Jonathots Daily Blog
(4269)
art by Clazzy
Music: Joy
(arr. Jonathan Richard Cring)
From the Symphony, Have Yourself a Clazzy Little Christmas
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(4262)
art by Clazzy
Music: Two Christmas (arr. Jonathan Richard Cring)
Performed by Cring & Clazzy
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(3892)
art by smarrttie panntts
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation for this inspirational opportunity
Click the elephant to see what he’s reading!
Jonathots Daily Blog
(3872)
Santa: Jesus Christ!
Jesus: Are you cussin’ or just glad to see me?
Santa: (hugs Jesus and pulls back) I almost didn’t recognize you.
Jesus: That’s because I’m traveling S. I.
Santa: S. I.?
Jesus: (smiling) Savior Incognito. So good to see you, old man.
Santa: Yeah, that’s interesting, because I supposedly have gained immortality, but they’ve stuck me at about seventy-five years of age.
Jesus: Well, I died at thirty-three–that’s where I’m kind of stuck, except I didn’t exactly leave behind a pretty corpse.
Santa: (frowning) Sorry about that.
Jesus: Oh, lighten up, old man. It’s Christmas. We’ll get around to that Easter stuff later.
Santa: Well, what brings you to this mall on this day?
Jesus: I was about to ask you the same question.
Santa: Well, there are so many people dressing up like me now, that it’s easy for me to slip in, as you say, incognito, and play myself at a mall. No one knows the difference.
Jesus: So why this mall?
Santa: The best damn curly fries at the food court. I’m tellin’ you, you’ve got to try them. They’re to die for.
Jesus: Was that another crack at my crucifixion?
Santa: Oh, I’m sorry…
Jesus: (punching him in the arm) Just kidding! You’ve gotta lighten up!
Santa: Well, there’s a lot of pressure. This time of year, you run into this “Christmas war” thing–you know, where you and I are supposed to be enemies. You representing the “true meaning of Christmas” and me being a commercial bungler.
Jesus: Well, don’t people know that you’re real name is Saint Nicholas?
Santa: I’ve always been your greatest fan. I watched what you did with children, learned from how you gave to people. And I took it seriously when you said in your Beatitudes, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.”
Jesus: And you even copied my twelve elves!
Santa: (a bit flustered) Well… Not exactly.
Jesus: Well, sometimes they acted like elves. You see, people like to keep you where they found you. Lots of folks met me in church so they think I live there. (whispering) Honest to God, Claus–I haven’t been there for years.
Santa: You’re right. Because with me, they loved the Old North Pole thing. Obviously couldn’t do all the work in one location. I have it spread all over the globe. Every once in a while, I even use Amazon.
Jesus: If people just understood that there’s no bad way to say Christmas. It’s kind of like the word “candy.” You can substitute “chocolate, peanut butter, confection, caramel”–and still, what comes to your mind is…
Santa: (interrupting) …candy. You’re right! You can say “reindeer, Christmas tree, carols, jingle bells or manger.” What comes to my mind is Christmas.
Jesus: So they can call it a holiday. That doesn’t help them. Because the word “holiday” means “holy day.” They can say “Season’s Greetings,” but everybody knows the season is Christmas.
Santa: People just fuss too much.
Jesus: I’d say “amen” but I’m not that religious.
Santa: You really aren’t, are you?
Jesus: Nope–I just love people. I love my Father, I love Mother Nature and I love the idea of life. You know I was born in a barn…
Santa: (laughing) That’s funny.
Jesus: (serious) What’s funny about it? You live in a toy shop with reindeer.
Santa: (serious) Well, I didn’t want to argue with you.
Jesus: (laughing) You really are uptight about this Christmas thing, aren’t you? Tell you what–let’s head off to the food court and you can buy me some of those curly fries and prove to me that they’re the best in the world.
Santa: That’s a deal–if you’ll tell me about the first Christmas.
Jesus: Well, I was just a little baby surrounded by asses.
(Santa is shocked)
Jesus: (poking him in the arm) You know–donkeys. Listen, old man–we’d better hurry and get those curly fries right now. You are desperately in need of some good cheer.
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Click the elephant to see what he’s reading!
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(3166)
I am not Santa Claus. Ho, ho, NO.
I am not Jesus. I can turn water into ice.
I am not an elf. Closer to Santa Claus there.
I am not snow. I find it impossible to melt–especially pounds.
I am not a Christmas tree. I would find it difficult to be evergreen.
I am not a manger. HAY!!
I am not Joseph. I have mistrusted women.
I am not Mary. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a virgin.
I am not a donkey, though I can act like…you got it. An ass.
I am not a star, but I’ve been a good warm-up act.
I am not a promise. I fail too often.
I am not salvation. But… where do we stand in line?
I am not the Prince of Peace. Too often I find myself in pieces.
I am not a shepherd. I can be impatient with sheep.
I am not an angel. I have a list of people who will confirm this.
I am not the King of Kings. I’m learning to be crowned with humility.
Of course, not the Lord of Lords. Though some of you may think I lord it over you.
I am not the Little Drummer Boy. Simple: not little, can’t drum, not really a boy.
I’m not Rudolph, though my nose gets red when I have high blood pressure.
I’m not tinsel, although I’m working on being the light in the world.
I am not Christmas. Just trying to be merry.
But today I looked out at a crazy world which pleaded to me with sad, distraught eyes. Help! So…
I must be Santa Claus. Time to pull on my boots.
I must be Jesus. Where is that neighbor to love?
I must be an elf. I’m practicing my “giddy.”
I must be snow. If you get my drift. (No flakes allowed.)
I must become a Christmas tree–standing tall for those who want to decorate me with great possibilities.
I will become the manger–a humble home for the Master.
I can become Joseph–believe in the people I love.
Mary? All I have left is a virgin heart.
I will be a donkey, making an ass of myself for a good cause.
Star light, star bright–I shall be the first star you see tonight.
I make this promise: no promises–just the truth.
I will become salvation in the sense that I will show you how powerful that gift can truly be.
I will be the Prince of Peacemakers, so I can be a child of God.
I will shepherd myself and as many souls as possible, to safety from the wolf.
I will become an angel by visiting those who haven’t seen angels for a long time.
Can I be a King of Kings? If by Kings, you mean helping those who need to find their personal place. Then, yes.
Lord of Lords? Certainly not. But I can show people that to be master is to serve.
Forget about the Little Drummer Boy. I’ll leave that to the marching band.
I certainly am Rudolph. I have strange things about me that I’m trying to use to get through the fog.
And like tinsel, I will find a place to hang in there and shed some light.
I am Christmas.
I am the only Christmas that some people will see.
I am Christmas, and without me, Christmas could become just another day of the week.
****
Meningsbee will return next week with the ongoing saga.
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John Candy died. It rattled my soul to its depths.
It wasn’t just because I enjoyed his work or relished his comedic wit. More importantly, he was just about my size and my age. It made me think about my own mortality–especially when a mere two months later, I fell ill. I had been sick before–you know, where you cough, blow your nose, recover from a sprained ankle or have a headache that goes away with a few aspirin and a good night’s sleep.
This was different. This was a sickness that grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go. It not only infested my body with pain and discomfort, but sent shock warnings through my mind of the seriousness of the situation. I tried to ignore it; I attempted to medicate it. I even tried to exercise it away. It got worse. There was a sense of ill will throughout every member of my faculties. Finally I relented to go to the doctor. I was immediately placed in the hospital, where I stayed for three days as they tested me, but failing to discover precisely what the problem was.
Meanwhile, one of my sons decided to brighten up my room by bringing in a Christmas tree–even though it was June. He knew how much I enjoyed the holiday. My wife brought in a boom box and a few musical cassettes for me to play. I really didn’t want to hear anything. I just felt … horrible. Half of the medical staff was convinced that some of the problem was in my head, while the remainder of them persisted in their examinations. Meanwhile, I flirted with depression, ready to have a full affair.
It was especially bad at night. During the day, I kept my chin up (both of them) and remained optimistic. But nighttime in a hospital may be the closest thing to solitary confinement that I ever want to experience. The blinking lights on my Christmas tree, intended to cheer me up, resembled a warning beacon of the doom lying ahead. So one night I reached over, picked up a cassette, and dropped it into the boom box. It was Carole King’s Tapestry.I do not know whether I was just vulnerable, needy or finally open enough to hear the music, but as her album played, I just laid in my bed and cried. When she sang, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? I wept because I wondered if there would be a tomorrow. Her song, Far Away, made me yearn for the freedom to be out of the hospital and back to my life again. Too Late, Baby caused me to hope that I wasn’t. Way Over Yonder gave me the promise that no matter what happened through the diagnosis, I still had a future. Even Smackwater Jack put a little feisty fight into my soul. I just kept playing that cassette over and over again, energized every time she sang Beautiful (…“you’ve got to get up every morning, with a smile on your face …”) I even teared up over Natural Woman, although my manliness was completely intact. And of course, You’ve Got a Friend saved my soul from the desperation of giving up on possibility.
Carole King became my ministering angel. I recalled that some people didn’t like her, thinking she was a singer that couldn’t even win an audition for a glee club at a small junior college, but I didn’t care. Her songs were anointed with spirit, hope, humanity and tenderness and in that darkened room, with Christmas lights flashing, I found God through Carole King.
About four days into my ordeal, they discovered I had two large abscesses in my body that needed to be removed. I was so relieved to find out that I was really sick. They told me that the operation was serious and that I could lose the ability to take care of my own bowels–and maybe end up in a wheel chair. But I didn’t care. Because as it turns out, it wasn’t “Too Late, Baby,” and I was going to be “Loved Tomorrow,” and God’s grace was not “Far Away” and life truly, truly was “Beautiful” ,,, and “I Had a Friend.”
I will never forget that experience … when I had the opportunity of Tapping Tapestry.
And I learned that day something I know to this very moment–that prayers have value. Bible reading is intriguing, but until spirituality is released creatively through human talent and made into something tangible–something we can understand–it is merely a promise instead of a reality. Since then I have written songs, plays, symphonies and movies to try to dissolve God into an elixir that can be drunk deeply by humankind. We are not supernatural. But we are fully capable of receiving the natural in a creative, super way.
So thank you to Carole King for allowing herself to be a vessel, taking real emotion and passing it through her talent and delivering it to this pilgrim, who was broken and nearly defeated. Because Carole is right.
People are gonna treat you better. You’re gonna find out–yes you will–that you’re beautiful … as you feel.
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Jonathan wrote the gospel/blues anthem, Spent This Time, in 1985, in Guaymas, Mexico. Take a listen:
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To see books written by Jonathan, click the link below! You can peruse and order if you like!
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
 | Jonathan on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
| Anonymous on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
| Anonymous on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
| Anonymous on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
 | Nolan on 1 Memory About Jonathan Richar… |
 | Maxine Mantooth on Drawing Attention … Dece… |
| Steve on From the Stacks … Octobe… |
| Maxine Mantooth on Scrambles … October 20th… |
| Maxine Mantooth on From the Stacks … Octobe… |
| Maxine Mantooth on Scrambles … October 13th… |
A voice writing in the wilderness
Jonathots Daily Blog 