The Voices for Voices Podcast Episode 23 with Guest, Don Matis, Jester for Jesus
Justin Alan Hayes:
Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us again on the Voices for Voices podcast sponsored by Redwood Living, for episode 23. We're here at the Funk Studio in Stow, Ohio for again, our 23rd episode. Hard to believe just over a year ago we didn't have any episodes and we had some branding changes, but we're in a awesome spot. So thank you so much for joining on the livestream on Facebook, those that will be seen on YouTube in the future, and of course on our audio podcast that will be everywhere from Google products, Apple products, Spotify, iHeartRadio. If you have it, if can listen, review it, you'll be able to define us.
So tonight, again, I'm Justin Alan Hayes. I'm the founder and executive director. No, we don't have a script here. Founder, Executive Director of Voices for Voices. Again, our mission for those that are familiar with us and for those that aren't, is to be able to give individuals, number one, a platform to be able to share their story, whatever that story is, and share that on platforms such as this tonight, to share kind the ups, the downs, and really if we can inspire or touch somebody's heart and have them head on the path or continue on in the path to be in a better place, that's the goal here tonight.
So you see this gentleman next to me. I'm going to give a little bit of a bio to him. His name is Don Matis. He is from Stoned on Happiness, and Don has been decades living clean and sober since May 17th of 1986. So I'm five years, he's got many decades on top of me. He is an international recovery artist. He paints with his beard. So every sense of the word of an artist of sharing with the spoken word, being able to see visually as well as the art. If you want to maybe grab a piece. He's going to show a piece, his art. So yeah, this piece here, painted with his beard. So again, something that is awesome to be able to share talents with the world. Maybe just want to share just a little bit about this one in particular.
Don Matis:
Okay, this one is called Real Presence. Let me get my piece of paper to explain it. In the Catholic Church, this is called the Holy Eucharist. You've probably seen it if you're Catholic, and others that don't. We really believe in the real presence of Jesus in Eucharist, mind, body, soul, and divinity. And these colors mean something. The black represents sin, moral sin, which disintegrates the soul. Red is Jesus' blood. His mercy. His heart. His love for you and me. The yellow light for Jesus, the way, the truth and the life. He heals the darkness, which are our personal sins. He gives light in life to our very soul. Gold is His grace, our precious life to Him. Jesus helps us grow in virtue and holiness. White is purity, virtue, peace, serenity, sacrament of confession and freedom from sin. So it's a really in-depth painting. So I hope you get something out of it and God bless you. Amen.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Absolutely. Thank you, Don. Further, Don has been seen in Cleveland Magazine as one of Cleveland's 30 most interesting people. He's also featured in the St. Anthony Messenger, the international version, so domestic version or international. So again, this particular version was viewable internationally, specifically in Italy. He dresses as jester for Jesus every day with a purple beard, and he'll get into how he dresses and the meaning the purple, why he's selected purple. He is Charity in Action. As one example, he's given already away 10,000 Miraculous Medal individually. So this isn't a group of... Well, here's 10. This is 10,000 individual hand-to-hand positive transactions.
All his paintings and prints are for sale. He also does speaking engagements as well. A video of him painting with his beard can be found at www.stoned, S-T-O-N-E-D, on, O-N, happiness, H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S.com. Or you can email Don at stonedonhappiness@yahoo.com. So Don, thank you for being with us tonight. We're so happy, excited to be together in studio, to be able to share with so many people and touch so many lives. So if you want to give maybe a brief introduction and then we'll start kind of at the bottom and then we'll work our way up.
Don Matis:
Well, first and foremost, I'm going to thank you Justin Alan, and Voices for Voices, it's very important, and thank you for all the suffering you've been through in your life. I'm so glad that you're Catholic. I'm so glad you're doing Charity in Action also, and I thank God that you're using your talent for the good of mankind because we sure need it today, especially with the crisis of alcohol and drug addiction and all the sexual abuse that's going on, and all the people that need hope in this crazy age. So I hope I can't give hope tonight to somebody out there that needs Jesus and the Blessed Mother in our great Catholic church.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Absolutely. Yeah, we'll start at what I'll call the beginning. So Don's been through some rough times he's overcome. We've talked about Voices for Voices with the Brand New Day event. So looking at getting through something, some trauma, something that has plagued or has been a part of somebody's life and that they're able to take that energy and do good. So Don, if you could just take us back to Houston, Texas and how you got on the path to get the foundation to do what you do today.
Don Matis:
So let me give a quick backstory for Houston, Texas. I was married at the time to... My wife's name was Crystal, and I had a son that was five months old at the time. We called him Trey. His real name was Donald Anthony Madison III, and it was a crazy weekend. What happened for I'm sorry. We went up to Hudson, Ohio on Christmas and then I left her there because I was going back with the intention to move from Houston back home at my parents to get a fresh start with me and my wife and the kid. You got that right. So it was a crazy weekend. It was three days before the space shuttle Challenger blew it up in 1986. It was a Friday. I had a little painting business and I hired this guy Joel, and he wanted me to come over his house to his apartment.
He says, "Why don't you come over? Your old lady's out of town. I'm going to have some ladies there. We're going to have some coke," because I was still partying then, "We'll drink some beer. We'll have a good old time." So for some reason I went over there. I scoped out the situation, I drank a few beers and there was ladies there, there was coke and all that. I didn't do any coke or any drugs, and when I reflected back at it, it was like he was like the devil because he was tempting me to do the alcohol and drugs and me cheat on my wife. Well, I wrapped it up early. I went home, I went to sleep, of course, and then I got up. I always thought it was like 11:00, 11:30, and I had this really cool rocking chair, I'd rock back and forth, and I had gold tin ashtray and I would smoke Marlboro cigarettes like a chain smoker. So I was rocking back and forth and all of a sudden, as soon as I put the cigarette into the ashtray... Oh, before that.
Before that, I was smoking a cigarette and all of a sudden I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. It was like my mind opened up like a rollercoaster ride and I felt every emotion. I thought I was having a near death experience. I said in my mind, "I'm going to call 911." So I put the cigarette in the ashtray, got back up and all of a sudden the Blessed Mother spoke to me. Here's the Blessed Mother. I didn't see her, but I seen what she said to me. She said, it was an inner location in my heart, "My son, go to the church and get the most holy rosary." So I got back up and I said, "Well, I'm going to walk to the church," which was about two and a half miles down Memorial Drive on the west side of Houston to St. John Vianney's Parish. There must have been a time lapse because I got there at the end of a mass and I seen this priest talking to these older people, because I was 28 at the time, and they reminded me of an all-American grandparent-type, all-American Pie family.
And as I said, "I'm going to wait patiently," as soon as I said that, Jesus spoke to me and he showed me at the same time He was speaking, like a commentary in a sense, He said, "My son, I'm going to rebuild you." And as He was saying, "My son, I'm going to rebuild you," I seen this two story house in the city and in the background it was all black and it imploded on itself. So then I'm just like, "Wow." What are you going to say to that? So by that time the priest was available. I went up to the priest and I said, "Father, do you have a sun for a poor soul?" And he marched me immediately back to the sacristy and gave me a black bead rosary, and that started my conversion experience. And I don't remember anything after that. I must have walked home, so forth, so on.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Wow.
Don Matis:
Oh, the dove fell off. Holy Spirit loves you.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. So that's very... Interesting's not the right word. Very detailed and very moving as individuals. So with the Voices for Voices, just us with humans, we have physical health, we have mental and emotional, and so this time the emotional and the mental and physical was really playing a big role with Don at this time. Do you want talk about coming back to Ohio and what started to happen?
Don Matis:
Well, in that moment I was probably in ectasy for two or three days honestly, and the way I knew that was my brother, I had a brother, Bob, who was living down there, and I always had a little painting business like I said, and I was painting this Dennis guy's garage floor. So I went over there on the day the space shuttle blew up and I'm in there painting and I was in another dimension, honestly. I was just so happy, so joyful, just in happy shock, and all of a sudden I hear someone screaming and it was my brother. He goes, "Didn't you hear me?" I go, "No, I didn't hear," and he was right in my face. So that shows you I was definitely in another dimension.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Immersed.
Don Matis:
Immersed. Immersed with God. It was like a mini-heaven. Joy. Just filled with joy and peace. And so that drastically changed my life. So at that time, I made it back to Ohio and I moved in with my in-laws because obviously Crystal moved out my parents' house all of a sudden. I didn't know what was going on, and my kid was older and I moved in there to try to find a job. Of course, I didn't have a car. I didn't have really any help. It was like wintertime, January, February, whatever. Can't remember exact dates. And I had to walk for work, but walk and look and hitchhike for work and all this crazy stuff, and I would pray my rosary. I don't know how I learned how to pray, but I started praying to rosary nonstop basically.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Wow. How that positiveness of kind of that hitting the bottom and maybe a little bit like myself of using a lot of that energy for, I say, like bad things, unhealthy, when did using that energy for the ministry that you do today, but how did that really just even get started? And for those watching, listening now, sometime into the future, because so many people are going to be touched by this through all the media ways that we have to touch them, how can you maybe break that down for an individual that's listening or watching out there of maybe they're seeing something in their life and how to read that and what to do, how you would handle it today?
Don Matis:
Here's the deal: First of all, I was so immersed in the alcohol and drug role. I was crazy. First of all, looked at people in a sinful matter, and I call it the vice mind. All's I thought about was Don basically, and I was very selfish. I was here to use you for my own pleasure, to feed all my passions, sex, drugs, rock and roll. So I would use everybody and anything. So my mindset was so distorted and so crazy that I didn't know anything about virtue. All's I operated on was me, me, me. How do I get the drug? How do I use people for my own animalistic passions? So what changed me when the Blessed Mother spoke to me, it was a severe process.
After she spoke to me, after a while and went through all this other tragedy, my ex-wife, we went through a divorce, my kid was removed from me. I didn't really have any support from the family, here and there, and I could tell you all kinds of crazy miracle stories that happen at the same time this was happening. I started going to church. I went to my first confession in May of that year after 17 years of alcohol and drug abuse. I don't know, it's a long process, but right now if you're in that situation, this is what we're going to do. Let's ask Jesus through His sacred heart and the immaculate heart of Mary to come into your life right now. Anything that you suffer before, any trauma, from sexual abuse to alcohol and drugs to a dysfunctional family, as they say, just kneel down right now and ask Jesus to come in your heart with the Blessed Mother's help. Please. She will and Jesus will intervene in your life.
If you don't believe in Jesus, say, "I don't believe in you." If you don't believe in the Blessed Mother, tell Jesus about His mother, but things will happen. It might not be this moment, but things will happen. And most of the time there's going to be suffering involved. Let's be real. After the Blessed Mother spoke to me, I was really angry because all the tragedy I suffered, from my wife, to divorce, to the kid gone, to dealing with my family and friends. You go from there to a desert, but in the deserts, there's Jesus and there's Jesus guiding you each step of the way. So He helped me to learn and change my thinking from vice to virtue. And it's a painful journey. It's called the cross. Everybody here, everybody out there, y'all have a cross. Your cross could be one inch tall to a 1,000 feet high, but God will give you the grace and help, and He does work in mysterious ways, let me tell you. How's that answer?
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's great, and I will dovetail on that by saying kind of when I was at my lowest, getting that foundation built from a medical standpoint of seeing a therapist, medication, nutrition, I was doing well, but there was something missing inside of me where no matter how good of a day that I thought I had, there was just energy... There was a void missing. And so again, like Don said, whether you do believe in Jesus, whether you don't, I will tell you just from my experience, and it's not just me saying it just for my sake to get a kickback of any sort, mental, physical, emotional, there will be bits and pieces that I don't say that are missing, but there'll be different ways where you say, "Am I doing everything I can? I'm working out. I'm taking the medication. I'm eating nutritionally. I'm seeing my therapist. I'm doing what everybody says, checking out the quotes on social media."
Well you just do this, you'll be great. You do this one thing and you talk to this person or you heed this example, then everything would be great. Obviously, we know that's not the case. So to dovetail again off Don, take whatever that is in inside of you, if it's a void, whether it's something that you can tell that's missing, or you just feel like you're not out optimizing your life, and just see what that does for you and that that's going to be the biggest thing. So maybe that's something to explore, maybe it's not. But again, here's just two individuals, recovery artists, as we call it, that have lived it.
Again, this isn't a ploy. We've gone through these things and we don't want others to go through, and then that's one of, again, the key messages of Voices for Voices, and that's one of the foundations with Don. He's here to help. He's not here to demean anybody. He's not here to say you must do this or else. He's here to help, and that's first and foremost. For those of you watching and listening and thinking, "Oh, this is pretty intense. This is pretty harsh," just kind of think through the bigger process. Think about your new daily routines and see if something might help. Maybe you'll find something that you can add to your life and I think that'll be helpful for you. So Don, you've read in the intro kind of your bio of giving 10,000 Miraculous Medals, the individual kind of transactions, hand-to-hand, one-to-one. So 10,000 of those. What made you want to do that and why didn't you stop at 2000 or 5,000 for those out there?
Don Matis:
Well, here's the deal. On my early journey when I was going to places to virtue mine, Jesus would speak to me plain as day. So one day I was in my bedroom and I was going to St. Mary's Parish in Hudson, Ohio. I went there for many, many years, but at that time, Jesus put it on my heart to go on my drawer and get all the change I had, and even a piece of gold that Crystal found when we were in Houston. We were so poor, we were trash hunting, dumpster diving just to survive. So I had that in the drawer. I gave all the change I had and put it in the paper bag, and in the bag Jesus put on my heart, "Right, it's for the poor." So I used to before that bring out flowers, roses to the Blessed Mother because the rose is significant.
What is a rose? It blooms beautiful, but what does it have on the stem? Thorns, right? So suffering, what, blooms, and what happens when it blooms? It blooms in virtue if you can handle the suffering, which God will give you the grace to carry His cross. So simply, I went down to the church and put it at a statue because Catholics have statues. We do not worship the Blessed Mother, we love the Blessed Mother because who raised Jesus? Our Blessed Mother. Who knows Jesus better than anyone ever lived? The Blessed Mother. So I put this bag there. It was ironic because I used to go to St. Mary's and pray, and I was praying and all of a sudden an old friend of mine showed up and he goes, "Why don't you take that for yourself?" I go in my head, "No, I'm not going to let them know I put it there," because I like doing things anonymous. So I talked him out of it.
So that started me on my journey to help others with prayer and faith and action. Give them a medal, give them a smile, but let them know that this is real. So I go around and we get Miraculous Medals and they do them out individually because after that period of time, I started a bar ministry. I went to a local bar for 30 years and I used to sit there and smoke cigars, and just listen to people, and love people where they're at. And how do I learn to love people where they're at?
God gave me a great image. Everybody I meet, they're all wearing a hospital gown, so I can have compassion and mercy, and on top of their head there's a Christmas present because everybody you meet, I don't care how high they are, whatever they're involved in, prison, out of prison, whatever, we're all human. God works in strange and mysterious ways. So God gave me that gift. Oh, yeah. And on top of your head is a Christmas present where he gives the gifts, but I also add another thing, treat everybody that's like their birthday, or they're in the hospital. So does that answer your question?
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. And part of Voices for Voices, I want to touch on your branding. So if there are individuals in business out there that maybe initially see the screen and like, "Oh, what's going on? Did I tune into the right livestream?" Yeah, and so there's so much mundaneness that goes on with-
Don Matis:
But those are falling off. They want to fly to you.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. There's so much mundaneness that we go through our days, we drive to work, our days at work, and we can be like, "Oh, I don't remember driving to work". Things just get to be so much of a habit, and we sometimes, maybe a lot of times the media especially, they want to overlook the positive things that are happening in life, the somebody helping somebody versus these words like radical, extreme, theft, murder. These words that want to grip you in and pull you in. And so one of the things I love about Don is his branding of how he goes about it. So he's not I guess kind of like me, just a plain Justin, wearing regular clothes. He's showing out. He's going to leave that mark in your mind, whether it's the words he says, whether it's the Miraculous Medal he gives you or how he's dressed. So I just want to get into that. Maybe if you just discuss how each kind of piece, from the jester hat, the glasses, the purple beard and just what's your thought behind that.
Don Matis:
Here's the deal. Before I became the jester, I didn't know what I was doing. I never would know what I'm doing. I just pray to Jesus, get up and try to do His will. And there's a great saint, his name is... What's his name? Philip Neri. He was out-of-the-box thinker in a sense that actually, he had a beard, that was one of the stories. He'd shave it in half. So he had one side with a beard, the other side with none. So he'd go and visit the rich people and they'd go, "Who knows what they're thinking? This guy's crazy. A priest, a bishop, coming to my house. Look." And he would go there for one reason, to exercise humility. Because what is humility? You know your strength and weaknesses and everything comes from God.
So before I became the jester, I was Uncle Sam. One day I went to Mark's years ago and I bought this Uncle Sam hat. It progressed into what? Uncle Sam. My friend, dear Monica, would paint my beard like an all-American flag in a sense. So that started me on a journey of hats, but I actually love wearing hats. So eventually about five or six years ago, a friend of mine, Suzie, was working at a store, bought me a jester hat and this is how it evolved. And the purple beard came out of is for prayer, penance and fasting. And Jesus back in the day asked me to be a sign to His people. Well, I lived in my van for two years for Jesus, homeless. So He put it on my heart, become a sign to His people. And what's the sign? I'm a living built for God.
I have a crucifix, totally believe in the crucifix. Everything I wear is a symbol for a purpose. So when I go in public, I'm who I am anyhow, but this is advertisement to get a conversation going. So when I went to the bar, wherever I go now, it's a conversation piece. Some people that think I'm crazy. So what? Those are words. That's vanity. I am crazy. I'm crazy for Jesus. I'm crazy for humanity. I want to bring hope to this world. I want people to get out addiction because addiction is a living nightmare because it runs you, you become a slave of sin, you work for the devil. There's no in-between, you either work for God or the devil. There's nothing else. So I want to work for Jesus and Blessed Mother. Can I get something to drink?
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah. No, this is great. Again, I hope everybody out there... I know everybody out there is getting something from this conversation, and why tonight this podcast I can almost foresee that's going to be the most downloaded, most viewed because we are talking about real life, real people, real stories, and if you didn't believe it in the other 22 other episodes that we've had on Voices for Voices where we've had everything from presidents at universities to students that are from war-torn countries and individuals at the top of the totem pole, and like me, not at the top of the totem pole. Everybody has a voice. I can't stress that enough with foundation of Voices for Voices. So just wanted to thank again, everybody, for tuning to the Voices for Voices podcast sponsored by Redwood Living. Great, great sponsor. They've been with us since the beginning of 2020, and we couldn't be happier to have such a great partner. What aren't we covering so far, Don?
Don Matis:
Oh, we could talk here for three days because I have so much to share with you. I can relate to anything you've been through basically. You want to talk about jail? You want to talk about sexual abuse? You want to talk about dysfunctional families? You want to talk about being homeless? You want to talk about thumbing across country with no shoes on? I had all these experiences that is so overwhelming, and if anybody out there wants to help me write a book, I'm more than down with it. I need your help because I have such a powerful story and all's I really live for is about people to the best of my broken ability, because we're all broken.
Anybody that walks around and think they're not broken, run from them real fast, and if you have a family that's crazy, ask Jesus to remove all evil people from your life, all curses and spells. Anything that you don't want in your life, you go to Jesus and His Blessed Mother and things will happen. It will be painful. Suffering is painful. Jesus didn't like to suffer. Who likes to suffer? If you like to suffer, you're a masochist or something, you have serious problems, but there's so much to cover here. I'd like to come back and share more because it's a crazy life I live.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Yeah, and I think, again, to those out there, we think about homeless people, we think about people maybe down and out, maybe going through some type of incarceration. These are individuals, these are human beings. They're going through things. Where they're at this point doesn't define an individual. If that was the case, then myself and my basically first 35 years of my life, I wouldn't be here trying to actually be a positive influence. Again, really to echo Don, I'd be that narcissistic person. What could Justin do for Justin? A family gathering? Sorry, Justin has to go pregame to go out with his friends to do things that just where unhealthy, mind, body, spirit and however you want to think about that. And so that's why feeding off the energy and meeting somebody like Don I thought was very important to bring to my viewers' audience, and then as well as being able to give Don the platform to share with as many people as possible.
Because basically we could die at any point. I mean tomorrow's not... There's no guarantee that we'll all wake up for Thanksgiving tomorrow and if we're in the East Coast time zone, and so I'd rather spend my energy trying to help as many people have that legacy where somebody thinks back not to basically the 35 years where it was about me and about Justin. Hopefully they think about the years after and the things that we're doing and continuing to do. Same with Don. If you thought of that first portion of his life, or how about the last 36 years. And every day, again, it's not a given. So every day that we're here, whether you want to think it's a blessing, however you want to think of it, there's something there because not everybody's making it till the next day. And so feeding off somebody's passion, which again, Don covered it a little bit, but purple, one of the psychological terms for purple is passion. It's passionate. And so I'm sure he knew it because he's way more intelligent than I am.
We had a conversation and he's very intelligent and he thinks deep and he means well when he is talking, and there's no ulterior motives. So I found the purple aspect of being a marketing professor and learning about different colors and what they mean. One of the things is being passionate, and that's one of the things I can think of with why do I do what I'm dealing with Voices for Voices. Why did I start a nonprofit? Why am I trying to help people? It's because I'm passionate. So if you attach a dollar amount to a job, that's just a dollar amount.
If you're not passionate, then at some point the road's going to end, whether it's by your volition or by the employer or employers, but when you're passionate about something, that's when it really matters. So I thought, "Why don't I take what I'm passionate about?" And this doesn't happen overnight. What you find out what you're passionate about. It comes through time. But I guarantee anybody out there, if you're doing something day-to-day that you're passionate about, you're probably in more of a positive mindset then somebody that's going and working for the company who has their goals and their mission, and it's how to potentially make money for their bonuses and their stock options and things that somebody like me is not going to get a chance to see.
So I want to be involved with something of passion. So meeting somebody like Don and the people we bring on the podcast and anything we do Voices for Voices related, you're going to find some passion behind it. You could think, "Why does Justin post so much on social media?" It's the same thing, over and over and over again. It's because I'm passionate about it and if I didn't believe in it, I wouldn't be doing it. I wouldn't take the time. I wouldn't take the breaths that I'm breathing, the oxygen that's getting processed by my lungs, by my body, if I didn't believe in it and wasn't passionate about it. So let's talk about another one of your ministries of Hudson Springs and how that started and maybe evolved, another touch point of being able to meet people kind of where they're at.
Don Matis:
Well first of all, we work for Jesus. Of course, for human, we don't want to do a lot of things. So here's a recent story. Can you hold this for a second please? I bought this painting. Just look at Jesus in this painting. He is waiting for us in this whole world because He loves you. He died on a cross. Think about it. He was crucified, suffered more torture than we can even comprehend, and all's He want us to do is give us a mansion in heaven, and not only that, He is going to carry you across with you and He gives you the graces. So one day I bought this at Our Lady of Lebanon shrine, this painting. It came to my heart to buy it and I bought it. So Monica, my dear friend who took me in homeless when I was 30-plus years staying in her living room now. That's the charity in action we're talking about. She's a Catholic and she prays, has devotional, Blessed Mother, sacred heart and immaculate heart, and we go to mass once a week now. I used to go every day, but things happen.
Anyway. I took this painting. We go to Hudson Springs to walk, to exercise, like Justin's talking about. Very important. So I go there and during COVID, for 150 days I carried this picture around the park. I had other people, other traditions assault me about my faith, attacking the Blessed Mother, attacking Jesus. They didn't understand, of course, and I'm here to defend our lady at all costs, in Blessed Mother, in Jesus. If you don't understand the Blessed Mother in the Catholic edition, go to Jesus. He'll explain it to you. He will not let you down, and His timing is His timing. So I carry this around and just recently I was with my friend Monica and she goes, "I don't want you to take this out," basically. So we had a debate. I said, "No, I got to do this because God inspired me." So I took it out, I'm walking along and I said, "Give me your phone. I'm going to do my own video."
So I did the video. Said a prayer because I love to pray. Prayer, simply put Jesus in a chair, put Him wherever you want, talk to Him. Tell Him you're angry, tell Him you hate, tell Him you love, tell Him your joy. Whatever's in your heart, He knows all about it. So I did this video and it got over 4,000 hits just from a prayer because prayer is real. What do you think he's waiting for? He wants a conversation with you. Ask Him, tell Him you're financially ruined. Whatever you are, tell Him you're tired doing drugs and alcohol, putting a needle in your arm, eating too much food. Whatever your element is, God will allow it to happen for you. So that was a miracle, and it's 4,500 hits. And then I got to meet all kinds of people at the park. I met Justin there and all these beautiful people because everybody has a voice, everybody has a great story to tell. It might be boring to you, but it's very important for them.
So I learned during my journey, I'm sorry I'm jumping track, is the gift of listening. That's what the bar taught me. The gift to listen to others and then do something about it. Don't just say you're going to pray for them, buy them a tea. I used to go to places where a guy would send me and I'd buy the tea for somebody I didn't even know, I never bought it. Things like that speak loud to people. Miraculous Medals. People that come back from war and tell me to save their life, they call it charms because they didn't understand what they're receiving. It saved people's lives from heroin. Sacramentals are powerful in the Catholic church. You only get in proportion what you believe in the sacramental. I believe huge with it.
I had the mother of Jesus speak to me. Oh, and all's I want to do is help others because there's so much wound in this world. Look at your neighbor. They're real people and they need help. Do something for them. Bring them a can of food, I don't care what it is. Give them a penny because they need it now, because we all just got out of prison. Think about it with COVID lockdowns. Just think about all that reality. And when anybody who's doing alcohol and drugs, you're in prison with the devil. I had a guy at the bar, he goes, "I don't believe in the devil." I said, "I'm going to go home and pray for you that you see the devil." He says, "Please don't." I go, "Obviously you must believe in him." So does that answer your question?
Justin Alan Hayes:
Oh, yeah. Again, if this isn't passion, I don't know what it is, but it is passion and it really just makes kind of the hairs on your hand and your neck kind of stand up, because again, just like Don said, we're all people, we're all human beings. We need to eat, we need exercise, and to meet somebody where they're at. Whether you are Catholic, whether you have those beliefs, maybe step outside of your comfort zone and maybe do one thing. Again, maybe buy a tea for somebody, whether they know it's you or not. Little things like that really do mean a lot to people.
And so before we sign off, because Don has given me and everybody out there the inspiration, I'm going to hopefully provide another voice, another way to hopefully inspire somebody who's listening, watching now or in the future. So if you don't mind, I'm going to do a couple of songs with my guitar and then we'll be back with Don. And again, thank you for being with us tonight, tomorrow morning, day, night, wherever you are. I'm going to go pick up the guitar and we're going to have some entertainment.
Don Matis:
I'm not an hallucination. Did you write those songs?
Justin Alan Hayes:
No. No.
Don Matis:
Wow.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Okay, so I'm going to grab a sip of water. And for those that attended the A Brand New Day event about a month ago, actually a little bit more than a month ago. I took my fear of heights, fear of playing guitar in general and playing in front of people and singing. People were like, "I didn't know you were a singer." I was like, "I didn't know that I was either. I don't really feel that I'm singing." So with that, I'm going to do one of the songs that we did at the A Brand New Day event.
Don Matis:
I like how you do it.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Don't need to go all the way up. Guess it would help if I would put a capo on the fourth fret, but again, that's something that... Okay. Okay, here we go. And again, it's Voices for Voices. Everybody has a voice. Don't need to be Taylor Swift and be a multi, multimillionaire, billionaire out there. If you have an instrument, you can play it. If you want to sing, you can sing. Whether that instrument is the bells, whether it's the guitar, whether it's a piano, whatever that may be, you can do it. Hopefully I am one of... It's off. Okay, that's off. So we'll do this and then we'll go back live.
Don Matis:
So glad you had me do this.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Oh, yeah. Thank you for...
Don Matis:
[inaudible 00:45:18]?
Justin Alan Hayes:
Absolutely.
Don Matis:
Keep going.
Justin Alan Hayes:
That's the goal. Okay, so we're back on online, I think. Sorry for the phone call. They say put your phone on silent, and so that was something I definitely didn't do. So apologize for that. So again, hopefully this is maybe inspiring to somebody out there. It's like, "Wow. That's a pretty awful guitar player, pretty awful singer," but maybe say, "Hey. Well, I at least recognize the song." So hopefully it's inspiration on some level. So here we go.
(singing)
Okay. So hopefully that was bearable, and now we'll really, really test my knowledge again. So again, Voice for Voices. Whether you're a boy, a male, want to sing a man song or a female song or opposite. If you're a singer, if you're an artist, be yourself and you can do it. So I'm going to try to sing and try to play a song from Taylor Swift called You Belong With Me, and hopefully it does not get blocked on YouTube or Facebook as we're going through it. Okay.
(singing)
Don Matis:
That's what Jesus says, you belong with me. I got share your story. Oh, God have mercy.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Great. We're back with Don. Thanks for joining us again tonight. Don has a very important story he wants to share with the audience.
Don Matis:
So let me tell you about recovery. So you heard what I survived through, homelessness, rape, violence, mental violence, mental illness, drug addiction, alcohol, sex, basically jail. So let me share this powerful story. When I met my wife Crystal at the time, I met her in Arizona, in Tucson. I was dealing drugs. I was a drug dealer, sorry to say. I regret it because it ruins people's lives, but I was so selfish, I didn't really care. She was a dancer. She had a $600 a day intravenous cocaine habit. Ironically, she was born on March 8th and I was born on March 7th. We were basically 24 hours apart. So basically, a short one, brought her back to Ohio, et cetera, et cetera. Anyway. When we went through the divorce, it was August 2nd. My son was born in August 5th.
I get this phone call, I'm living in Hudson at my parents' house. The old man told me, he goes, "I just got a call from the hospital. Something happened to Crystal." So we're going through a divorce. So I get on the phone, she's in the hospital. A neighbor came by and brought me to help get the police report. I was in shock because what happened to her, she was going on a trip with her new boyfriend down in Dayton, Ohio. So whatever they were doing, it was like 2:30 in the morning. She got in a fight with a guy because we found a later in life she was a manic depressive. She suffered from manic bipolar.
So what happened was she got in a fight with her boyfriend, threw a beer bottom or beer can, whatever it was, he went off the side of the road, got a flat tire. So Crystal was... I'm telling you, if she was a Christian, she'd be like Joan of Arc. She was tenacious. She said, "I'm not going to go here. I'm going to thumb back home." She goes across the highway, she gets hit by a car at 55 miles an hour. She hit the front bumper, landed on the hood and landed on top of the hood, and basically after I talked to her after a period of time, she died, but doesn't remember it. God miraculously helped her. She recovered for three years and then she went back into that world.
She went to drugs, alcohol, moved back to Tucson and she became a prostitute. So in 1998 she was in her 40s. I got a call, she was murdered. Someone picked her up. Pray for every prostitute, pray for them, they're human beings. I know in her heart she didn't want to go back into that world. No one wants to be in that world. If you want to be in that world, we're going to pray triple hard for you this week because that's a nasty world if you reflect. She got murdered, unbelievable, in 1998 December 10th. Years later, the CJ detective said she was going to work the case until they found the murder. Never found him or her. Who knows? I found out just about two or three years ago, I put her name in the internet. I found out what really also happened. She was dismembered. They chopped her up. And I live with that every day.
So anybody out there in the prostitution or doing drugs and you have to do what you do, pray for holy people to come in your life. God will send them, and pay attention what they're saying to you because you don't want to end up like Crystal. And then my son had to live with those brutal memories and so do I every day because the guilt, the shame of thinking, "Oh, my gosh. If I was together at that timeframe..." Even being a Christian or Catholic, I didn't have the finances. So in this role it comes down to money or you know people, and it's important to know the right people and God will send them, but don't be like me and not ask for help. That's one of my biggest flaws. I hardly ask anybody for anything.
So I want to relate to you that I share with you in your suffering from reality, not from some book. I actually lived it. I was so crazy. I was snort tequila up my nose and putting needles in my arm, shooting beer just to feel the pleasure of a needle. I just want to tell you these stories because look what God's done for me. He gave me the courage and the strength to be a witness for Him, to be assigned to His people. That's my only job. That's all I have to do, but I always want to give more. So be you, be happy, and please don't end up in that world of trash as slaves to the devil because he is real, and if you don't believe it, ask Jesus. He'll show you immediately. You'll die of fright because it's so scary, and I think of the memories I still have to suffer with from my crazy past as a drug dealer, alcohol, what I did in my family, my friends. So that's all I got to say.
Justin Alan Hayes:
Wow. Thank you for being so... I mean, just being genuine, being yourself. I think that's helpful. So again, if this was extreme, whatever your thought. Again, we're here, Voices for Voices. Don's here with his ministry to help people. That's why we're bringing things up because again, sometimes things aren't talked about in the manner that they should, and so hopefully this has been a positive experience that you, your friends, your family, somebody you know, this might be able to benefit them. Please share with them. Please listen. Please check out the Voices for Voices Instagram, which is Voices F-O-R Voices. Our Facebook, Voices for Voices. Our new YouTube channel, which is again Voices for Voices. Trying to keep it nice and easy to remember, mostly for mem but it helps with others as well. And so again, you can also find us at voicesforvoices.org and find out more about us, what we're doing now, what we're going to be doing into future. And please join us. Please join the movement to help others. Use your voice. You have a talent, everybody does. So please reach out to us.
And then our guest tonight, Don. I mean, Don was about as real as it gets with just being genuine, being himself. Some of the stories are extreme, but that's life. Life gets extreme at times and he's using his experiences to help others. And so whatever that looks like, take Don's message of positiveness and wanting to help. Don't take it specifically verbatim that, "Oh, if I don't do this, my life's not going to get back on the tracks." Don't compare. I was horrible at judging and it's tough not to judge others like, "Well, I wouldn't do that, or I wouldn't say that, or I wouldn't listen to that, or I wouldn't do that thing." So don't judge and don't compare. If you don't agree with everything or parts of it, that's okay. Just take the message of we're here to help. Don's here to help. I'm here, the organization's here to help. And so whenever you see our faces, whether you see us on social media or other media appearances that our intention is to help, and that's the goal and why we're here. So Don, thank you very much for being with us tonight.
Don Matis:
Oh, you're most welcome.
Justin Alan Hayes:
It was very impactful. It was a pleasure to be able to talk and meet you at the park during one of your ministries, and I'm just happy to have a medium and a way to be able to share your story and experiences to help others because that's what we're here for. The website to find more about Don is stonedonhappiness.com. They also have Instagram and Facebook Stone on Happiness. And again, it's a play on the words. Nobody here is getting stoned. It's a play on words to catch attention so that we're able to get in front and then use the advertisement. So again, the brand is at work. Getting that attention is key. So until next time, thanks for joining us on Voices for Voices podcast sponsored by Redwood Living. This has been episode 23. I'm your host, founder, and executive director of Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes, and this is Don Matis. We hope you have a good night.
Don Matis:
Our pleasure. God bless you all. Pray to Jesus, and you know what, get a spiritual director and a mentor. Don't be ashamed. Just be who you are. It's simple. Don't put on airs. I'm what I am and always been and always will be. Love y'all. I'll pray for you all week. Please get off the alcohol and drugs, and don't be a prostitute, please. It's horrifying. Amen.
Please donate to Voices for Voices, a 501c3 nonprofit charity today at: https://www.voicesforvoices.org/shop/p/donate
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