Winning Words 10/8/10
“Patience is also a form of action.” (Auguste Rodin) French sculptor, Rodin, is one of my favorite artists. I purchased a small medallion of his work, “The Thinker,” at the DIA. It’s attached to my computer as a reminder of the importance of being a thinker. Rodin also tells me that being patient is not a waste of time. His art was criticized during his lifetime, but now, with the passing of time, it’s widely acclaimed. ;-) Jack

FROM JE IN MICHIGAN: I have had the good fortune of visiting the Rodin museum in Paris and THE Thinker is amazing. It is out surrounded by a beautiful rose garden. Being patient is hard. We want things now....it's an attitude we need to squelch. Being patient is a virtue. FROM JACK: A few years ago I attended a Rodin exhibit at the DIA. I was surprised to see that "The Thinker" was a small part of a larger sculpture depicting a man looking down upon "Hades" (as I recall) and contemplating it.

FROM RI IN BOSTON: Some years ago another "artist" created signs determined to keep our mind functional ... they exhorted THIMK. FROM JACK: Yes, I like that one, but the person I admire is the one who came up with the original THINK sign for the desks of IBM employees.

MORE FROM JACK: Before I was a pastor I worked in an office where a man taught me this quote.
Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand perogative of mind.
How few think justly of the thinking few; How many never think, who think they do.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: His sculpture is awesome to me too. I seem to recall reading somewhere, maybe at one of the exhibits of his work, that he tried to "bring out the essence of what was in the material he was sculpting" For an artist to let the materials he/she is working on "speak" to him/her is an extraordinary relationship and one of humility and service that is also a model for me as I work with materials and with people. His WW today that you are passing on are very, very wise. FROM JACK: I like the Biblical image that we are like clay in the hands of the potter.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: His studio in Paris is one of my favorites. It is small with his work and with his workplace- plus great chocolate eclairs. One summer we lived in an apartment on Boulevard Louis Pasteur and could walk there easily. FROM JACK: Have you made a list of all the famous places you've visited? It would be a long one, I'm sure.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Ah, patience....how many times I remind myself of those very words. I'm not a person who lacks patience...waiting in line doesn't bother me, long lines of traffic don't faze me, but a person who gets upset with those kinds of things does bother me. Does that make sense? I seem to obtain more patience as I age also. Today I begin the first day of my 61st year. Wow. Thank you God! FROM JACK: Just reverse those numbers, and you'll be as young as you feel.

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: Interesting comment. You'd think Patience would be a force of "non-action"! Anyway, it is a virtue. I have become more patient as I aged. I used to want everything done "right now!" Rodin had done some imaginative and impressive sculptures. I have seen some of his original work...larger than life! FROM JACK: "O Lord, give me patience, and do it right now." Some of our prayers are like that.

FROM PRDR IN MICHIGAN: Probably because I’m absorbed in this Sunday’s gospel, I think we best polish the dull with gratitude. Melody Beattie says, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. Gratitude makes things
right. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial
lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
I’m that’s more than you can use on your blog, but you can “take what is useful and leave the rest” as they say in the 12 step communities. This is from Melody Beattie’s little book, Gratitude: Affirming the Good Things in Life, published by Hazelden. FROM JACK: Yes, that's a BIG sermon for the LITTLE blog, but it's worth sending out, especially after I read it a second time. Someone has to affirm the good things in life to counteract the negative (which gets the "press')