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Jonathots Daily Blog
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Sometime back, but still in my retainable memory, I was invited to speak at a youth convention.
It started out slow, as those kinds of gigs often do until the audience realizes you are acceptable and hearable. It ended beautifully, with enthusiasm, passion and even a few tears. I was feeling so inspired that I turned to the gathered and said, “God, you guys look great.”
Afterward, I was greeted by the sponsor of the event, who seemed to lack my joy. He shared that he was greatly uplifted by the message I imparted to the students, but found the use of the word “God” in my closing to be a classic case of using the Lord’s name in vain.
OMG.
Move ahead a little while and it is such a common phrase that we have an Internet abbreviation for it.
I ran across the same problem over the years when I appeared in front of pristine-thinking audiences, using the word “crap.” Once again, move ahead, and I’ve even heard “crap” used in prayers: “Lord, save us from all this crap.”
We get nowhere with language by thinking that certain words are perverse, others are acceptable and a chosen few are supreme.
Let me give you an example:
I have a bottom. I don’t call it a bottom very often, because the occasion to use that word doesn’t arise, and I don’t feel the need to ever be that formal. So instead, I may say, “I’m going to sit on my backside.”
That’s about as vanilla as I can get. I refuse to use the word “tush.” Sometimes when I’m trying to motivate myself, I will say, “I got off my butt and finished dinner.” (“Butt” in this case is required to express to the hearer that a process was necessary to change my stationary position to an active one.)
I would never say, “I got off my derriere and finished dinner.”
Moving along, if I were referring to a woman’s attractive backside today, I might call it a “booty,” only to be playful. But I don’t think I would get the same reaction from her or anyone else by saying, “She certainly has an attractive gluteus maximus.”
Words justify us—meaning they make us come across clearly—or they condemn us—causing us to sound foul or overly cautious.
I have to be honest with you—if I were discussing the government of the United States in its present stand-off, I would certainly put forth this sentence: “The government should get off its ass and fix some things.”
I wouldn’t use “bottom” and I wouldn’t use “butt.” In this case, the word “ass” has a double meaning. It refers both to their languishing position as well as their attitudes, which prevent them from being proactive.
Do you see what I mean?
We need to stop this foolish, politically correct mindset regarding the American language. If a word communicates, it communicates.
For instance, I never say, “I’m going to have a bowel movement,” but I might say, “The baby did a poop.”
If I run across something that’s plain bull, I will call it crap.
If someone is being mistreated and bigotry is being fostered, I might spout, “What the shit is going on?”
If you feel that I should say, “What the potty is going on?” I think you’re either being insincere or you should find a time machine and join us here in the twenty-first century.
Stop looking for whether words are perverse, righteous, foul or sacred. Start noticing how they fit into sentences or questions that communicate the depth of our passion.
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Jonathots Daily Blog
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I would love to attend my funeral
If I didn’t have to be terminal
Listening to what people say
When it truly is my grave day
Wondering if they would “rock it out”
Or sob like babies, whining some doubt
About the way they treated my feelings
In all the fussy personal dealings.
Would their tears make me cry?
Or eulogies contain some lie?
About my festering needs
Instead of “me more noble deeds”
For dying lasts a good long while
Stuffing in your butt–a painted smile
Please someone let loose and weep
Get good flowers, don’t go cheap
Prove that I was your favorite me
Make me more than I appeared to be
Because I’m meeting God on high
He knows my what, where, when and why
Send me off with words so kind
And ignore the occasions I lost my mind.
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Jonathots Daily Blog
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“Old people know more.”
This is a popular assertion.
It is generally followed by the populie, “With that knowledge comes wisdom.”
Hold the presses on that one–or to make it more contemporary, don’t download.
The reason this populie is so accepted is that our country is becoming older and therefore desires a shortcut from the responsibility of productivity by stomping and stumping about birthdays.
The entertainment industry loves the populie because it creates generation gaps, where the conflict between age groups can be exaggerated to create humor or drama for the viewer.
Politics really touts it because it generates a new demographic they can pander to in order to gain votes.
It is especially comical in religion. Even though we live in an American society which has removed the basic tenets of the patriarchal system, we still continue to insist that Mom and Dad submit to Grandma and Grandpa, and the children should be in submission to all the above.
The only thing I can tell you about getting older is that you have lived more days and been exposed to more events, which gives you the chance to be of more benefit.
But the important factor is how we react to these events. There are three typical scenarios of reaction:
1. I resist.
Even though the evidence is quite available, I am still going to thumb my nose at the change I see, which seems to require expansion, while I would like to remain “status in my quo.”
Young or old, if you take this position, you will maintain an adolescent immaturity. It’s that four-year-old face on a seventy-two-year-old woman, communicating, “I don’t like broccoli.”
2. I avoid.
Once fear has taken root in your heart, you become quite good at politely refusing to try new things, indulge in new things, consider new things, accept new things or tolerate the notion that new things are even necessary.
There are many people we consider to be kind, but actually are entrenched in trepidation about moving forward. They avoid all atmospheres where such stimulation would be promoted.
3. I learn.
Now, this connotes that you are willing to attempt things that kick you in the butt from time to time. You also will need to pick yourself up, garner available data and grow.
As you can see, this concept is not bound by the accumulation of years, but rather, is a state of mind which hungers and thirsts for righteousness.
When I sit in front of an audience of people and share my feelings, I am not segmenting the folks into various demographics and age groups. I am looking for a light in their eyes which has not been doused by rejection and avoidance.
Age does not give us wisdom.
What gives us wisdom is losing our fear of knowledge, and beginning to understand that what is emotional, spiritual and mentally stimulating in our lives is in progress–not a one-time infusion.
Without desiring these fresh-bread experiences, we all eventually fall into the repetition of our upbringing, and end up imitating those who gave us birth and hearth.
So let us address the populie by saying that wisdom is not a by-product of passing years, but rather, an openness to one another and God.
If you want to gain that wisdom, you should find what you have that works, joyously learn what works that you don’t have, and then be “journey-wise” by keeping the door open.
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A voice writing in the wilderness
Jonathots Daily Blog 
