PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant … January 6th, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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Unboxing

Here’s the box I built for me

So I control what you can see

Fortifying the cardboard walls

Checking my phone to see who calls

Deciding what may enter.

Cramped I am within the space

Nervous about exposing my face

Careful to show only my choice

Selecting the words to form my voice

Suspicious while trying to smile.

I am not an evil soul

Or a frowning, grumpy, cranky troll

I just want to reach my goal

Therefore you might be a problem.

I believe in the Golden Rule

Infused during Sunday School

But does it ever make me a fool

To pursue being so trusting?

The battle rages within my heart

When to cease or commence to start

Can I be smart while pure of heart?

Maturity is so confusing.

So I will seek to be the one

Who tries to make the journey fun

Rejoicing as the work is done

Unboxing myself, freely.

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G-11: Mad, Sad, Glad … February 14, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

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• We feel safe.
• We made it.
• The thunder rolled, the winds blew by and the rain ceased.

We’re standing on dry land, having escaped another near-disaster, feeling no repercussions whatsoever from the disruption–just grateful to be alive.

Little do we know that this is the most dangerous juncture in life. It is when we accidentally carry the anxiety of the previous encounter into the future, without realizing that the residue is hanging from us.

Yes, we are still mad: “It ain’t right.”

Or maybe sad: “It ain’t fair.”

But the once-confident spirit that propelled us into deeper and deeper adventures of faith is now making us cautious. We accept this new profile under the guise of being “well-seasoned,” But actually, we are not the same.

We have lost a bit of the joy that makes us the people we are, and when we realize it, we become defensive, insisting that nothing has changed.

What is the countenance of the average person you see on the street, when they don’t realize they’re being observed? A mad frown? A sad droop? Or maybe a blending of the two?

If maturity depresses us, then what is the purpose of growing older?

How can we overcome the extra destruction done by the storms of life which inflict unseen damage to our foundation? We gotta be honest: just because we’re standing on dry land does not mean we have escaped being drenched in worry.

We want to reach glad. We want to escape the sensation of “it ain’t right” and “it ain’t fair,” to arrive at a jubilant feeling of good cheer: “It ain’t gonna kill me.”

Sometimes we think projecting a brave front is a sign of our willingness to avoid doubt. But actually, acknowledging that the trials and tribulations that came our way did impact us but were unable to destroy us is the best way to escape the madness and the sadness.

For after all, mad people are cocked and ready to strike out at others, who unwittingly trigger aggravating memories.

And sad people are ill-prepared to enter into new relationships which certainly will require a bit of adjustment and forgiveness.

It isn’t just about surviving–it’s about surviving and candidly admitting how amazing and miraculous it was to be rescued. And then, to have the sense of humor to progress, keeping an eye on our motives, and healing our wounds instead of hiding them.

I am glad. This does not mean that everything is all right. It does not mean that I was saved from all the ravages of my temptations without any casualties. It means I lived. And in living, I am open to the dual process of inner healing and outer expressions of creativity.

Beware–being placed in the lifeboat is miraculous.

But it does not mean you will avoid horrible memories of the sinking vessel and fleeting trepidations to sail again.

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Click for details on the SpirTed 2014 presentation

Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about scheduling SpiriTed in 2014.

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G-Pop’s Coming — Part 2 … November 25, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2078)

Learning is what happens when we stop complaining and start believing that what has come our way is usable.

I guess the best way to describe my life is that I have gradually learned how to learn.

In so doing, I have become less critical of others because I understand the aching process involved in transition–but I have also become more motivated to escape the sidelines, nursing my injuries.

When I meet with my family this week and they ask the golden question, “What have you learned?” I’m going to tell them the following six things (of course, one at a time over a space of time, so as not to bore them):

1. People want experience without wrinkles.

Everywhere I go, audiences desire insight, excellence and maturity but because of our culture, they would like to receive it from someone who is young, handsome or pretty. Unfortunately, beauty and youth don’t always coincide well with wisdom and moxie. You have to make up your mind–do you want a beautiful billboard? Or a slightly beat-up but very functional moving truck?

2. The second mile is the new GPS destination.

Sometimes I wonder why people think they can get by doing what everybody else does and still distinguish themselves from the mob. You have to have an edge. You have to have a little extra oom-pah if you’re going to perform in the best polka band.

3. Sophistication is everywhere–and it’s annoying.

Somewhere along the line America has become more demanding than giving. We expect other people to jump through hoops as we feel only the necessity to hold them. We need an innocence in order to create revival–a belief that we haven’t seen everything yet, and what we’re looking for is not necessarily dazzling, just heart-warming and meaningful.

4. Good cheer is the new money.

People are so morose, despondent and out-of-whack that simply coming across with a willingness, a smile and a desire to pursue betterment pushes you to the front of the horde. Good cheer is when you purposely put on the mask of a face you deeply desire to be your own.

5. Indecision is killing us.

I don’t know when we started defining maturity as the act of holding meetings, discussing and deciding nothing. Sooner or later we will need to risk being flawed in order to actually move forward and discover improvement.

6. And the final thing I will tell my family that I learned this year in my journey across this United States is freedom isn’t always right–but it’s never wrong.

Unless you have some sort of belief that the U.S. should be ruled by Christian Sharia law, you have to understand that democracy grants freedom at all costs. This doesn’t mean that the things people select to do are always right, or even moral. It’s just that they’re never wrong–because the freedom exists in this country to do what you deem necessary, as long as you don’t infringe on the rights of others.

I see absolutely nothing in error in a church establishing in its doctrine that certain attitudes or behaviors are appropriate for the message they espouse. But if that same church lobbies for other American citizens to be forbidden to conduct themselves however they deem best, then that church has gone from a personal choice of worship to a position of robbing civil rights from their brothers and sisters.

So there you go. If I were to sum up all six of them, I would say this:

Find yourself, be happy, love people–but leave ’em alone.

That is what G-Pop learned this year as he traveled across this country. I’m in my van, driving to meet those who are willing to be called my kin.

It should be exciting.

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

Click for details on the SpirTed 2014 presentation

Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about scheduling SpiriTed in 2014.

click to hear music from Spirited 2014

How Does It Feel? … October 6, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2028)

• What do you think?
• What do you believe?
• What do you do?

These seem to be the three questions constantly bandied about in our society as a way of expressing our maturity, growth and aspirations.

I disagree.

I contend that anyone who believes that human beings are really focused, controlled and guided by what they think, believe and do is probably working from very old information or following an inept social model.

We are creatures of feeling.

I know I talk about this a lot. I do it because our culture has moved into some sort of Zen idea that if we repress our feelings and focus on what we think, believe and do, we can overcome immaturity and silliness, thereby maintaining an enlightened path.

We just don’t work that way. We are creatures of heart.

Case in point: watching a football game last night, I realized that our entire national sports organization somehow thinks that boys between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two are able to think, believe and work their way to victory. It’s comical.

They are kids and they are humans. So what do I know? They will perform at the level of what they feel. If they feel defeated, all the talent they have amassed will dissipate in tiny piles of frailty. If they feel overwhelmed, they will misplace their helmets, their brains will shut down and they will forget what they’re supposed to do on the next play.

So if you’re a good coach, you have to learn how to keep the emotions and feelings of your team generated in a direction of clean expression and follow-through.

Also, you can’t tell me that in the midst of this government shut-down, that we are running our political arena by what we think, believe and know to do. We have sixty-five-year-old men and women who do not like each other and are willing to rob the purses of innocent Americans to make their point.

That said, how can we transform our beings into more efficient and intelligent units, who address our feelings instead of pretending they’re not there?

1. Listen to yourself. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Is there a harshness to your tone? Is there desperation in your words? Has judging others entered into your profile? Your mouth will not lie because it will express the abundance of your heart–a great barometer of your emotions, and therefore, your productivity.

2. When is the last time you aired your feelings? Have you recently told someone of your frustrations, misgivings or confusion? Or are you keeping it to yourself?

Here’s the truth: human emotions have no storage area.

If you don’t release them in a fruitful way, they will dribble into your spirit, your mind and your work.

3. Do you feel that silence is a sign of maturity? Or can you be honest and admit you just don’t think you’re being heard by anyone? If you go to bed at night wondering why something isn’t working without ever verbalizing your concern, you are confusing your brain, causing it to forget; a self-righteous spirit which judges others with a hammer, and a body that has more aches than you can imagine.

How does it feel?

I’m going to church this morning. It doesn’t matter what I think about church; it doesn’t matter what I believe about church. It doesn’t even matter what I do at church.

It matters what I feel about thinking, believing and doing church.

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The Can’t Rant … April 28, 2013

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• “I can’t judge you.”
• “I can’t change you.”
• “I can’t ignore you.”

Those are three solid statements of fact that must land somewhere between my brain and my heart in order for me to finally understand the concept of maturity and how to be a truly decent and productive human being.

I can’t judge you. God does not give me the right. And when I try to become the “decider” for everybody else’s life, I shine a great big spotlight on all of MY scars and blemishes. No one can survive that kind of scrutiny.

I can’t change you. My job is to let my light shine before men, so they can see any good works that might follow, give God the glory, and maybe in the process, adopt some ideas different from their own. Every time I try to change another human being, I push him away and pull him apart.

I can’t ignore you. I can’t pretend that you don’t have just as much right to your ideas and space as I do. I can’t look the other way when you’re in need because that type of deprivation is not limited to one family, but soon will visit us all if we become too shortsighted.

All that’s left to me is to love you. How should I do that?

• Let you find your way.
• Let you learn the truth.
• And let you have a life.

It is only in allowing you to determine your own path that I give you your righteous position of finding the way, the truth and the life.

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Childproof… January 8, 2013

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There are six wheels which roll our culture down the road. A couple of them are flat, others have too much air in them, and one or two are just so well-worn they’re ready to pop. I will no longer follow society on these six issues: violence, sex, God, money, politics and work.

The mob mentality claims that “guns don’t kill people–people kill people.” I have to step away from that thinking. I have a more childlike perception. Anger wants to kills people, which lends itself to shooting if a gun is available. So what am I going to work on? Releasing my anger in positive spurts of revelation instead of waiting until it boils over.

The mass of society believes that sex is an instrument of pleasure, pain and manipulation. I find that distasteful. I’m not against pleasure, but I think any effort to continue a battle between the sexes, using that pleasure as a weapon, is emotional suicide. My childproof answer is to continue to learn, understand and honor the awesome beauty of human sexuality.

The religious community screams out its doctrines about God, preaching that we feeble human beings need to learn His will and enact His commandments. I am a child. God is my Daddy. He created a home for us called earth and if I will listen carefully, I can acquire the best ways to use the household appliances, so I can be successful and do good works that will glorify my Father.

Meanwhile, Wall Street, in the economic hubbub, talk about money. We are suddenly thrust into a materialistic whirlwind, where we prove our true value by the things we possess. It is time for the children to rise up and shout that we have enough stuff, but we don’t have enough opportunity to use our stuff to help others.

Politics may be the only way that those who deem themselves righteous can overcome their adversary in the name of God by using less-than-pure methods. Let the process go on. I am a child. I don’t need to vote. I don’t need to worship where I vote. I’ve already decided what’s important and I’m pursuing it. I need no President or representative as my surrogate in order to do what’s right.

And finally, the hounding, complaining voices of the past have convinced the populace that work is weary and difficult, and the more miserable we can make it, the better chance we have of appearing to be mature. The child in me rebels. The little boy that you see in the picture at the top of this page has no problem with expending energy–as long as it’s laced with a bit of fun.

I am a child:

• I do not kill.
• I do not use sex as a weapon.
• I do not believe in God because a book tells me to.
• I need as much money as is required to meet my basic daily bread.
• I am not interested in politicians, nor any of their manipulations.
• And if you want me to work, you should make it clear why we’re doing it and how we can find a really interesting way to make it playful.

In 2013, I am becoming a child. I have no intentions of being childish–but I don’t see that my society is rolling us towards solutions, but instead, is choosing the hill to roll down towards destruction.

I shall not participate. I shall not be grown-up when I see aging souls finding ways to degrade joy, barely able to tolerate breath.

I will be a child–and maybe in doing so, I can become worthy of the Kingdom of God

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New Year’s Restorations … January 1, 2013

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Unless you become like little children, you will find it difficult to discover God.

I’ve heard that before. It sounds like one of those old adages. Do I believe it? Absolutely not. I want to be considered a “grown-up.” I want maturity brought up in any description of my character.

But I do have to stop on this New Year’s Day and ask myself what good things maturity has given me. The dearth of positive answers causes me to return to that notion of becoming like a little child.

Maybe the whole key to the passage of human life is to take the first twenty years and learn how everything works, the next twenty years to figure out what you can do to make a living and prosper within that system and all the rest of your life to go back to living like a little child–with your profits. What a great idea.

So how do I do that?

I decided to deal with the top six things that haunt us with this specter of “adultism.” Whenever these subjects are brought up, we clear our throats, deepen our voices and begin with some sort of preliminary speech about “such things are not easy to discuss…”

The six subjects are:  God, violence, sex, work, money and politics. Not in any particular order.

I realized last night that I’ve been force-fed old thinking on each one of these issues. Some of the thoughts are just “safe.” Some of the ideas have been tried, tested and have failed but are still kept around because…I don’t know. Maybe we already bought the promotional material for them. But even though I have no intention of making resolutions, I do plan to spend the next 365-day jaunt attempting to make restorations.  Yes–to restore a child-like vision on each of these six “monsters under my bed” without becoming childish.

Would you mind coming along for six days? I will handle each one of them, offering my limited insight and humble opinion. Because if there is any truth to the statement that we need to “become as little children to find God,” most of us are certainly driving off in the wrong direction. So let me pick for tomorrow.

Let me see …what is my new child-like approach to violence?

Of course, the supreme example of this is Jesus, who was given a cross–and since he was, then he turned it into salvation.

Layovers–you can either take the time to look at your watch … or use the time to watch and look.

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