Winning Words 12/31/12
“It may not feel like it, but 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world.”  (The Spectator)  Do I have your attention?  Now, let me ask, “How big is your world?”  For some, it’s the size of a TV screen.  Astronauts have a different view.  The Spectator article lists evidence for 2012 as the greatest year.  I’ll send the article if you want as an end of the year pick-me-up.  Beware of the Doom-Mongers.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM MS IN MICHIGAN:  Please send if it's easy to do.////FROM JACK:  To look at the world using a wide-angle lens is eye-opening.

 FROM WALMART REV:  I think that was what they called those "Prophets of Old", Jack- "Doom-Mongers . . . however, I agree with you . . . it was the greatest year in history as it put us one year closer to the "Day of the Lord! - Even so, come Lord Jesus!"  Nice to have you back in my life for another week! ////FROM JACK:  I know the word, monger, but I never bothered to ask, "What does it mean?...until today.  A monger is from the Latin and means, someone who sells...i.e., someone who promotes doom and gloom.  In the beginning it referred to a slave-trader, a slave-monger. Walmarts are mongers.////REV:  That sounds like "Capitalists"...the ones who keep introducing us to bigger and better things, to discard the old things for, in which we purchase to make us have a better year than before...slaves to worldliness?  I'm getting out of my league here... I'm just a farm boy on these types of issues.////J:  Monger is just a word... not necessarily a bad word.

 FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  Pls send me the article.////FROM JACK:  The article is from a well-respected magazine, not some off-beat "internet forward."

 FROM AM IN MICHIGAN:  If you have a chance, please forward the article about 2012 being the greatest year in the history of the world. I know a few 'negative types' who could stand a dose of optimism. Thank you for my morning 'lift-me-ups!'////FROM JACK:  Some people benefit from doing daily push-ups.  We all can benefit from daily lift-me-ups.

 FROM LS IN MICHIGAN:  Happy new year and thank you for greeting me each morning w a words that guided me in a positive and reflective direction. Please forward to me the link for the wonderful year 2012! And God Bless you w continued good health joy and prosperity sent w appreciation and gratitude ////FROM JACK:  Sometimes I send out Winning Words without thinking about whose computer screen they show up on.  Thanks for reminding me that they show up on yours.

 FROM SAINT JAMES:  2012 has been a bit of a challenging year, yet a great one.  Despite my unemployment, God blessed us to (do things) that would have been next to impossible if I were working.
After all of that, God blessed me with a job which begins on January 2, 2013.////FROM JACK:  Here's hoping that 2013 will be the best year ever for you and your family.  God is good!

 FROM MEDD-O-LANE:  It is hard for me to judge whether 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world even with the records that have been kept.  As a believer, the year that Jesus was born could be judged as the greatest year for mankind.  The year that man first walked on the moon could be judged as the greatest achievement of mankind.  Your question, "How big is your world?" shows there is no one answer for all the worlds there are.////FROM JACK:  The astronauts who walked on the moon certainly saw the world from a different perspective than those who were living when Jesus was born.  I'm always trying to see this great God-given world with new eyes.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Any year you are alive, vertical and healthy is a "best" year! Ha! I'd like to read that optimistic article, too, and I tend to agree with those who take a favorable view of the future...An article in Reader's Digest (Jan) has an upbeat article THIS ASTONISHING AGE by Fareed Zakaria, from his commencement address at Harvard.  In it, he says that 1/3 of all babies born this year in developed countries will live to be 100.  And that the UN estimates that poverty has been reduced more in the last 50 yrs. than in the previous 500 yrs, most of that taking place in the last 20 yrs!  A good read!  Happy; Healthy 2013. May the majority of our news be good!!////FROM JACK:  So many people have a myopic view of the world, only seeing that which is directly in front of them.  Fareed looks at the world situation in pretty much the same way as does the author of The Spectator article.  2012 was a bummer for da Bears.

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  As I look back over the months of 2012,  I don't exactly call it my greatest year, much less the greatest year in the history of the world.  I would like to see the Spectator article...perhaps it will bend my vision in a more positive direction.  Happy New Year to you for your Winning Words, and ditto to all the recipients.  Thanks for your contributions to making 2012 better than it would have been otherwise. ////FROM JACK:  What you see when you look at a building is not "the building."  You don't see the structural members, the interior nuances.  You don't see it from different angles, or with different lightings.  People who take a glance at the building and say, "I don't like it," are simply expressing an opinion
Now, read the article about the year, 2012.