Winning Words 9/21/12
“Don’t cry because it’s over.  Smile because it happened.”  (Dr. Seuss)  There are various experiences that cause us to cry.  The death of someone we love is one.  After the crying, there comes a time for putting things into perspective.  We all have an hourglass with a certain amount of sand in it.  The glass is darkened, so we can’t see the sand.  Life goes on as we remember loved ones, and, eventually, we smile.    ;-)  Jack

  FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Your remark that my life is like an hourglass, with the amount of sand obscured within, is an interesting analogy.  Personally I do wonder how much "sand" is left in the "hour" of my life.  The years have been good.  I don't cry because it will be over...I cry because it seems it went so quickly. ////FROM JACK:  Perhaps it's because of my "work," but I've found myself in the middle of many death and life situations.  I've come to see that death is a part of life, and we celebrate the whole experience.  The brain tells us that.  The "heart" looks at it in another way.////RI:  Your first thoughts expressed in today's WW, and your response to my comment about those thoughts, are very illuminating and have opened a new window on life and death for me.

 FROM MT IN PENNSYLVANIA:  Jack...that's just beautiful!////FROM JACK:  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I appreciate your eye for beauty.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Nice...////FROM JACK:  As a songwriter, you know that songs are nice.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  I cried because we had two interim Pastors whom I thought could do the job and who wanted the work and the congregation didn't see the same possibilities. Now we have our permanently called Pastor who will be ordained this coming Sunday and, as we get to know her, I'm smiling again. I had grown to love these two interim Pastors and hope to also be able to smile with them as we all find out together that it's not over, life goes on, the future was not cut off but is still rolling on just over the hill, no work is ever in vain, no love is ever lost or forgotten. It all happened and smiles are in order.////FROM JACK:  Yogi Berra, the famous baseball player/manager said, "It ain't over til it's over."  In my experience... given enough time, things will work out.

 FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA:  very good! I shed (another) tear today but then when I read this I smiled.////FROM JACK:  When I write WWs like the ones for today, certain people are in the back of my mind...you included.  "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love."  You know the rest of the hymn.

 FROM WATERFORD JAN:  And when sad things happen, it is a good time to read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8--there is indeed a time for everything.////FROM JACK:  It also says that there is a time to laugh.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  "When you are sorrowful, look into your heart, and you shall see that you are weeping for that which has been your delight."  (Kahlil Gibran)  So true, and the comfort is that you did HAVE the delight... Again, as Marilyn Charles Karlstrom wrote, "those of us blessed with long years, must bear the losses..." Another truth!  Life  goes on, and there are also many blessings!////FROM JACK:  My mother lived to be 102.  In her later years, she said that the thing she missed the most were her friends.