Winning Words 9/28/10
“If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.” (Mother Teresa) We need that kind of advice, because it’s too easy to lash out at people who treat us in an unkindly manner. One of the difficult teachings (among others) from the Sermon on the Mount is to “turn the other cheek” and to “pray for your enemies.” Not many are doing that, but let’s keep trying. ;-) Jack

FROM PRJM IN MICHIGAN: I think there are times for everyone when our "kindness" is driven by selfish, ulterior motives. I remember a woman (who had, I admit, knocked herself out to provide Christmas stuff for a family) who was just so upset because the mother of this family didn't say, "Thank you." It was hard to convince her that maybe the mother was too overwhelmed to do so and that "thanks" is not the reason we are giving. Only one of the ten lepers bothered to say, Thanks. FROM JACK: We who are in the "teaching" business have plenty of opportunities put before us. One Christmas I took my young daughter with me to deliver some gifts to a needy family. Afterward she said, "They didn't look so needy; the house was neat, and they had a decorated tree." That was a "teaching" opportunity. But just as we are teachers, we must not forget that we are learners, too.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: The "Twilight Zone" song is gone, but I do love these Winning Words. Pastor Schaffer did a sermon about turning the other cheek...it was about abused women. Something to think about.
FROM JACK: There can be many reasons to "neglect" the needy. But what God wants from his people is a caring heart. God blesses those who care.

FROM MOLINER CF: Who gets the most good out of well-intentioned kindness, the giver or the reciever? FROM JACK: Or to put it in another way, "Who gets the most good out of a well-intentioned kindness, God or you and I?" MORE FROM CF: I don't think God is in it for what he can get out of it. FROM JACK: I try not to put myself in the place of God. 1 Chronicles 2:16 "Who has know the mind of God?" Having said this, I think that God knows pain and pleasure.

FROM PRFM: "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matt. 5 46 ff FROM JACK: Good luck on your quest for perfection. Incidentally, a Detroit Tigers pitcher almost threw a perfect no-hit, no-run game, and the TV camera said that he did. But what counts is what the umpire said. "SAFE!" In the game of life, it's God's call, regardless of the judgment of others.

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: Mother Theresa was such an icon. I have a book of her sayings on LOVE. It was distressing to have her letters published after her death (I also have that book) and to realize how bereft she felt, and abandoned by God. But she kept her faith! I toured her bldgs when I spent three weeks in India. Baby cribs end to end . The nurses, or sisters, tried to hold each child once an hour. Calcutta is both beautiful and very depressing. I guess I could say that about most of the places I visited in India! Yes, of all the virtues one can possess, Kindness is probably the most prized, and wears well in all relationships. My husband was very kind, which I appreciated more and more as the years flowed by! FROM JACK: I personally didn't find her letters to be distressing. They seemed to make her real. Martin Luther had similar feelings and wrote about them. We all have two sides...the outside and the inside. I think the "key" is that, although at times she felt abandoned, she kept her faith.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: What struck me is that Mother Theresa said these words. If one of our kindness leaders sometimes came across as someone who questioned her intentions, it really is a comfort to me who often wonders about the basis of my own intentions and am vulnerable then to others' judgments. Just be kind no matter what people think. Good advice, I'll take it. FROM JACK: As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous--not even one. (Romans 3:10)