Tag Archives: bumper sticker

Credo

funny wisdom on words that begin with a C

Credo: (n) any formula of belief

Sum it up.

Capsulize it.

Maybe it’s the proverbial “elevator pitch.”

Do you have a sentence, a thought, a spiel, a bumper sticker or a punchline to describe your credo?

If you do not select one, unfortunately, one will be selected for you. There are three credos available if we do not decide to champion one of our own:

  1. “I’m just doing the best I can.”
  2. Family first.
  3. Get what you can.

I think you would have to agree with me that none of these catchphrases are particularly inspiring. Yet if you do not purposely set in motion an energy through your own lifestyle that steers your thinking and guides your actions, you will find yourself stuck in one of these dead-end streets.

Just think about it.: carved, perhaps etched into the features of the majority of the human beings you meet is one of this trio of default profiles.

No, you have to sit down and form your credo.

Then take the intelligence you’ve accumulated, remain faithful to it and find excellent ways to execute your personal precept. And do not be ashamed when your credo is exposed, and you are unveiled as a disciple of its tenet.

So this really got me thinking. I have many things that cross my mind that are important or stir the ashes of my fire into a flame. But what would be the single credo? What could I say to my fellow-travelers that would let them know who I am and that they need not fear my presence?

I think I’ve got it.

I even believe that my credo would make a lovely little sign I could wear around my neck. It is simple:

Open for business. Joy required.

 

Donate Button

Subscribe to Jonathan’s Weekly Podcast

Good News and Better News

 

Anno Domini — AD

Words from Dic(tionary)

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Anno Domini A.D. (Abbr.) :In a specified year of the Christian era; “in the year of Our Lord”

I think the closest I ever came was when the town council of my little burg where I was born considered having a day designated to me because the musical I had written was going to be premiering in the capital city.

Unfortunately, the measure was voted down because one of the members of the board was an old rival from high school who always thought I had cheated him out of something or other.

So I, who was unable to get a single day of honor in my city of kin, am greatly enamored–and baffled–by how a rejected carpenter from a tiny village in Mesopotamia, who ended up executed for crimes against the state, managed to get the date of his birth marked as the beginning of modern time.

You have to be honest–there is either something magical about that or this guy hired the best damn Jewish agent around. Am I right here? Even when his name is spoken out loud in anger, it’s still great advertising: Jesus Christ!

I know there are those who cannot believe in a SON of God because they don’t believe in God in the first place–very similar to not wanting to see the movie, Son of Flubber because you were disappointed with the first Flub.

But in thirty-three years of human life, he did something right. Maybe we shouldn’t try to study him so much theologically, but rather, analyzing the chemical reaction of human experience. What did he set off that caused such notice and took him from the tiny, fragmented vision of the Jewish people, to dominate the Greeks, Romans, Angles, Saxons and even the Afrikaans and the Chinese?

His message was simple. That was smart. Even though he never had a car, he realized that anything you want people to remember should fit on a bumper sticker.

  • “Love your neighbor”
  • “Love your enemies”
  • “Blessed are the pure in heart”
  • “You must be born again”
  • “Do unto others”

The list goes on and on. Matter of fact, his famous Sermon on the Mount is merely a hodge-podge of many, many sound bites and slogans, glued together by a devotion to mankind and God. The message was so simple that even those who were considered foolish could grasp it, even if they didn’t embrace it.

And for some reason, a hundred and twenty of the remaining followers of this teacher, who survived the horror of his crucifixion, were not only willing to dedicate the rest of their lives to spreading the message, but sacrificed their lives in a belief about his resurrection.

In other words, I think it’s safe to say that most human beings might pursue a hoax if all it meant was that you had to travel and stay in cheap hotels. But when you’re standing in front of a judge and he offers you clemency, if you deny the message and then you choose death, it’s difficult to believe that there is not some credence to the original experience.

So I shall not lament the failure of my local city council–to grant me a day of recognition in my home town. But I will use the awareness of that slight to be in awe–that as I mark my calendar today, I honor the person with the message of love … who got the ball rolling.