Jack’s Winning Words 10/9/18
“When you have 435 people who are opinionated, sometimes agreeing on things is difficult.”  (Rodney Frelinghuysen)  Have you ever been on a committee?  It can be frustrating.  Even husbands and wives can disagree.  And then there’s the U.S. Senate!  Recently I overheard some millennials talking in the next booth, and one of them said, “I can dance with that!”  I’d never heard that expression?  Have you?  Interesting…getting along is like dancing.   ;-)  Jack

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  i can dance with that!===JACK:  It's a catchy expression, isn't it?

FROM WALMART REV:  Square dancing may be a problem, as it is the "caller" that sets the direction and response?! Always food for thought-- thanks, Jack!! 0;-)===JACK:  Is the Senior Pastor at your church the square dance caller?  ...or is it your wife?  ...or does it depend on which dance hall your at?===REV:  I "dosey-doe" to my wife's call much more nowadays! 0;-)

FROM INDY GENIE:  Oh how I love that! “Dance with that”.... I’m claiming  it.  You never know what you’re going to learn from the next booth!===JACK:  One of my favorite "new" songs is "The Lord of the Dance."  This song was written by Sydney Carter in 1963 and follows the idea of a traditional English carol, "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" which tells the gospel story in the first person voice of Jesus of Nazareth, portraying his life and mission as a dance.===GENIE:  “Lord of the Dance” is one of my favorites, too. Didn’t know about the connection to the English Carol ....beautiful lyrics !

FROM TRIHARDER:  "I don't get no respect." (Rodney Dangerfield)===JACK:  I "respect" those Borscht Belt comics...Henny Youngman, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Andy Kaufman, etc.

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  I'm positive that millennials, with a lot of help from the rest of us will bring us back into BONDAGE.===JACK:  Are you talking about "bondage" in an apocalyptic way?  If so, what have millennials got to do with it?===GEORGE:  Jack, there are 8 steps for the Rise & Fall of a Democracy:  1. Bondage    2. Spiritual Growth    3. Great Courage    4. Liberty (1940s for USA)   5. Abundance    6. Complacency    7. Apathy    8. Dependence===JACK:  This reminds me...I haven't gotten around to making commentary on CBS, your Bible Study group.  While I'm a firm believer in interpreting the Bible with regard to the time and circumstances in which it was written, I tend to be turned off when it is used to justify a current political agenda...just as you might be turned off when it appears to be used to support a current social agenda.

FROM RJP IN NAPLES:  We argue and disagree, we communicate and send inspirational phrases, we can laugh and be serious and that is why I really appreciate you after all these years. SO Thank you on this Pastor appreciation day . I just wanted to take the time to say you are and have been appreciated.  God Bless You,===JACK:  Thank you.  I didn't know that there was such a day...but in researching, I found that you can get your pastor a coffee mug with his "mug" on it and the words: "Pastor on Fire!"  (Don't bother!)

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  And sometimes it seems IMPOSSIBLE!  What a quagmire our congress
has become! So discouraging. "Dance with it" is a good phrase: move together in symmetry, with rhythm and purpose. My Youth choir sang "Lord of the Dance"; a Delightful words, tune and rhythm!! My Scottish friend had a phrase that I took to, when when she said, "The wee smalls"
aren't fun..."  Turns out she meant the wee small hours of the night when one is troubled or grieving and can't sleep!  The "wee smalls" can some-times be a problem! :-) Another catchy phrase! ===JACK:  "The wee smalls!"  I like it...not what it represent...but how it sounds.  Today, I'm going to think about how it can be turned into a positive.

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Thanks for teaching me a new expression.  You are full of surprising, vibrant information.===JACK:  I heard that expression at the Courtyard.  My "surprising" led to listen to Marvin Gaye's oldie..."I Heard It (At) Through the (Courtyard) Grapevine." 

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It’s fun isn’t it?  If you listen instead of giving your opinion, it’s amazing how everyone is wrong!!   Lol     I have never heard the term “dance” used for a thing other than dancing.===JACK:  When I was in college, the only dancing allowed on campus was square dancing.  "Close" dancing had to done in other places.  That has changed with the times.  That never bothered me, because I was a klutz when it came to square or close or toe.===JUDY:  We learned square dancing in Junior High.  We did a lot of different dances in Girl Scouts. But my favorite is the Polka!  My parents had many many parties and we all danced, even the babies were lifted in arms and danced away!  Wonderful moments!!===JACK:  Dancing wasn't for me in Jr. Hi.  I didn't to touch girls.  Cooties!===JUDY:  We didn’t want to either but back then, you did what the teacher told you.

FROM LK IN IL:  Well, Getting out and having fun even in very weird times.  Frankly, millennials may be in our faces with their yoga gear but their music can remind us of sitting in the dentist chair. How funny is that !  Who programs that setting music anyway?  It's at the pools clubs too!  And how about watching a cable station that has your phone number tied to your phone number that elderly people have on their preprogrammed large number phones? Boy, How inaccurate and unsafe is the" polling media. Today we have xyz, tomorrow it's something else or is it the food purchased within 25 miles or by a household with the same last name? Talk about something to dance with and laugh at/ with !!!  Fun indeed!  So wrong and so funny.===JACK:  I  am intrigued by millennials, especially since my grandchildren are in that age-group.  When G-S Joe picks me up in his car he switches the music on the radio from "whatever" to Sousa marches which we both like.  But, I get your point.  Things that are out of our comfort zone can be annoying.  I can dance with those times by trying to find something new.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  is it a square dance?  the tango?  or the rumba? :):):)===JACK:  As a pastor, did you permit dancing in your church building?  In my first parish a member complained because the Boy Scouts were learning Indian dancing, dancing that she considered to be pagan. ===SP:  yes, we have had a few dances that sotv over the years.   when i went to college there was a joke on campus that sex on campus was forbidden because it might lead to dancing!

FROM LK:  Thank you all for reminding us of goodness.