Winning Words 9/15/11
“When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.” (Stephen Hawking) Sympathy is a word that means, to share the feelings of another. I can’t imagine what it’s like to sit in Hawking’s chair, but when I read his words, I try to do that. I’m reminded that there are too many things (and people) that I take for granted. Start from zero, and begin counting. ;-) Jack

FROM BF IN MICHIGAN: Another keeper to add to my collection.////FROM JACK: People in "sales" need words like these. In fact, everybody needs to be reminded of blessings that are often taken for granted.

FROM JC IN HONG KONG: One might say that Hawking can only spew LOSING WORDS because God has no place in his thinking. He becomes therefore merely one of our best examples of the futility of human reasoning.//// FROM JACK: I'm not so sure of what I would say if I were sitting in Hawking's chair, day after day, night after night. God seems to have given me a far lighter load than his.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Thought about your Winning Words this morning and this came in an email today also.... One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him. Her boyfriend left her in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'////FROM JACK: God uses various ways to get our attention. He sometimes even uses e-mail. Thanks for being his messenger.

FROM RJP IN FLORIDA: I had a partner 40 years ago in Chicago whose wife always told my wife, " Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed." I wish She and I could always have lived by that phrase.//// FROM JACK: That's good advice to avoid disappointment. However, I belong to The Optimist Club, whose members say, each week, "Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing will disturb your peace of mind...to look at the sunnyside of everything etc." I also like Irving Berlin's song, "Blue skies, nothing but blue skies do I see." You probably know the words and can sing it.////RJP AGAIN: My response to that is....................
zippity do da zippity eh my oh my what a wonderful day plenty of sunshine comin you way .......................
Have a good one Mr Sunshine.

FROM MT IN PENNSYLVANIA: So true. Whenever I see someone who is physically (or otherwise) disadvantaged, I remind myself how very fortunate I am, and that the aches and pains of my own aging are barely worthy of notice. ////FROM JACK: I'm trying to be "understanding" with regard to Hawking. Right now I think that it's a better word than, "sympathetic."

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: We must count our blessings every day to appreciate our life, but Hawking doesn't believe in heaven or an afterlife or anything after death. He just doesn't have the gift of faith or maybe he has rejected it. But the fact that he has lived to be 69 with his physical condition seems to be a miracle in itself.
////FROM JACK: Belief and faith are mysterious. Some ALS persons have it, and some don't. Some persons blessed with good health, a loving family and material comforts have it, and some don't. Why? I think that God knows and understands some things and situations that we don't.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: Interesting WW today too. Sometimes when our expectations are reduced to zero, i.e. living in an assisted living, we cut ourselves off from something fantastic that we could have, some special relationship, some special chance to serve others in ways we don't even begin to think we are capable of because we can see only what we know so far. Maybe we have so much more to us than we really appreciate, so much future to our lives we prevent ourselves from even beginning to live into.////FROM JACK: There is something worse than assisted living...like living without assistance and needing it. I remember this poem:
God hath not promised skies always blue, Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day, Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above, Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
Annie Johnson Flint

FROM BLAZING OAKS: To reach 69 yrs. with that ailing, paralyzed body, and still use his brilliant mind is certainly awe-inspiring and laudable...his life illustrates the "keep swinging" advice from yesterday. Dr. Hawking has a list of awards as long as my arm, including our highest honor, the prestigious Medal Of Freedom. Tho he has chosen science over religion, he is So impressive, and these WW ring true, especially as we diminish in physical ( and yes! mental) ability. As the poet Tennyson said after his son's death: Tho much has been taken, much yet remains." So thankful for all we continue to have and enjoy!!////FROM JACK: I wonder what kind of "religion" he was exposed to? Some kinds might turn me off, too. I'm glad that my inquiring mind was allowed to inquire. Iris DeMent sings a song that I like. It's on uTube. "Let the Mystery Be."
////OAKS AGAIN: I think with his mind, he probably explored many religions, and came to the conclusion that science was more believable. I wonder if CS Lewis, Norman V. Peale, Harry Em.Fosdick, D. Bonnhoeffer (sp?) etc. could have reached him? He must have crossed paths with many outstanding Christians in his lifetime, I would think, but who knows. That fact that he claimed to be an atheist, seemed to bother his first wife a lot. It was one of the things she dwelt on in their divorce proceedings....Many things to ponder, eh?//// FROM JACK: I wonder if he might have influenced them?