Winning Words 4/26/13
“Follow your bliss, and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”  (Joseph Campbell)  In the comic strip, Get Fuzzy, Bucky the cat has lost his door.  He faces a blank wall.  Sometimes that’s the way it is with life.  We face a blank wall.  How can I get out of this situation?  Bucky will find his door.  A religious faith has helped me and many people find the door, a door that leads to the way, to truth, to life.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM WALMART REV:  I'll say a quick Amen! to that of my faith walk as well, Jack! Riding along with a man this morning to Rochester, MN where he will say good bye to his brother-in-law before they "pull the plug" on his life. Thankful to be able to comfort him on our way there and back.====JACK:  Bliss is described as "ultimate happiness."  That's why heaven is referred to as, bliss.  Perhaps "pulling the plug" is the gateway to "bliss."  No more pain; no more tears.  "We'll understand it all...by and by."

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I find Joseph Campbell's work to fit so well with the rest of your comment (and with which I would agree). If one might wonder what does it mean to follow one's "bliss", Campbell might say that our bliss is the most natural expression of our Souls. As we are children of the Light, let us also walk in the Light...because this is who we are most naturally! The World may offer its enticements; but we would be better to not conform to it. Rather, we are to conform to the image and likeness in which we are most basically formed. This is Bliss and its pathway.====JACK:  The word, bliss, has gotten a bad rap.  Some see as a description of not being in touch with reality.  "Blissfully unaware," for example.  I guess you have to experience it in order to understand it.  Perhaps Mick Jagger's song should be retitled..."Can't get no bliss."

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  God does and will open doors where there are walls...and our final bliss will be a Heavenly one!====JACK:  Some will walk through the door; some will ignore the door and continue to stare at the wall with frustration.  So it goes with the "gift" of free-will.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Often" finding" our bliss is harder than following it. Some are distracted by a thousand opportunities, often only mirages of true bliss, yet the journey the hunt, the pursuit, the constant hope of bliss propels us forward; ever optimistic that behind the next door will be the elusive mistress.  ====JACK:  Distractions can be a real problem.  Some people are so enamored by the journey that they forget that there's a destination, a goal.  "Keep your eye on the donut and not the hole."

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  Love Joseph Campbell; thanks for sharing!====JACK:  Joseph Campbell is referred to as :The Great Mythologist."  Some people are frightened by the word, myth.  They ought to listen to the famous series, "The Power of Myth," where Bill Moyers interviews Campbell.  It's fascinating and enlightening.====BBC:  Yes yes yes.  I saw the series on PBS and it changed the way I feel about that word.  I was raised Missouri Synod where everything was literal.  The born-agains/fundamentalists are primarily literalists too…I recently took a class at the Catholic church down the block from our house and was surprised to discover that they are not biblical literalists.  Amazed to see the threads of similarity between the ELCA and Catholic views on many aspects of worship and faith life.

 FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  Like.====JACK:  Do you like the comic strip, Get Fuzzy?