March 14, 2023 • 25 mins
One of my favorite authors of all time is with us today. His newest book, "Rise Today, Trusting God and His Promise", is my March Book Club choice, and several of his other titles, "Christmas Jars" & "Even The Dog Knows", to name a couple, sit on my book shelves.
Jason, author, speaker, spreader of hope, faith, and kindness, gives us the gift of "Rise Today" during this Easter season. It’s a precious little hardback book, rightly likened to an “illustrated extended greeting card with a message that offers hope in dark times.”
Set your worries aside and join us for an uplifting 30 minutes! ~ Delilah
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Has March been roaring in like a lion in your
little corner of the world. It's traditionally been the month
of crazy weather, an outward sign of a dramatic seasonal shift.
I wouldn't want to face down three or four months
of these crazy weather mood swings, but I can deal
(00:25):
with a few weeks of it, knowing what the glorious
outcome will be. I'm a little sad to see February
in the rear view mirror, though I hope it was
as good to you as it was to me, and
I hope you felt seen and heard and loved. Today's
guest is amazing at doing and teaching those skills and
(00:48):
sharing their importance in a myriad of ways. Along with
his writings, he's often found giving guest sermons at churches
across the country, or speaking to large and small groups alike.
Jason Wright is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today best selling novelist. His work that's included
(01:10):
more than five hundred columns, has appeared in over one
hundred newspapers, magazines, and websites across the US, including The
Washington Post, The Washington Times, the Chicago Tribune, on and
on and on. You may know him from his beloved books,
Christmas Jars is one of my favorites, or maybe from
(01:32):
the twenty twenty award winning film adaptation of Christmas Jars.
Jason is the author of twenty one book titles, including
the August twenty twenty two Delilah's book Club pick, the
fictional feel good novel Even the Dog Knows, as well
(01:53):
as my March choice this year, Rise Today, Trusting God
in his promise, and the most pressing reason that I
have asked Jason to join us today. He is also
a popular speaker and consultant who provides training on kindness, habits,
faith failure, the Christmas Jars movement, the Lost art of
(02:17):
letter writing, and now he's with us today to talk
about all of that and whatever else is on his heart.
I'm excited to hear all about Jason's latest book, Rise Today.
We'll get into that right after I give some time
and attention to one of my fantastic podcast sponsors. Of
(02:38):
the few things in life that are universal, I believe
love is the most powerful. I've been talking about mercy
ships a lot, and someone asked me the other day, Delilah,
what is Mercy. Well, to me, mercy is unfettered love.
(02:59):
Unfettered means boundless, unrestrained, free, the very best kind of
love there is. There is so much good in the
world if only we train our focus point upon it.
With every surgery, every changed life, Mercy Ships restores a
little bit of humanity, and that is why I am
(03:20):
such a huge fan. Mercy Ships just launched the Global Mercy,
the world's first custom built civilian hospital ship, so they
can perform even more surgeries and change even more lives.
Now that inspires me. Go to Mercyships dot org and
see for yourself what unfettered, boundless love looks like. Mercyships
(03:44):
dot org. Jason Wright, Welcome back. It's been a while
since we spoke, and I'm so happy that you agreed
to be a guest on Love Someone today for so
many reasons, For so many reasons, I want to just
reach through the zoom and hug you. Yeah, if we
(04:05):
could just you know, if Zoom had some kind of
a three D reach through and just grab your buy
your cheeks and say thank you, That's what I would do.
So I'm so grateful for you, and I know that
we had chatted over the last few days as we're
arranging this with your producer. But you were my first
(04:25):
national radio interview, and Christmas Jars launched, and this this movement,
I mean that was I remember doing that interview from
my kitchen table in Fairfax, Virginia, where we lived at
the time. And since then, I went from two kids
to four. My oldest now is married with kids of
(04:46):
her own, and that little book has been translated and
sold around the world, and it has, more importantly than
a book, led to a movement, and it's pretty exciting.
It was the beginning of a career. And I'm great
also just for your audience. I know that we've had
great success connecting with your book club, and I'm grateful
(05:06):
for them, and just that they think my work has
even a little bit of value in their lives is
unbelievably humbling for me. So to catch folks up in
case somebody somehow miss the Christmas Jars. The book was good.
I was afraid to watch the movie, to be honest,
because I loved the book so much and I loved
meeting you and talking about it so much. And I'm
(05:29):
usually disappointed when I read a great book and it
touches me. And then I watch a movie and the actors,
the performers don't look like the characters in my mind
and my spirit, the dialogue doesn't match up, or the
whole spirit of the book is lost in translation. So
(05:52):
I was a little I had a little fear. I'm
going to be honest, Jason. When I decided to watch
the Christmas Jars, boy, I was so happy and not disappointed,
and like you said, it spurred ale a whole movement.
How many thousands of families now have a Christmas jar
probably setting in their laundry room, because when you empty
(06:15):
out the kid's pockets and you find a couple of
quarters or a couple of dollar bills, you just put
it in the Christmas jar, and then come Christmas time,
you pray about it, you think about it, and you
decide on a family that needs help. It's just such
a sweet, simple thing. And who would who would have imagined,
(06:37):
I mean, in our wildest dreams. I remember those early
meetings with a publisher almost eighteen years ago, eighteen years
actually eighteen years ago right now we were finalizing the
contract to publish that I didn't have an agent, an attorney.
I just it was just me and a publisher that said, well,
you know, we'll take a chance on this, and they
(06:58):
believed that it could become bigger than a book, that
it could become a movement. They probably had more faith
in it even than I did at the time. And
I just remember them saying, maybe over the life cycle
of this book, you might sell twenty thousand copies, and
I just thought, you know, that's someone's probably gonna get fired.
There's no way you're going to sell that many books.
And it's it's I don't I've lost count. It's well
(07:19):
over a million copies in languages around the world, and
I'm just thrilled. One of my favorite things, Delilah, is
when someone comes up to me and says, I'm a
part of this Christmas Jars movement, this tradition. I got
a jar, I gave a jar, and I haven't even
read the book yet, and that makes me so happy.
It's so humbling to know that it has sort of
(07:40):
gone beyond, you know, a product, to something that's really
connected with people's hearts. And again, I think you and
your audience for being such a big part of that,
because when I was on your show that first time
in two thousand and five. Nobody had any idea what
this was or what it would have become, but you
did so thank you. Well. I know that when God's
(08:00):
at work, and he usually works through very humble, very
simple settings and situations. Not that he can't work through
grandiose or big events or people or whatever. But you
are so humble and so sweet. Oh my goodness, such
a sweet countenance in a sweetheart. And I thought, there's
(08:23):
something magical here, there's something really special. So it was
a joy. It was a joy. And now I'm so
excited about Rise today because we need something to give
us hope, We need something to remind us and trusting
(08:44):
God and his promise the second part of your title.
You got to know what his promise is to be
able to trust it, right, Yeah? Amen, this is timely Well,
I hope you're right. This began as a the book,
as a simple social media post that resonated in a
(09:04):
way I didn't expect that it would certainly larger than
I thought it would, And and I began talking to
my publisher more about this, this notion that we we
feel like to rise again. You know, biblically means well,
it's the resurrection. We wait until our opportunity, you know,
to do what He did to to to be reunited
and to you know, have this second beautiful chance. And
(09:28):
the more I started thinking about that, that's a long
way off. I mean, I hope. I'm not ready. I
mean we hope. Yeah, I'm not quite ready for a
judgment day. Um, I've got some work to do. I've
got a lot of rough edges to polish off. So
and not only that, you just had two more babies
join your family. Yeah, we've got to We've got a
big Yeah, we've got a big crew. I want to
I want to be with them for a while, and
(09:50):
I want to be ready. I want to be more
ready when you know when he comes in this beautiful
resurrection that you know, no matter what um faith you
belong to, if you a Christian, you believe in this,
this beautiful doctrine of the resurrection and rising again as
he did. And that is so far off in the future.
I just started to think, Wait a minute, what if
(10:11):
we really believed that we could rise again emotionally and
spiritually mentally right now, if we don't have to wait that,
if yes, the resurrection is a promise from God. But
there are other promises about his willingness to walk with
us in our journey, a willingness to draw as close
(10:31):
to us as we will allow him. He's not going
to force himself, honest, he doesn't force himself into our hearts.
We have to open that door for him and say, yes,
I do want to be your best friend, because I
know that you, God, are always willing to be mine.
And I found a hope in that, in waking up
every day and saying, man, yesterday was tough and I
(10:52):
got bad news and this didn't go the way I
thought it would, and this book was a complete flop
and disaster, and as my career, dad, or my kid's
going to be okay, and all those things that weigh
us down that we worry about, particularly as we come
out of this global pandemic, and I just began to
find joy by reminding myself I can rise again today
(11:16):
right now if I'll just lean on him in every
way and know that He is ready to help me
have a fresh start every day, every time you get up,
every time you lift your head off the pillows, and
opportunity to rise again. It doesn't matter how bad you
messed up before you passed out. Doesn't matter if you
literally passed out because you drank yourself into a stupor
(11:36):
or whatever it is, if you woke up, if you
lifted your head off the pillow or off the cement floor,
or off whatever those mercies are, new every morning got
a clean slate. And I don't think many people know that. No,
and even when we and I've certainly in my life
is a deeply imperfect person. I have been through stretches
(12:00):
where I have believed that, and then the trials and
the obstacles have piled up. And we all know what
that feels like when suddenly a bad day links to
another bad day, and it links to another bad day,
and there's a sort of cumulative effect and you look
and go, man, this has been a really hard month.
And suddenly that notion of rising again, of lifting your
head off the cement floor. I love that notion because
(12:22):
that is the case for many of us sometimes, or
off the fancy pillow, whatever it is. It's been so
long that we forget and we just need a friend
or a writer or one of the world's biggest talk
show hosts to say, you know what, don't forget even
though it's been a week, a month, a year, don't forget.
You can still rise again today, even if it's been
(12:42):
a while since you've felt that kind of hope. We
I hope can help invite people to feel that way again.
So I know, but hell our listeners how and it's
hard to do because you wrote it, but how sweetly
(13:05):
and simply it's laid out to give people steps, because
I think when you complicate things, if you have a
page with thirty two points or a speech with forty
eight ways to you know, lower your cholesterol, you're not
going to get past number two. Yeah, now that's that's
(13:25):
all said. And you know, I read a lot of um,
a lot of self help, a lot of you know,
business minded self help, a lot of books in the
Christian space, and they do sometimes get a little long,
and they again I don't want to be negative at all,
but I've read a few that just I picked it
(13:47):
up and I felt like I was holding a textbook.
And that's not what I'm That's not what I'm looking for,
at least for my taste. I want something usually that
I can digest pretty quickly, um that where I don't
have to sit down with a pen and a piece
of paper and a calcul later and dive into all
the depth of whether it's doctrinal or not. I like
something that that I can enjoy sort of quickly and
(14:09):
that I can return to. So the book is laid
out almost like a kind of a mini sermon. I
don't know if the publisher cares, but I'll just read
this first page because it's so short. The first three
words are heat is risen on this beautiful, beautiful background.
Shout out to the publisher's shadow mountain. They do such
a beautiful job of designing books. Writers write the words,
(14:31):
of course, but there is maybe this unheralded world of
design art form. It's an art form, and it's beautiful.
It's so beautiful. So it says he has risen. Those
three words are more than a headline. They are a promise.
Because he has risen, we shall rise again too. And
then it says, what if this message of the resurrection
(14:53):
is about more than reuniting a body and soul. What
if the process of rising again can begin today? And
then with again beautiful art, the team use light in
a really beautiful way in each page to remind us
that he is the source of all light. And then
toward the back of the book, and I think this
(15:15):
is what you were alluding to, I provide these five
suggestions that I have seen work in my own life
when I feel like I need that kind of reminder
when I lift my head off the pillow that I
can rise again, and just very simply their prayer, reading
God's word, listening to sacred music, worshiping with others in service.
(15:36):
And then I offer some details for each one on
how adopting some of those spiritual habits can help again
connect us to God. I think that a good book,
and I hope that's what this is. I hope that
ultimately what it does is connect people in some way
to Heaven. Even if the heaven doesn't look the way
I think mind does, or if you have different theologies,
(15:58):
different religion, it's okay for me, it's okay, Yeah, absolutely,
because I believe if you search for Him with all
your heart, you will find him with all your heart. Yeah.
That's that is beautifully said. And is there anyone listening
right now that believes in anything at all beyond this moment,
(16:20):
beyond this life, in this higher power again, whatever that
looks like to you who doesn't believe that these five
things can bless your life if you strive to adopt
them as kind of daily habits. Prayer, yes, reading God's word, Yes.
Listening to sacred music, which is a big umbrella in
(16:42):
terms of what sacred music might look like. That could
be everything from from your church choir to classical music
from the great throughout history to contemporary Christian music. And
then worshiping with others. Yes, there's great power no matter
what your church looks like on Sunday, whether there's a
cross out in front of your chapel or not, whether
(17:04):
you call it a chapel or not, there's great power
when we gather together with like minded people to honor
that higher power and then service. For me, that's probably
the most important of those. When I really am struggling
to feel connected, to remember who I am, why I'm here,
why I matter, and that I'm loved beyond my earthly family,
(17:27):
but by something even bigger. When I struggle, I look
for opportunities to go do something for someone. It might
be as simple as dropping off store bought cookies at
the neighbor across the street that I know has been
under the weather for a couple of weeks, or sending
a text to someone. I will often take my phone
and I'll just pray for a little inspiration. Who is
(17:47):
it that I have not heard from a long time.
I have about fifty eight hundred contacts on my phone,
too many, way too many. But I will often go
through there and I might find someone I have not
sent a text who in nearly a decade, and I'll
just shoot them a note and say, I just want
to know I'm thinking about you today and I don't
know why, but you know what, You're tremendous, and thank
you for the influence you've had on my life. Every
(18:10):
single time I have done something like that, I have
gotten the most beautiful response back, saying I needed I
really needed to hear that today, and here I am
hearing it from someone I haven't spoken to in nearly
a decade. So, Servants, looks like, whatever you have time for,
whatever you can offer, and maybe you should make time
for amen. I'm so enjoying catching up and getting to
(18:30):
know Jason f Right. He's got so much goodness to
share with us. We've got more ground to cover. But
I need to pause for just a moment. And tell
you about another incredible sponsor, Eyes of Faith. If you're
going to wear glasses, there's one brand of frames. I
recommend you have to look for it, but it's worth it.
(18:52):
The brand is called Eyes of Faith Optical. I discovered
this brand, I fell in love with their style of frames,
wear them every day now and get so many compliments.
It was only after I discovered the beauty of their
frames did I discover the subtle message hidden on the
inside of every frame, a scripture from the Bible. Their
(19:16):
purpose is not only to provide you with a great frame,
but to help others too. Eyes of Faith Optical shares
a generous amount of the money they earn to improve
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and choose the ones that make you feel great when
(19:37):
you wear them. Eof Optical dot Com is their website.
You're gonna love what you discover eof Optical dot com.
I just want to encourage anybody Jason who's going through
a tough time right now that if they just pick
up your sweet little book and put four of those
(19:59):
five I have simple practices into place, or one of
those five simple practices into place. I promise you, if
you can hear my voice, it will make a difference.
And if you feel like you have failed, and if
you feel like He has stepped away from you, that
(20:19):
you're somehow this creation or piece of art that he
had looked at and said, I'm not sure there's anything
else I can do with this one. I tell you
with all the love I can muster, you're wrong. And
you know what, You're probably going to fail again tomorrow
and maybe even the day after that, and that will
be okay too. That is how much this higher power
loves you, deeply, personally, unconditionally. I know that that's true.
(20:44):
God doesn't have boundaries the way you know we think. Well,
I can't wait to hear from people the way I
have heard from people through the years about Christmas Stars
and thousands of stories have come in you can read.
Many of those are Christmas dot Com. I hope to
hear from people who are similarly affected by this little message.
(21:05):
And again, even if you don't pick up the book,
if the book isn't for you, I hope that I
hope that this message today And Delilah, you're so you
articulate this faith in such a beautiful way that is
so accessible to everyone imaginable. Thank you for that. It's
a gift. I hope that you know what a gift
it is for you to talk about faith in a
(21:26):
way that is so open to everyone. You know that
you do have a gift, which I also believe comes
from Heaven to articulate this message in ways that maybe
not everyone can, and you do it better than most.
Thank you, Jason f Right. Go get his new book.
Go get all of your books. How many do you
have published? Now? How many in print? Eighteen? No, you
(21:49):
got more than that. Well, you got a lot of
articles too that have been published, hundreds of those. Go
find those all? Find them all? Why not? Yeah, and
watch if you haven't watched The Christmas Jar. It's a
very sweet movie. It came out a few years ago.
So well done and so sweet and so powerful. And
then put a jar in your laundry room and join
(22:11):
that movement. But first, go get his new book. Okay, Delilah,
you're the best. Thank you so much for what you
do in the world. You're a light. Thank you, so
are you. Together we'll shine you know? Did you have
you seen that. There's a little video going around where
a young man takes two lighters tow bick lighters and
(22:32):
shows they have equal flames, and then he drops one
in a jar and pours water on it and says,
every time life beats you up, you have a loss,
you're divorced, your family abandons you. Until the bick lighter
is covered with water, and then he pulls it out
of the water and he tries to light it, and
you can't because the spark is wet. And then he
(22:52):
brings the other bick lighter and holds it next to
it and lights it and reignites the flame. And he says,
that's what we're to do to the people who are underwater,
if you will, with life's troubles. And I think your
book is that it's that coming alongside and reigniting the flame.
(23:14):
I'm gonna go look that up. Thank you, all right, God,
bless you, thank you, Thank you. Bobby Hunt. Jason has
been a guest speaker at many churches throughout the country,
sharing motivational and inspirational messages. He has also done outreached
to people temporarily without housing or in financial difficulties. Today,
(23:36):
he and his family live in Woodstock, Virginia. He's also
lived in Missouri, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, in Utah, Germany, and Brazil.
He's a believer in the human spirit and he's a
true connector. Jason and his wife, Cody Ericsson Wright have
a growing family of four children and now three grandchildren.
(23:59):
They of spending time with His most recent book, Rise Today,
that's been called an extended greeting card full of comfort,
support and courage for anyone going through a difficult time,
is available March seventh. I love it so much I've
chosen it for my Delilah book Club pick for March.
(24:20):
It is absolutely perfect for tucking into Easter baskets, or
sending to your friends, to your family, to your daughter
off at college, to neighbors, or maybe somebody you know
who's facing a personal trial. The only thing more prolific
about Jason than his writing is his abundance of faith
(24:42):
and his generosity of spirit. A visit to his social
media pages will always make you smile. It's a much
better use of your time than doom scrolling. Trust. Beyond that, well,
just about anything is a better use of your time
really than scrolling. But being of service that is the
(25:04):
absolute best. How might you share a little of yourself
with the world. Jason suggests that we open a door,
literally or figuratively for someone whenever possible. Is that something
you can put your mind to. Our chat has been
a great reminder for me. I know that I am
(25:27):
so thrilled that Jason could join us today. It's been
a few years, and even more so that you stop by.
I hope you'll come back again and again. I'll share
another great conversation in a couple more weeks, so drop in.
Until then, remember to slow down and love someone
Has March been roaring in like a lion in your
little corner of the world. It's traditionally been the month
of crazy weather, an outward sign of a dramatic seasonal shift.
I wouldn't want to face down three or four months
of these crazy weather mood swings, but I can deal
(00:25):
with a few weeks of it, knowing what the glorious
outcome will be. I'm a little sad to see February
in the rear view mirror, though I hope it was
as good to you as it was to me, and
I hope you felt seen and heard and loved. Today's
guest is amazing at doing and teaching those skills and
(00:48):
sharing their importance in a myriad of ways. Along with
his writings, he's often found giving guest sermons at churches
across the country, or speaking to large and small groups alike.
Jason Wright is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today best selling novelist. His work that's included
(01:10):
more than five hundred columns, has appeared in over one
hundred newspapers, magazines, and websites across the US, including The
Washington Post, The Washington Times, the Chicago Tribune, on and
on and on. You may know him from his beloved books,
Christmas Jars is one of my favorites, or maybe from
(01:32):
the twenty twenty award winning film adaptation of Christmas Jars.
Jason is the author of twenty one book titles, including
the August twenty twenty two Delilah's book Club pick, the
fictional feel good novel Even the Dog Knows, as well
(01:53):
as my March choice this year, Rise Today, Trusting God
in his promise, and the most pressing reason that I
have asked Jason to join us today. He is also
a popular speaker and consultant who provides training on kindness, habits,
faith failure, the Christmas Jars movement, the Lost art of
(02:17):
letter writing, and now he's with us today to talk
about all of that and whatever else is on his heart.
I'm excited to hear all about Jason's latest book, Rise Today.
We'll get into that right after I give some time
and attention to one of my fantastic podcast sponsors. Of
(02:38):
the few things in life that are universal, I believe
love is the most powerful. I've been talking about mercy
ships a lot, and someone asked me the other day, Delilah,
what is Mercy. Well, to me, mercy is unfettered love.
(02:59):
Unfettered means boundless, unrestrained, free, the very best kind of
love there is. There is so much good in the
world if only we train our focus point upon it.
With every surgery, every changed life, Mercy Ships restores a
little bit of humanity, and that is why I am
(03:20):
such a huge fan. Mercy Ships just launched the Global Mercy,
the world's first custom built civilian hospital ship, so they
can perform even more surgeries and change even more lives.
Now that inspires me. Go to Mercyships dot org and
see for yourself what unfettered, boundless love looks like. Mercyships
(03:44):
dot org. Jason Wright, Welcome back. It's been a while
since we spoke, and I'm so happy that you agreed
to be a guest on Love Someone today for so
many reasons, For so many reasons, I want to just
reach through the zoom and hug you. Yeah, if we
(04:05):
could just you know, if Zoom had some kind of
a three D reach through and just grab your buy
your cheeks and say thank you, That's what I would do.
So I'm so grateful for you, and I know that
we had chatted over the last few days as we're
arranging this with your producer. But you were my first
(04:25):
national radio interview, and Christmas Jars launched, and this this movement,
I mean that was I remember doing that interview from
my kitchen table in Fairfax, Virginia, where we lived at
the time. And since then, I went from two kids
to four. My oldest now is married with kids of
(04:46):
her own, and that little book has been translated and
sold around the world, and it has, more importantly than
a book, led to a movement, and it's pretty exciting.
It was the beginning of a career. And I'm great
also just for your audience. I know that we've had
great success connecting with your book club, and I'm grateful
(05:06):
for them, and just that they think my work has
even a little bit of value in their lives is
unbelievably humbling for me. So to catch folks up in
case somebody somehow miss the Christmas Jars. The book was good.
I was afraid to watch the movie, to be honest,
because I loved the book so much and I loved
meeting you and talking about it so much. And I'm
(05:29):
usually disappointed when I read a great book and it
touches me. And then I watch a movie and the actors,
the performers don't look like the characters in my mind
and my spirit, the dialogue doesn't match up, or the
whole spirit of the book is lost in translation. So
(05:52):
I was a little I had a little fear. I'm
going to be honest, Jason. When I decided to watch
the Christmas Jars, boy, I was so happy and not disappointed,
and like you said, it spurred ale a whole movement.
How many thousands of families now have a Christmas jar
probably setting in their laundry room, because when you empty
(06:15):
out the kid's pockets and you find a couple of
quarters or a couple of dollar bills, you just put
it in the Christmas jar, and then come Christmas time,
you pray about it, you think about it, and you
decide on a family that needs help. It's just such
a sweet, simple thing. And who would who would have imagined,
(06:37):
I mean, in our wildest dreams. I remember those early
meetings with a publisher almost eighteen years ago, eighteen years
actually eighteen years ago right now we were finalizing the
contract to publish that I didn't have an agent, an attorney.
I just it was just me and a publisher that said, well,
you know, we'll take a chance on this, and they
(06:58):
believed that it could become bigger than a book, that
it could become a movement. They probably had more faith
in it even than I did at the time. And
I just remember them saying, maybe over the life cycle
of this book, you might sell twenty thousand copies, and
I just thought, you know, that's someone's probably gonna get fired.
There's no way you're going to sell that many books.
And it's it's I don't I've lost count. It's well
(07:19):
over a million copies in languages around the world, and
I'm just thrilled. One of my favorite things, Delilah, is
when someone comes up to me and says, I'm a
part of this Christmas Jars movement, this tradition. I got
a jar, I gave a jar, and I haven't even
read the book yet, and that makes me so happy.
It's so humbling to know that it has sort of
(07:40):
gone beyond, you know, a product, to something that's really
connected with people's hearts. And again, I think you and
your audience for being such a big part of that,
because when I was on your show that first time
in two thousand and five. Nobody had any idea what
this was or what it would have become, but you
did so thank you. Well. I know that when God's
(08:00):
at work, and he usually works through very humble, very
simple settings and situations. Not that he can't work through
grandiose or big events or people or whatever. But you
are so humble and so sweet. Oh my goodness, such
a sweet countenance in a sweetheart. And I thought, there's
(08:23):
something magical here, there's something really special. So it was
a joy. It was a joy. And now I'm so
excited about Rise today because we need something to give
us hope, We need something to remind us and trusting
(08:44):
God and his promise the second part of your title.
You got to know what his promise is to be
able to trust it, right, Yeah? Amen, this is timely Well,
I hope you're right. This began as a the book,
as a simple social media post that resonated in a
(09:04):
way I didn't expect that it would certainly larger than
I thought it would, And and I began talking to
my publisher more about this, this notion that we we
feel like to rise again. You know, biblically means well,
it's the resurrection. We wait until our opportunity, you know,
to do what He did to to to be reunited
and to you know, have this second beautiful chance. And
(09:28):
the more I started thinking about that, that's a long
way off. I mean, I hope. I'm not ready. I
mean we hope. Yeah, I'm not quite ready for a
judgment day. Um, I've got some work to do. I've
got a lot of rough edges to polish off. So
and not only that, you just had two more babies
join your family. Yeah, we've got to We've got a
big Yeah, we've got a big crew. I want to
I want to be with them for a while, and
(09:50):
I want to be ready. I want to be more
ready when you know when he comes in this beautiful
resurrection that you know, no matter what um faith you
belong to, if you a Christian, you believe in this,
this beautiful doctrine of the resurrection and rising again as
he did. And that is so far off in the future.
I just started to think, Wait a minute, what if
(10:11):
we really believed that we could rise again emotionally and
spiritually mentally right now, if we don't have to wait that,
if yes, the resurrection is a promise from God. But
there are other promises about his willingness to walk with
us in our journey, a willingness to draw as close
(10:31):
to us as we will allow him. He's not going
to force himself, honest, he doesn't force himself into our hearts.
We have to open that door for him and say, yes,
I do want to be your best friend, because I
know that you, God, are always willing to be mine.
And I found a hope in that, in waking up
every day and saying, man, yesterday was tough and I
(10:52):
got bad news and this didn't go the way I
thought it would, and this book was a complete flop
and disaster, and as my career, dad, or my kid's
going to be okay, and all those things that weigh
us down that we worry about, particularly as we come
out of this global pandemic, and I just began to
find joy by reminding myself I can rise again today
(11:16):
right now if I'll just lean on him in every
way and know that He is ready to help me
have a fresh start every day, every time you get up,
every time you lift your head off the pillows, and
opportunity to rise again. It doesn't matter how bad you
messed up before you passed out. Doesn't matter if you
literally passed out because you drank yourself into a stupor
(11:36):
or whatever it is, if you woke up, if you
lifted your head off the pillow or off the cement floor,
or off whatever those mercies are, new every morning got
a clean slate. And I don't think many people know that. No,
and even when we and I've certainly in my life
is a deeply imperfect person. I have been through stretches
(12:00):
where I have believed that, and then the trials and
the obstacles have piled up. And we all know what
that feels like when suddenly a bad day links to
another bad day, and it links to another bad day,
and there's a sort of cumulative effect and you look
and go, man, this has been a really hard month.
And suddenly that notion of rising again, of lifting your
head off the cement floor. I love that notion because
(12:22):
that is the case for many of us sometimes, or
off the fancy pillow, whatever it is. It's been so
long that we forget and we just need a friend
or a writer or one of the world's biggest talk
show hosts to say, you know what, don't forget even
though it's been a week, a month, a year, don't forget.
You can still rise again today, even if it's been
(12:42):
a while since you've felt that kind of hope. We
I hope can help invite people to feel that way again.
So I know, but hell our listeners how and it's
hard to do because you wrote it, but how sweetly
(13:05):
and simply it's laid out to give people steps, because
I think when you complicate things, if you have a
page with thirty two points or a speech with forty
eight ways to you know, lower your cholesterol, you're not
going to get past number two. Yeah, now that's that's
(13:25):
all said. And you know, I read a lot of um,
a lot of self help, a lot of you know,
business minded self help, a lot of books in the
Christian space, and they do sometimes get a little long,
and they again I don't want to be negative at all,
but I've read a few that just I picked it
(13:47):
up and I felt like I was holding a textbook.
And that's not what I'm That's not what I'm looking for,
at least for my taste. I want something usually that
I can digest pretty quickly, um that where I don't
have to sit down with a pen and a piece
of paper and a calcul later and dive into all
the depth of whether it's doctrinal or not. I like
something that that I can enjoy sort of quickly and
(14:09):
that I can return to. So the book is laid
out almost like a kind of a mini sermon. I
don't know if the publisher cares, but I'll just read
this first page because it's so short. The first three
words are heat is risen on this beautiful, beautiful background.
Shout out to the publisher's shadow mountain. They do such
a beautiful job of designing books. Writers write the words,
(14:31):
of course, but there is maybe this unheralded world of
design art form. It's an art form, and it's beautiful.
It's so beautiful. So it says he has risen. Those
three words are more than a headline. They are a promise.
Because he has risen, we shall rise again too. And
then it says, what if this message of the resurrection
(14:53):
is about more than reuniting a body and soul. What
if the process of rising again can begin today? And
then with again beautiful art, the team use light in
a really beautiful way in each page to remind us
that he is the source of all light. And then
toward the back of the book, and I think this
(15:15):
is what you were alluding to, I provide these five
suggestions that I have seen work in my own life
when I feel like I need that kind of reminder
when I lift my head off the pillow that I
can rise again, and just very simply their prayer, reading
God's word, listening to sacred music, worshiping with others in service.
(15:36):
And then I offer some details for each one on
how adopting some of those spiritual habits can help again
connect us to God. I think that a good book,
and I hope that's what this is. I hope that
ultimately what it does is connect people in some way
to Heaven. Even if the heaven doesn't look the way
I think mind does, or if you have different theologies,
(15:58):
different religion, it's okay for me, it's okay, Yeah, absolutely,
because I believe if you search for Him with all
your heart, you will find him with all your heart. Yeah.
That's that is beautifully said. And is there anyone listening
right now that believes in anything at all beyond this moment,
(16:20):
beyond this life, in this higher power again, whatever that
looks like to you who doesn't believe that these five
things can bless your life if you strive to adopt
them as kind of daily habits. Prayer, yes, reading God's word, Yes.
Listening to sacred music, which is a big umbrella in
(16:42):
terms of what sacred music might look like. That could
be everything from from your church choir to classical music
from the great throughout history to contemporary Christian music. And
then worshiping with others. Yes, there's great power no matter
what your church looks like on Sunday, whether there's a
cross out in front of your chapel or not, whether
(17:04):
you call it a chapel or not, there's great power
when we gather together with like minded people to honor
that higher power and then service. For me, that's probably
the most important of those. When I really am struggling
to feel connected, to remember who I am, why I'm here,
why I matter, and that I'm loved beyond my earthly family,
(17:27):
but by something even bigger. When I struggle, I look
for opportunities to go do something for someone. It might
be as simple as dropping off store bought cookies at
the neighbor across the street that I know has been
under the weather for a couple of weeks, or sending
a text to someone. I will often take my phone
and I'll just pray for a little inspiration. Who is
(17:47):
it that I have not heard from a long time.
I have about fifty eight hundred contacts on my phone,
too many, way too many. But I will often go
through there and I might find someone I have not
sent a text who in nearly a decade, and I'll
just shoot them a note and say, I just want
to know I'm thinking about you today and I don't
know why, but you know what, You're tremendous, and thank
you for the influence you've had on my life. Every
(18:10):
single time I have done something like that, I have
gotten the most beautiful response back, saying I needed I
really needed to hear that today, and here I am
hearing it from someone I haven't spoken to in nearly
a decade. So, Servants, looks like, whatever you have time for,
whatever you can offer, and maybe you should make time
for amen. I'm so enjoying catching up and getting to
(18:30):
know Jason f Right. He's got so much goodness to
share with us. We've got more ground to cover. But
I need to pause for just a moment. And tell
you about another incredible sponsor, Eyes of Faith. If you're
going to wear glasses, there's one brand of frames. I
recommend you have to look for it, but it's worth it.
(18:52):
The brand is called Eyes of Faith Optical. I discovered
this brand, I fell in love with their style of frames,
wear them every day now and get so many compliments.
It was only after I discovered the beauty of their
frames did I discover the subtle message hidden on the
inside of every frame, a scripture from the Bible. Their
(19:16):
purpose is not only to provide you with a great frame,
but to help others too. Eyes of Faith Optical shares
a generous amount of the money they earn to improve
the lives and eyesight of so many others, many of
them less fortunate than you. And I see their frames
and choose the ones that make you feel great when
(19:37):
you wear them. Eof Optical dot Com is their website.
You're gonna love what you discover eof Optical dot com.
I just want to encourage anybody Jason who's going through
a tough time right now that if they just pick
up your sweet little book and put four of those
(19:59):
five I have simple practices into place, or one of
those five simple practices into place. I promise you, if
you can hear my voice, it will make a difference.
And if you feel like you have failed, and if
you feel like He has stepped away from you, that
(20:19):
you're somehow this creation or piece of art that he
had looked at and said, I'm not sure there's anything
else I can do with this one. I tell you
with all the love I can muster, you're wrong. And
you know what, You're probably going to fail again tomorrow
and maybe even the day after that, and that will
be okay too. That is how much this higher power
loves you, deeply, personally, unconditionally. I know that that's true.
(20:44):
God doesn't have boundaries the way you know we think. Well,
I can't wait to hear from people the way I
have heard from people through the years about Christmas Stars
and thousands of stories have come in you can read.
Many of those are Christmas dot Com. I hope to
hear from people who are similarly affected by this little message.
(21:05):
And again, even if you don't pick up the book,
if the book isn't for you, I hope that I
hope that this message today And Delilah, you're so you
articulate this faith in such a beautiful way that is
so accessible to everyone imaginable. Thank you for that. It's
a gift. I hope that you know what a gift
it is for you to talk about faith in a
(21:26):
way that is so open to everyone. You know that
you do have a gift, which I also believe comes
from Heaven to articulate this message in ways that maybe
not everyone can, and you do it better than most.
Thank you, Jason f Right. Go get his new book.
Go get all of your books. How many do you
have published? Now? How many in print? Eighteen? No, you
(21:49):
got more than that. Well, you got a lot of
articles too that have been published, hundreds of those. Go
find those all? Find them all? Why not? Yeah, and
watch if you haven't watched The Christmas Jar. It's a
very sweet movie. It came out a few years ago.
So well done and so sweet and so powerful. And
then put a jar in your laundry room and join
(22:11):
that movement. But first, go get his new book. Okay, Delilah,
you're the best. Thank you so much for what you
do in the world. You're a light. Thank you, so
are you. Together we'll shine you know? Did you have
you seen that. There's a little video going around where
a young man takes two lighters tow bick lighters and
(22:32):
shows they have equal flames, and then he drops one
in a jar and pours water on it and says,
every time life beats you up, you have a loss,
you're divorced, your family abandons you. Until the bick lighter
is covered with water, and then he pulls it out
of the water and he tries to light it, and
you can't because the spark is wet. And then he
(22:52):
brings the other bick lighter and holds it next to
it and lights it and reignites the flame. And he says,
that's what we're to do to the people who are underwater,
if you will, with life's troubles. And I think your
book is that it's that coming alongside and reigniting the flame.
(23:14):
I'm gonna go look that up. Thank you, all right, God,
bless you, thank you, Thank you. Bobby Hunt. Jason has
been a guest speaker at many churches throughout the country,
sharing motivational and inspirational messages. He has also done outreached
to people temporarily without housing or in financial difficulties. Today,
(23:36):
he and his family live in Woodstock, Virginia. He's also
lived in Missouri, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, in Utah, Germany, and Brazil.
He's a believer in the human spirit and he's a
true connector. Jason and his wife, Cody Ericsson Wright have
a growing family of four children and now three grandchildren.
(23:59):
They of spending time with His most recent book, Rise Today,
that's been called an extended greeting card full of comfort,
support and courage for anyone going through a difficult time,
is available March seventh. I love it so much I've
chosen it for my Delilah book Club pick for March.
(24:20):
It is absolutely perfect for tucking into Easter baskets, or
sending to your friends, to your family, to your daughter
off at college, to neighbors, or maybe somebody you know
who's facing a personal trial. The only thing more prolific
about Jason than his writing is his abundance of faith
(24:42):
and his generosity of spirit. A visit to his social
media pages will always make you smile. It's a much
better use of your time than doom scrolling. Trust. Beyond that, well,
just about anything is a better use of your time
really than scrolling. But being of service that is the
(25:04):
absolute best. How might you share a little of yourself
with the world. Jason suggests that we open a door,
literally or figuratively for someone whenever possible. Is that something
you can put your mind to. Our chat has been
a great reminder for me. I know that I am
(25:27):
so thrilled that Jason could join us today. It's been
a few years, and even more so that you stop by.
I hope you'll come back again and again. I'll share
another great conversation in a couple more weeks, so drop in.
Until then, remember to slow down and love someone
Host
Delilah
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