Jonathots Daily Blog
(2010)
Honest to God–he was dressed in buckskin.
He had long hair and a bushy-wushy beard, giving him the appearance of a bear that had been almost completely swallowed by a deer sporting “frillies” on its hide. He was explaining, on the National Geographic Channel, the three elements necessary to survive in the wilderness.
To my surprise, toothpaste and deodorant did not make the list. The essentials, by my mountain man’s standards, were a knife, a ball of string and matches.
Hmmm. If I had a knife, I would also need bandages and antibiotic cream. I would never be able to get the string off the ball, and in no time at all, my matches would be wet and useless.
Yes, I am willing to admit publicly that my survival time in the wilderness would be brief and distressed.
But I am cognizant that there is a survival kit for just being a good human.
I think the first thing you need is a sense of self–preferably not exaggerated, by the way, and certainly not depleted by a feeling of inadequacy. But if you can emotionally muster the courage to admit who you are and who you aren’t, you probably tackle a goodly percent of the difficulty involved in remaining sane.
Yes, I do think there’s a point where we all have to say, “I am not scared of me.”
If we are secretly frightened of our own motivations, iniquities and predilections, we will work much too hard to disguise our frailties. That is why, when I am in front of an audience, I make it clear to them who they’re gettin’.
A sense of self is one of the greatest scents we possess, to draw other humans to our trail.
The second thing in the survival kit for being a better person is a sense of humor. Do you understand the purpose?
It just lets folks know, “I am not scared to fail.”
It’s quite ridiculous to be frightened of something that is inevitable. As far as I know, failure is the short-cut to success if it’s used wisely, applied correctly and walked away from with good cheer.
A sense of humor is the greatest sign of mental health.
And the final thing that I feel needs to go into the knapsack of our journey on earth is a sense of God.
Now, my definition of “a sense of God” is different from most theologians. I don’t believe we discover God in the Bible, but actually use the Good Book to confirm our revelations.
I don’t think we retrieve God through prayer–that exercise works best when we’re already well-acquainted with the Person we’re contacting.
No–I think we get a sense of God when we can truthfully proclaim, “I am not scared of people.”
For to dislike people, disdain them, ignore them, judge them or always try to change them into your image is to aggravate the mind of God and cause His Spirit to depart from your midst.
For it says quite clearly that “whenever we’ve done it unto the least of these, my brethren, we’ve done it unto Him.” The parallel is clear: to do good unto God means to eliminate any bigotry we might have toward people.
So there you go.
Even though I am not clad in buckskin and gnawing on beef jerky, I am giving you my survival kit for passing through the wilderness we call life:
- A sense of self: I am not scared of me.
- A sense of humor: I am not scared of failure.
- A sense of God: I am not scared of people.
It may not book you on the National Geographic Channel as a wilderness wrangler, but it sure will qualify you … as a great pathfinder.
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