Jack’s Winning Words 10/24/14
“Life isn’t long enough for love and art.”  (W. Somerset Maugham)  Detroit’s bankruptcy has caused some creditors to say, “Sell your van Gogh from the Detroit Institute of Arts and pay us.”  Other voices say, “How can you sell something that’s priceless?  What’s the value of something that’s invaluable?”  It’s like putting a price-tag on true love.  Oscar Wilde wrote: “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”  He was so right!    ;-)  Jack

FROM PAUL IN ST. PAUL:  good stuff today, Jack!   thanks.  i have used the O. W. quote in several stewardship sermons.====JACK:  Speaking of value...You probably remember (and have used)...
 The Touch of the Masters Hand  (Myra Brooks Welch)
Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
 thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,
 but held it up with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
 "Who'll start the bidding for me?" "A dollar, a dollar"; then two!" "Only
 two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three
 dollars twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a
 gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust
 from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody
 pure and sweet as caroling angel sings.
 The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
 said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow.
 A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make
 it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and
 gone," said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not
 quite understnad what changed its worth." Swift came the reply: "The touch
 of a master's hand."
 And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin,
 Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin, A
 "mess of pottage," a glass of wine; a game - and he travels on. "He is
 going" once, and "going twice, He's going and almost gone." But the Master
 comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
 and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  This is sad, when some people don't treasure cultural things and the museums where these cultural things are and which bring diverse peoples together to share in enjoyment of seeing them. Felt the same way when I heard on the news that so many museums in Iraq were being looted and robbed of their ancient and cultural things. Humans, in our generation, can be so short-sighted, maybe because some of us just think of money and don't value culture. ====JACK:  The first church I served when I became a pastor has closed.  It has now become a museum for the community's Historical Society.  My wife's grandfather was chairman of the building committee.  It was in that place where I preached my first sermon, where we were married and where our 3 children were baptized.  When I think of the memories...I recall the song, "They Can't Take That Away From Me."  Priceless!

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Maugham had it right.  In an entire lifetime man can't exhaust the desire for loving, nor suppress the trove of ideas revealed in art.  Ironically, so much of it is accessible and free for our pleasure, but generally our propensity for doing something "useful" takes precedence. ====JACK:  There's more "art" outside of museums than there is inside of them.  The trees in our front yard are just one example.====RI:  Today's WW was enlightening in itself, so I appreciated the bonus poem The Touch of the Master's Hand.====JACK:  Isn't it a thing of beauty, how the mind works?  A few words, a few sounds...then situations and opinions change.====RI:  I like to think I participated in a bit of that "art", but Someone mightier than I gets the glory.

FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  In my opinion: No human being knows everything & every one knows something.  Just thinkin...====JACK:  Google is for those who don't know everything.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  Maybe the Mastercard commercials have the right tag line -  "Whatever it is ...........priceless".   It would be interesting to take a poll to see what people believe is priceless. ====JACK:  Let's start the poll with you.  What do you think is priceless?  For me...The way the body works is priceless.  Even the most expensive care can't keep it alive when it wants to quit functioning.====RS:  I agree with that - stem call and future bionics notwithstanding.  Time with family comes to mind for me -especially family that we don't see every day.  Watching the kids and grand-kids grow is something I never get tired of.====JACK:  Medical breakthroughs are not meant to give eternal life, but to ease some of our aches and pains.  Many of us are living on with "fake" parts...my knee and the new lenses in my eyes.

FROM TARMART REV:  Very impressed with Belle Isle as our son drove us around . . . the state seems to have taken it to heart in cleaning it up a step or two . . . sure noticed the difference from last year as we drove through . . . sometimes hardships bring on newness in other areas of life. ====JACK:  Sometimes scrubbing a child's dirty face can bring about a look that you didn't know was there...but it was there all the time.

 FROM MY LAWYER:  The sad reality, and neither of us will live long enough to see it, is that the exploding fundamentalist Muslim population in Europe will inevitably lead to the destruction of the priceless art of that continent. From the Sistine Chapel, to the Louvre Museum, classics will be destroyed because of the modesty demands of Sharia law.  It's a fast moving train and the demographics are changing because of the unbalanced birth rate.====JACK:  Life is sometimes like a mystery novel.  Things are really puzzling, even scary, at times.  A book has an author who is in control of the plot.  In my opinion, so does the Book of Life.  Having said that...Yes, it is a tragedy when things of worth are wantonly destroyed. 

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Those two things could definitely make you want to live longer! R.W. Emerson (poet) said, Love of Beauty is taste; The creation of Beauty is art", which rings true. For me "priceless" is the love of Dad and Mom, Husband and Wife, and family members!! I've seen that Oscar Wilde quote, and it is certainly true for many folks today, but not all, by a long shot! ====JACK:  Oscar was a wit, like Groucho...even Reagan.  Can you think of others?