Jonathots Daily Blog
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A Rushing Mighty Wind (Week 2)
(tap the picture to see the video)
art by Clazzy
Music: Nor’easter from the symphony, Crystalline
by Jonathan Richard Cring
Drawing Attention … February 19th, 2020
Jonathots Daily Blog
(4326)
A Rushing Mighty Wind
(tap the picture to see the video)
art by Clazzy
Music: Melting Snow from the symphony, Prima Vera
by Jonathan Richard Cring
Cracked 5 … October 13th, 2018
Jonathots Daily Blog
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More Appropriate Names for Hurricanes (All in the “B” Family)
A. Breaking wind
B. Blow me
C. Beach Bango
D. Ball-buster
E. Bitchy
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Click the elephant to see what he’s reading!
G-Poppers … October 28th, 2016
Jonathots Daily Blog
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“A storm,” says G-Pop.
- Certainly everybody gets wet.
- Some souls are frightened by the lightning.
- Others are chilled by the thunder.
- The wind blows a portion away.
- And many suffer under the devastation–loss of heart and home.
When the storm ceases, the healing needs to begin.
In what should have been a celebration of our democracy, our unity and our abiding purpose, the 2016 Presidential campaign has been a storm which has swept across our land, terrifying the citizens. Even those who prided themselves on being resilient, or were accustomed to boarding up their feelings to protect themselves from the onslaught, have been shocked by the fury of the blast.
It is certain that November 9th will still usher in a season of great conflict which will require sane people of hope and faith to step in and restore healing.
What will the healing be? The removal of complexity, providing a path to simplicity.
We will have to stop being Republicans, Democrats, old, young, people of color, white, poor or rich, and instead, nurture ourselves on the beliefs that have eternal power and everlasting worth.
G-Pop has decided to be a contributor to the common good. It doesn’t make him special–but it does make his mission purposeful.
Three treatments will be necessary to set in motion the remission from stupidity and the beginning of restoration:
1. Love your neighbor as yourself.
There’s no replacement for it. “No one is better than anyone else” is not a slogan, but rather, a constant reminder that attempting to find differences stymies commonality.
2. Take responsibility for your own life.
Stop blaming the government, abortion, the gay community or Wall Street. Count your pennies, and find things you can buy for a penny. Count your talents and multiply them. And count your blessings and be thankful.
3. Be of good cheer.
Good cheer is not happiness, but rather, a road map to get to it. It is a decision to maintain peace and stillness in the midst of the storm. For I will tell you–the storms are not gone. There are more coming.
So we must heal, but also prepare.
G-Pop offers this definition for our strength:
Nothing happens until we show up; nothing is over until we give up.
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Mr. Kringle’s Tales …26 Stories ‘Til Christmas
An advent calendar of stories, designed to enchant readers of all ages
“Quite literally the best Christmas stories I have ever read.” — Arthur Holland, Shelby, North Carolina
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Jesonian: Fire, Wind and Water … July 13, 2014
Jonathots Daily Blog
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Fire, wind and water–the three ingredients of the Day of Pentecost.
It was the appointed time in the history of human kind when God once and for all infused His spirit inside our spirit, to create what He hoped would be a spirit of revival.
- The fire–the spoken word through our tongue.
- The rushing mighty wind, displaying the power of God.
- And the water of baptism, to wash away the enormity of sin.
But you see, this all just sounds like a sermon–the kind of clever parallels that ministers and theologians put together in the privacy of their “den of simplicity,” to try to impress congregations with a bit of insight to mingle with their devotion to God.
Honestly, it’s just too religious. Truthfully, it bores.
Because if you get fire, wind and water out of order, nothing is effective.
To lead with fire–or talking–burns everybody up.
Too much wind of religious practice blows out the fire, leaving just a hint of smoke.
And water can just drown us, dousing everything so that it’s impossible to ignite the flame.
What I would like to do is take the religion and holiness out of all this speak and instead, make it clear exactly what it means to be Jesonian, a follower of Jesus, instead of a generic Christian–one who reveres Christ.
Because if the ideas of Jesus of Nazareth did not set us free by offering truth, but were just another path of righteousness, then perhaps the notion that one well-beaten path is as good as another would be well-founded.
But Jesus didn’t come to start another religion. He came to generate a reasonable and transferable lifestyle.
So here’s the real fire:
No one is better than anyone else.
These words set ablaze all the prejudice, superiority, self-righteousness and arrogance that exist in our world, and purge the forest of misunderstanding.
Here’s the wind:
Find out what you can do and do it well.
After all, just speaking, promising, blustering and preaching don’t carry any mighty effect. But the confidence you gain by realizing that you have a talent and purpose, and then multiplying that ability to the point where you believe you can do it well, creates a breeze of creativity and hope to those around you.
And the water:
Get what you need out of life and then share the balance with everyone else.
Life is neither about fasting nor is it about hoarding. It is about securing the air mask on your own face before you try to help others breathe.
It is knowing exactly what satisfies your soul and not feeling the need to have more–or less–but if you do have more, strategically getting rid of it to the souls that God sends your way.
The Jesonian lifestyle is realizing that the power of God is in the fire, the wind and the water. But rather than teaching about it figuratively, we go out and speak and live that “no one is better than anyone else” as we find out what we can do, discover opportunities to do it well, and in the process get what we want–and give away the rest.
It is why I am a follower of Jesus. Every other philosophy and religion deals in too much symbolism.
These three abide.
These three can change our world.
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The Trouble With Trouble … January 15, 2013
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The same breeze that fills our sails also blows down our fences. Is it an angelic blessing or a demonic curse? Actually, the wind is just rapid air movement, which we can either harness to use for power or has the seeming ability to place us in the harness.
Here’s what I know: everything that has happened in my life has brought me to where I am, which generally speaking is good. And the only thing that will ever be totally detrimental is whatever kills me.
So how can we remember that in the midst of facing the hassles and nastiness that come our way–to somehow retain the objectivity that all things work together to the good?
I have a four-step process that I follow whenever the storm starts blowing my way and I am not sure whether it’s just trouble, or an opportunity to correct my direction:
1. I grab five minutes. I don’t care if people are hurrying me to make a decision. I am not interested in being pressured. If I don’t have five minutes to set aside to calm down my blood pressure, allowing my heart, spirit and mind to create a working team of solution, then I have already admitted failure and have given into the worst possible scenario coming my way. You would be amazed at how much better you feel after five minutes of non-reaction. After all, the brain shuts down from seeking new solutions because the spirit is not seeking new ideas. And the spirit is not sending new ideas because the emotions are not seeking counsel, but are rather trying to take over the show. Five minutes.
2. I start looking for God‘s sense of humor. I think we fail to realize what a card and a comic our heavenly Father is. It’s not that He’s laughing AT us, it’s just that He knows we are better people when we laugh with Him and consider chuckling about ourselves. If you’re looking to buy a new car and you can’t make the decision, what better way for God to point you in the right direction than to let your old car break down? That’s just a giggle fest. But it takes five minutes of clear thinking to find God’s sense of humor.
3. After that, I always find–at least ninety per cent of the time–that it is better to adjust to the wind than it is to push into it. Some people call this compromise and consider it distasteful. They are also the folks who appear determined–as they crash their boat on the rocks. Human life is much more about evolution than creation. Don’t forget that. The times I have pushed on ahead, I have found myself in a desert place, very alone, absent wisdom, devoid answers and seemingly without God. Adjust, don’t push.
4. And finally, celebrate the breather. Some of us never get the chance to enjoy our lives, consider the lily or hug our families if something doesn’t stop us–which appears to be troublesome but actually is just a command to enjoy. I have had a broken down vehicle alongside the road and turned it into a family picnic, a conversation about life or a great card game with my children, and was actually sad when the repairman told me we were ready to go.
You see, the trouble with trouble is that it’s not always trouble. Blessing and cursing look the same until you take five minutes to trace their source.
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We ARE in Kansas (anymore) … June 5, 2012
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Terrain changes, but people don’t.
We are frighteningly alike–alike in the sense that our basic attitudes and needs are really quite run-of-the-mill–not nearly as individualized as we might portray. What am I looking in the state of Kansas? I am looking the same the same thing that I looked for in the states of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California and the many other states I have traveled through just this year. I am searching for a people–a people who will be willing to ask themselves four questions:
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Am I ready to feel?
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Do I follow what I personally believe?
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Can I increase my thinking?
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Will I do something new if it’s an improvement?
Kansas doesn’t have to look any further to understand the application of these four things than the spirit of their own favorite daughter–Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz. Although just a little girl on a farm, when she was whisked away by the wind into a magnificent, hallucinatory dream, she arrived with a heart was ready to feel. She had empathy for those around her; she was concerned. Although overwhelmed by the new world of Oz, she didn’t stand at a distance and call it odd. She jumped in to experience it.
But even though she was a “stranger in a strange land,” she continued to follow what she believed. She preached her prairie pride to the scarecrow, the lion and the tin man, trying to instill new promise for their lives. (Often the problem is not that people are following what they believe, but rather, that people do not adhere to their own beliefs, having become cynical. Yet they still promote them because they are trapped.)
Even though Dorothy had her own beliefs, when she was challenged by those around her and given new information by the wizard, she listened. She considered. Doggone it, she even mulled over it. There was no gate with a lock on the door to her brain blocking the entrance of fresh ideas. Because of that, she was able to navigate her way through this new world and return home, safe and sound.
And then, upon arriving back from her dream state, she’s a new girl. She has greater appreciation for the people around her. Her little revelation caused her to incorporate something new, because she perceived it was better.
There are really only two attributes in human beings that render us unattractive and sexless: nastiness and stubbornness. As you can see, they feed off of each other. Often people are nasty because they are stubborn, and continuing to be stubborn makes them defensive and nasty. Now, I’m not quite sure what to do when I get in front of a group of people who have decided to be nasty and stubborn. I see that they are bleeding out emotionally–and often all I can do is hand them a couple of aspirin and a cup of water.
But if they are ready to feel, follow what they believe, will consider increasing their thinking and will actually do something new–if it is improved–they are the salt of the earth.
That’s interesting. “Salt.” For I am in Salina, Kansas, and the word “salina” comes from the Latin word for “salt.” So what do I hope? I hope these fine folks will be the salt of the earth–filled with taste and flavor.
It’s all about being like Dorothy. When you find yourself in Oz, sit down for a spell … and hear what the wizard has to offer.
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