Winning Words 1/31/11
“A boil on one’s neck interests one more than 40 earthquakes in Africa.” (Dale Carnegie) Most of us are self-centered most of the time. Carnegie is known for his advice on how to win friends. One way is to try and put yourself in the other’s place. I know that it’s hard to do when you’ve got a “boil.” Other people have boils, too, and they’ll appreciate someone who sympathizes with them. ;-) Jack

FROM ILLINOIS LIZ: Are you really up at 4:12 am? FROM JACK: Your time is 4:12 am. Mine is 5:12 am. Yes, I try to get Winning Words out before 5:30 am, so that it's one of the first things to pop up on the screens of people like you.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: Do you think the devil puts boils on our necks sometimes to win us over to being more self-centered than not or do you think we just naturally all by ourselves become self-centered with only our skin's help and not the devil's? FROM JACK: In "olden" days people believed that illness and calamity were caused by the devil, or were brought about, because of God's displeasure. I have the view that many of life's calamities are of our our making, or are the result of natural causes. That is not to say that God does not have the power or the will to eneter our life's happenings. God is love, and wants only the best for his people. I am comfortable in praying, "Thy will be done on earth....." .....and help me to understand what is, and what is not, "thy will."

FROM MOLINER CF: I'm not sure that's true if you live in Africa. FROM JACK: I don't think that many Africans would be too concerned about your boil, either.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Not a nice picture in my brain for Monday but none-the-less and very true statement. Unfortunately. Perhaps we should all try to overlook ourselves and stretch our comfort zone today. FROM JACK: RATS! I forgot. I had wanted to start off each week with positive Winning Words. Thanks for the reminder.

FROM PRPH VACATIONING IN ARIZONA: interesting choice of continents. i am not sure i have ever heard of an earthquake in Africa much less 40 of them. lots in Asia, South America, and the so-called Pacific Rim. but i get his point nonetheless. FROM JACK: I checked it out, and the African continent has had its share of major quakes. Maybe we've been concentrating on our boils so much that we haven't noticed.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: HA! So true!! Bill's dad, who only had an eighth grade education, but served as President of the Canton School Board, the Rotary, the Shriners, etc. took Dale Carnegie's Course on Public speaking, which was full of very practical help. He seems to have been a very insightful man! Like the saying in our bulletin one Sunday, "Be very kind to everyone today; we are all hurting in some way"...! Probably true! One way to take our mind off of our painful "boils" is to reach out to someone who IS hurting, and help.

FROM NK IN WISCONSIN: remember the story about the resident at the nursing home who was a Hobo? He died last week and this WW reminded me of him for some reason or another.. FROM JACK: I remember a bumper sticker: GOD DON'T MAKE JUNK! During the Great Depression your great grandmother usually had a sandwich or other food to give to hobos who knocked at her door. Her house was adjacent to the railroad tracks. Maybe caring about people is in your genes.