Four births and born again … July 1st, 2012

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Perhaps inspired by the impending arrival of my grandson, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about being born. Honestly, each one of us needs a lot more than the earth to “make womb” for us. I think Jesus was right–we DO need to be born again. Otherwise, we have a nagging suspicion that plagues us throughout our lives–that we are merely pantomiming the wishes of our culture, passing through the Xerox machine of a genetic code. For a moment, forget about heaven. Earth-life has to be a lot more than just me trying to struggle, in quiet desperation, with some sort of destiny that has already been pre-determined.

After careful deliberation, I realized that each one of us needs four births to finally be born again. I saw it in my own life–or maybe better phrased, I see it in my own life.

I need an emotional birthing. I need to be able to say, “I am not alarmed by what I feel.” Otherwise, I will commit the first true sin of all human beings–I will learn to lie about my emotions. I will become comfortable masking my intentions in an attempt to make everything I do seem clean in the sight of others.

I have so many examples of this in my life, I barely know where to start. I once was alarmed that I got married too early. I was alarmed that I had no college education. I was a little alarmed that fame eluded me. I was alarmed that I didn’t seem to have the moxie and will-power to shed my excess pounds. I guess one day I got tired of being alarmed, and decided to instead be forthcoming and speak my heart aloud. Upon hearing my inadequacies floating in the air, they didn’t seem quite so alarming, and some of them seemed downright funny. I experienced an emotional birth.

Likewise, it took me a while to understand spirituality. I thought it was having a conviction about God or the Bible. Then one day I realized that the way to be born spiritually is to say to yourself, “I am not ashamed to believe.” It’s one thing to stand in a congregation of devotees and declare your faith and an entirely different matter to walk amongst the mockers and those who deem themselves to be logical and still continue to hold fast to a hope.

I have been around people who think I am stupid because I insist that I have a relationship with an unseen Father. One day I just stopped caring, and instead, reveled in the reassurance. It was the day I was birthed spiritually–and now I can say I am not ashamed to believe.

For many years I thought it was a sign of maturity to grab onto an idea and not relinquish it, even when new information began to contradict the original thought. When did stubbornness become a kissing cousin of intelligence?  Even in politics, they are so afraid of vacillation that they will follow policies which have historically proven to be erred, and in the present format are also weighed in the balances and found wanting.

One day I decided to rebirth my mind. I did so with a very simple phrase: “I am not afraid to change my thinking.” There are things that I now hold true that I did not agree with ten years ago. Matter of fact, you probably can go back into my jonathots and find contradictions. I don’t care. I refuse to have my brain encased in either dogma or concrete. I have received a mental birth because I am not afraid to change my thinking.

My most recent birth has occurred in the physical realm. Last summer I nearly gave up on the whole idea of being totally healthy, and even questioned any capability on my part to lose weight. It seemed that I had so many genetic markers against me, and a metabolism that hadn’t moved since the Kennedy administration. I felt justified to be discouraged. I felt as if I had lost out in the genetic lottery and it was only righteous for me to succumb to my circumstances. If I had continued that line of thinking, I not only would have failed to be birthed with a new body, but also would have been on the pathway to quietly terminating myself.

Something happened. Something previously immovable inside of me shifted slightly. All I know is that I have experienced a physical birth, and … “I am no longer aggravated to go through the physical steps to become more healthy.” Rather than a chore, it has become a game. Instead of being my curse, it has transformed into my cause. I am trying many things and experimenting with the vigor of Thomas Edison attempting to light up his bulb. I have been born physically.

• I am not alarmed by what I feel–it is a birthing of heart.
• I am not ashamed to believe–spirit born.
• I am not afraid to change my thinking–mind renewed.And I am not aggravated to become more healthy–body rejuvenated.

The culmination of these four births is placing me in a status–or at least an emerging awareness–of being born again, which is the ultimate proclamation:

• I am alive as me.

Sometimes it’s not enough to have a mother. You need a father, too. And sometimes a mother and father aren’t enough without sisters and brothers. And often, a mother, father, sisters and brothers can still leave you incomplete–until you allow yourself to be born again.

Four births–heart, spirit, mind and strength–lending themselves to the glorious proclamation:

I have been born again.

   

The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity

Finding Your Alva… January 6, 2012

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His name was Thomas Alva Edison, and considering the fact that he invented the light bulb, we can certainly credit him for helping to illuminate the world. We know three things about him:  he was kind, he was inventive and he had a funny middle name. What would have happened if Mr. Edison had decided to be overly sensitive about his middle name? What if he had heard the “Johnson jeers” of his young playmates as a boy and had become reclusive, burying his inventive nature and failing to birth his kind one? What if he had allowed society and the world around him to determine his reactions and destiny?

I don’t have all of the insight on Thomas, but I do know that his middle name is no secret and that it is often included as part of his whole signature. So somewhere along the line, Edison made his peace with his “Alva.”

The majority of humanity is stymied by their own obvious weakness. They become ashamed of their uniqueness, overwhelmed by critique or they just attempt to escape any further scrutiny. They are ashamed of their “Alva.” Rather than pushing their weakness to the forefront, making it obvious and developing a sense of humor about it, they become sensitive and often fail to unearth the better parts of themselves.

Yes, if Thomas Alva Edison had been intimidated by those who mocked his middle name, he not only would have failed to become kind–and an inventor–but would have remained a bitter unknown.

How about Jesus of Nazareth? He was a Galilean and uneducated–but who just happened to be the son of God. As you read his story, you discover that the world around him wanted to point out over and over again that he was “from Galilee”–and therefore meaningless–and that he had no formal education and should have been relegated to the status of a carpenter. If Jesus had a defensive nature, a fear of critique or had judged himself by the opinions of others, we would have nothing to show for him except a few artifacts of wood and maybe a partially destroyed wall. Jesus decided to make it clear that he was a Nazarene by beginning his work in Galilee, without apology. He never argued when they claimed he was not educated or not worthy to be a priest, because he ignored the standard teaching style of the religious folks of the day, and instead, just told stories. And because he was not fearful of what others deemed to be his weakness, he was able to play up his strengths. He found his “Alva”–and rather than fighting over it, hiding it or becoming despaired because he wasn’t viewed to be the “top dog,” he played up his weaknesses and the world ended up playing them down.

I have spent the past two days in a little town called Alva, Florida. The people there are isolated, not very wealthy, but tender-hearted. I will tell you the truth–if they look at themselves as isolated–stuck somewhere between Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Miami–and they spend all their time complaining about their lack of funds, they will never make it into the history books, let alone create a newness of life in their own community. Just as Thomas Edison had to learn how to laugh at his own middle name, giving the world no ammunition against him, and Jesus of Nazareth embraced being a Galilean and refused to be relegated to ignorance, but instead, told stories about real life, the people of Alva must lead with their tender-hearted nature, while freely admitting they are isolated and don’t have many bucks. If they do, they will disarm their critics and fail to give anyone the bullets to gun down their spirits.

My name is Jonathan Richard Cring. I am a fat boy who has no college education but was born with a creative streak. I could have spent most of my life apologizing for my lack of degrees, or hiding away in my house because my obesity was so obvious, but instead, I decided to laugh at my tubbiness, be honest about my schooling and lead with my creative streak. So what the world could have used against me, I stole from them.

The key to your success, my dear friend, is finding your “Alva,” and rather than denying it, fussing about it or becoming extremely angry over people’s reaction, play it up so the world has to play it down. Because Jesus said it well:

“He that will gain his life will lose it.”  He who thinks he becomes stronger by being angry at the criticism of others will end up at their mercy. “But he that will lose his life for my sake shall gain it.”

Bluntly, if your foibles are already spoken into the air, anybody else mentioning them becomes ridiculous and redundant.

Find your Alva.  Be honest about your weakness–which gives you permission to play up your strengths.

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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!

http://www.janethan.com/tour_store.htm