Author: David Jones

What’s Your Tribal Worldview?

One of the better books I’ve read on leadership is David Logan’s book on Tribal Leadership According to Logan, no matter where in the world we live, we are all tribal people forming into groups in one of five stages of maturity. Our personal and tribal maturity is dependent on our view of the world. Here are Logan’s stages and the view of life held in each. Continue reading “What’s Your Tribal Worldview?”

Enough – The Podcast

For some, life is a glass half empty.For others, life is a glass half full.  But for a special few, life is perfect.  Life is ENOUGH.

Inside this book and podcast, you’ll find simple, everyday words, like ENOUGH, which, if used in your pivotal moments, can help you to a fuller, happier, more contented life.

FREE ONLINE COPY OF ENOUGH:

https://davidjonespub.com/wp-content/uploads/Enough-2022.pdf

FREE STUDY GUIDE

https://davidjonespub.com/wp-content/uploads/ENOUGH-Study-Guide.pdf

ORDER Hardback, Paperback or Kindle Copy

Prayer – Jesus on The Mainline

When I was young, I read Batman comic books and watched Batman on television.
I loved Commissioner Gordon’s Bat Signal for the night sky and his red phone to call Batman directly. The child in me, in moments of stress, reaches out to God when I need heroic help.

Ry Cooder captured that hotline feeling in Jesus on The Mainline. 

Put Down Your Phone and Pay Attention to the Ones You Love

On Easter morning, not one of Jesus’ followers were awake to the possibility of new life after a great loss. They may have learned a lot from Jesus, but what they missed in all their new knowledge was an ability to pay attention and see what they couldn’t imagine or didn’t expect. Learning through studies adds knowledge. Learning from experience adds wisdom – an ability to pay attention even in the simplest situations. Here is one of my favorite stories as an example of the dangers of inattention.

Before you throw away something, or even worse, someone you care about, put down your phone and pay attention to those you love. As Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

First Lines and New Beginnings

A friend and I were discussing our favorite writers, those who offered an amazing phrase, art in a sentence. After discussing our mutual admiration for Norman McClean’s masterful, A River Runs Through It, he suggested I read Wallace Stegner starting with Angle of Repose. When I got the novel, I didn’t have time to start the book, but I did want to know what words he chose for his beginning. I opened the cover and read the dedication, For my son, Page. My response was, “Really, you’re an author, and you name your son, Page?” I was stuck. I did move on, and so far, Stegner has delivered as my friend promised. My fixation on first words did lead me to pick my top five first lines of novels, though my list is subject to change without notice.

Continue reading “First Lines and New Beginnings”

Don’t Worry, Dorothy…

 

Jesus said, “Do not worry…” Did Jesus know how hard that is? To not worry, to try and force yourself to not worry, to command your mind to not think about the future, is like telling yourself, “Don’t think about pink elephants.” Try it, tell yourself, “Do NOT think about PINK ELEPHANTS!” As soon as you make such a demand, it’s hard to think about anything else. The pink elephant in the room becomes the pink elephant in your brain. Continue reading “Don’t Worry, Dorothy…”

Praxis What You Preach

The knowledge of God is very far from the love of God. Pascal

   Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis are two distinct approaches to faith, life, and love. One is more popular and the other far more productive. Like all good paradigms, each has its own fancy Latin word.

  • Orthodoxy, or right thought, assumes that thinking comes before action, and if you think the right thoughts, accept the correct precepts, then you’ll make the right choices and do what is right. The application within the church is – believe in Christ and you’ll act like Christ.
  • Orthopraxis, or right practice, asserts that action precedes thinking, and if you do the right actions then you will think the right thoughts, and what’s more, you’ll become who you are trying to become. The application in the church is – act like Christ and not only will you believe, you will become Christ-like.
    Which of the two, orthodoxy or orthopraxis, right thinking or right action, has greater results? Soren Kierkegaard shared his observation in the following story, which I’ve embellished. If you share it with a group, make sure and have them shout, “Amen!” where appropriate.
       The First Marshland Church for Ducks was having its Easter service, and birds traveled from far away packing the sanctuary with wall to wall down. They sang their favorite hymns, “On the Wings of a Snow White Duck,” “For the Beauty of the Marsh,” and “Faith of Our Waddlers”
    The duck preacher took his stand behind the podium. “My brother and sister ducks,” he began. “Look around you at those next to you. Look at yourself. God has given us beautiful feathers.”
    “Amen!” the congregation quacked.
    “God has given us beautiful feathers for a purpose.”
    “Amen!”
    “God has given us beautiful feathers so we could fly.”
    “Amen!”
    “God has given us beautiful feathers so we could sail high above the clouds.”
    “Amen!”
    “God has given us beautiful feathers so we could soar on wings like eagles.”
    “Amen!”
    The minister went on and on for a half an hour preaching about God’s gift of flight. Louder and louder the congregation shouted back “Amen!” after “Amen!” However, when the service was over, every one of those ducks waddled home.

    Orthodoxy, right thought hoping for right action, is not only ineffective, it can turn even the most committed people into spectators, like the ducks in Kierkegaard’s story. However, orthopraxis, right action leading to right thinking can not only transform individuals but so much more. Praxis is the becoming way.
    Psychologist William James called Praxis the “as if” principle. Shakespeare wrote about praxis when he penned, “Assume a virtue if you have it not.” Father Richard Rohr affirmed the power of praxis over orthodoxy when he observed, “We do not think ourselves into new ways of living. We live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”
    Praxis is simply this, if you wish to possess a quality or an emotion, act “as if” you already had it, let it get hold of you, and it will. If you want to be patient, act like you are, and you will be. If you want to be kind, act like you are, and you will be. If you want to be compassionate, act like you are, and you will be. Enact a virtue to become the virtue. Twelve Step groups call this, “Faking it until you make it.” If you want to not drink, act like you don’t. If you want to become sober, act like you already are. Fake it long enough, and you’ll become what you enact as long as becoming is your goal. If your hope is to simply hide your secrets, hoping others will think differently of you, then it’s not praxis. Jesus referred to many of the religious in his day as “hypocrites,” a term which came from the theater meaning “actors.” These religious people, mostly leaders, were not enacting to become, they were simply acting as if they were already, but Jesus knew better.
    Praxis can affect not just who you are becoming but how you feel. You can not only praxis your way into a virtue but the feelings that accompany it. Tony Campolo tells this story as an example.   A man went to see a counselor about his marriage. “I’m not in love with my wife any longer. What can I do?”
    The counselor replied, “First make a list of ten things you would do if you were in love. Second, do those things each day.” The man found that by acting like a lover, in time he felt like a lover and fell in love all over again with his wife. His actions affected his feelings.
    In love and relationships, there are seldom quick fixes. That was true in this case. Acting like a lover, the man didn’t go straight home from work. He took a shower and put on a suit. He bought flowers. When he got home, he went to the front door and rang the doorbell, bouquet in hand. His wife opened the door and started crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “I’ve had a terrible day,” she said. “First, Jimmy broke his arm. Second, the car wouldn’t start. And now you come home drunk.”
The Moment Front Cover

For more about Praxis as a way of life, see: 

Pray for Daily Bread and Let It Be Enough

“The Lord’s Prayer” contains many phrases that can lead us into life more in tune with Jesus and his way. “Give us this day, our daily bread,” helps us to slow down and enter into each moment. To focus on our daily bread requires an ability to distinguish between what we need and what we want. The current global economy not only encourages no distinction, it is dependent, at least in the short run, on blurring the distinction so wants are treated with the same passion and urgency as needs. And since wants never satisfy when removed from needs, our desires become insatiable. Consider the buying practices and the changes a century has brought. Continue reading “Pray for Daily Bread and Let It Be Enough”

Accept Your Unchangeables to Enjoy

We often face unchangeable problems. How we face them can keep us from living our moments. We may try to relive the past as if doing so could get it right or prelive the future to solve our problems ahead of time. To come into any moment, especially a moment of worship, it is helpful to recognize where we have power and where we don’t as our path to peace can be found in The Serenity Prayer,

God grant me, the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Continue reading “Accept Your Unchangeables to Enjoy”

Want Peace Magic? Let it Be.

I have difficulty accepting the world around me and letting anything be. I am easily distracted and noise can shatter my focus. My motto is “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with everyone and everything else.” My attempt at gaining peace is by trying to change the world and avoid my inner turmoil altogether. Even though it doesn’t work, I keep trying the same thing hoping for different results. Continue reading “Want Peace Magic? Let it Be.”

Practice to Become

The idea of praxis emphasises the importance of doing in order to become. In athletics, the image is simple, no one excels at swimming, playing tennis, or any other sport without years of practice and development. If we believe that we are simply good at math or bad at it, if we believe that either we can swim or we can’t, then we never envision what we can become. One great example is the artist Vincent Van Gogh. Michael Michalko wrote of Van Gogh’s development as an artist with little talent but a strong work ethic.

Continue reading “Practice to Become”

Magic Word from “This is Us” – “Okay…”

(“Okay” as a magic word is found in the following chapter from 
Enough and Other Magic Words to Transform Your Life
by David W. Jones)

CHAPTER FOUR

Oh, No, No, No…     Bruce Springsteen

The Problem

   Amen.
   I am told that amen means so be it. So be it is a lot like yes. When I imagine Adam walking through Eden, I imagine him saying, “Yes,” a lot.
   God says, “Adam, work the garden.”
   Adam says, “Yes,” and works the garden.
   God says, “Adam, name the animals.”
   Adam says, “Yes,” and names the animals.
   God says, “Adam, enjoy the garden.”
   Adam says, “Yes,” and enjoys the beauty of the garden.
   I imagine Adam walking through the marvels of Eden, the wonders upon wonders, the joys, the sights, and the vistas which, upon seeing, Adam says from deep in his soul, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
   Wendell Berry captures for me what first wonders feel like in his poem, The First.
    
   The first man who whistled
   thought he had a wren in his mouth.
   He went around all day
   with his lips puckered,
   afraid to swallow.
  
   Yes. Yes. Yes.
   Adam knew yes.
   He also knew no.
   God says, “Adam don’t eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden.”
   Adam says, “Which tree?” And later, when he’s sure God is far away, when he holds the fruit in his hand, Adam says, “No,” and breaks God’s rule.
   When God looks for him, when God asks what he has done, Adam doesn’t say yes to God but no. “No! It wasn’t my fault. It was that woman you gave me.” No.
   Adam had yes. Adam had no. He needed something else.
   Peter, Jesus’ disciple, was a lot like Adam. Peter had yes. Peter had no. He needed something else.

Continue reading “Magic Word from “This is Us” – “Okay…””

A Wrinkle in Time: A Lesson for Church and Country

A Wrinkle in Time was one of the first books I just couldn’t put down. I’m excited to see what the new Disney movie does with it, but it already laid a foundation for me for writing Out of The Crowd.
If you ever feel lost in a crowd, then you understand what Meg was feeling in the climax of A Wrinkle in Time, Meg struggles to find life as a person out of the crowd. The crowd is a planet called Camazotz. The lines are marvelous. On this strange planet, she struggles to both live out her calling as an individual and as a person in relationship to her brother. Here are some of my favorite lines.

The houses in the outskirts were all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray. Each had a small rectangular plot of lawn in front, with a straight line of dull-looking flowers edging the path to the door. Meg had a feeling that if she could count the flowers, there would be exactly the same number for each house. In front of all the houses, children were playing. Some were skipping rope, some were bouncing balls. Meg felt vaguely that something was wrong with their play… This was so. As the skipping rope hit the pavement, so did the ball. As the rope curved over the head of the jumping child, the child with the ball caught the ball. Down came the ropes. Down came the balls. Over and over again. Up. Down. All in rhythm. All identical. Like the houses. Like the paths. Like the flowers.

The brain of the town, the central consciousness of the planet, was in the CENTRAL Central Intelligence Building, and the brain, devoid of personality, was called IT. And IT monitored all the planet for any distinctiveness among the people. Meg resisted the uniformity of Camazotz. Later in the book, Meg faced IT to rescue her brother from the control of the over-sized brain who spoke to her through her brother. She decided to confront IT. For encouragement, she recited The Declaration of Independence. Continue reading “A Wrinkle in Time: A Lesson for Church and Country”