Just Plain Sense
Reflections of a Plains Pastor
by
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I suppose if I could find one word to describe this book, I would use the word “axiom.” An axiom, by dictionary definition, is “a self evident truth.” When someone uses an axiom to describe attitudes, behaviors or values, it is like turning on a light bulb. The first thing you notice about an axiom is that it is so strikingly obvious. The second thing you think is, “Wow, I wish I would have thought of that!”
There is another word found in the immense dictionaries that rest on large wooden podiums in every library. The word is platitude… It defines platitude as “a commonplace remark.”
No matter which word you use to describe the writing that follows, I hope you find the words anything but “dull and trite.” I have lived by and been taught axioms and platitudes my whole life. Instead of being “flat and dull”, I have found them to be filled with meaning and folk wisdom… An axiom, platitude or truism is a kind of wisdom that everyone recognizes when they hear it. It is often painfully obvious. It can be even more painful to accept and live by these axioms, platitudes or truisms...
In the final analysis, a person writes and speaks best about the things they truly believe in. These are the things that are just plain sense to them.
Whether you give the words from this book the name of axiom, wisdom, truism or platitude, I hope this book adds something to the satisfaction you take in living the truths that were passed down to you.
from Just Plain Sense, Foreword
Fr. Mike was my supervisor during the hospital rotations of Clinical Pastoral Education. Fr. Mike’s observations and comments in the margins of those journal pages were often well worth the pain of keeping the journal in the first place. A particularly powerful insight was written in the margin of my journal on September 10, 1979. I was struggling with the challenge of relating to people in a more open way. I have kept that journal page for 33 years.
Fr. Mike’s hand written, enlightened response in the margins of my journal reads…
“Growth=Change”
“Change=Loss of Old”
“Loss=Grief”
“Grief=Pain”
“Growth=Pain”
There it is. These are the two biggest roadblocks to change. They are denial & pain...
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About the Book
Just Plain Sense is a book filled with gems of truth picked up by Jack along life’s roads. His gems, like all gems, can often be found in the most unlikely of places and among the most unlikely characters. This is what makes them “just plain sense.”
His stories invite the reader to search for and ponder the gems they have found along their own life’s road.
So travel the gem-strewn path of axioms in Jack’s book. Along that reading path, imagine how many gems you hold in your very own hands.
About the Author
Jack Ottoson has served as a pastor, counselor, teacher, and fisherman for over thirty-five years. In those years he has developed two new congregations. His personal insights on work, leisure, and life priorities may challenge and comfort you. Questions for reflection are included at the end of each chapter.