The Emperor of San Fransisco and Weariness

Explore the inspiring story of Joshua Norton, the self-declared Emperor of the United States, and learn how community compassion and imagination can create lasting impact. Plus, insights on faith, perseverance, and gratitude.

Take a few minutes to laugh and learn as we explore this crazy and messy world.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right. Listen, we've been MIA for three weeks.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

No, this would be this would be three weeks. We've just missed two weeks.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Do you got like a moon mega minute because we've been gone for so long?

SPEAKER_00 0:13

It is unseasonally warm, which I am totally enjoying.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

It is beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Might need some water at some point, but yeah, it's unseasonally warm right now.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

I have a sunburn on my cheeks in March.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Yeah, there is some people walking up. A buddy of mine's got a sunburn too, and he was complaining about it. I was like, that's nothing to complain about. All right, what are we gonna talk about?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

All right, you ready?

SPEAKER_00 0:43

What is tonight's story?

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Tonight's story is the Emperor of the United States.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

The Emperor?

unknown 0:49

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Have you ever heard of a man who declared himself emperor and people just went along with it? This is the true story of Joshua Norton, arguably the most beloved ruler America ever had. Joshua Norton was a businessman living in San Francisco during the mid-1800s. At first things went well until a risk investment in rice went terribly wrong. Okay. Well, he lost everything. He was bankrupt and humiliated. Norton disappeared from public life for a while. But in 1859, he came back with a bold announcement. He declared himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States. I like that. Wonder if I could just start going by Lady Amy. Sir Jason. Sounds like we can just declare it. Okay, ready? Now you might expect people to laugh him off, and some did, but something unusual happened in San Francisco. The city embraced him. Emperor Norton walked the streets in a blue military-style uniform, sometimes with a sword and sometimes with a walking stick. Newspapers printed his royal decrees, businesses accepted his self-insured currency, and restaurants fed him for free. That's crazy. Like he made his own money and businesses took it. And his proclamations, surprisingly thoughtful. He called for the abolition of political parties. He demanded fair treatment for Chinese immigrants during a time of heavy discrimination. And decades before it became reality, he proposed a bridge connecting San Francisco to Oakland. Yes, the Golden Gate Bridge, in spirit, before anyone else took it seriously. Despite having no real power, Norton became a symbol of something bigger, kindness, imagination, and the idea that a community can choose compassion over cruelty. When he died in 1880, over 30,000 people attended his funeral. For a man who lost everything, Joshua Norton somehow gained a kingdom, though not by force, but through the hearts of people around him. And maybe that's the kind of ruler the world could use more of. That's nice.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah, I don't know what I got for that. That's kind of funny. He just declared himself He did, a ruler. And then was nice. Which usually when people declare themselves rulers.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Yeah, usually it takes like conquering some things.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

And well, they're not nice either whenever they do it. They're not the the you know, that's not how you're like, oh yeah, Attila the Hun.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Well, he was a nice guy. What would be my proclamations as Lady Amy?

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Chocolate.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

I was just about to say like chocolate for everyone. What would your be your proclamations be?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Sleep. Like lots of sleep.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Just sleeping?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Change it, like flip it. You you work eight hours and sleep 20 or what sleep 16 hours?

unknown 3:31

What?

SPEAKER_01 3:33

You couldn't if you tried. Even if you go to bed at like midnight, you're still up at 5 30. You're gonna be on like the old man's sleep schedule soon.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Probably early birding.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Where we eat dinner at 4 p.m. and go to sleep by seven.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I'm not opposed to that. It's gonna be glorious.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Are you ready for our verse?

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Yes, please.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Our verse is Galatians 6 9. Let us not become weary in doing good. For at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Be good, huh? I read this today and I thought this was beautiful. It says, What a blessing to be exhausted in obedience to a calling God gave you. And you know, it reminds me of something that one of the gals at our group had said, where she said, you know, when you think about doing the hard thing and not trading joy for comfort, meaning that do what God calls you to. There's discomfort in that. I think that we can see that all throughout the word, that when God calls people to do things that are meaningful, that are big, that are beyond their scope of what they believe their bandwidth accommodate, that it's going to be uncomfortable, but God strengthens them. And outside of that, to do the easy things, right? To to ignore what God is asking of us and to walk into easy things, well, you know, it might be comfortable, but it lacks protection. And so I think your son said it best when he said that when we walk in God's will, we may be uncomfortable, but we're protected. But when we ignore God's will, we may be comfortable, but it will end disastrous.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah, that's pretty good. I don't, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

I, you know, it's just it's a reminder that when you're feeling weary, I've been feeling weary a lot lately. And I'm just reminded, how did he say it? What a blessing to be exhausted in obedience to a calling God gave you. And so maybe just some encouragement for people who are out there listening, who are feeling weary. You know, they're facing hard things, they're facing grief or loss, they're facing addiction, they're facing shame or regret or resentment, any of those things, whatever they're facing, to understand that it is in the discomfort that God is working his biggest miracles, not just in our lives, but in our hearts. He's giving us strength and courage and boldness to do again what we thought we weren't capable of ever doing before.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Yeah, and I I truly, yeah, what you said, like easy, or is it easy or is it right? I think is what we were talking about the other day.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Oh, is it easy or is it simple?

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yeah, that's it. Is it easy or is it simple? And a lot of times the easy things, yeah, like you said, they seem easy, but they're not truly where you should be at. And the simple things are hard, you know. But I don't know. Yeah, and you find that a lot in recovery. I was I was driving too much and listening to something the other day, and it basically trying to think of who it was, but to give him credit. But he said God will either bless you or break you to get him to turn to you. Or get you to turn to him, sorry, to get you to turn to him. And if you think about that a lot of times, I don't know, at least in in my experience, it's been the breaking. But at the end of it, he's there still waiting for that.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

And you know, when you think about like a I think a biblical story that demonstrates this perfectly is think about when Jacob wrestled God, and at the very end, it was all night long he wrestled with God. And God put like a wrench in his hip, he hurt his hip, but he kept wrestling him. And you think about that for a second. A God who created the universe, right, who spoke everything into existence, did he have to wrestle Jacob? I mean, he could have at any second just snapped his fingers and Jacob would have ceased to exist, or Jacob would have been tied in knots, or would have been, you know, completely unable to do anything physically, but he didn't. He wanted to see if Jacob had what it took to go into the next thing that God would call him to, which was being Israel, the one who wrestles with God. And so that wrench in his hip was just a reminder of what he survived, and that proof to himself that he can do what God is calling him into because God has tested him. So be thankful for the test, be thankful for the discomfort, be thankful for the exhaustion, and know that it's just God allowing you to prove to yourself that you had deep down in you what he knew you had all along. There's so many good liners in this one.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Heard them all? Do I have you heard all of them?

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Have I heard all of them? From me.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Like it's coming from a deep well tonight. All right. Well, last week, a sort of rough week, it gives you a lot of perspective. Last week, or last Monday or two days ago, however time works, we talked about gratitude. And I am always reminded when we talk about gratitude that gratitude and worry cannot coexist. And so when our hearts feel troubled, when we feel like there's a lot kind of weighing down on us to be in gratitude to God for the for the things that we have instead of looking at what we're lacking. And that just kind of changes our perspective on things. And so I really I I love that lesson. I love that reminder. It's one of those that's good to always have.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

It's the attitude of gratitude.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

I don't know. I like that lesson. That's one of the better lessons because I know I need I I had trouble with that, so especially. And I I I mean I'm not perfect at it now, but I still can find what I'm thankful for and do that in the morning or do that whenever you know stuff starts adding up. It's one of those outward things you can do and look to see what God's doing and what he's you know, on the traps he's not letting you fall into. You can be grateful for those too. The I need something, I want something. You know, God gives you what you need.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Not what you want. Not what you want.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Well, next week coming up, we're gonna be having our lesson on boundaries. And that's always a good reminder, and not just for other people, but for myself to remember that, you know, what is it that I'm capable of? What does God call me into? And what am I trying to do on my own? And what am I gonna allow into my life, right? So I encourage everybody to come attend that. If you are listening, hopefully they've dialed back in since we've been gone for so long. Either way, if you guys want more of us, you can check us out on Facebook at Celebrate Recovery at Emmaus Road. You can join us every Monday night at Emmaus Road Community Church in Laramie at 6 p.m. And you can come back here most Thursdays for another episode of a new creation podcast. Until then, we love you guys, we'll be thinking of you, and we will see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Good night.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Good night.