PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant … March 2nd, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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WasDay

I don’t remember being born

I feel like I should

I don’t recall potty training

It seems to have paid off

When was my first lie?

Did I get caught?

When did I discover my private parts?

No public record

Santa Claus was easy to buy

You get things if you’re good

So why did I lessen being upright?

Was naughty really that nice?

“Jesus loves me, this I know”

But do I really believe?

“The Bible tells me so”

Maybe I should read it more often

When did I start wanting?

How did it become needing?

Or did the other one come first?

Which is better? Which is worse?

How much good until you’re better?

How much better to achieve the best?

Is life for learning or just a fruitless test?

I don’t want the answers

Because I kind of hate the questions.

 

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Good News and Better News … February 22nd, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2852)

Jesus never answered a question the way the asker hoped he would respond.

“Who is my neighbor?”

“It’s that guy laying on the side of the road wounded, that everybody’s ignoring.”

“Is it right for us to pay tribute to Caesar?”

“Sure–if it’s Caesar’s gig.”

“How many times should we forgive people?”

“490 seems fair.”

“What must I do to be saved?”

“Go give your money away to the poor.”

If you’re waiting for truth to emerge from the mass of human opinion, you will spend your life following foolishness.

Thus, the layout of the four pictures in today’s array.

Picture 1, with Jan on set. We arrived in Christ Lutheran Church on Hilton Head Island and set up our equipment. It was the first and best thing we could accomplish.

Because of the nature of the promotional beast in America, Janet and myself maintain obscurity. No one cared that we set up our equipment, but we knew it was important to do it well, and to be ready.

The next picture shows the ceiling of the beautiful church we were in. They are lovely people, but they are religious. It is my job to take that religious fervor and try to turn it into a common sense faith.

Then you see a picture of my wheelchair, sitting by itself in the parking lot. That’s to remind me that showing my weakness only lends itself to creating strength. No one is self-sufficient. We have weaknesses, and if we’re willing to admit them to others, we open the door to a mutual humanity.

And finally, there’s a picture of a rear view mirror. Honestly, I cannot go forward without understanding where I’ve come from, and learning from those experiences to benefit myself, and therefore enhance the life of others.

Humility is not an option we select when we are in a particularly good mood or have sung a moving hymn. Humility is survival–allowing ourselves wiggle room just in case our frailties show up instead of our strengths.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the people at Christ Lutheran yesterday. They were sparkling, delightful and intriguing.

And it was my joy, since I knew they were aware of the Christ, to reacquaint them with Jesus. Long before he got the promotion to be the Christ, he walked among us as Jesus, changing lives, challenging stereotypes and transforming the world.

That’s the good news.

The better news lies in a comment that the dear pastor made to me right before I was departing on Sunday. He said one lady had commented that the service was “the closest thing to a tent revival she had ever seen in the Lutheran church.”

I don’t know if she meant that as a compliment, but I do know this–I am moving ahead in my mission, looking forward to the day when we will be so hungry for revival that we won’t care whether it’s in a steeped-ceiling cathedral or a stained-canvas tent.

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

 

Good News and Better News … February 21st, 2016

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2852)

Jesus never answered a question the way the asker hoped he would respond.

“Who is my neighbor?”

“It’s that guy laying on the side of the road wounded, that everybody’s ignoring.”

“Is it right for us to pay tribute to Caesar?”

“Sure–if it’s Caesar’s gig.”

“How many times should we forgive people?”

“490 seems fair.”

“What must I do to be saved?”

“Go give your money away to the poor.”

If you’re waiting for truth to emerge from the mass of human opinion, you will spend your life following foolishness.

Thus, the layout of the four pictures in today’s array.

Picture 1, with Jan on set. We arrived in Christ Lutheran Church on Hilton Head Island and set up our equipment. It was the first and best thing we could accomplish.

Because of the nature of the promotional beast in America, Janet and myself maintain obscurity. No one cared that we set up our equipment, but we knew it was important to do it well, and to be ready.

The next picture shows the ceiling of the beautiful church we were in. They are lovely people, but they are religious. It is my job to take that religious fervor and try to turn it into a common sense faith.

Then you see a picture of my wheelchair, sitting by itself in the parking lot. That’s to remind me that showing my weakness only lends itself to creating strength. No one is self-sufficient. We have weaknesses, and if we’re willing to admit them to others, we open the door to a mutual humanity.

And finally, there’s a picture of a rear view mirror. Honestly, I cannot go forward without understanding where I’ve come from, and learning from those experiences to benefit myself, and therefore enhance the life of others.

Humility is not an option we select when we are in a particularly good mood or have sung a moving hymn. Humility is survival–allowing ourselves wiggle room just in case our frailties show up instead of our strengths.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the people at Christ Lutheran yesterday. They were sparkling, delightful and intriguing.

And it was my joy, since I knew they were aware of the Christ, to reacquaint them with Jesus. Long before he got the promotion to be the Christ, he walked among us as Jesus, changing lives, challenging stereotypes and transforming the world.

That’s the good news.

The better news lies in a comment that the dear pastor made to me right before I was departing on Sunday. He said one lady had commented that the service was “the closest thing to a tent revival she had ever seen in the Lutheran church.”

I don’t know if she meant that as a compliment, but I do know this–I am moving ahead in my mission, looking forward to the day when we will be so hungry for revival that we won’t care whether it’s in a steeped-ceiling cathedral or a stained-canvas tent.

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

 

Ask Jonathots … July 30th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

(2648)

What is the best way to stand out in a job interview? I have three of them scheduled in the next month. I’m a manager in a good stable company, but want to work in a more innovative business environment.

First and most important, there is no correct, accurate, positive and valuable answer for the inquiry, “Tell me a little bit about yourself.”

If you say too little, you look timid.

If you say too much, you look arrogant.

Every company has a different approach, but basically it revolves around three different questions. Every job interviewer wants to know:

1. What do you think about yourself?
2. What do you think about others (co-workers)?
3. What is your position on personal responsibility?

If you go into a job interview understanding that these are the “big three” that need to be answered, then you will know how to present yourself in a better light.

So if you get that infamous request–to share about yourself–break it down into two different parts:

• This is what I believe I can do
• And this is what I’ve been able to prove I can accomplish.

Because we are human beings, we require other human beings to have a balance of confidence and humility. So if you’re going to rehearse for an interview, what you need to do is find a way to keep that balance in order.

Example:

“I have always felt that I was pretty good at dealing with people, but I think that is getting better because the evidence is showing up in the fact that my sales, interactions and productivity have increased when working with others.”

It’s a balance. It shows that you have confidence, but you realize that it’s being put to the test, and will only be proven when there’s a fruitful conclusion.

I also think it’s important in every interview to have a point when you disagree. I’m not suggesting an argument, but in the process of asking you questions, people will make assumptions.

For instance, “At our company, we believe that everybody is valuable and everybody’s feelings need to be taken into consideration.”

Your response: “Even though I agree with what you’re saying in principle, we are a company, and the bottom line is producing and making money. So we have to be careful not to stop every five minutes to work out office conflicts, but instead, be looking out for the good of the company. At least, that’s what I believe.”

And finally, the third thing to take into consideration in an interview is the “Rule of 25.” Try to keep all of your initial answers to 25 words or less. Rambling or running out of things to say and groping in the air for more information is a sure way to come across tentative. Make your interviewer ask you more questions, and give shorter answers.

These are some guidelines which I hope will help you in the pursuit of a new opportunity.

And by the way, best wishes and good luck.

 

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

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Why-ny… March 19, 2013

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• Why did this happen?
• Why didn’t God do something?
• Why me?

Common questions. Yes, common and permissible to ask–ONE time. If you persist in dribbling off these particular inquiries over and over again, you will soon be faced with a fourth “why”: why am I so alone?

Because even though we human beings are sympathetic about the above questions, after a very short time, our toleration disappears, and we look at people who continue to foster such aggravation as being “why-ny”–too many why’s.

It is a law of human nature–but I believe it is also a spiritual law. For a brief season we are allowed to reflect on our dilemmas IF at the end of that reflection we achieve a resolution. “Weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” It is how we are hard-wired–and we are certainly not aided by anemic psychologists and theologians who insist that the above questions have no answers.

I am a very simple man with limited education, but I can assuredly tell you  the answer to each of the questions:

1.Why did this happen? It happened because we missed a warning sign. Maybe we ignored one. Maybe we were asleep at the wheel when the scenery told us that things were changing. But the true beauty of life is that things are evolving. And the true danger in life is that things are evolving. If you pay attention to the world around you, you usually end up escaping about seventy per cent of your difficulties.

2. Why didn’t God do something? This question only exists because we teach the ridiculous notion that “God has a plan for everybody’s life.” The Bible and all that’s sensible lets us know that human beings are free-will creatures. What God offers is a system called the natural order, which can be studied, learned and even manipulated, by the way, to our benefit. If you don’t want to study and you don’t want to learn, you will find yourself at the mercy of some aspect of these processes, lifting your hands to heaven, asking God to save you from your own lack of involvement. Once you understand that we are free-will creatures and that God has set in motion a magnificent universe of possibilities, then you will become a student instead of a victim and realize that God blesses by giving us wisdom.

3. Why me? It was your turn. I don’t know if you want to call it “luck” or refer to it as “time and chance,” but sometimes we are at the wrong place at the wrong time, which needs to happen to balance out the numerous occasions we celebrate being at the right place at the right time. Everybody takes their turn at the wheel. Sometimes that wheel is success and sometimes it’s adversity.

So how can we keep from being why-ny–constantly reliving our lamentations about the conditions in which we find ourselves? Here is a simple three-step process I recommend:

A. Love what is true. Don’t be afraid of the truth, even when it’s not favorable. It will swing around and STILL make you free.

B. Hope for something new. Never convince yourself that you’re stuck where you are–as long as you have enough talent to be multiplied by taking on fresh experiences.

C. Have faith in what you do. Trusting God is a good thing as long as you trust the part of God that’s in you, which is called your talent. God is unable to help anyone who thinks they are without resource. Keep doing what you do, even while you’re seeking for something new and loving what is true.

If you do this, you won’t find yourself “why-ny.”

If you don’t, be prepared to have lots of time on your hands to further commiserate … because no one will want to be around you.

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