Stepping Away… October 19, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2041)

Elder Ralph was working on a crossword puzzle he had hidden in his Bible.

Deacon Dan was dozing on the third row.

Martha, the church piano player, was thumbing through a Life magazine.

The teenagers sitting around me were passing notes, giggling and trying to time their levity with the jokes infrequently being offered from the pulpit, as Pastor Norm continued to preach on a subject matter which no one seemed to care about.

Suddenly in the midst of this ongoing Sunday night antipathy, it struck me. It was so phony, so contrived and so meaningless to my sixteen-year-old mind.

I quietly rose to my feet, moved past a few of my friends and headed toward the back of the church. Everyone thought I was going to the bathroom. Some people probably thought I was headed to the fellowship hall to see if there were any treats to eat after the service. But actually, I passed on both of those opportunities, headed out the door and walked home. Even though I still believed in God, I had lost confidence in the system that was arranged to represent Him.

For three months, I stepped away.

• I didn’t go to church.
• I didn’t stay in contact with the people.
• I also didn’t go out, get drunk, smoke grass and curse the heavens because of my disillusioned condition.

Various emissaries from the conclave of the righteous were sent to me during the ninety days to tell me how I was missed or what I was missing or how it was absolutely necessary for me to be there–otherwise I would fall into iniquity.

I joyously ignored them.

Instead I took my stepping away hiatus to accept a role in a play at the high school, as Joe Ferrone in Up the Down Staircase. I also worked on my piano playing, which had become as rusty as my Grandpa Ford’s barn door latches, and I practiced singing. (I had convinced myself I was a bass, but actually had enough range to be a tenor. Why not both?)

During my stepping away period I discovered I could do things–yet realized they were more fun when I was tapping the mind and spirit of God to achieve them.

Eventually one of my friends from the youth group came to see me and said, “Jonathan, you may not need us, but we need you.”

Those were the magic words.

It wasn’t an issue of ego–it was the fact that I could no longer attend church because I was afraid not to. I couldn’t go to church because it “made me a better person.” And I didn’t want to go to church to fake it, in order to get heavenly tickets.

I took my newfound drama talent, my expanded singing and my better piano playing back to the “house of people”–to simply enjoy my heavenly Father.

I stopped looking around the room to see what Elder Ralph, Deacon Dan, pianist Martha and all the other kids were doing.

When I disagreed, I chose to simply live differently. And if it got boring, I challenged the ideas.

That three months of stepping away sowed the seed of the man I have become. It was a season of time when I realized that I don’t need to be in church to find God.

But the church needs me ,,, to make sure we don’t lose Him.

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

Sittin’ in the Van on a Rainy Day… July 10, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(1939)

The plan was to hold a meeting in the sunshine, maybe even sitting in a park. Minnesota provided us rain instead.

A change of venue. Honestly, that can often be enough to destroy any momentum.

But my traveling companion of seventeen years and I decided to enjoy the rain pelting against our big, black van and hold our conversation in the interior of our cab. You understand, it only worked because both people agreed.

We live in a day and age when equality is defined as “one person quietly dominating as another one obviously submits.” This would explain our lack of progress. For candidly, in order for human beings to be successful, there needs to be agreement.

It’s actually pure mathematics. For our morning session to gain purpose, both of us had to overlook the rain, ignore our disappointment if such existed, and add our energy.

Yes, often rather than having a decrease of enthusiasm due to a change in plans, life actually requires a boost in energy to compensate for any disappointment.

I was so happy that my friend added her energy. She didn’t act like she cared one little bit if we were sitting in a rain-soaked van or were perched in a park. After all, what made the difference was being able to discuss really neat ideas.

To further complement the notion of growth, after we add our energy, we need to subtract our ego. There will be plenty of ego to go around during the final celebration of victory. To insert ego into the process of planning–or even performing–the task is not only futile, it is the death knell of achieving your purpose.

After you’ve added your energy and subtracted your ego, it is mandatory that you multiply your talent. If what you were going to achieve was able to be accomplished by only using the ability you’ve taken out of mothballs, it would have already happened. You will need to stretch the rubber band of your talent to handle the new horizons.

This expansion is a process of rejecting fear, embracing love and keeping a great sense of humor.

After you’ve multiplied that talent, you should divide your treasure. And what IS our treasure? Three things:

• Our time
• Our passion
• And our money.

Make sure you’ve got enough for yourself. Poor people are terrible emissaries for generosity. Make sure you procure enough for your mission, so you can keep yourself in the game. And then set aside some for your brothers and sisters, who have not yet discovered the true beauty of multiplying their talents.

Sitting in the van in Minnesota on a rainy day with my friend, I felt a sense of satisfaction.

Because we added our energy, subtracted our ego, multiplied our talent … and made plans to divide our treasure.

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