Wisdom From a Breakfast Pastry
I have never listened to a song by the artist known as Jelly Roll. I knew he was a convicted felon, had tattoos all over his face, and had won a few Grammy awards, but that was it. I couldn't tell you whether he was a Republican or a Democrat. Apparently, some of his fans could not either.
Some thought he was a “MAGA Republican” because he is a best-selling country artist from Nashville who attended the UFC fight on the White House lawn and was photographed shaking President Trump’s hand. Others thought he was an extreme “Hollywood Liberal” because of his looks and the fact that he guest-hosted President Trump’s least favorite show, Jimmy Kimmel Live.
After the grief he received from one side over the Trump handshake and from the other over hosting Kimmel, he gave a heartfelt monologue on his final night on the Kimmel show, often breaking into tears.
Here are a few quotes from Jelly Roll’s monologue…
“Human dignity isn't Republican nor Democrat. Compassion isn't left-wing, and mercy isn't right-wing. Pain and healing know no partisanship. Hurting hearts are more important than poll numbers.”
“Redemption, empathy, decency, and hope - it can't just be for people like me. The American dream should be for everybody.”
“I can't read the gospels without being confronted by the words of Jesus himself: 'When I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me a drink; when I was a stranger, you welcomed me in.' That was Jesus.”
“He also gave us two commandments. Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. There wasn't an asterisk after neighbor. There wasn't a political party exemption.”
“There's a famous quote that I think about all the time that says, 'While we are fighting monsters, we must be careful not to become a monster ourselves.' We may disagree, we may argue, we may vote completely differently. But let's try not to let the couple of things we disagree about make us forget the hundreds and hundreds of things we have in common.”
At the end of the monologue, Jelly Roll told a story about his father…
“My father, Buddy D. Ford, God rest his soul, was a blue-back Democrat, and his brother was a red-hat Republican. And this might be hard for people to understand out there, but they were absolutely best friends. And when my father was in hospice on his deathbed, and I had the opportunity to ask him everything I wanted to know, I said, 'Dad, how are you and your brother so tight when y'all didn't agree about anything?'
And he looked at me and said, 'Son, we agreed about hundreds of things. We only didn't agree about a few things. And we were not going to let the few things we didn't agree about define our entire relationship.'”
A few thoughts I’d like to share…
Am I comfortable referring to a grown man as “Jelly Roll”? - Not so much.
Do I endorse every syllable he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live? - I don’t think I would endorse every syllable I have ever said, so probably not.
Am I comfortable with everything this man has ever said in the past or every lyric he has sung? - Most likely not.
Do I think you should go out and buy all of his music? - Not really. No good music has been released since 1982 except for Don Henley’s solo stuff. (I have to support the family, so please go out today and buy lots of Eagles albums and Don Henley’s music.)
Do I think we all can learn something from his heartfelt monologue? - Yes
I simply hope that whether you are left, right, red, blue, conservative, liberal, MAGA, or “Holly-weird,” we can all find some common ground in the middle and not make monsters of the other side or ourselves along the way.
After all, Genesis records that the Tree of Life was in the middle of the Garden of Eden. The trouble began when we left that middle.
And maybe it is no coincidence that redemption came from the Son of God on a cross in the middle of two criminals.
Just a thought.