What is natural? What does it mean to find nature—and purpose—for our lives?

How can we  believe without being obnoxious?

Cring takes an often humorous look at the stumbling path of being a human—finding yourself a visitor on a planet filled with all sorts of living creatures.

TRANSCRIPT

Let’s just get it out there.

I don’t know about you, but one of the problems I have with trying to believe in God is the people He seems to hang around with.

Occasionally there’ll be a big-time athlete or a rock’n roller, but most of the time those folks who are “really close to God” are also terribly–uncomfortably–close to being crazy. They’re creepy.

I suppose we can start with the fact that Christianity is a religion that not only extols human sacrifice, but also makes the suggestion that we’re supposed to gather around the body and take a piece. The thesis? In so doing, we’re remembering the human being that was killed for our sins.

See, normally you can’t allow yourself to talk about religion and being “in the Spirit” if you use terminology that comes from a sound mind. Because if you think about it too much–listen–at that point we all become atheists.

But if you walk down the path of atheism and realize how few benefits it offers, and how horrible the retirement plan is, you figure that you have to go back and find SOMETHING in that cluttered mass of relics, rituals and remembrances that will grant you a belief system that functions on earth but also tips its hat to heaven.

Or maybe you don’t think you do. And maybe you’re right. I just don’t have the initiative to love people unless God is in on it with me.

If I don’t have a Partner in appreciating humanity–Someone who encourages me that it’ll be all right–there are just a lot of assholes I’d like to kill off.

I need the reassurance that there’s a God who made me, and I’m not better than any of the other ‘me’s’ that He made. Otherwise I will start ascending far above their heads, so I’ll have a good angle to spit down on them.

And I know that some of you say, “I don’t feel that way at all…”

But even though I appreciate you as my fellow-traveler, I have to call you out for the liar you are. Religion gives you the creeps, and lack of religion MAKES you a creep. There you go. So which one do you want? Do you want to kind of struggle your way through the creeps until you find a salvation–a way of life–that is filled with nature, the love of god and appreciation for others? Or do you want to pretend you can hike your way through the Himalayas on your own, and end up four thousand feet in the air, sucking for breath?

Do I want to be around something that gives me the creeps? Or do I want to BE a creep?

Because the first thing creeps tell you is that life is about God. That is their MAIN LIE. They want you to worship God, and admit you are a filthy, worm-like sinner. They want you to sing songs that lift up His power and step all over YOUR glory. They are creeps saying creepy things.

Here’s the truth: if God is the Creator, He does not make huge distinctions between you and a flower. I didn’t say NO distinctions. But if you don’t stop every once in a while and consider what your life would be if you were a flower, then you miss the point. Because a God who has made billions of planets is not necessarily going to distinguish Bob and Carol from Ted and Alice.

He’s given us life. He’s given us an atmosphere. He’s given us resources. For all intents and purposes, you were meant to be a flower. It was that pesky Nazarene who told us to “consider the lily,” and then, once we discover how that lily does not struggle to survive, we should imitate it.

You should become a bee. Do you understand what they do? Some people didn’t understand, and we started losing the bee population, and the possibility we might be starved to death came to the forefront. We need bees to pollinate so we can have fruit and food.

It’s not creepy. You were intended to live your life as part of nature, not without nature. So you are more related to the birds than you might think.

You actually do have a kinship with that tree in your back yard. Don’t get weirded out. I’m not trying to turn this into something where we sit around, toast marshmallows and pretend that nature is God. Nature is not God–but God is Nature.

If He created, then He created everything you see around you and therefore, you can learn from it.

You are part of a magnificent system that works, even better when you learn to honor it.

Take a look at serial killers. What’s the first sign that someone is in that kind of trouble? They start clipping the wings off flies, killing cats and destroying nature. Because deep inside of our “Genesis mind” there is an awareness that a sparrow does not fall in the forest without God being aware of it.

Just keep in mind that God said we’re worth many sparrows. Thank you. Don’t tell the sparrows, but thank you.

If you follow a bee around–yes, a bee–on its daily activities, you see that this creature with this tiny little brain still have a huge drive and purpose. If any human being had the intentional awareness of its purpose the way a bee does, he would easily rule the world.

You see, bees don’t quit.

Flowers don’t refuse to bloom. Not today. “I know I’m supposed to be an annual, but I’m going to be a perennial. No blooms for me this season…”

And trees certainly don’t stop branching out.

Yes, I’m creeped out by religion. To me the Old Testament is like a horror story, but many times nobody shows up to save the damsel in distress.

Don’t ask me to believe in a religion that contends it’s better than everybody else–the Chosen People–and places a chip on the shoulder of every bully on the block.

I often wonder, what came first, the bully or the brat? Did the brat walk around acting like he or she was better to such a degree that the bully had to strike out to prove his own worth? Or are there bullies out there ready to hit everything in sight, making kids become brats to defend themselves? I think it’s a great question.

If your kids are brats at home, why are you so surprised that they get bullied? And if your son’s a bully, why aren’t you more careful to make sure he doesn’t hurt the brats?

Because here’s the truth: none of us are innocent. I know we want to find villains and heroes. I got it. But sometimes the heroes create the villains. And sometimes the villains make people overdress and over-react to become heroes.

Why? Because we’re unwilling to become bees. Who wants to be a bee?

To bee? Not me. I have to become something better. Now, if King Bee is available, let me know.

Can we delve into learning about creation, our Creator and our lives without having to become so creepy, superstitious and wacked out that no one wants to be around us?

Because God know, atheism is not a great conversation starter. And those who decide to not believe in God end up not believing in a lot of other things–including people.

You’re part of nature–a part of Creation intricate to the evolution.

So therefore, a bird-brain can fly.

A slug plugs along.

And a damn cockroach survived the dinosaurs.

Can you imagine, if somebody had told a Tyrannosaurus Rex that he was going to be survived by cockroaches? Hell, he would have laughed (if they do that). After all, he was too strong. Too powerful. He was also too demanding and too selfish.

Cockroaches never criticize the cuisine.

Here’s what I have to remind myself every day. God is not absent from life. He is included in every aspect of the living. And He’s constantly at work in the midst of His creation.

So if you’re living in Hawaii right now, it’s the volcano’s turn. It plugged up its emotions for a long time. We need to let it erupt and we need to get out of the way.

I understand we want to put out forest fires, but Nature knows when there are too many goddamn trees. Sometimes we need to make ourselves part of the plan instead of part of the problem.

Religious people give me the creeps. So do atheists.  Is it possible that I can find my place in God’s earthly nature? Because this is true–plants and animals are content because they don’t feel the need to be superior.

Why in the hell must I?

Why do I need to be the best?

Why can’t I just be good, getting better?

You must never worship nature. Nature is not an entity unto itself. It is created–a beautiful by-product of a loving relationship between Father God and Mother Earth.

Just do yourself a favor: understand that you’re a part of it. Our beliefs can differ, but our mission must be the same. And the mission is simple: love your neighbor as yourself.

You just need to understand that everything around you is your neighbors. You are part of all of it.

So the good news is, as Jesus told us, you are worth many sparrows.

And the better news is, if you want to really become a believer instead of just a religionist, you should take the time to discover your sparrow within. 

 

About Author

Jonathan Cring

Our story is told from where we begin. For Jonathan Richard Cring, this was music. First he sang songs, played songs and then one day it occurred to him that he might like to write one. He actually wrote two that morning and rather enjoyed it. This opened the door to people recording his music, ending up in Nashville, Tennessee, with a contract. Having read a book, he had an itch to write one. The first one was small. It was called "The Gospel According to Common Sense." But fourteen books later, he has accumulated a considerable journal of his journey and heart. In the process, he had four sons and was godfather to three others. One of these young men wanted to be a filmmaker. Scripts were required, so Papa Cring wrote thirteen screenplays which ended up being produced into independent feature-length films which won awards at twenty-eight film festivals. While perusing websites for his movie career, Jonathan discovered blogs. He decided to write one and called it Jonathots Daily Blog. That was in 2008. Thousands and thousands of entries, which extended to additional blog categories--one called Jonathots, Jr.--pictures with euphemisms, and Words from Dic(tionary)--taking the Webster classic in its alphabetical order, and writing mostly comical essays on each word. Sitting around the table at Christmas time, his children encouraged him to begin a podcast. In 2018, he began one called Good News and Better News. It is a content-filled tongue-in-cheek look at American culture with the contention that life really doesn't suck. Bouncing off what has been done while discovering what is available has created the arc of the career for Jonathan Richard Cring.
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