Winning Words 1/11/13
“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.”  (Henry Moore)  This week I came across a SMART way (by Kelly Olin) to make and keep resolutions.  S=Be Specific. M=Be Motivated. A=Make it Action-oriented. R=Be Realistic. T= Make it Timely.  This can be very helpful for those who are really trying to change and see it as a day to day struggle.  Resolutions are more than a once-a-year project.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM WALMART REV:  "Resolute to resolve to right standing each day!" Keep sharing these early morning directives for a better day...I'll be looking for mine again on Monday.////FROM JACK:  Did you know that Monday is derived from Moon-day, the day of the Moon God?  Neither did I.////REV:  I thought Sunday was the Sun god as well . . . it so hard to Christianize this pegan world of ours . . . but we have certainly tried our best over these thousands of years with Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants, Fundalmentalist, Pentecostals and other ""Full Faith Church of Love, Hallelujah" churches!!////J: How about B.C. and A.D.?  That seems like a major influence.

 FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA:  I remember Churchy La Femme's new year's resolution, which I tried unsuccessfully to google just now. It runs something like, "For the New Year, I'se gwine be a NEW MAN--with KEEN BLUE EYES and a RED BICYCLE.  With the keen blue eyes, I'll be able to see things coming a long way off, and with the red bicycle I'll be able to git away quick!"////FROM JACK:  Is there a comic strip today that compares to Pogo, now gone for over 35 years.  I have a granddaughter who likes to read the  books of Pogo comics that I've saved.  Churchy La Femme = "Look for the woman." ////HT:  there are little flickers for me in several strips including Sherman's Lagoon...will think about it and get back to you. There are also some others that have come and gone, including Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side. Do you have some nominations? ////J:  Go Comics.com allows me to see all comics, a to z.  I just go to my favorites which include The Duplex and The Fusco Brothers.  I also like Pearls Before Swine.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  I've finished reading a book "Praying in Color" and today am starting a praying/drawing/coloring discipline. There is a startling statement on page 92: "From a Christian, as well as a quantum physics perspective, the way we as observers see something, changes the observed. Just by looking at a quark, an atom, or a person, we alter them. Seeing a person as a child of God and praying for them changes both the person we pray for and us in ways that we cannot plan or predict." I believe Kelly Olin's SMART advice can really apply to this praying in color way of inviting God into each of the days of others and also into my days too. Hopefully we'll also be able to make any changes we seek to make for more faithful and peaceful lives.////FROM JACK:  I wonder if God was "praying in color" when he created the rainbow?  Looking at a guark, an atom, a person can change them?  How about looking in a mirror?

 FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  At the risk of seeming "picky" I suggest that the "M" for motivated should be changed  to monitor because there are a lot of well intentioned motivated people that don't accurately evaluate their progress & just keep going in circles.  Just as in school  our teachers would give us a report card ,now we should  give ourselves a report card.////FROM JACK:  Maybe you should direct your "pickiness" to Kelly Olin who came up with SMART.  She's a personal trainer and coach who has monthly articles the Detroit Free Press.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Everyday my resolution changes a little.  Hopefully, for the better.////FROM JACK:  Each tick of the clock brings new challenges.  A hymn that I like begins:  "Once to every man and nation  Comes the moment to decide,  In the strife of truth with falsehood,  For the good or evil side."

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  One day at a time. We are going to a celebration of life tonight for a friend who was only 59 and who died of cancer.  At the same time Nicole and her fiancee are here to plan their October wedding and they want to be married in the same church as Nicole's mom and dad. ////FROM JACK:  We're each storing our memories...one day at a time.

 FROM JT IN MICHIGAN:  One of the priest's who celebrated the Mass I went to on New Year's Day encouraged the people to make resolutions, but only three.  Make one re: God, one re: my neighbor, and one regarding myself.  I'm still working on it.  I have the first one, now one I can make for others.   I agree with him that if we make too many we abandon them all.////FROM JACK:  The three resolutions are "self" resolutions, right? A Trinity!