Winning Words 8/9/12
“If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.”  (Chinese Proverb)  I think Ogden Nash wrote, “God made the fly and forgot to tell us why,” or something like that.  I saw a tee-shirt once that read, “God Don’t Make No Junk.”  It’s a good slogan, and I don’t want to question the wisdom of God, but….sometimes I wonder.  Everyday the “news” has another story.  Even the human Jesus asked, “Why?”    ;-)  Jack

FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA:  A few years ago I saw a visiting car in Annapolis Royal with the bumper sticker: "Save the blackflies!" Later it was parked at the Farmers' Market and I got a chance to see it closer up. It had the slogan and a line at the bottom: "Maine Black Flie Preservation Society." I suspect that Society exists only as a way to sell bumper stickers.   Actually, while waiting in the bookstore at L. L. Bean in Freeport, ME, I read a book of Maine humor (humour up here in Canada) that said the Maine blackfly population was due to human error: the blackflies had been imported to control the tourists, but then it was learned that they also bite the natives.////FROM JACK:  I remember a saying I once heard..."A reasonable amount of fleas is good for a dog.  It keeps him from brooding over being a dog, maybe."  I wonder if God had something like that in mind when he created the 1800 species of black flies.  Thanks for starting my day off with a smile.  Which reminds me of the old Jimmy Durante song that has this line..."Now isn't it better to go through life with a smile and a song  Than walking along with a face 11 miles long?"

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I blame us....we have polluted our own selves and our world with it...."we have (sinned) against the Lord in thought, word and deed"    Yet, God loves us so we can't turn our back on anyone.////FROM JACK:  Maybe that proves the truism..."We are not God!"  Sometimes it's hard to pray, "Thy will, not my will, be done."  Consistent Christianity remains a worthy goal.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It's very easy to get depressed about the life and death situations facing this world each day.  But our reward is not of this world.  Evil dwells among us and we wonder.  But that's freewill and the devil at work.  People make very bad choices and we suffer.  It does cause one to stop and be thankful for each and every "safe" day.////FROM JACK:  When I hear about murders, particularly involving family members, I just shake my head in unbelief...and then I remember the Cain and Abel story.  Martin Luther is said to have thrown an inkwell at the devil who was pestering him.  the ink stain is still on the wall in Luther's room at the Wartburg. 

FROM PASTY PAT:  I'm going to try really hard to apply this one to the garter snake that doesn't seem to appreciate my efforts to remove a couple of years of dead leaves, etc. from the front yard of the parsonage. ////FROM JACK:  I wonder if your snake might be a descendant of the one in the Garden of Eden.  I've heard some people refer to a garter snake as a garden snake.////PAT RESPONSE:  I've heard that too.  I've tried to strike a deal whereby the snake can have the back yard while I'm working in the front and vice versa, but so far no luck////FROM JACK:  Never make a deal with a snake!.

FROM ILLINOIS LIZ:  God gave us free will, and genes are random, by design, in my humble opinion. So sometimes stuff goes awry.   God created earth to sustain itself without intervention. God is a scientist. ////FROM JACK:  Do you mean to tell me that that white robe is a lab coat?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I have a kitchen plaque with a painting of the ARK, and captioned, "If Noah had been truly wise, he would have swatted those two flies!" :-)  There are certainly creations that cause us to emit "WHYS"! Of course mosquitoes feed our purple martins, but really!////FROM JACK:  I looked out the window yesterday and saw three hawks sitting on top of the telephone pole.  I was wondering how come our chipmunk problem had been solved.