Jonathots Daily Blog
(3745)
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(3540)
A. “I resolve with all my heart to breathe more deeply.”
B. “I am determined this year to use less toilet tissue.”
C. “It is my great conviction to take this year to memorize my pin numbers.”
D. “My New Year’s resolution? Stop harassing women unless I’m sure they want to be harassed.”
E. “Cut calories by limiting my intake of fried cheese.”
Jonathots Daily Blog
(3318)
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this inspirational opportunity
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To our friends at Roseland: click the piano for information on Cring & Clazzy
Jonathots Daily Blog
(2700)
A. Give us permission to sell “Pope is the Dope” t-shirts.
B. Offer better refreshments for Holy Communion.
C. Request he begin all his speeches with, “Let me be Frank.”
D. Update Mother Mary’s Facebook status to “Single and Available.”
E. Remove all calories from barbecue ribs and caramel crunch ice cream.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(2464)
All human beings possess a heart, soul, mind and strength. Nothing of any true significance can be achieved unless this is understood.
Overestimation of ability is the sure-fire way of draining energy. Human beings have very little will-power. Nothing will be achieved without understanding it.
For every magical story you can relate about someone who overcame difficulties through resolve, I can provide a million testimonials of wishy-washy results.
It is in the exaggeration of our goals that we cripple ourselves with the burden of too much anticipation, which is often followed by too much disappointment.
I can not eliminate anything. The minute I believe I can, I will make bold statements which I will be unable to achieve, causing me to want to lie. And I will tell you right now–even though we seem to be a society that condones lying, there isn’t a human being who will actually put up with anyone telling them one.
So what are we looking for? If I smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, can I really throw them away, go cold turkey and survive? Am I a hero, or am I setting myself up for an incredible fall which will make me fearful of reaching the heights of such conviction again?
Here’s the axiom:
Work on working on the work of simple progress.
If I could put that into the hearts of every brother and sister I encounter, I could lift the burden of expectation and replace it with practical approaches to making things a little bit better.
For instance, when I rounded the corner this year and wanted to lose weight, I realized that I needed to adopt an improved philosophy. Here it is:
1. Less of what I am doing.
Yes, if I can just do less of over-eating, I will be much acclaimed, even in my own mind. If every fat person would simply eat a hundred fewer calories a day, they would lose a pound a month. Remarkable.
2. More of what I want to do.
Once I stop chasing the rabbit of promises, which is wearing me out because of the futility of my efforts, I can settle down and just begin to do more of what I want to do. If every person in America smoked one less cigarette, ate one more vegetable a day and walked up that one flight of stairs, our health care costs would drop drastically.
3. And finally, just learn to tell the truth about both.
In other words, “This is what I’m doing that’s making me miserable, and this is what I need to do to make me happier.”
As people, we have a childish inclination to justify all of our actions, as if they’re really our aspirations.
Learn how to be pissed off at what’s hurting you, and delighted with what helps.
The word “eliminate” is impossible for human beings.
Arrogance is anyone who believes they have the capacity for scaring away all their demons. It’s just not possible.
The demons know us well, and have found clever hiding places.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(2237)
There are two simple ways to immediately improve your life.
First, get rid of all your committees.
Second, start doing some rendition of what resembles your dream and then be prepared to change.
Since our present society is completely unable or unwilling to pursue either of these options, then please settle in for a long winter’s nap of repetitive nonsense. And one of the main pieces of nonsense is the ongoing droning drivel that “somebody should do something.”
Let us understand–somebody already has.
It isn’t like we have to come up with our own idea or create a world unto itself–unique to our circumstances–to accomplish good deeds. There are many paths set before us, tremendous options and inspiring tales to thrust us forward in the direction of accomplishment.
We are reluctant–both as a species and then, as individuals.
Why?
There are two nasty principles that were ingrained in us at a young age, no matter what culture we came from.
For some reason, as a race, we learned these much more easily than we did long division. Maybe it’s because we’re basically insecure, and both of these concepts feed that timidity, making it easier for us to remain stagnant.
Maybe it’s because indifference burns fewer calories and allows for more naps. I don’t know.
But the end result is a disgruntled multitude, complaining about the absence of leadership while simultaneously resisting any prophetic voice that would advance a new theory.
You have to make up your mind. If you want to extol the status quo, do so, but please never complain about the blandness of your grits. Or … prepare yourself for the shock that if anything is going to be done, to look any further than your own motivation is an exercise in futility.
Because there is really only one moving part in the human experience–only one thing that separates an Abraham Lincoln from an Adolph Hitler. Both men were bigoted in their own way. Both men took office believing that a particular sect or race of human beings was inferior. Both individuals had a certain dictatorial style to their rule. (Yes, Abraham Lincoln was called a dictator.)
The difference between Abraham and Adolph is that when information was given to Mr. Lincoln to prove that slavery was wrong, dangerous and god-forbidden–he changed.
On the other hand, when the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States were perched on the outskirts of Berlin and it was obvious to everyone–including Chancellor Hitler, that the war was over, he literally dug into his bunker and permitted the slaughter of an additional quarter of a million people to justify his foolishness.
Therefore, saying that somebody needs to do something is an ugly blending of self-pity and stubbornness.
And self-pity and stubbornness are the main attributes of all the inhabitants of hell.
A footrnote: muich thanks to my dear brother from yesterday morning at Algood, who told me his pet peeve was the phrase, “somebody needs to do something.”
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
heAfter an appearance earlier this year in Surprise, Arizona, Janet and I were blessed to receive a “surprise” ourselves. Click on the beautiful Arizona picture above to share it with us!
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(1950)
Those who are not religious by nature call it “destiny.” The more religious among us refer to it as Calvinism.
It is the contention that there is some sort of “master plan” for every human being–that we find our purpose, value and joy in discovering this mystical path and following it fervently.
It is one of those strange areas where those who believe in God and those who don’t converge in a common mission of discovering an individual odyssey that was pre-determined for each and every soul.
There are many problems with the belief in destiny:
There are really three choices:
1. God has a wonderful plan for our lives, which we must follow if we want to be pleasing to Him and truly happy.
2. God has a plan for our lives but we can take detours and even change it up a little bit, as long as we still get to the point He wills us to be.
3. We have free will choice and a Father who stays with us and will never leave nor forsake us.
Now I’m sure there are derivations, blendings and even differentiations but generally speaking, anything you would come up with probably falls within the scope of one of these three ideas.
My problem with #1 is that Jesus compares God to an earthly father. There is NO earthly father who would ever think about controlling the lives of his children–even if he felt it was to their betterment. In doing so he would weaken their wills and perhaps make them resentful of his interference.
When it comes to Choice #2, I become confused because random acts and accidental discoveries are frequently at the root of the progression of the human cause. People were searching for different cures when magnificent elixirs were stumbled upon. The Bible makes it clear that time and chance happens to all–and if we’re under some belief that God’s will is a straight line or even an arc, heading for a specific apex in the future, then we rule out the glorious possibility that our lives can be enriched and changed for the better. And even generational curses, which seem placed on some families by genetics and environment, can be breached and overcome.
The only sensible understanding of humans on earth is free will. That means there is a past, by the grace of God there is a present, but the future is undeclared. Why?
Because the future is in our hands.
Perhaps you would feel more comfortable to think that God was controlling everything, but in doing so He would be taking away any significance of worship–because we would not be selecting to follow Him, but instead, toeing the line out of fear.
I love God because He gives me free will. I love free will because I can choose God.
I can choose God in my dealings with human beings, I can choose my Father in heaven through the tenderness I express through my art–and I can even choose a divine sense of earthly understanding when I consider my calories and food intake.
I believe that the devotion to the notion of destiny has stymied our creativity, expansion, love and spirit of adventure.
It makes us childish–childish in the sense that we are afraid to displease an angry parent, while insisting that we love him dearly.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about personal appearances or scheduling an event
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A voice writing in the wilderness
Jonathots Daily Blog 
