked 5 … January 12th, 2019
Jonathots Daily Blog
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Things We Should Build After the Border Wall
A. Grand Canyon 2—complete with bungee jumping
B. Hamless ham sandwich with fake mustard and pickleless pickle
C. A bridge between men and women (the penis doesn’t count)
D. An official Highway to Hell
E. The Berlin Wall—except prettier
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Cracked 5 … February 13th, 2018
Jonathots Daily Blog
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What People Under 20 Years of Age Think You Mean When You Mention Historical Events
A. Valley Forge
A mall??
B. Woodstock
The name for the non-metal parts of a rifle
C. Gettysburg
The new triple-decker vegetarian patty at Panera Bread
D. Watergate
A bridge of some sort?
E. Vietnam
The food you have to get when the Thai restaurant is too busy
G-Poppers … November 18th, 2016
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It doesn’t have to be my “ism” to create a schism.
A schism is a split–usually between people.
G-Pop was rolling into his motel when a young man crossed his path. There was an immediate tension. Three years ago it may have been different, but the chasm among people has grown as the anger, malice and dissension have mounted in our country.
For you see, what the young man saw in G-Pop was a fat, 60-year-old white man with Nordic features. He, being a young fellow of color, felt disdain for such a creature, assuming that a Caucasian elderly gentleman must certainly carry the opinions promoted in the marketplace, which look down on him.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Yet likewise, to some degree a woman in this country must assume that the men she meets are guilty of chauvinism because of the reinstitution of male superiority.
Also, somebody wearing an American flag on his or her lapel is no longer viewed as a patriotic person, but rather, a potential radical who might be a proponent of “America, love it or leave it.”
Unbridled prejudice has made us suspicious of one another.
It is the casualty of the 2016 election. The campaign was more than a “rocky transition” in our political system. We legitimized the “isms”–chauvinism, racism, ageism, sexism and nationalism, placing the American populace back into armed camps.
Before the campaign, we had the appearance of inching our way to the table of negotiation. Now we are back to rejecting one another.
So in that brief moment when G-Pop came across the young man, he realized it was important to tear down those walls and try to restore some sense of reconciliation.
It requires a combination of “greet” and “meet,” establishing a friendly invitation and following it up with a piece of self-deprecation.
“Hello, my friend,” initiated G-Pop.
The young man gave a quick nod.
“You would think at my age that I should have figured out how to do things, but would you believe I still stumble around, making tons of mistakes?”
This second statement caused the young fellow to pause and turn. So G-Pop offered a third.
“Aren’t you blessed that you’ve still got time to learn stuff and be smarter than me?”
He smiled and replied, “Oh, you’re plenty smart, I’m sure.”
G-Pop concluded, “Some days it’s just hard for me to prove it. Have a great day, my friend.”
The young man laughed.
There had been a greeting, followed by a meeting of the souls. Months and months of aggravated verbal assaults, televised through the media, had been addressed but not conquered.
The work of those who believe in faith, hope and charity has increased but not changed. In a world of tribulation, it is up to us to be of good cheer.
We have increased the schism in this country by allowing errant ideas to be given breath, and therefore a life of their own.
Getting offended or proclaiming it unfair will not change the situation. We will need to bridge the schism by exposing the nasty “isms.”
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
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Mr. Kringle’s Tales …26 Stories ‘Til Christmas
An advent calendar of stories, designed to enchant readers of all ages
“Quite literally the best Christmas stories I have ever read.” — Arthur Holland, Shelby, North Carolina
Only $5.99 plus $1.25 shipping and handling.
A Simple Questionnaire … March 10, 2014
Jonathots Daily Blog
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- What do I want?
- What do I need?
- What do I have in ability?
- What do I fear?
- What am I doing?
- What do I desire to do?
- What is the bridge?
Even though it’s a very simple questionnaire, it is filled with important inquiries, which help us understand more about ourselves and our aspirations.
The confusion of every generation is the ongoing belief that we are not confused. People on their way to the discovery of truth always start out with a bit of personal perplexity, questioning, and maybe even feelings of insecurity, because the road to candor is never clear, but always filled with revelation and sometimes, shocking realities.
So let me be the first to jump in and answer these questions.
First, I want to write, teach and share with my generation without being inhibited by so many restrictions and fears. I would like to escape the rigidity of all the systems that exist, which are determined to bring people into submission to a set of rules instead of helping them find the true cause.
Secondly, I don’t know what I need. I feel pretty comfortable with that because the Good Book tells us that God knows what we need even before we do. Excellent. Maybe that’s why He’s such a good partner–he brings the plastic spoons along for the yogurt, because nobody else thought about actually eating them.
My ability is to use insight with humor, and hopefully a gentle spirit, to communicate difficult ideas and contentious causes in a season where people are so easily offended. I do it through art, music, and hopefully, giggles.
I have a dual fear–falling short of my goals because of my age and physical limitations, and losing my solvency and embarrassing the people around me because my ideas are solid but my bank account is dwindling.
What am I doing? Good question. I’m finishing up a seventeen-year career, working faithfully in the mainline denominational churches, to bring a message of common sense, realizing that I can no longer limit myself to such a tiny market, but must at least attempt to expand my borders.
What I desire is to take that which has been forsaken by society, which has callously cast away great means of communication, replacing them with Instagram, and use these methods to reach people with a simple message of hope and personal responsibility. Just because it’s popular to believe that theater, newspapers, books and even musical albums are obsolete because of downloading, it’s not necessarily true. If I owned Facebook, I would also decry any other form of communication that wasn’t “me.” The world will always return to intimacy. It may take a week; it may take a year. We will come back to needing one another.
Which leads me to the final question. What is the bridge? Just as with my need, I don’t have the foggiest idea. But I’m excited about the search; I’m thrilled about the quest. I feel like a Knight of the Round Table pursuing the Holy Grail.
And I know this: it takes courage to chase something that half the people need and the other half don’t believe in.
But those are the only adventures that are truly worthwhile.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
Click for details on the SpirTed 2014 presentation
Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about scheduling SpiriTed in 2014.
click to hear music from Spirited 2014
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