Jack’s Winning Words 8/15/13
“No good working bee listens to the advice of a bedbug.”  (Elbert Hubbard)  Ogden Nash wrote: “God in his wisdom made the fly And then forgot to tell us why.”  I wish that he would have used bedbugs…but it wouldn’t rhyme.  On the other hand, the worker bee is vital to our food chain, and their dwindling population is a real problem.  However, today’s quote is about taking reliable advice.  Who is it that you listen to?    ;-)  Jack

 FROM TARMART REV:  Jack’s Winning Words, of course . . . each morning around 6 am CSDT! ====JACK:  So, today you won't be listening to the advice of any bedbugs?====REV:  The birds & the bees and bed bugs have been extinct in my life for some time now!

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  For myself, I listen for what seems true and holds true. I have to avoid the foolishness that so often flows from the mouths of those who "know". I can't say I listen to a particular someone; rather, I listen to what people say and what they do. In the end, I think the only thing we "know" to be true is what is inside the hearts and minds of our souls. Our experience is irrefutable. The hard part is making sense of it. Then one has to add Faith and belief, which often makes the task even more complicated. The rest of it is all the stuff of our own world, construed through incomplete information, personal perspectives, imagination, and wished-for outcomes. We spend a lot of time in this realm because it serves to distract us from the important task of the aforementioned. Of course my conclusion is sourced from my own experience and the foolishness of my own distractions.====JACK:  Ultimately it comes down to personal judgment.  As Shakespeare put it: "To thine own self be true."

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  My hope is that God is actually speaking through His people, whether it's the writings in the Bible, the sermon, hearing often the words of institution, the doctor, the neighbor, the homeless, the child, after yesterday's WW now I will listen to Tim Tebow very seriously, the challenge is to not listen too much to my own inner voice of insecurity and fear and worry and feelings of not being loved, forgiven, etc. We are trying to encourage the bees in our yard.====JACK:  One of my favorite Old Testament stories is when God spoke to Balaam through the mouth of his ass.  (Numbers 22:21-38)  God sometimes communicates in unusual ways, so we always need to be alert.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I HAD A WHIMSICAL PAINTING OF NOAH AND THE ARK & PARADING ANIMALS, 2 BY 2, WITH THE CAPTION,  "IF NOAH HAD BEEN TRULY WISE, HE WOULD HAVE  SWATTED THOSE TWO FLIES!"  SO THANKFUL WE DO HAVE "SAGES" IN OUR LIVES WHEN NEEDED, AND THAT ALMIGHTY CLARIFYING ABILITY TO  LAY THINGS OUT IN PRAYER!  CERTAINLY IN OUR DAY AND AGE THERE ARE A PLETHORA OF BOOKS COVERING A MULTITUDE OF SUBJECTS AND SITUATIONS, TO TURN TO, AND EXPERIENCED PEOPLE, AS WELL.  WITH OUR  INSTANT COMMUNICATION, WE ARE  SO BLESSED, IN COMPARISON OF YEARS AGO. (OF COURSE THERE IS SOMETIMES A "DOWN" SIDE TO THAT AS WELL!!)====JACK:  If God came in the form of a man, isn't it possible that he could come in the form of a fly to communicate his love to other flies.  It's possible, because with God, all things are possible.  I wonder if God could appear in the form of a bedbug, too?====OAKS: Interesting thought!  And as you say;, with God, nothing is impossible!!   I wonder if Hindu reincarcation includes flies....suppose it could....

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  I listened a lot to my father, and he gave me some sound advice all the years that he lived.  He relates well to your WW today because he happened to be a serious beekeeper.  He knew a lot about bees (apiculture) and kept hives near the orchard.  My father seemed to be a "bee whisperer", very confident about working around the bees, and he would open the hives and remove honey frames without wearing a head-screen or coveralls.  He seldom got stung.  My dad frequently told stories about some of the "bedbugs" he had to work with at the factory, but he was too informed himself to take advice from them. ====JACK:  I'm allergic to aspirin.  They give me hives.  So when the TV ad recommends taking an aspirin a day, I don't listen to that advice.

FROM JT IN MICHIGAN:  That's a hard one.  I listen to people whose opinion I value, who are concerned with an issue and DO NOT have an axe to grind.  I do not listen to people who denigrate another because they don't agree with them.====JACK:  Denigrate has some interesting synonyms....    bad-mouth, belittle, cry down, decry, deprecate, derogate, diminish, dis (also diss), discount, dismiss, disparage, kiss off, minimize, play down, poor-mouth, put down, run down, talk down, trash, trash-talk, vilipend, write off.  That about says it all.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  First and foremost, I try to listen to God.  Sometimes I can't get His message so I use advice from my husband.  He is wise and knowledgeable.  I'm a good listener, I think, and will listen to most anyone.  Sometimes it's hard not to give advice, especially when it's not wanted.  Then I close my mouth and open my heart.  ====JACK:  The Greek word, angelos, means messenger from God.  That's where the word angel comes from.  It's good that you have an angel for a husband.

 FROM EEC IN MICHIGAN:  I just read a long article on the dwindling population of the bee in I think Time magazine, at the dentist's office. It was scary.====JACK:  I think that each created thing has a place in this world, whether we realize it or not.  The bee is one creature whose work is very important, as we can see.