Winning Words 11/20/12
“Life is like a Doughnut.  You’re either in the dough or in the hole.”  (T-shirt slogan)  Burl Ives, in a song, advises to keep your eye on the doughnut.  In today’s world, there’s much talk about those who have the dough and those who doughn’t.  The truth is: It’s not fun to be poor.  Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are trying to get 40 billionaires to give half of their wealth to charity.  Any ideas for the rest of us and our dough?    ;-)  Jack

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I love the idea that each person who has been blessed through the grace of God, in whatever quantities God has chosen, also gets to decide how those blessings will be utilized. Current thinking by an extraordinarily large portion of the population seems to suggest that they know the answer to your question, and are more than willing to decide on behalf of those who have been blessed. I suppose this will save those who have been blessed the trouble of having to decide for themselves!////FROM JACK:  One of the things that goes along with a democracy is that the population elects representatives who make decisions for us with regard to the use of tax money.  If a person is satisfied or not with the representation , they have their chance to cast a vote in the next election.  The use of the bulk of our money is a personal decision.  For example, last Sunday we turned in our 2013 pledge cards at church.

 FROM WALMART REV:  How about taking a dime out of every dollar we have and invest that in charity. I heard that somewhere!////FROM JACK:  You must go to church or to a synagogue.

 FROM RJP IN NAPLES:  For 40 years I have admonished my children with " As you go through life brother, let one thing be your goal. Keep you eye upon the donut and not upon the hole."
Natural meaning is keep substance important.////FROM JACK:  Not all preachers are in pulpits.

 FROM PH IN MINNESOTA:  Keep on tithing.    It really does work over time.////FROM JACK:  The problem arises when it becomes an accounting procedure, rather than an offering.////PH:  True,  but even an accounting procedure,  stemming from a thankful heart, can be a blessing…  ////JACK:  I guess Jesus must have taken Accounting 101.  When he was asked, "How often shall I forgive?  70 times?"  He responded, "No, I say 70 x 7."  The answer is, 490!

 FROM ME IN NEWPORT BEACH:  We used to get donuts in a package in Merrill and the slogan was "As you travel on through life Brother, whatever be your goal,  keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole."////FROM JACK:  The Merrill donuts I liked best were not in a package.  They were the raised chocolate ones from Eddie's Bakery on the West Side.  Eddie's is now gone, and so are their donuts.

 FROM COMPASSIONATE JUDY:  I'm a doughnut hole person!  Now they even sell them!!  The kids love the Tim Horton's Doughholes!  I think the rest of us can keep our little cash and go into service to others!!!  We can do more with a bright smile than all the money in the world.  (Or we can go to Compassion International and "adopt" a needy child...which is what I want for Christmas- a Compassion International child that is)! ////FROM JACK:  Compassion: from the Latin:..with..feeling.  Having a strong desire to alleviate suffering.

 FROM FM IN WISCONSIN:  Give away not 10% but 15%!////FROM JACK:  Whoa, Nellie!