Winning Words 11/21/12
“We often take for granted the very things that deserve our gratitude.”  (Cynthia Ozick)  Some people, at Thanksgivingtime, make a list of things for which to be thankful.  This year, how about making a list of those things that are overlooked, or taken for granted?  Perhaps at your Thanksgiving dinner, each person could be asked to think of something to be added to such a list.  I’ll start with…”the sense of smell.”    ;-)  Jack

 FROM DR PAUL:  I was listening to NPR yesterday and they had the same topic.  One person called in and said, "I'm very thankful that when I wash my hands I have warm water and soap, because i know there are people who don't have that."  At first, I thought that this was very superficial, but it just wouldn't leave my thoughts.  I wonder how many other "little" things we every day that we never once stop to think about in terms of how fortunate we are to enjoy that activity.  Sometimes I think Thanksgiving should be much more often!////FROM JACK:  If having more Thanksgiving Days would mean having more Black Fridays, I'd wash my hands of that idea.

 FROM WALMART REV:  Thank God for being able to smell "stinky situations"...it indicates to us that we need to give this more attention for our well-being.  I remember God indicating in His Word something to the fact our worship can be "stench" in His nostrils if not given in a contrite heart of worship. Makes me want to present myself before Him clean through the washing of His Word!////FROM JACK:  I guess if you're going to give thanks for the gift of smell, you have to accept the stink along with the sweet.  Such is life.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  cottage cheese and olives. When I was growing up on a farm in Iowa, our holidays became times when we could have foods which we couldn't have "all the time." Now we have them all the time but, when I think about those days, cottage cheese and olives are still more special, otherwise just take them for granted most of the time since we've been able to afford them more. Actually, turkey is sort of like that too. People used to eat them just once a year, now we have turkey in the stores all the time. ////FROM JACK:  Black olives, or the green ones stuffed with a pimento?  BTW, I remember when cottage cheese came in returnable glass containers.  It was cheap, because it was considered to be a waste product.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We all have so very much to be thankful for and can't come near to what we can name!  But it's a sense of smell is a good start!  I would add....I'm so thankful to be living in a country in which we can complain about the government and still live!  Amen////FROM JACK:  Come to think of it, I can't remember when there wasn't political complaining.  I like the saying of Edward Hoch, "There's so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us, that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us."

 FROM MY ATTORNEY:  I'm thankful that we're friends.  Have a wonderful day.////FROM JACK:  That's one thing I don't take for granted

 FROM PC IN MICHIGAN:  That's a great idea. We have "thank you" boards that Nick and Alex made in preschool. We pass the board around and usually say what we are thankful for...I like this  twist. :)////FROM JACK:  A blessing taken for granted....a "thank you board" saved from preschool

 FROM SB IN MICHIGAN:  This evening is the Prayer, Pie and Praise worship service at Amazing Grace. Plenty of reasons to give thanks this year.////FROM JACK:  Have you heard the expression, Remember your p's and q's?  If p's stand for Prayer, Pie and Praise, what are the q's?////SB:  Quantity of qualified quotes?////JACK:  That'll do.

 FROM JE IN MICHIGAN:  I’m thankful to know you and that you are patient in receiving your dark chocolate!////FROM JACK:  I thought that you'd forgotten.  Now, I see that it was just one of those "overlooked" blessings.

 FROM DC IN KANSAS:  "Thanks" is the only true gift I can give.  Every other gift is a sharing.////FROM JACK:  Thanks for the philosophical thought.  I'll have to chew on it for a while.

 FROM BS IN ENGLAND:  I'm so grateful that I can still use my brain (most of the time ) when I see Angela struggling to make sense of the simplest of tasks.  She had to be hospitalized last week for lashing out at a day care worker-----what a dreadful disease this (Alzheimer's) is!!////FROM JACK:  Look at your finger.  Move it.  A simple motion.  So taken for granted...not to mention more complex thought processes.

 FROM PH IN MINNESOTA:  Of all the senses I think I value sight the most. Just my two cents…  have a meaningful Thanksgiving…////FROM JACK: Thanks for your two cents-es.