It was a hot 79 degrees on June 13th when John Morton, Angel Gibson, Doug Gibson and myself left the hotel at 6:00 a.m. en route to FOX 7 television in Austin, Texas, for John’s 6:40 a.m. TV interview. The interview was to promote the book event of both John-Roger and John Morton at the local Austin Barnes and Noble bookstore later that day. John spoke from the heart, relating a personal experience that wasn’t pleasant at the time but ended up being a great blessing in disguise. After the TV interview (and catching up on some sleep), the book event was next on the schedule for the day.
At the book event, John-Roger and John Morton spoke to an attentive audience while children laughed and played in the background. To begin, John-Roger (J-R) explained how memory is geographical. He asked if anyone had ever been in the bathroom and thought of something that they needed out in the kitchen, but by the time they reached the kitchen they had forgotten what it was they were looking for. Then, after going back to the bathroom, they magically remembered what it was they went to the kitchen for. In this case, the memory was geographically located in the bathroom. Most people seemed to recognize this experience, and the silliness of it triggered some laughter as well. J-R then gave a very simple approach to solving this common predicament. He said that, once you have thought of the thing in “the other room” that you need, you just repeatedly say it out loud until you get to the thing you are looking for.
Then, keeping with the bathroom analogy, J-R introduced John Morton’s book “The Blessings Already Are” by saying that he likes to read it while seated on the toilet. Much amused by J-R’s words, John took the stage with a grin on his face and commented on the fun of finding out what J-R is going to do next.
John then proceeded to talk about J-R’s book “Loving Each Day for Moms and Dads” speaking humorously about its perforated pages. He said that people ought to encourage their friends to read it early, before all of the pages are torn out. Then John spoke of the blessings: of seeing the greater good in all things, taking greater personal responsibility to do just that, and to be prepared to be called to live the blessings. At the conclusion of the talks, both authors signed numerous copies of their books.
Some in the crowd knew J-R and John previously, while others just happened upon the event. The audience responded very well to both speakers. In fact, a huge 232 books were sold, making J-R and John’s already impressive bookselling track record even more amazing.
