Books and Blogs by David W. Jones
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…”
“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”
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.
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.”
While w
orking on The Moment, I encountered this Ted Talk by MIT Engineer Joi Ito who suggests that the key to future creativity is to be a Now-ist. Here are some excerpts from Joi Ito: Want to innovate? Become a “now-ist” Continue reading “Be a Nowist”
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.
Some
where in the recesses of my mind, I have a vague memory from my childhood when I prayed in a family or other group gathering. Someone, perhaps a sibling, snickered at the words I chose in my prayer. My mother, the ever protector, responded quickly, “He wasn’t talking to you.”
Jesus taught that prayer was never a public performance but a private one.
script:
Our word for today is Rules.
Everywhere we go there are rules.
Pick almost any word, and it is amazing how many rules you can come up with like the simple word ‘keep.’
Keep in touch.
Keep it in mind.
Keep up the good work.
Keep on trying.
Keep out of my way.
Keep out of this.
Keep quiet.
Keep still.
Keep smiling.
Keep this to yourself.
Keep your chin up.
Keep your mouth shut.
Keep your nose out of my business.
Keep your shirt on.
All those rules for one simple word, ‘keep’.
Rules are everywhere.
Rules are basically commands, do this or do that, and most rules are basically negative, don’t do this or don’t do that.
Don’t ask.
Don’t tell.
Don’t stay out too late.
Don’t go.
Don’t be gone to long.
Don’t look at me.
Don’t look at me like that.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
Don’t get up.
Don’t let it keep you down.
Don’t hold your breath.
Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.
Don’t give in.
Don’t give up.
Don’t speak so loud.
Don’t speak too soon.
Don’t be so naïve.
Don’t be so sure.
Don’t even think about it.
Don’t give it another thought.
Don’t bother.
Don’t bother me!
Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Don’t put all that in your mouth.
Don’t make me tell you again.
Don’t make me get up.
Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t you tell me what to do!!!!!!
Rules. Rules. Rules. Everywhere there are rules.
Jesus said in JOHN 13
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.
Above all other rules is this one…
love one another.
Above all else…
Love rules.
Why?
All You Need Is Love
Love is all you need.
You can buy me a diamond ring my friend,
But you can’t buy me love.
No, no, no.
No.
I like it.
I love it.
I want some more of it.
More of what?
This crazy little thing called love.
You might as well face it.
You’re addicted to love.
I Want to Know What Love Is
I know you can show me.
People of the world, join in.
Join a love train.
Love train.
Love rules.
Jesus said
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.
Love rules.
A king gave one of his servants a challenge, he said, “Go and find a ring that will make a happy person sad and a sad person happy.” The servant searched the jewelers and merchants in every surrounding village and kingdom, and then he returned years later.
The king asked, “You’ve found a ring that can make a sad person happy and a happy person sad?”
The servant nodded and gave the ring to the king who looked at it closely then said to his servant, “Well done. Surely, this is a ring that can make a sad person happy and a happy person sad.”
The inscription inside the ring was, “For the moment…”
To help you understand the premarital work I do with couples before they get married, I need you to watch this piece by one of America’s best theologians, George Carlin. Sure, Germany had Karl Barth, Geneva had John Calvin, Americans have had George Carlin. Makes a lot of sense to me. In this brief set, Carlin will clarify the differences between to two sports, and I help relate to marriage. Continue reading “Marriage is Like Football”
Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and he replied with this famous story in Luke 10,
30 “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
While the Samaritan has been called ‘good’ while we’ve looked down on the priest and Levite for two thousand years, I’d like to offer them a little sympathy. By nature of their roles as a priest and Levite, they had somewhere to go. They were likely in a hurry. Continue reading “Slow Down to See Your Neighbor”
In 1965, a Senate subcommittee predicted the upcoming changes in technology would so revolutionize life in America, and that by 1985, Americans would be working twenty-two hour workweeks and would be able to retire at age thirty-eight. However, the result has been that instead of giving us more time, the new technologies have enabled us to fill every minute of our day as the boundaries of work and home vanished. We can work from anywhere and anytime. Whatever time is left, the list of distractions are infinite. A more accurate forecast of the future came earlier, in 1955, with Parkinson’s Law of Busyness (That’s busyness not business). The law states,
Busyness expands to fill whatever time we have. Busyness is like helium gas released in a room. The gas will expand to fill the whole room, however, as it expands, it becomes less and less dense.
Continue reading “Slow Down to Show Up: Lesson from Our Town”
As the New Year begins, if you’re already dreading breaking your resolutions, perhaps you need a different approach, an easier path toward becoming the person you want to be – act like you’ve already achieved it. Continue reading “Fake it Until You Become It”
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 “Great First Lines or “This is just the beginning…””
Macland Presbyterian Church. March 29, 2020
You can watch the service below, fast forward to sermon, or read the sermon text at this link: https://davidjonespub.com/wp-content/uploads/Matthew-6-Why-Worry-Macland-Presbyterian-March-29-2020.pdf
Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
Dick Renard wrote, “God, Help Me Be Like My Boys”
When I look at my boys, I see the life of simple concentration.
They play hard, they work hard, they learn with intensity
They fight going to bed because they haven’t had enough of today.
They look forward to tomorrow only at bedtime prayers.
God, help me be like my boys.
They love unconditionally.
They don’t worry about food or clothes or where they will sleep.
They know they will be taken care of.
They move into the world as friendly agents, without pretense or false motive.
God, help me be like my boys.
They know who you are and have no doubt they will be with you forever.
They see your awesome creative powers.
They don’t compromise their faith with their friends.
They communicate their feelings without the mask of an adult.
God help me be like my boys.
But, O God, look at me. See my insides. I’m just the opposite of my boys.
I hold onto anger instead of putting it behind me.
I don’t genuinely laugh anymore. I want to go to be because I’m tired.
God, help me be like my boys.
My relationships are conditional. I like those who like me.
There is usually a motive to all I do. I’m cautious moving into the world.
I worry about my family, my job, money, and things.
I often wonder if you will take care of me.
God, help me be like my boys.
I’m afraid my faith is not socially acceptable. Some friends feel I’ve committed intellectual suicide. I’ve become a chameleon to hide my embarrassment of you. I wonder why you came to me because I am so selfish.
God, help me be like my boys.
God, I look at my two boys and I see a refreshing view of you.
I see life and gaiety. I see acceptance and conviction.
I see strength and commitment. I see a pair who know what it means to die for you.
God, help me be like my boys.
Please, God, don’t allow their hearts to ever change. Let me be like my boys because I want to be like you.
The last post looks at Carl Jung’s four stages of development (as we journey from humans having spiritual experiences to spirits having human experiences. Leon Oudejans offers a great picture of the four stages with the epiphanies that accompany each transition.
Here are the top quotes by Carl Jung to help you on your journey from humans stuck in life hoping for a spiritual experience to spirits on an awakened human journey: Continue reading “Spirits on a Human Journey (Part 2)”
According to Carl Jung, we grow up as humans and on the journey, we have spiritual experience. The goal for life is to mature, to become spirits having a human experience.
Here are Jung’s 4 Archetypes or Stages of Development: Continue reading “Spirits on a Human Journey (Part 1)”
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Do you remember learning to swim? Perhaps you jumped from the side of the pool into someone’s arms. Someone who loved you. Someone who cared for you. That was faith. Continue reading “Faith – Leap Before You Look”
The more things change, the more trouble I have staying the same.
As the new year begins, I was fascinated by this list of statistics for 1915. Only one hundred plus a few years ago.
I’m not sure how accurate this numbers are, but they do represent the amount of change over the last century.
Continue reading “Shalom Now, Shalom Here, Shalom Within, Shalom Among”
