Winning Words 11/16/11
“If the mountain was smooth, you couldn’t climb it.” (Quoted by Wintley Phipps) I recently saw someone on TV climb, what appeared to be, a sheer mountain face. As the camera focused in, the climber’s hands and feet were finding small crevices which made it possible for him to do the impossible. As we look back, let’s be thankful that things always haven’t been smooth. “We are who we were.” ;-) Jack

FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA: My daughter Julia bought their present house from the first blind man to climb Mt. Everest. We have seen a very striking video of the expedition. He is now an inspirational speaker.////FROM JACK: My mountain climbing has been of the figurative kind. A friend of mine went to climb Mt Everest, but was unable to make it to the top.

FROM JM IN MICHIGAN: Thanks for aiming the Winning Words at me this morning.////FROM JACK: As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: "I shot an Arrow into the air It fell to earth I know not where, For so swiftly it flew, the sight Could not follow it in its flight. I found again in the heart of a friend."

FROM BLAZING OAKS: As Winston Churchill once said, "The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." or Lincoln's observation, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be..." Of course we can learn and grow in maturity or faith, when we're unable to surmount a mountain, but most of us don't pray for those situations, in order to grow! Bev Johnson once said, "you have to spend some time in the Valleys...that's where all the fertilizer is to help you grow!!"////FROM JACK: Thanks for the fertilizer.

RJP IN FLORIDA sent today's WWs to his children and said: "Keep this quote on your mirror and view it every day. This is one of my favorite winning words. I am reminded of a young Priest who once told me that the problems we endure are the steps on the ladder to heaven."////FROM JACK: Children are never too old to hear good advice from a parent.

FRO GOOD DEBT JON: And: If all incomes were equal why would you work hard and innovate? Kind of like the smooth mountain theory hard to climb...////FROM JACK: Money is a motivator for some. I don't know that it is for me. It's on the list, but not at the top. What is it for you?

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER: "If the mountain WERE smooth....."////FROM JACK: The Bible has something to say about the broad way and the narrow way. I wonder if it applies to smooth mountains and rugged mountains?

FROM DR IN MICHIGAN: This reminds me of what someone told me when I was doing CPE way back when. If you go up the smooth side of the mountain, when you get to the top and you slip, you’ll slide right down to the bottom. If you go up the rough side of the mountain, when you get to the top and you slip, there are all kinds of places that will catch you on your way down. And life, of course, is like a mountain. Some go up the smooth side and some the rough.////FROM JACK: Just as we have our own moccasins to wear, our own canoes to paddle, we also have our own mountains. Some people find mountain climbing to be exciting (or scary).