SENSITIZE 17
Every morning, Mr. Cring takes a personal moment with his audience.
Today: Cring discusses the first fourteen words of the Declaration of Independence–about equality.
Click the picture below to see the video
Sit Down Comedy … May 15th, 2020
Jonathots Daily Blog
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1777
In the frigid squall of a Nor’easter, a people of revolution discovered themselves without victory, their Declaration of Independence descending into an anemic squeal.
Hopelessness.
1862
American brothers and sisters embroiled in an un-Civil War, where those who still desired a Union were being butchered weekly on the battlefields, bleeding for a lost cause.
Maddening despair.
1929
As the year draws to a close, a nation which has survived a World War, a pandemic flu and a crime spree brought on by Prohibition, is completely swept away by a nationwide depression, making one and all paupers.
A nonsensical horror.
1940
The British Isles left as the only nation standing between civilization and complete domination by a tyrant from Germany.
Terror from the skies.
2001
The sunshine over New York City, Washington, D.C. and eastern Pennsylvania is suddenly blackened by the religious fanaticism of men who thought they were doing the will of God.
Breathless devastation.
For the human race to have no apparent solution or doorway to possibility is nothing new.
Covid-19 is not a worse adversary than terrorism, Nazis, financial devastation, slavery and domination by a foreign power.
We just need to hear the words again.
Someone needs to speak them, and then we need to say them to one another and continue reciting them until our brains sprout minds of wisdom to guide us to the next step in restoring our dominion on Earth.
Covid is a virus—it has not come to replace us.
We are not its servants.
We are not without insight, history and potential.
The words need to be spoken:
“There is no temptation that is not common to all men. But God shall provide the way of escape.”
Somewhere between our American brethren who want to save their political asses, and the members of our family, who are halted in fear and don’t know what to do is the necessity of hearing a George Washington, an Abraham Lincoln, a Franklin Roosevelt, a Winston Churchill, and yes—Rudy Giuliani.
- We are not going to walk out of this.
- We are not going to crawl out of this.
- We will need to define a realistic plan that leaves room for error and adjustment.
And then, as a people…
We must march out of this.
1 Thing We Know for Sure
We Are Not in Charge
The more we insist we are, the less power we possess.
The more we respect our surroundings, the greater our potential.
For you see, we came to Earth—Earth did not come to us.
Looking around at our times, we are suddenly struck with the realization that we are all the same.
There are no culture barriers.
This is something we manufactured because we had too much time on our hands.
Women are not inferior and men superior.
This was the makings for sassy TV—but an uncomfortable lifestyle.
Oh, by the way—we can survive with less, though more seems to be our favorite word.
Hugging is heavenly.
We are learning to mask our faces but unmask our hearts.
And once and for all, we’ve demonstrated, without exception, that worry is no damn good.
Guessing can be dangerous.
Thinking is like a prayer with knowledge.
Turns out that bitching, complaining and opinions are pretty much all the same.
Humor has become the gold that will actually bring back our money.
The virus is not impressed with our two-party system.
It mocks our checks and balances.
It humiliates our Declaration of Independence and Constitution—reaching every home, even our Gettysburg Address.
Since we’re not in charge, the only thing we can do is work on us.
Sit Down Comedy … January 24th, 2020
Jonathots Daily Blog
(4299)
“Summarize that.”
“Make it shorter.”
“Fewer words, please.”
“No one will read anything that long.”
“How about just a tweet?”
I, for one, believe there’s a certain amount of charm in finding fewer words to express ideas. But sometimes, we just want less because we don’t want to hear more.
I smile when I hear writers begin articles with, “There’s so much to say…”
There may be much to say, but there’s a great need to scrunch it together and pitch it to the American public in a way that mingles thoughtfulness and good cheer.
You may or may not agree. But even though I realize great books have taken hundreds of chapters and billions of words to express eternal ideas, I must tell you, the appetite is gone for such mental munching.
So I need to be concise. Like:
“Take care of things and things will take care of you.”
The minute I start adding an explanation to this, I will probably lose my audience.
Another example:
“If you’re gonna to be mean, you’re gonna get mean, if you know what I mean.”
Once your head stops spinning from the overuse of the word “mean,” maybe you’ll get a good chuckle. But will it inspire you to stop being nasty to the world around you?
How about this?
“Don’t start a war if you aren’t willing to die.”
That may get a few “oohs and ahhs” from readers. But absent the recitation of the history of war’s futility, it might fall on deaf ears.
I did find one exception. It’s a premise that needs no explanation—an idea that does not require a series of verified testimonials.
Of all the things that have ever been said and all the things that have ever been written, this is the only principle that really needs to be followed.
“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”
For the sake of our discussion today, let us transform it:
To get mercy, give mercy.
We all need mercy. It’s why we invented the phrase, “unconditional love.” But you see, love without mercy is not only conditional, but is doomed to be temporary.
Mercy is what love becomes when we find out the truth about each other.
I love the definition of mercy:
A decision to become compassionate when it is in our power to do harm.
No word sums up the basic daily, fluid need of the human race more than mercy.
Love works beautifully when mercy is honored.
But love becomes discontented, frustrated and wounded if judgment is used instead of mercy.
It disappeared for a while during the Dark Ages.
Inkles of it sprouted to the surface, welcoming in the Renaissance.
Rephrased, it showed up in a document proposing freedom: “All men are created equal.”
Another hundred years and it’s found in an inauguration speech: “With malice toward none and charity for all.”
Unfortunately, in our time, mercy is deemed weakness.
But only mercy has the power to open the world to the freedom of living a lifespan without being killed in a war.
Isn’t that amazing?
Throughout the entire history of humankind, there were always wars to interrupt the lifespan of young men who might have lived to be old and wise but perished in combat.
War is foolishness when mercy is available.
Mercy does not allow our enemies to walk over the top of us—but mercy is fully aware that in defeating them, we more than likely will have to live with them afterwards. We should act accordingly.
There is no statement that is better suited to the human race: “give mercy, get mercy.”
Give mercy to the Earth and protect Mother Nature. You will get mercy.
Give mercy to your husband or wife and you will get mercy.
Give mercy to the animal kingdom and only deplete their ranks by what you absolutely need. You will get mercy.
Give mercy to your enemies for their clumsy attempts to frighten you. You will get mercy.
This is our universal slogan: Give mercy, get mercy.
Having the ability to inflict pain and harm, we choose mercy.
And because we choose mercy, when pain and harm come our way and we are due punishment, she has permission to step in and save us.
The B. S. M. G. Report
Jonathots Daily Blog
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Looking for a way to bless
But stymied in the mess
Bad
For one hundred and ninety-six years, the United States stumbled and fumbled, but also struggled its way through discovering its own definition of a “Democratic Republic,” with only one occasion when the President of the United States was impeached.
Now, in the past forty-seven years, we have had three Presidents impeached. Also George W. Bush was repeatedly threatened with it, and even Ronald Reagan was nearly brought down by the Iran-Contra affair.
It’s time to realize that we have lost sight of what it means to be Americans and also have failed to follow through on the vision of what we set out to do so many years ago with the Declaration of Independence.
The figures speak for themselves.
We either cannot find good leadership, or we do not know how to pick a good leader.
SAD
When the vote was taken for the impeachment inquiry for President Donald Trump, not one single Republican cast an affirmative to proceed with the investigation.
The sadness I feel is not because I think the President is guilty, nor that I deem him innocent. I am saddened because this has become a partisan event, since it is most assuredly Democrats against Republicans.
Meanwhile, the pundits bicker and snicker.
MAD
We’re supposed to be the good guys.
We’re supposed to be the U.S.A. which travels the globe to help people out when there are disasters.
We’re supposed to be the nation that challenges other nations to be more honest, more democratic and more willing to pursue human rights.
It is truly maddening that we have lost our way, and gradually are becoming the laughingstock of a world which is intimidated, not just by our atomic warheads, but also by our desire to make things right no matter how wrong they may seem to be.
GLAD
It is like a tiny bugle in the distance. I can barely hear it. Shall we call it a “frugal bugle”—one that would love to blow a retreat from selfishness, politics and jealousy, allowing us to regroup into a nation indivisible?
For after all, it doesn’t do much good for us to be “under God” if we’re split apart by ethnicity, bigotry, political parties and religion.
I hear a faint bugle blowing.
It is a call by those who are weary of Republicans and disappointed in Democrats and would like to go back to the simplicity of a land where people are given equal opportunity and equal respect.
Listen for the bugle.
When you hear it, join the retreat from insanity and the gathering of those who will not move one more foot—until common sense is placed in charge.
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3 Things … July 4th, 2019
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That Ben Franklin Did Not Know
1. Black people and Natives are human beings
2. Guns can fire more than one bullet at a time
3. Free speech is ugly when it’s anonymous, and the press would eventually try to impress and depress
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PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant … June 28th, 2017
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A June 28th Musing
Am I a true American
Or am I very white
Have I suffered for my freedom
Or are my prospects too bright?
Was I chained in a ship
Trembling in fear
Or bestowed with great advantage
All my options very clear
Did someone steal my land
And call me a savage beast
Have I ever found myself
Aligned with the very least?
Did I arrive on a slow boat
Way across the sea
To be mocked and mistreated
Was that ever me?
Is “all white” all right
Or the poison of bitter hate
Can we become color blind
Or is it far too late?
For the Declaration of Independence
Was written by pale men
Who claimed we were all equal
While buying more slaves again
America is a noble notion
Just needing a cleansing of soul
So I, white, and you of color
Can join to form the whole.
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