Winning Words 10/28/09
“Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think that they can’t lose.” (Bill Gates – sent by GS) This week I saw a TV program about The Great Depression and how it was fueled by stock investors who thought they couldn’t lose, but they did! I came across an interesting question yesterday. “If the choice were yours, which two would you pick: happy, famous, humble or rich?” Interesting, isn’t it? ;-) Jack

FROM HAWKEYE GS: i'll take the 2 h's FROM JACK: Sounds good to me.

FROM RI IN BOSTON: May I expand the choices to include innovative and contented? FROM JACK: I suppose in school you asked the teacher if you could write the questions. Your task is to write the answers.

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: If you mean by "humble" what the scriptures mean by that term, I would pick "humble" and need nothing else. To be humble in the scriptures is to accept that you are a creature and not the Creator. Once you accept that you are human, everything else falls into place. Only the idea that we are God is truly destructive of us. FROM JACK: You're right. JS in not God. That role belongs to JC.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Humbly happy! FROM JACK: Or happily humble.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: It was interesting reading your blog from yesterday and learning how and why you started WW. Great ministry!!!!!!! For today's: humble. That's the only one I've found (so far) gets me through every situation. And I don't really take credit for getting humble, believe it's God who gets me there, who gives me the situations I am in and the choice and fortunately He gives also scripture to help me understand the necessity of being humble Micah 6:8. Comfort in the face of it all. FROM JACK: You're the second one who only wants humility. You must have been eating Humble Pie. I wonder about that expression.

FOLLOW UP FROM JACK: Origin of Humble Pie
In the USA, since the mid 19th century, anyone who had occasion to 'eat his words' by humiliatingly recanting something would be said to 'eat crow' (previously 'eat boiled crow'). In the UK they 'eat humble pie'. The unpalatability of crow, boiled or otherwise, seems clear, but what about humble pie? In the 14th century, the numbles (or noumbles, nomblys, noubles) was the name given to the heart, liver, entrails etc. of animals, especially of deer. By the 15th century this had migrated to umbles. Umbles were used as an ingredient in pies, although the first record of 'umble pie' in print is as late as the 17th century. Samuel Pepys makes many references to such pies in his diary. For example, on 5th July 1662: "I having some venison given me a day or two ago, and so I had a shoulder roasted, another baked, and the umbles baked in a pie, and all very well done." and on 8th July 1663: "Mrs Turner came in and did bring us an Umble-pie hot out of her oven, extraordinarily good." It is possible that it was the pies that caused the move from numbles to umbles. 'A numble pie' could easily have become an umble pie', in the same way that 'a napron' became 'an apron' and 'an ewt' became 'a newt'. This changing of the boundaries between words is called metanalysis and is commonplace in English.

FROM PRPH IN MINNESOTA: i think i would go with happy (and hopefully healthy too) FROM JACK: I guess that if you're healthy, you'd be happy....but not always, I suppose. There are exceptions.

FROM MOLINER CF: Being rich and famous doesn't preclude be happy and humble, I'm already happy and humble. Rich and famous won't change me. FROM JACK: Don't brag! Remember, you're supposed to be humble.

FROM GUSTIE MN: No doubt about what I would choose—I want to be happy. Being famous would not allow that but being humble or rich one could be happy, but they are not a prerequisite to being so. FROM JACK: People usually see your "happy" face. And you make others happy.

FROM JO IN MICHIGAN: I really enjoy your Winning Words, and this is one that is really good...it makes you think. We are living the result of what Bill Gates was referring to. Just think of how many people are suffering at the whim of a few?