G-Poppers … April 15th, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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G-Pop’s grandson was a bit spooked by the notion of evil coming from the hearts of humans, so G-Pop continued his discussion with a little more sensitivity toward a little boy’s tender consciousness.

“Let’s put it this way,” said G-Pop. “If evil is out of our control, then who’s to say that goodness is available for us to choose?

The power in life is in having power in your life.

If the devil can defeat you and the angels have to rescue you, you kind of become the classic damsel, constantly in distress. So here’s where evil comes in:

• Our appetites. We’re just too hungry.

We keep looking for adventure. And the more advertised forms usually involve risk or deceit.

Our true adventure is life. And when we screw it up the first time, fortunately for us, we usually have another chance to revisit the location with a better travel plan.

Our appetites drive us to do stupid things. It’s good to be hungry, but just as we adjust our physical diet to include nourishing portions, we should do the same with our emotional, spiritual and mental buffet.

• Our second problem is ego. It’s when we are too selfish.

There is certainly nothing wrong with loving yourself if you make sure to leave enough time to grant your neighbor the same courtesy. But if you believe you must destroy, out-flank, cheat or curse your brothers and sisters to get your portion, you will eventually hatch some form of evil.

• And finally, there’s delusion. ‘I’m too important.’

Finding our true worth is our greatest achievement. Otherwise we start thinking we’re more valuable than we really are, making us pompous, or less valuable, which causes us to become defensive over our deteriorating worth.

This allows delusion to come to the forefront. We convince ourselves that we have a greater capacity than we can prove, and become quite infuriated when anyone challenges our assessment.

When our appetites make us too hungry and our egos cause us to become selfish, then our delusion makes us insist that we are primarily important.

There you have the formula for evil.

Goodness is when we let our appetites lure us to righteousness, our egos make us generous to the needs of others and our delusion is eliminated because we know exactly who we are and who we aren’t.”

G-Pop finished explaining this to his grandson. Amazingly, the little fella appeared to understand.

He turned and said, “I think I’ve got it, G-Pop. Don’t eat too much of anything.”

G-Pop smiled.

A pretty good analysis.

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Good News and Better News … January 11th. 2016

Jonathots Daily Blog

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Pictured is the big toe on my right foot.

No air-brushing, make-up, special effects or plastic surgery were involved in the presentation of this shot. (I did take the precaution of slathering the big fellow with lotion to counteract some dryness.)

I was born with two big toes–one on my right foot and one on my left. In the course of the journey, I lost the one on my left foot due to an infection.

I must be candid and tell you that I’ve always taken my big toes for granted. But when I was recovering from the amputation, I discovered that the big toe performs an important function: it gives us balance. It allows us to have a swagger–a smoothness to our gait as we walk and run.

I did not need to relearn walking, but I did notice a difference, and occasionally had to catch myself from falling because I assumed that the “Great One” was still in position on my left foot.

So I realized that as the big toe functions, so follows the foot.

• A nice foot is beneficial to an ankle.
• A solid ankle supports a busy leg.
• A busy leg gives purpose to a torso.
• A torso is a great resting place for a head containing the brain, which barks orders to all of the members.

Now, popular thinking would be to give special attention to the brain because it is the more advertised authority figure. But having lost my left big toe, I will tell you–if you can get your big toe to react properly and stay healthy, since it is the furthest point from the brain, you can pretty well guarantee that everything in between is jim-dandy.

Yes, a healthy big toe bodes well for the entire human apparatus.

As you can see, looking at mine, it’s a little dry and the toenail is crusty and could use the benefits of a pedicure.

That’s the good news.

Here’s the better news: the same information transfers to our society. While we spend so much time trying to change the minds of people in the world around us or force our ideology in their direction, we would do much better to focus on the big toe of our faith, belief and lifestyle.

There’s too much religion, too much theology, too much politics, and too much knowledge with no learning going on for the good of the common man–and of course, the common woman.

So what is our emotional big toe?

What is our spiritual big toe?

What is the big toe of our mental process, which assures us that our thinking is heading in the right direction instead of being deterred by selfishness and greed?

I think any time we walk away from the Golden Rule, “love thy neighbor as thyself,” we are completely out of balance and capable of falling.

And even in the case of the Golden Rule, there are days we don’t love ourselves enough to give others adequate affection.

Yes, there are times that I stub my toe, and it hurts so much that I don’t want to walk on it, nor be around people and have to explain my limping.

Part of the Golden Rule is knowing that when we feel good about ourselves, it is the best time to bestow the same blessing on others. And when we feel like crap, we should lock ourselves away and rejuvenate before forcing our misgivings on our brothers and sisters.

I guess it’s safe to say that life is about being on your toes and getting a foothold.

There’s truth to that.

So having only one big toe, I watch it carefully because it lets me know what’s going on in the rest of my body–and also, to a certain degree, the stability of my brain.

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Populie: Poor, Poor People … September 3, 2014

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The most wealthy woman I have ever known once complained to me that she was having difficulty meeting her needs.

I realized at that point that poverty is not merely a state of finance, but more often than not, a state of mind.

So it is popular to believe that there are poor people.

The populie comes when we say poor, poor people. It stimulates the sensation of pity. Unfortunately, pity is a two-edged sword.

There is pity that manifests itself as, “I feel so sorry for those homeless and impoverished souls.”

And then there is pity that proclaims, “Look at those people. I’m sure glad I’m not like them.”

They share one thing in common: they turn fellow-human beings into victims.

And once we victimize people, it is very easy to marginalize them and make them less important, or even worse, non-human.

Even though we profess to be a socially aware populace, we still subject those who are less fortunate to live in communities where there are more drugs, more liquor stores and no groceries available without paying a high price and selecting unhealthy foods.

Religion loves “poor, poor people” because it gives them a constituency. It grants them a congregation which is so dependent on mercy that they have to come to church, pray and believe in God.

Politics loves the issue because it divides people between believing we can solve the poverty issue and insisting that poverty is caused by laziness. Go to the booth and cast your vote.

Entertainment–well, entertainment loves it any time that it can box people up into categories and postulate on the extremes of the situation, to develop a dramatic or comedic outcome.

“The poor you will have with you always.”

• Poverty is not going away.
• We’re not going to wipe it out in our lifetime.
• There’s no vaccine against it, nor medication to cure it.

Every chance we get, we should do what we can for others without becoming obsessed with the need. Here’s what is necessary to relieve yourself of the emotional, spiritual, mental and physical presence of poverty:

1. Change your location.

If you were a farmer planting seed in a field that bore no crops, you would certainly hunt out new ground. I have seen people improve their prosperity simply by moving. We have a tendency to surround ourselves with people in a similar plight to our own. This breeds a lack of motivation. Make a new plan, Stan, and hit the road, Jack.

2. Refuse pity.

Every time someone tries to be kind to me by feeling sorry for me, I reject it. Sometimes they’re offended, but usually they are so relieved that they don’t have to continue to be my support system that we actually become better friends.

Pity is offering to put you into a cave. Refuse it. Have an idea. And keep your faith.

3. Work your best.

Don’t wait for someone to give you something to do. You will always end up with what they don’t want to do.

Find out what you’re good at and start doing it–even if it’s in a small way–so people can find you, encourage you and use you to perform the duty for them.

Stop experimenting on things you hope for and start perfecting what you know.

“Poor, poor people” is the populie. It’s a formula for keeping people poor.

The only truly spiritual way to treat poverty is to do what you can for folks while you encourage them to go out and do what they can for themselves.

 

 

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Turning Kids Into Humans: (Part 1) Special Delivery … August 18, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

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You have just received delivery of your new little baby girl or boy, with sufficient pounds and accompanying ounces.

You are thrilled.

You are ecstatic.

You feel as if you are the founder of procreation, and maybe the first person that ever completed the task sufficiently. Now–the next step is to pull out the instructions. They should read:

“We guarantee arrival, but the contents may have shifted during shipment.”

Read on.

“Does not include batteries.”

Yes, what you have received is a being who is not yet human. Perhaps you thought the unit should arrive completely assembled and energized by the correct emotional, spiritual, mental and physical electricity to make it function well and be successful.

Not so, Joe.

Your little he or she, to some degree, remains an “it” until you learn how to insert the correct charge to make your wonder child truly wonderful. By the way, here are the batteries:

1. Empathy
2. Appreciation

No child is born with them, but without them, you have all the parts but they don’t chug the choo-choo. Shall we define?

Empathy: “I can feel what other humans are feeling.”

Appreciation: “I am grateful for what has been provided.”

Children do not come with these installed. They are born “beings”–being hungry, fussy, thirsty, self-involved, unaware and ignorant.

To achieve the status of human depends on you. This pursuit is more important than piano lessons, soccer, new shoes or a college education. Without the batteries, your little bundle of joy will fail to deliver much happiness to the world around, and therefore end up defensive and cynical instead of hopeful.

So how do we, as parents, install the batteries of empathy and appreciation into our offspring?

If you will join me over the next eight Mondays, I will take you on an odyssey to uncover how this can be accomplished at the varying stages of development. It will not be complicated; it will be frighteningly simple, but it shall require your faithful attention.

All aboard!  Let’s try to become proficient with our special delivery.

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

 

The Sermon on the Mount in music and story. Click the mountain!

 

Click here to get info on the “Gospel According to Common Sense” Tour

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G-16: Monkey Angels … March 21, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog  

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It takes billions of years to evolve billions of years.

Therefore, it stands to reason that following billions of years, billions of things probably happened.

Yes, in the culmination of billions of years, the universe was birthed–with a tiny little baby planet called Earth, occupied by a bizarre diversity of flora and fauna, sharing one common concern: survival.

It is a situation which Nature blindly accepts, but a Creator ponders:

• Is there more than survival?
• Can a creature be brought forth from the jungle and be granted an emotional awareness, a deeper mental capacity and a spiritual yearning?

Monkey angels.

The Creator formed a being which was unwelcome in the arms of Mama Gorilla, and required a bit of rehab in order to hob-nob with the angels–a homey with no natural home.

Human: monkey angels.

A little bit of everything tossed in the crankcase, never quite certain if the engine will actually turn over.

Monkeys are unimpressed and angels are baffled. Are we a joke? A drunken experiment? A paradox? A mystery? Or the pride of the original “Big Banger” Himself?

It certainly explains why we feel insecure. It clarifies our nagging sensation of not belonging. It justifies the search to find ourselves.

It is why our monkey curiosity caused us to choose the wrong tree, leaving our angel abandoned in the jungle, needing the garden. We require both a cage and the freedom of the sky.

The entire creation of monkey angels seems a bit tongue-in-cheek. It is suited to those who have the playfulness of the chimpanzee and the resilience of an archangel.

Monkey angels: more than survival–chasing the banana for further study.

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

Click here to get info on the “Gospel According to Common Sense” Tour

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Populie 2: Everybody’s a Winner … February 5, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

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When popular opinion yearns to promote an idea pleasing to the masses, that generates “warm and fuzzy feelings, ” then politics, religion and entertainment get behind the notion, propelling it forward, even if it’s necessary to create a lie or two in order to maintain the enthusiasm.

Thus, Populie.

And one of the most interesting presentations of this phenomenon is the abiding, insistent and seemingly heavenly energized commandment that “everybody’s a winner.”

• Politics loves it because it makes the electorate feel content in itself.
• Religion embraces it because everything can be drenched in the grace of God, and congregations don’t have to be challenged to excellence.
• Entertainment imbues its plots with the precept because it allows them to always have the delightful Hollywood ending.

I call it “emotional marijuana.”

Put up the smoke screen of equality based upon “just what we’re doing and nothing more,” in order for everybody to munch Fritos while watching reruns of Star Trek.

But let me take you on a brief journey. May we call it a Tale of Two Stories? They are found in the Good Book. Listed twice, some people think they are the same parable being perceived by different authors. But I don’t think so.

The first rendition is a revelation about a king who goes off to a far country and leaves money behind for his servants. Each one receives–well, let us say $1,000. He gives them no instructions; merely entrusts his finance to their good care. But upon returning, they discover that he had thoroughly anticipated that they would take the funds, invest it wisely and bring back dividend.

The second story is similar–but this traveling monarch selects to give $5000 to one fellow, $2000 to another and $1000 to the remaining servant, based upon their abilities.

So here’s what I derive from these two delightful tellings:

Everyone is born with life. No one is better than anyone else.

Then culture comes along–circumstances, abuse, blessing, passion, discipline, parenting, neglect, and all other factors involved in the process of human beings growing to adulthood. It is in this phase that we develop both our abilities and our predilections.

So the truth of the matter is, if we don’t teach people to be adequately competitive, energetically involved, avidly pursuing betterment, they will make the same error as the folks in these parables from the Good Book, who hide their lives and talents due to fear of failure.

So we have a two-step process which needs to be promoted if we want to improve the planet:

1. We need to admit that No One is better than anyone else. By birth, our Creator made us equal by giving us life.
2. Then we must understand that without inserting a voracious desire to be successful and to use that benefit to enrich our own lives as well as the lives of others, we stall people–not only in their finance, but in their emotional, mental and spiritual ascension to the best that earthly life can offer.

The Populie is, “Everybody’s a winner–even when they lose.”

The truth is, “Everybody’s a loser if they don’t at least attempt to win.”

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Rear-view Mire … December 26, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

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I spent seventeen days with friends and family in the Nashville, Tennessee, area–the location of one clump of our clan. Everyone else not living in the Volunteer State flew or drove in for the occasion.

It was full of mercy, grace, enlightenment, joy, silliness, overeating and memories.

This morning as I drive down the road toward Houston, Texas, sitting in my van, I look at my rear-view mirror, which grants some reflection. What I mean is, often when we return to gatherings of our kin, there’s a lot of looking in the rear-view mirror, and if we’re not careful, it can become the rear-view mire, bogging us down in too many stories from the past and not enough freshness from the present.

For instance, an old friend showed up last night, who was a close acquaintance back in the early 1990’s, and although we had a great visit, I felt we were struggling to change the frozen past into the warmer and realistic present.

Some people would just say that’s the way life is. I’m not so sure I agree.

So I took those seventeen days to reestablish moments that exist in real-time instead of rehashing details from former occasions. The end result was an emotional, spiritual, mental and physical revelation of one another–mostly good, but a few things demonstrating our differences.

Fortunately, I am not afraid of people having opinions which vary from mine. But I did discover a three-step process I want to apply in all of my situations with human beings:

1. Thaw out the frozen memories.

Give people a chance every day to reestablish a newness of life instead of making them live in a box you’ve constructed for their character.

2. Live in the moment and suck it dry.

I am astounded at how much time we spend complaining about out lot, wasting valuable units of time which could fill us with new spirit. If you regret the past, complain about the present and worry about the future, you leave no space for God to be God and you to be talented.

3. Finally, don’t think about tomorrow.

I’m so happy to report that the future is not yet forged, but is waiting for our free-will choice to set in motion our miracle.

Constantly looking at the rear view of our lives can create a mire of confusion, anger and resentment–not to mention just feeling cheated. Or it can be a time where we spend too much energy celebrating past victories without planning for future escapades.

I love my family so much that I wrap them in elastic, so as they expand, there is plenty of room for them in my life.

• Thaw out
• Live in the moment
• Don’t fret

It’s the way to avoid the rear-view mire: defrost your windshield and keep your eyes on the road.

 

 

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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.

click to hear music from Spirited 2014