Winning Words 6/21/13
“Be realistic!  Plan for a miracle.”  (Osho – Indian mystic)  Norman Vincent Peale is known for his book, The Power of Positive Thinking.  I guess if you believe in miracles it’s OK to pray for one.  A miracle is something beyond human power and attributed to the divine.  So, if you believe in the Divine, miracles can happen.  In the Lord’s Prayer we’re taught to pray, “Thy will be done.”  “God’s will” is the real miracle.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Here is Henri Nouwen's meditation for today.  Among all the words and the things all of us people say to each other, I think the gist of these two things is really the miracle I appreciate most and hope in the most, hope in Christ Jesus.  No need to despair, don't have to be perfect in my speech, Someone else is/was perfect for/in place for us, learning into understanding it more and more in life.
" Growing into the Truth We Speak  (Henry Nouwen)  Can we only speak when we are fully living what we are saying?  If all our words had to cover all our actions, we would be doomed to permanent silence!  Sometimes we are called to proclaim God's love even when we are not yet fully able to live it.  Does that mean we are hypocrites?  Only when our own words no longer call us to conversion.  Nobody completely lives up to his or her own ideals and visions.  But by proclaiming our ideals and visions with great conviction and great humility, we may gradually grow into the truth we speak.  As long as we know that our lives always will speak louder than our words, we can trust that our words will remain humble."====JACK:  That God is able to use us (as imperfect beings) is truly miraculous.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I like Sharon's quote from Henry Nouwen, "If all our words had to cover all our actions, we'd be doomed to permanent silence."  (!)  I read a quote from Ben Franklin in THIS WEEK newsletter  which stuck with me, as well. "As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence".  Good to ponder!  I've seen some bona fide miracles, (in my belief), and believe they can happen!  Probably not as often as we'd like, but someday we'll have that "perfect" knowledge as to why.... ====JACK:  The real miracle is that there is a G-d who knows, cares and loves us.  Without that belief, the longing and praying for miracles is wasted effort.

FROM WALMART REV:  God's will is truly the "Miracle Working God" working miracles noted in His Word beyond our understanding and experienced by folks even today that at times leave us standing there scratching our heads in wonderment!  I'm amused though at those who demand such, instead of ,“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Thankful for all those little miracle touches by God in my life throughout the years...supplying all our needs during those 5 wonderful years in WB is one of them.====JACK:  One of my favorite poems is The Power House by Christopher Morley.  "Out for my evening stroll  I discovered on 84th Street  A power-house, quietly humming to itself,  And though I lived near-by  I had never known it was there.  Some people are like that."  Our miracle working God is sometimes like that, too.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Miracles are in the eyes of the beholder. Some people call them good fortune. The old "saw" goes, "One man's meat is another man's poison."====JACK:  That "saw" is the name of a book by E. B. White that I have on my shelf.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Amen!  God shows us miracles everyday if we just take the time to look around.  We have seen them in our lives.  Do you believe in Miracles?====JACK:  I believe in God, the ultimate miracle, who makes all things possible.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Yes, I believe in miracles, but I also believe that one should live like everything depends on  you and pray that everything depends on God.====JACK:  In you believe in miracles, the Rays have a chance to win the World Series.