Jack’s Winning Words 8/9/13
“The longest journey is the journey inward.”  (Dag Hammarskjold)  A nurse gave a little boy a stethoscope so he could listen to his heartbeat.  As he listened he grinned and said, “Is that Jesus knocking?”  What is that heartbeat?  What is the heart, the brain, the eye…all that stuff?  What makes it all work?  Ps 134 says, “I praise you Lord, for I am wonderfully made.”  A doctor told me, “It’s amazing how this body works.”    ;-)  Jack

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I think he is right about the inward journey -- it's unending. The removal of "the first beam in thine own eye" only leads to the discovery of the next, and then the next, and so, and so on. The body is amazing just like all systems of the world. But, for me, it is the system of the mind and the soul, which require no body, that are most intriguing to me.====JACK:  There is so much "unknown" in this world, that no one can claim to be Mr. Know-it-all."  I read this week that over 90% of the oceans are unexplored.  The figure should probably be higher.  I can imagine that the same figure applies to the brain.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  My mother-in-law moved into an assisted living this past spring. She made a pretty fair adjustment but then, when her situation started to "catch up with her" started napping more. But now, interestingly, she has become friends with Clifford for whom she is crocheting a lap robe. The relationships between the sexes and also between the same-sexes is always mysterious and profound and frankly I'm kind of glad we don't understand how it works, where it comes from, but when we see it and the joy and beauty it brings to living just lift up prayers of praise and thanksgiving for how our bodies work. ====JACK:  What is it that causes people to be friends with one another?  That could stand some further study.  And that could lead to a study of why people become enemies.  As the song goes:  "It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master. Jack."

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  When we use something that belongs to someone else, I think we are obligated to take extra care how we use it.  1 Cor 6:19 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?"  Our body is amazing and wonderfully made, and we should treat it with "extra care."====JACK:  I hadn't thought of the use of the body as being a "loaner" from God.  Last winter my grandson borrowed my front wheel drive car, because his rear wheeler was getting stuck in snow drifts.  He returned it washed and cleaned.  We return the body God gave us, somewhat the worse for wear.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Dag was certainly an admirable man! Yes, we are fearfully and wonderfully made....I never acquired the habit of journaling, but my daughter has journaled for years, and it seems to lead to much deeper introspection.  I guess you have to find more time to sit quietly,  and I seem to keep "moving"!  Cheers to the thinkers, and to the ever-present need to delve inward...until we shed this mortal  coil!====JACK:  Mortal Coil....Now that's a phrase I haven't heard in a long time.  It's one we think we know, but I had to look it up..."the hustle and bustle of life."  To leave this mortal coil is to be done with all the distractions of life...to be a peace...to be in "heaven."  George Beverly Shea used to sing this song:
THANK YOU LORD (Kurt Kaiser)
Early in the morning
While the world is still,
Before the daylight streaks the sky,
I would know his will.
I commune with him, my Savior,
And listen carefully
And seek the strength I need from him
While praying quietly.

Thank you, Lord, for hearing me.
Thank you, Lord, for knowing who I am.
Thank you, Lord, for seeing me.
It's so easy to get lost these days
In the shuffle and the noise.

Why not try to do this
When you wake up in the night
With problems racing through your mind
And sleep becomes a fight?
Try this simple method,
It soon will gain control
And rest will surely come again
And calm down all your soul.

Thank you, Lord, for hearing me.
Thank you, Lord, for knowing who I am.
Thank you, Lord, for seeing me.
It's so easy to get lost these days
In the shuffle and the noise.

 FROM TARMART REV:  "God is ALL heart!"====JACK:  In fact, he's the King of Hearts!

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  I love both the Hammarskjold quote and the little boy’s; thank you for the smile.====JACK:  My internist and I have some interesting discussions.  He'll sometimes start out the appointment by asking, "What do you think about the world situation today?"  I'll ask him, "What would you like to be, if you weren't a doctor?"