Winning Words 11/23/12
“You’ll live through it.  C’mon!"  (Olivia Walton)  Black Friday?  How about Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, when daylight was obliterated at 4 pm by a dust storm?  A friend who lived on a farm during the Dust Bowl days told me, “I could hear the grasshoppers eating the paint off the west wall of my bedroom.”  Those were tough times.  Some folks have it tough today, too.  I wonder if there’s a Mrs. Walton among them?    ;-)  Jack

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  AND...the paint on the bedroom wall could have been the old lead-ingredient paint! It is indeed "dark times" when even the pestilence suffers! ////FROM JACK:  Well, that's one way to control the grasshopper population.  My friend also described a cloud of locusts that blotted out the sun.

 FROM WALMART REV:  Don't know about Mrs. Walton...but truly enjoy a present day "John Boy" in Michigan!////FROM JACK:  Are you spending Black Friday at your table at the Walmart Coffee Shop?  Perhaps the people are too focused on their shopping to take time to sit down and talk.////WR:  Sitting here now...however, the mad rush was last evening at ten...normal morning here as I write this to you.  PS...Just before I left Wall-Mart, a lady, an occasional attendee at the church, walked up and started a conversation centered on the fact she knows she needs to "get back to church" and the television ministries she watches takes away her ambition to attend...she ended our conversation with tears in her eyes explaining she knows it is the fellowship and special touches from the Sunday services at church she misses...I assured her that her seat is dusted off and awaiting her presence, and that she always had a hug waiting for her at Wal-Mart as well.////JACK:  Not all sermons are preached from the pulpit.  Edgar Guest wrote a poem entitled, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day."

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Your WW today just hit the spot!!! the bathtub suddenly developed a crack in the bottom, our daughter is visiting from Houston and we can't take any showers until this gets fixed. Repair man is coming at 12:30 and we will see what he advises--could be time to install a whole new shower. We have to live through it--no other choice.////FROM JACK:  In the olden days out on the farm, the Saturday bath tub consisted of a wash tub in the middle of the kitchen floor.  Hot water came from a tea kettle on the wood burning stove.

 FROM BD IN MICHIGAN:  "We will live through it" was a special message for me today....Cut short my hunting trip for this week and came back Tuesday night, because my wife's mom is very sick....put her in Hospice yesterday. Please put her on your prayer list!////FROM JACK:  There's an old church hymn with these words, "Be not dismayed, whate'er betide, God will take care of you"...and your wife and your mother-in-law.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  I somehow missed your point about Black Friday. Black Friday is a good thing.////FROM JACK:  Black Friday is good for the merchants, because it's a really big day for pre-Christmas shopping.  I was trying to make the point that there are some occasions that are more significant than Black Friday, such as the days when people are facing tough times.  I was seeking to encourage them to "hang in there," that they will be able to get through the tough times.  I've already heard from one such person.

 FROM ILLINOIS LIZ:  Like.  Happy Weekend of Thanks!////FROM JACK:  Hershey's used to make a Bitter-Sweet candy bar.  It never really caught on, because most people liked the sweet.  Such is life.

 FROM KF IN MICHIGAN:  On difficult days, my mantra is similar: just get through it : )  Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with family. Seems like we had Spring yesterday, and Winter has set in today (& we will get through it!!).////FROM JACK:  "Mantra" is a word that I think I know, but just to be sure...I checked.  It's a word, or series of words, that, when repeated, is able to create a transformation...sort of like the little emgine that could.  "I think I can, I think I can.  I know I can. I know I can."  It fits with your response.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  I'm sure there are plenty of Mrs. Walton's around here.  That's what makes America so wonderful!  Happy "I survived Black Friday"!  And nope, I didn't do any shopping either with my feet or with my fingers.////FROM JACK:  I once had a teacher who said to me, "You can do better."  I've never forgotten him, nor  what he said.

 FROM DAZ IN COLORADO:  Speaking of April 14, what about April 14, 1865 and a Friday when Lincoln was shot. Now that was BLACK.////FROM JACK:  Some have wondered why the day on which Jesus was crucified is called, Good Friday, and not Black Friday.