Jack’s Winning Words 4/7/08
“Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.” (Unknown—Sent by C.F.) I never learned to dance, but I have always enjoyed watching people jitterbug, polka and do the chicken dance. More importantly, my faith has been strengthened by watching those who’ve been able to dance in the rain. Have you known people like that? ;-) Jack

FROM B.S. NEAR ORLANDO: It is interesting how our lives mesh. Yesterday I mowed part of our lawn in the rain. I would have mowed more but my wife gave me negative vibes instead of encouraging me to work faster. The pain in my hips was duled by a full Vicodin tablet, and was tolerated because the flowering weeds in our lawn were dissappearing with every pass of the mower. So we had some negatives and positives, and I am certain my blood sugar dropped. However it did start raining ferocously, and the Good Lord sent lightning, so I stopped, to wait out the storm. This activity is hard on shoes , bad on shoes. but thanks for the E-mail, it brings back so many, many memories. I am crying. I am truely sorry to find out you don't dance. If we had known, I think we would have driven down to your house and taught you. Mz Bessie Barnes was my savior, she taught us dancing at Wilmot for 10cents an hour, and she developed the transformation that led to tremendous joy and inspiration. Dancing was more than an art form, it was a participation in a culture handed down by our forefathers. It was a successful entry into a socialized world, it was a real blessing. Hey, and it was great exercise and you could hold a chickie in your arms. Wow, what memories.

FROM CWR IN B'MORE: .....good one Jack. I'm trying to do that.

FROM M.L. IN ILLINOIS: i took some of my first dancing lessons in the rain! i also learned to look for the rainbows as the sun peeks through. the sun always peeks through-sooner or later. thanks to god and earth angels!

FROM MOLINER L.P.: I'm doing my darndest to dance in the rain. Is it ok to use my umbrella?

FROM J.L. IN MICHIGAN: One of my favorite memories of my parents, were watching them dance together. They both loved to danced, and danced very well...they flowed across the floor. We had many many family parties down our basement and dancing was something we always did as an extended family. And they always encouraged us to dance....ESPECIALLY in the rain....some of my best memories!

FROM S.H. IN MICHIGAN: Wednesday we are going to have a Memorial Service for Alice. She lived at the Health Care Center, on a ventilator and a feeding tube. She was under the care of a legal guardian and there has been hardly any information given out about her death. She danced in the rain and, because she showed a person could dance in the rain even with very limited abilities, a lot of us have learned not to be so afraid of the rain. These are the reflections my intention is to share at the Memorial Service that I passed to her Pastor to see if they made sense to him and, since the Winning Words for today ask if we know someone who danced in the rain, it is my pleasure to pass them on to you too, honoring the memory of Alice.

FROM PR J.S. IN MICHIGAN: How do you live without dancing in the rain? What is the option? Crawling in a hole and dying there?

FROM PR F.M. IN WISCONSIN: One of the blessings in being a pastor is meeting a lot of people who have danced in the rain. I recall the president of a parish I served 20 years ago as interim pastor. She was a very devoted teacher, a great mother and wonderful wife, but in addition to attempting to provide leadership in a young parish whose pastor had just left his wife and two children, Carol was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After church, on a Sunday when I had used the 23rd Psalm as the text, Carol came up to me and thanked me for the sermon - I had spoken of mountain top days, days at the banquet table, days down in the valley and days which were common - like walking on level ground. Carol said, my life for the recent past has been mainly in the valley - but for me, even days on level ground are mountain top days! Just one of many folks I have come to know and love who knew how to dance in the rain.

FROM MOLINER A.E.: Gene Kelley? I'll try tonight as it is gonna rain.

FROM B.S. NEAR ORLANDO: I just wish my parents were still alive, and Unc John and Aunt Laura, They preached this all their lives, and hope fully I listened ( most of the time ). It worked.