Winning Words 9/6/12
“More and more we are into communications and less and less into communication.”  (Studs Terkel)  He didn’t have a great voice, but Studs really knew how to talk and to write.  My favorite book of his is, Working.  When I lived in the Chicago area, I enjoyed his radio and TV shows.  Studs was a communicator.  IMO, we have too many people talking to our ears and not to our mind.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM MV IN MICHIGAN:   I saw the Broadway play “Working”. The music was done by James Taylor and was really good.////FROM JACK:  I wonder how Studs would have described the work that you do, and what music James Taylor would use?  Sunny Skies?////MV:  If he believed “essence precedes existence” and that if you work towards “Sunny Skies” you just might achieve them or at least the clouds might part. Isn’t that the basis of the Optimists? I don’t know if Studs, the media or general consensus really understand what we do. Of course there are sound bites about us but aren’t there in every profession? Isn’t that the way of the world today? Attention spans have shortened as texting, twittering, 60 minute TV shows, 30 second commercials, 30 second news reports have affected our thinking. Ideas don’t grow and expand. We are inundated with these sound bites and our opinions have been formed by them.////JACK:  Even a sermon can be a sound bite.  There's so much more to the story.  Before retirement, I would occasionally spend part of a day with a church member at their "work."  I'd do it anonymously, so that other employees wouldn't know that I was a pastor.  I spent time in an IBM office, where everyone seemed to dress alike.  I spent time next to a doctor as he performed an operation.  Those experiences helped me to better understand the "Working" people in my congregation.  I never got into a brokerage office.

 FROM CL IN MICHIGAN:  Or is it that too many people today do not listen to what is being said??????? ////FROM JACK:  If the congregation isn't listening, maybe the pastor needs to re-examine his/her sermon. ////CL:  I believe it even happens in personal 1on 1 conversations.  People are to busy worrying about what they will say rather than listening to what the other person is saying to them.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Maybe that's why nobody listens anymore.////FROM JACK:  That reminds me of the Yogi quote:  "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

 FROM BLAZING OAKS: Studs Terkel was greatly appreciated in our household!  There is certainly a vast assortment of communications available, not sure about the paucity of value to the mind...With the internet, one can learn so much, and such good books on every hand.  We all need to be life-long learners, and try to share what we learn! (You  do this in WW!)////FROM JACK:  I try to share stuff that interests me with people who also might find it to be interesting stuff.  Stud's stuff interested me.

 FROM LINDA P:  I enjoy your daily Winning Words!  It is just like old times when I used to read them in the bulletin every Sunday back at Holy Spirit!////FROM JACK:  That's when you were a teen, and I began my collection of sayings when I was a teen.

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  How about it!  My daughter's middle school did the musical, Working…recall it was pretty good.  Studs was a great voice for the ordinary person.////FROM JACK:  There's something about a Chicago person.  Studs was that kind of guy.  So are you and your kids.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  I'll second this one!  Changes can be wonderful, but sometimes it can cause a whole different set of problems.  Teachers are upset because kids aren't learning how to spell.   It's all abbreviations and codes now.  The attention span has changed for the worse too.  We have Family night.  TV is off, phones are off, and conversation and interaction is the main point.   It's fun too.////FROM JACK:  I suppose Family Night is postponed when the Tigers or the Red Wings are playing?

 FROM PC IN MICHIGAN:  Well, isn't this the truth! I keep telling everyone at work when there are issues: it all boils down to communication.////FROM JACK:  Ronald Reagan was called, The Great Communicator, because he had a way of "connecting" with people.  Since I grew up seeing him in the movies, I always wondered, when he was President, whether he was speaking for real or acting.  I say this, because we always have to try to be "real" in our communications.  Veracity is a good word.