Good News and Better News… April 24th, 2017

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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I’m a sucker for kindness.

If you’re going to give me some bad news, do it with a smile. I just don’t buy into this concept that the more grumpy, frowny-faced and serious you are, the better chance you have of passing for a grown-up–or for that matter, making God think you’re truly an observant disciple.

I once wrote a gospel song which had a line about arriving in heaven, which was, “Bursting through the gates, a’laughin’…” (Now whether that will be a chuckle of relief or a belly laugh of victory, I plan on arriving to meet my Father with good cheer.)

So when I came into the doors of Wesley United Methodist Church in West Melbourne, Florida, and saw four beautiful human beings sitting there just smirking, with joy in their eyes, welcoming me–well, I felt good. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?

Sometimes I think we believe church is a place where we need to feel bad before we feel good. I’d like to skip that step, if you don’t mind.

Now, the church building itself is wide open, like it wants to wrap its arms around you and give you a hug.

Yet it started the day before at sound check when I got to meet Pastor Doug. He’s one of those guys that when you encounter him, you immediately realize you like him simply because he doesn’t lead with a bunch of suspicion, and he actually appears to have an interest in your life. I got tickled because they were having a spaghetti supper on Saturday night and Doug was going to be imitating Elvis Presley.

Now, can you beat that? A good preacher who loves people and doesn’t mind a nice pair of blue suede shoes.

So the next morning, when it came my turn to share my little piece of myself with these darling souls of the kingdom, I just decided to be joyful and honest. My dear Lord, what we could do in this country if our leadership would be honest and joyful, and if that didn’t work real well, they became joyful and honest.

The people of Wesley UMC allowed themselves to be touched so then they were ready to reach out and touch others. I even had one lady who gave me the “Grace” of a wonderful shoulder rub. I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same treatment–I mean as far as therapeutic muscle relaxation–but I will tell you this: Pastor Doug has these people ready to enact what the Gospel is all about: Love your neighbor as yourself with a special emphasis on making sure that those who love Jesus double-love one another.

So, for convenience, let me box up my conclusion.

Here’s the good news: you should arrive at church with a heart ready to be encouraged.

And the better news is, if we start preaching the Gospel again the way Jesus taught it–which is mingling our own humanity with mercy for others–then we’re going to have a great opportunity to leave encouraged.

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G-Poppers … March 31st, 2017

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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G-Pop realizes that it could be considered irrational, ill-founded or even un-American to speak against the common phrase, “Be careful.”

The statement has become a staple of our society.

It is synonymous with “I’ll pray for you” or “you’re in my thoughts.”

It’s a tribal exchange of an acceptable spirit of worry between human beings, as we admit that life is dangerous and often out to harm us.

The difficulty with the sentiment is that if everyone on Earth is careful, then we stop having a free flow of interaction, which deteriorates to suspicion. Suspicion is a monster with a huge appetite. It feeds on prejudice–and once prejudice is in place, we find ourselves at war with each other without exactly remembering how it all began.

G-Pop wants his children to be safe. He just believes that the best way to achieve that is to be kind instead of being careful. Careful is misinterpreted. It’s misunderstood. It’s often received as bigotry.

And once people believe that you do not trust them, like them or consider them your equal, you actually increase the possibility of being harangued.

Certainly kindness is threatened by a world of knives and intimidation. This is true. But a kind thought, a kind countenance and a kind word removes any concept of superiority. Most people hurt one another because they feel they are forced to be inferior.

“Be careful” may be something a mother says to her son or daughter as they launch off to college–but college is not a station for being careful. It’s a place to learn, experience, try new things and uncover the talent that may end up providing wage and purpose.

“Be careful” is going to push us to the brink of global alienation.

So as frightening as it may seem, or as unsure as it appears, being kind is the best way to create the neutrality that will lead to either friendship or a quick discovery of who our foes truly may be.

 

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A Three-Headed Monster… May 15, 2014

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2233)

It is different. There’s no doubt about it.

After seventeen years of traveling the United States with Janet, crisscrossing the nation many times, I can tell you, there is a new attitude in the air.

Perhaps it’s wrong for me to use the word “new.” That connotes something positive or transforming. Instead, the experience is a bit regressive, harkening to a time when we made our decisions through the dark cloud of caution instead of the bright sunshine of optimism.

It may be the reason that the majority of our populace refers to themselves as “conservative”–simply because there’s an underlying message in that proclamation which cries out: “Leave me alone.”

If it is possible for me to share this without you feeling that I’m critical, then you have a true understanding of my heart.

There’s a three-headed monster at work. If you don’t understand this monstrosity, you could become discouraged, or even jaded.

• Hurt
• suspicion
• and apathy dictate the choices of those who are in power and even the souls of those who feel powerless.

And it does no good to ask them why they hurt, the cause of their suspicion or to attempt to stimulate them out of apathy. Because people feel hurt, they are suspicious of anything that comes along that might increase their pain, so they choose to do nothing, to protect themselves from further damage–thus apathy.

Both Janet and I have sat down and considered the fields set before us and have carefully chosen our approach.

The only successful approach to hurt is mercy.

Mercy is a magnificent virtue. It not only grants healing to the suffering in front of you, but gives permission to others, and even God, to be merciful to you.

In trying to broach suspicion, the only path that has any prudence is patience.

That’s why the Good Book says “in your patience you possess your soul.” No one in this country will be successfully overwhelmed, pushed, criticized or evangelized into a new awakening. It will take patience. And that requires that I find something I enjoy doing, keep pursuing better ways to do it and run on my own pleasure instead of a clock.

After you hurdle the hurt through mercy and broach the suspicion with patience, apathy will only be overcome by good cheer.

Yes, I believe we have a much better chance of laughing our way out of our misery than we ever will debating it or legislating it. I contend that discovering powerful reasons for being alive opens the door to problem-solving.

It is different. It requires that we minister to hurt, suspicion and apathy.

It will take merciful people who patiently are enjoying themselves and are not in a hurry for results … and bring along buckets and buckets of good cheer.

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After an appearance earlier this year in Surprise, Arizona, Janet and I were blessed to receive a “surprise” ourselves. Click on the beautiful Arizona picture above to share it with us!

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

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Leaning … November 18, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2070)

I said yes to life, so here comes no–to give me a chance to prove my point.

The push.

I shove off to achieve and circumstances push back. Now what?

Leaning–either to my own understanding, or trusting God. One makes sense to me and the other sounds really religious. But here’s the problem with my understanding: it is generations and generations and situations and situations, literally screaming at me, “Be careful!”

Now deep in my soul I know that I’ve never been successful while pursuing a path of caution. I haven’t even managed to manipulate a comfortable status quo. After all, the world is filled with tribulation and if you’re not prepared to adjust to the new dilemmas, you will lose ground even if you don’t move one way or the other.

• My understanding tells me to find a safe path.
• My understanding reminds me to protect myself.
• My understanding has a tendency to negate the feelings of others.
• My understanding generates suspicion which limits my possibilities by removing folks who could be my benefactors.

Trusting God is the step of allowing myself to “be ready.” Ready for what?

• Ready for change.
• Ready for adjustment,
• Ready to use my talents.
• Ready to recognize opportunity.
• Ready to completely alter my circumstances if such a maneuver grants me my heart’s desire.

Yes, it comes down to a choice between “be careful” and “be ready.”

Case in point is what happened to me this weekend in Vandalia. I was a little bit frustrated with the circumstances of an engagement that came our way. It was a late-notice arrangement and I was never fully convinced that the venue wanted us to come in the first place. I’m a human being. I want to be loved, I want to be appreciated and I want to be needed. I felt the church had decided to “accommodate” me. I hate that word. I don’t want to be accommodated–I want to be desired.

So because of that, when a storm watch foretold of bad weather on Sunday night, I seized on the opportunity to cancel the date, fully aware that if there were a tornado watch in the air, all of God’s little children would scurry to their basements.

You see, it sounds logical. But actually I was being careful.

Careful about the storm, careful about the audience, and mostly–careful to avoid humiliation by small attendance.

As it turns out, the alleged vicious outpouring from the heavens never materialized and the concert could have been held without interruption.

My leaning was to my own understanding. Rather than being ready to use my talents, abilities and take a chance that things would work out to the good, I decided to be careful. I did it because I was frustrated, cautious and quite honestly, a little lazy.

So the good folks of Vandalia never got a chance to receive what we could share with them.

• I was tentative
• I was traditional.
• I was fussy.
• I decided to be careful.

And by the way…I was wrong.

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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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Participate … June 17, 2013

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“Indifferent” literally means “not different.” It is a decision to be cool and uncaring about something that comes along, because it fails to conform to the present mold of the general pursuits of the populace. Yet all of us know that “different” things are necessary to our survival–to keep us from skidding off the road because we have fallen asleep at the wheel.

What we consider to be “different” today amazes me. For instance, church takes a terrible rap for being either an old folks home or an outpost of condemnation. We should never give up on the church–but we should never stop improving it.

Politics, on the other hand, has proven to be of little effect in our lives, and is often a stumbling block to human progress. But we spend inordinate amounts of time jockeying for our party or fussing about the details of some sort of party issue.

We tout that our children are the treasure-house of the nation, even as our schools teeter on the brink of bankruptcy and our teachers struggle with depleting budgets to handle increasing class loads.

When should we participate? When is it important to jump in with both feet and be among them that are counted? And when is it better to stand back and let the clowns of the parade pass by, waiting for the real talent at the rear?

As I stood before the amazing people of Vincennes, Indiana, I realized that this was a major question which they would have to answer–whether they were just starting kindergarten or reaping the benefits of their IRA.

Where do I put my energies? Where do I participate? Where do I let my two cents be invested by offering the additional penny of my thoughts?

Here are three guidelines for me. Yours may be different and equally as powerful. My guidelines consist of three questions, which allow us to determine what to chase and what to ignore.

1. What are we doing with God? If all we are doing is worshipping God, we are wasting His creative potential. If we’re trying to find ways to ignore God in deference to more intellectual pursuits, we are not tapping the greatest intelligence. God is valuable if you’re able to bring His spirit to earth.

2. And speaking of the earth, what are we doing with it? Stop taking a political position on matters of Mother Earth just because your particular party has decided, for the time being, to either be overwrought on an issue or under-concerned. Here’s the truth: Mother Earth is one of the easier things to understand. She complains and lets you know exactly where there is need. Just pay attention. What we do with the earth is important, because “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”

3. What are we going to do with humans? I continue to tout the six-word philosophy of “NoOne is better than anyone else.” Why? Because every other approach to humanity breeds some form of nasty, unusable prejudice. What we decide to do with the human race is essential for ensuring that the earth is full of sensitivity and God is being revered as the Father of us all.

What I watched yesterday at the St. John’s church was an evolution. Because the people did not know us, there was a certain amount of carefulness upon our arrival. Honestly, I don’t mind a bit of carefulness as long as it does not degrade  into suspicion. If people will just give each other a chance to bring forth their gifts and share their talents, and THEN evaluaate the exerience, we will be just fine. We don’t have to be leaping around hugging each other in order to leave the door open to tenderness. But by the same token, to express suspicion or animosity just because we are dealing with someone who is not a part of our inner circle is to create a barrier which is insurmountable.

Where do I participate?

• Is God being honored without being turned into a religious monster? I will be there and bring a bag of ice.
• Is the earth being studied so we can gain wisdom on how to better handle our planet and the lives of the people around us? Mark me down as an RSVP.
• And finally, are humans being given a chance to establish the fruit of their labors without being judged by the color of their skin or dismissed because they are aliens? I will donate to such a cause.

The next seven years will tell us much about the future of mankind. Basically, it will boil down to whether really wise people are able to become “diferent” enough from the society around them to include God, earth and humanity.

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******

 Jonathots, Jr.!

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https://jonathots.wordpress.com/jonathots-jr/

******

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Never Right… November 2, 2012

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A knock on the door.

It frightens you. It normally wouldn’t, but this is a different night. The wind is howling, the rain is pelting against your house and it sounds like all of hell is trying to seep through the walls of your home to capture your soul and drag you into the deep, dark pit of death. The lights flash, threatening to go out. Who would be knocking on the door at such a moment? It can’t be good, that’s for sure.

You open the door. There’s a woman there with two little children standing in the background, all of them completely drenched. She is frightened out of her mind and begs for entrance. But you see, you’re scared, too. Every apprehension that you’ve ever had about life, death, people, danger and the presence of your own inadequacy comes to the forefront. Mingle that with walking around in a society that demands you be suspicious of everyone around you, and even every piece of fruit you buy from the produce section, and before you have a chance to think, you refuse her entrance, shut your door–and feel grateful that hell is on the outside and you are on the inside.

This happened to a man on the east coast. The only trouble is, there’s always a morning after–when all of our decisions come to roost and are brought to our doorstep, demanding an explanation.

What are you going to do? Well, you’ve got to lie, right?  Because no one is going to understand how terrified you were by the storm and why your stupidity made a decision before your conscience had a chance to show up.

You are informed that the two children perished in the storm. For a split second, the goodness that remains within you realizes that you are a murderer. But the liar who controls the living room of your thoughts just continues to offer more and more feeble explanations.

Let us realize that for the next 24-hour news cycle, this man will be hated. Each one of us, in our little pious puddle of self-perceived purity, will insist that WE would have let this woman and her two sons into our homes, to escape the storm. We will judge him harshly, so that we don’t have to examine ourselves more closely.

I will tell you–these moments come to all of us and they‘re never “right.”

• It’s never the “right” time.
• It’s never the “right” people.
• And it’s never the “right” mood.

My dear friends, if you catch me on a good day, I’m a saint. If you give me warning and let me know that a unique possibility is going to avail itself my way, I will bake a cake and prepare for the festivities. It just never works that way. And those people who insist they can trust their conscience to protect them against doing foolish things–always end up embarrassed the morning after, trying to justify their actions, as the bodies of two young boys are retrieved from a nearby marsh.

It’s never the right time. True adventure always knocks on our door when we are at our weakest, or when we least expect it.

It is never the right people. My God, if they looked like us, or appeared to be in the same economic category, or we recognized them in any way, we CERTAINLY would fling the door open and welcome them in. But desperation, frustration and destitution always come from another place, with another look–sometimes even speaking another language.They sport difference, and difference equals danger.

And of course, it’s never the right mood. Maybe you, yourself, are pissed off about the storm–wondering if that old oak tree in the back yard is going to fall over and destroy the bonus room you recently added to your property. Your mind is not on altruism or hospitality, but stuck with the pedal to the metal–in survival gear. You hope  that the better part of you will kick in and do the right thing. But the slowest-moving part of the human being is the conscience. It eventually does arrive, but has no desire whatsoever to be quick about it, and when it happens upon our scene, extraordinarily tardy, it only succeeds in reminding us how badly we have done without its help.

If you want to avoid the fate of this man, who found himself trapped in a never-the-right-moment, never-the-right-people and never-the-right-mood hole in the ground, then you must have something MORE than a mere conscience. You must realize, every day of your life, that you are completely capable of stupid, selfish and even evil things.

You don’t have to degrade yourself. You don’t necessarily have to share it with others. Just refuse to grant yourself the ridiculous notion that you’ve “arrived,” and would certainly never be tempted by folly again. Otherwise, you’ll trust your conscience to cover your butt–and that particular virtue will arrive like a turtle, just a little too late.

The reason most people spend excessive time lying is because they are angry that their conscience failed to rescue them from doing iniquity.

It’s never the right moment.

It’s never the right people.

And it’s never the right mood.

When tragic circumstances arrive at your house, you need more than a conscience. You need a heart that freely admits that you’re prone to doing absolutely insane things–unless you put a guard on the outside of your emotions to prevent wickedness from entering.

Don’t judge that man on the east coast too harshly. He is our brother. He is us. His ignorance cost two young boys their lives.

I’m sure we’ll hear more about the story. Or perhaps not. Maybe it will be swept away because all hearers of the tale will realize that they, too, might have turned the strangers away.

It is never the right time … to do good.

It is never the right people … who are brought to our attention.

And it is never the right mood that inhabits our thoughts … when it’s time to be a human angel.

Don’t trust your conscience. Build a second line of defense by admitting to yourself that much selfishness still dwells in the corners of your mind.

Then just maybe you will be ready for that knock on the door.

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Neurotic … September 4, 2012

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I am fairly healthy. Of course, these could be the classic “famous last words” of the guy about to receive his final delivery of carnations … graveside.  But barring some unforeseen bus with my name on it, I persevere. Yet there are little twinges, pains, losses, discrepancies and weaknesses that have crept onto my path to make me aware that I am probably on my way to Grandma’s house. Or in my case, Grandpa’s.

Arriving at my lodging last Thursday, I came up to the front door and realized that the step into the room was fairly high. This wouldn’t be an obstacle to most of you, but I have a bad right knee that doesn’t like to step up and certainly cringes at the necessity of stepping down. So I got myself into the room at a fairly awkward, if not comical, angle, and the first time I left the room I experienced quite a bit of discomfort. Therefore I was intimidated by both entering and leaving my own quarters.

Here’s what I knew immediately–if I kept the situation to myself, it would quickly grow into a fear inside my being. Fear is not unusual to any of us. The trouble with fear is that it is a lousy roommate for other, more congenial tenants. The first thing fear likes to do is cast out love. Then it likes to get confidence evicted. It sits around and debates with faith and chides and criticizes talent. Fear sucks. That may be a rather blatant way of explaining it, but it’s true.

So if I kept my apprehension about this step coming in and out of my door to myself, I would soon be looking at ways to avoid leaving my room and therefore, place myself in a sedentary position, which is not particularly beneficial to me for maintaining my first statement, which was, “I am fairly healthy.”

I was on the verge of becoming neurotic.

Now, I know “neurotic” is relegated to a psychological condition, but it is really so common to all of us that it should be talked about more often and explored like daily bread instead of viewed as a psycho-babble croissant. Here’s what makes us neurotic: a fear unexpressed is the seed of distress.

Whenever we find ourselves in the position where we choose, refrain, refuse or avoid sharing our fears, we plant a seed of distress in our souls. Distress grows into suspicion. Suspicion sprouts some isolation and isolation is what produces rage in us, and turns us into emotional ticking time-bombs.

In my case, if I was not prepared to admit that I was intimidated by a step up into my lodging, I was certainly going to become distressed by my own foolish pride and weakness. This would make me suspicious of any attempt to come and go or avenues that might be achieved in overcoming the situation. That suspicion would isolate me. Instead of moving around–going and doing things–I would look for reasons to stay in the room, and once isolated in that condition, my grumpiness would soon turn into a picky attitude, which could explode into rage if someone challenged me.

We meet neurotic people every day–even after we leave the mirror. Inside them is a fear that they are too intimidated to express. Even as I sat down to write this jonathots to you, I wondered how I would look to my readers, having such a weak knee that I was unable to climb twelve inches without discomfort. Actually, I came inches–or may I say, sentences–from backing away from the whole idea of being so transparent. But because I shared my fear of the step with my traveling partner, Janet, and have now voiced it to you fine folks, I not only have a renewed sense of vigor, but also a comforting presence of good cheer which will not only get me out the door and back in again, but will allow me to do it without feeling shame.

There is only one thing that stops each and every one of us from finding the platform from which we can voice our ability to the world around us: we’re afraid. We share that in common. Not all of us are beautiful. Not all of us are white. Not all of us are black. Not all of us are talented. Not all of us are intelligent.

But all God’s children are afraid.

And if we want to avoid becoming neurotic–gripped by suspicion, isolating ourselves until we become inexplicably enraged with stupid little things that come our way–we must find a way to express our fears. Let me tell you some of mine:

• I have a fear of small talk with new people, even though my occupation requires it.
• I have a fear that my obesity will eventually keep me from doing something very important in my life.
• I have a fear that my children don’t completely understand my mission nor embrace my message.
• I have a fear …

You see, I could go on and on.

But each time I write one down, I am just a little less afraid. Having the ability to verbalize our trepidation allows us to receive a hug from the love that had been chased away.

I don’t want to be neurotic. It makes me suspicious. It makes me isolate myself. And then, at the wrong moment I can become enraged, with nobody around me understanding the source for the burst of anger.

It doesn’t hurt less to climb the step into my room, or to step down to depart. I know two things–there is one other person, and now a bunch more, who comprehend a little piece of my displeasure. And on Thursday I get to check out and go somewhere else. I just thought I would share this with you. After all, it doesn’t do any good to be intelligent or spiritual if you allow your life to become neurotic.

And neurotic is a fear unexpressed that plants the seed of distress.

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