Double A’s and an F … February 17, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

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You can’t be a good believer unless you first discover what kind of atheist you would be. And while you’re at it, it’s a good idea to figure out how you would choose to live if you were an agnostic. Two A’s and an F — atheist, agnostic and faith.

Since none of us know for sure what’s going to happen after we suck our last, it’s a good idea to put greater value on your human life than you do your eternal life.

I know this statement would upset about ninety percent of the Christian community, but it doesn’t make it any less important to share.

I am a person of faith–not because I’m afraid of what might happen if I weren’t.

I don’t pursue devotion to God because I’m superstitious or want to cover all of my bases.

No, it’s because I have decided what life I would choose to honor if I were an atheist. So if there were no God, what would my three essentials be, determining my essence? I would have to:

1. Learn to love people.
2. Learn to respect my life and the value it has, both in limited time and in the distribution of the wealth of my gifts.
3. Be merciful.

Likewise, if I believe there is some sort of God, but think He or She has taken a permanent vacation, rendering me an agnostic, what kind of journey would I choose?

1. Learn to deal with people knowing that they never go away.
2. Take care of myself, but also not come across as unfeeling to the needs of others.
3. Learn the art of forgiveness.

So in like manner, if I’m going to be a believer in an Eternal Creator, what are the three things that define my trinity of precepts?

1. I’m told that if I don’t love people, then my love for God is built on a false premise.
2. I’m instructed that if I give, it shall be given unto me.
3. I get mercy, released for my inadequacies, by the amount of mercy I give to others, and I am judged in like manner.

You see, when you look at it from that perspective, whether you’re Bill Maher, an atheist, or Ricky Gervais, who considers himself to bounce between agnostic and atheist, or Billy Graham, who is the face of the faith crowd–when it comes to human life, you’re left with the same basic alternatives.

I guess as long as you can escape the ridiculous traditions of religion, it might be nice to believe in God just in case the heaven thing turns out not to be hype.

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True Trinity … December 6, 2012

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The final performance of 2012.

It happened last night at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida, in front of a handful of lovely folk who were unaware of the significance but still managed to enjoy themselves thoroughly.

We did it again. We traveled from coast to coast this year sharing a simple message of “NoOne is better than anyone else” to tens of thousands of people. In the process, I discovered the true trinity. Even though I have no intention of replacing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there IS another triangle of possibilities that work together to our good.

First, you have to love yourself. That’s tricky business. Sometimes when you say it out loud it comes across as pompous and arrogant. But loving yourself is really the intentional blend of self-awareness and hope. In other words: “This is where I presently am and with God’s help, here’s where I’d like to be.” When you mix it that way, it creates an intoxicating brew called humility.

Then, once you’re humble, you’re ready to love people–the second part of our trinity. I must tell you that loving people is not a theory. It is always giving the person right in front of you adequate attention while maintaining your faith in humanity as a whole. That kind of thinking will certainly be challenged by everyday events, which will create in you–patience. In our patience we possess our souls–but also the capacity to love. As you know, without a little bit of long-suffering, love has about a fifteen-minute shelf life.

So you learn to love yourself by using self-awareness and hope, which generates humility. You take that humility out to your fellow human beings and love them, giving them the attention they deserve, use a little bit of faith and it produces patience.

Then you’re finally ready to love God. And those who love God need to do it in spirit and truth, and we know that God loves people who are humble and patient. Too many folks try to love God before they love themselves or others–or they get that self-righteous mixture of loving themselves and God and being prejudiced against others. Or they try to love people and themselves and leave God out of the equation and become frustrated and angry.

No, the true trinity is to love yourself by blending self-awareness and hope to create humility. Then go out and love people, giving them the attention they deserve and a little boost of faith through patience. And then you’re ready to love God in spirit and truth, bringing your humility and patience to the heavenly party.

What I often saw this year was misplaced affection–called love–which didn’t work together, but instead pulled people apart in dissension.

• Love yourself.
• Love people.
• Love God.

It’s a great trinity–well worth our time, energy and worship.

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