Winning Words 12/29/10
“All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today and yesterday.” (Chinese Proverb) I once read that some seeds were found in one of the old Egyptian pyramids. Someone planted them, and they grew. I have an apple seed taped to my computer to remind me, that as there are limitless apples in that seed, so are there ideas without limit in our brain that will affect our tomorrows. ;-) Jack

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: This WW touched off the science-fiction part of my brain, wondering if some mad scientist is now in her/his lab trying to produce a flower seed from scratch. I hope the Chinese Proverb is truthful for all time and there is a limit on man's inventiveness. There were so many ideas that sprung from this WW that I can't cope with them all. FROM JACK: Every age has its inventors. "The mind is a terrible thing to waste."

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: My mom had a huge garden (about a half an acre) when we were growing up and it was us kid's job to keep it weed-free. But when they moved up north, veggies were out....too much frost and snow too early in the season and the same too late in the season. However, there were some hearty flowers which bunnies, frost, snow and even deer didn't like so she always planted them. One of the plants which survived were Hollyhocks. So each year she saved the seeds and replanted them. She grew a very unusual hollyhock which was such a deep dark purple it looked black. It was extraordinarily beautiful. After she died, us girls continued to plant them for my dad. When he passed away in 2007, I took some of the seedpods and saved them. This summer, I found the pods and sent some to my sister Kathy. She was able to get them to bloom again. Now the seeds have been passed on to all of us. There is a big following of "antique" seeds. Some master gardeners were able to bring back many old seeds and you can now get the seeds and the fruit of antique trees. FROM JACK: I've always liked the biblical analogy of the Word of God as the seed...and the parable of the sower.

FROM PRFM IN WISONSIN: What a pregnant WW today! FROM JACK: God says, "Be fruitful, and multiply," and the ideas for WWs just seem to come.

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: I had seen this before, and also read of the seeds (and honey which was still edible!) found in the pyramids. Your Apple seed reminder is a good one, even if our tired old brains aren't quite as
productive as they once were! FROM JACK: I read recently that honey is the only food that doesn't spoil. And, who says that the aging process has to wear out the brain? I'll bet you can play BINGO today as well as you could when you were a teen-ager.

FROM PRCH VISITING IN CALIFORNIA: writing to you from California where we are visiting family I was amazed today, walking up into the hills how there were all these sunflowers, some blooming, but not just along the road - even coming right through the pavement. There is a lot of persistence and strength in a seed! Especially when it gets some sun and water. Concerning apples seeds - it's also a fitting reminder of Luther's comment about apples seeds/if the world ends tomorrow... FROM JACK: The parable of the sower doesn't take into consideration the persistence of some seeds. That's a sermon "seed" for when the sower parable comes up in the pericope.