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Bart Jackson

This Glorious Easter Morn

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I have risen with the sun and lifted my arms high in appreciative salute to Helios as he pushes through the clouds and over the trees.  Soon my bride and I will head off for Nassau Presbyterian Church, don our choir robes and I, with more gusto than talent, will bellow forth my favorite hymns, with such treasured lyrics as: “…bid the grim demonic chorus Christ is risen, Get you gone….”  Oh yeah.  Today the good guys are winning.

Sweet Spring has drawn our weary heads out of the winter of our discontent and her first teasing perfumes resurrect new hopes in all of us.  ‘Tis the season that has prodded poets’ pens throughout the ages.  (You will not be subjected to my Persephone’s Return poem conjured for my bride this morning.) But allow me, if you will, to pass on to you one fervent seasonal wish:  May you resurrect Hope within your own life.

There are indeed more people who want to help you than hurt you.  Our own culture bulges with public servants and private donors and good-hearted souls who are contributing to their planet and fellows.

Why not find and celebrate them?  Whether you join them or not remains, of course, your choice.  Yet, may you be aware of all the good that the fellows of your species are doing.  As always, there is great money and great sources of power to be had by stirring up our fears.  Those who lay out an array of threats are legion.  But in the end, despair is simply an inaccurate vision.  Hope has the majority on its side.

So as the season comes into full flower, may we all bid the grim, demonic chorus Hope is risen, get you gone.

Oh, and to my atheistic buddies who will doubtless greet me on this particular Easter with, “Christ is risen – April Fools!” I get the joke.

Wishing you every success,

 Bart Jackson

 

An Invitation to Walk

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I would like to invite you this Friday, March 30th to take a walk – but not with me, and not with anyone else.  For many of the Christian faithful, today is Good Friday, a culmination of the Lenten season.  For us, these previous 40 days have served as a period of thoughtful reflection.   Time set aside to take stock: look at what we have done, discover what has driven us to do it, and decide which path in heaven’s name do we want to take now.

Four hundred years before the itinerant Galilean preacher Jesus took his path to Jerusalem, Socrates, another great and compassionate thinker also facing death for his disruptive ideas, stated, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”   It is with that goal of reflective self-scrutiny that I invite you to set aside some time and take this very vital walk with the most important person on your life – yourself.  Leaving devices, notebook, and pressing responsibilities behind, why not walk a little deeper into your life.  With the innocence of you the child, and the accrued wisdom of you the sage make that solitary stroll.

Spring everywhere makes hints of new hope and high promise.  Signs of new life emerge all around us.  Might this not be time to resurrect some old dreams, fashion some new ones, and plan for more fulfilling days ahead?

Wishing you every success, Bart Jackson

The American Sports Stadium – Temple of Commerce or Community?

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March 20, 2018

The world needs more writers like Rafi Kohan – explorers who, out of sheer passionate curiosity, set aside all else and plunge themselves into some mysterious realm armed only with pen, notebook, and an open mind.  Recently, Rafi became intrigued with the American sports stadium phenomenon.  He set aside that year to make ardent pilgrimage to scores of the stadia.  From Green Bay’s Lambeau Field and Houston’s Astrodome to Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz arena and the sports’ homes in the Big Apple.  Rafi tunneled into every facet, unearthing the secrets of scalpers, vendors, half-time showmen, and of course the amazing variety of fanatics.

Rafi’s resulting book is appropriately titled Arena – the Latin word for sand, which covered the floor of the Roman empires’ gladiatorial circuses.  (Sand is an excellent material for soaking up blood.)

At today’s monthly breakfast meeting of the Association for Corporate Growth, (ACG-NJ.com), Rafi Kohan enthralled us all with an insightful talk about his discoveries into the depths of America’s stadia.  (Did you know that stadium grass is grown on top of plastic sheets to achieve the necessary durability and consistency?)

During his talk, it became evident that Rafi was presenting the American sports stadium as both a temple of commerce and a temple of community. Chatting with him afterwards, I asked if he felt the weight of the proliferating commerce would crush the fans’ sense of community.  His answer was cogent and marvelously hopeful.  In essence, Rafi Kohan feels that while the commercial pressuring does lay a heavy mantle on those seeking the haven of the stadium sports experience, fans are necessary, resilient and their desires cannot be ignored.

To learn more about what treasures lurk in the tunnels of America’s sports stadia, you may buy a copy of Rafi’s entertaining book,  Arena, and also keep your eye on The Art of the CEO radio show’s upcoming episode list (www.theartoftheceo.com) – where Rafi will be sharing his amazing experiences soon.

Wishing you every success,

          – Bart Jackson

Summer Fun for the Young – And Young at Heart by Bart Jackson

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Feb. 23rd – Summer Fun for the Young – And Young at Heart by Bart Jackson

Those who have gazed wistfully at the slender hull of a rowing shell slicing across the lake, and admired that precise human unison that strokes it smoothly along: your time has come. The Princeton National Rowing Association is offering you a sliding seat at the shell — eight or four person — and the opportunity to be one of those athletes stroking across Mercer Lake in concert with your comrades. And it is not just for the youngsters any more.   Read the full article: http://princetoninfo.com/index.php/component/us1more/?Itemid=6&key=2-21-18pnrahttp://princetoninfo.com/index.php/component/us1more/?Itemid=6&key=2-21-18pnra

The Maker of our Presidency – President’s Day 2018

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He saw himself as the people’s lion.  In 1829 Andrew Jackson mantled the immense responsibility of seventh President of these United States.  And under his powerful leadership, the Presidency was reshaped forever.  Tough and battle-scared from defending this nation, Old Hickory stepped into office devotedly believing that the President, as the sole individual elected by all the people, was  mandated to ferociously protect their lives and interests above all else.

He battled avaricious bankers, self-serving and special interest congressmen, and secessionists who would rend our democratic republic apart.  Andrew Jackson stood as the prowling, fiercesome lion ever ready to claw the greedy few seeking to enrich themselves by oppressing the many.  In this moral quest, Jackson engaged his blunt personal force and every political trick in the book.  He established the presidential veto as political tool, employing it more than all his predecessors combined.  He expanded the lawmaking role of the nation’s chief executive.  He launched the tradition of the presidential road-trip as a tool to gather public consensus.  In short, Jackson believed in democracy and the American people – a belief that won him the title of “King Mob” from many a wholly-owned congressman.

It is a marvelous thing to witness any person motivated by firm moral conviction.  And Andrew Jackson opened the doors for all future United States’ presidents – opened them to build roads, clean our air and water, expand pubic education, preserve our parks, protect the drugs sold to our people and make secure the investments made by them.  Such is how many of Andrew Jackson’s succeeding Presidents have used their expanded role.

Promulgated by the self-serving within this nation, there currently grows the myth that all government is bad government.  True freedom, they assure us, may only be achieved by doing away with all government – the less the better.   Alas, Jackson knew, and we have seen, that the destruction of our protective government affords freedom only to those greedy few, ever waiting to enslave and grow rich from the citizen many.

So on this Presidents’ Day may we all pause to honor those American Presidents who have defended the people of this nation.  We applaud these leaders who have struggled to preserve our “democratic experiment” and place the interest of the people as their foremost driving conviction.    May the women and men who hold this presidential office in the future mantle on Old Hickory’s legacy and his resolve.

Wishing you Every Success,

– Bart Jackson