Jack’s Winning Words 12/12/13
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”  (Albert Camus)  Camus must have loved reading from Ecclesiastes, “For everything there is a season, to live and to die, etc.”  In his writings he links the absurd…winter and summer.  Life is like that, isn’t it?  We take the good and the bad, knowing the certainty of change!  Don’t give up.  It’s going to get better.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  I like the Winter...need, however, only three months of it...then ready for a change.====JACK:  Too much of one thing can be tooooo much, except for the grace of God.

 FROM TARMART REV:  "Baby! It's gold outside here in Minnesota!" . . . but finally we are getting above zero degrees into the teens . . . not giving up, Jack- "But, Baby! It's gold outside!"====JACK:  You know the old saying....Cold hands, warm heart.  It got down to 8 degrees in WB last night.  That's cold! ====REV:  This past week we have been experiencing wind-chills of 20-30 degrees below zero...a heavy coat, hat, gloves and earmuffs were the order of the day.====JACK:  You're in trouble when you look out and see people wearing earmuffs while you're preaching.

 FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  The new phrase about life that I've adopted, "If your life is not horrific, then it's TERRIFIC!"====JACK:  Could you be more specific?====IKE:  If I could I'd be fantastic!

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  That's an eloquent quote from Camus, reminding us hope and faith remain within us.  It's like the ashes in a fireplace that appear dead, but within a spark glows that can ignite new fire.  When hardship hits hard, we have reason to struggle on.====JACK:  That reminds me of a quote that I've heard older men say..."Just because there's snow on the roof doesn't mean that there's no fire in the furnace."  I wonder if Camus had gray hair when he wrote those words?====RI:  It's unlikely that Camus had gray hair at that writing.  As you may know, Camus died in an auto crash at the age of 46.====JACK:  Thanks for the clarification.  Now, I recall that he dies at a relatively young age.

 FROM BBC IN ILLINOIS:  One of my favorite quotes and I didn’t know it was Camus!  He is one of my son's favorite authors.  Thanks for your thoughts.====JACK:  I'm impressed that a teenager would know about Camus.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  Seasonal changes what makes it interesting. How dull without it. Yer right. Hang in there!====JACK:  I'm looking forward to Feb 2nd.  For me, Groundhog Day is a sign that spring is just around the corner.

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I know a delightful woman here who was a part of the French Resistence and after the war would sit with Camus and Sartre talking about their (the French) part in the whole mess that was that war. They would discuss things while drinking coffee at some cafe. I wish I could have been there to hear it...she had such nice things to say about Camus. Maybe this is where the existentialists are so often confused with having such despair and negativity. Quite to the contrary, as we read in Camus' quote...it's truly an honest perspective of both sides of the coin...something like your intention for making the comfortable uncomfortably and the uncomfortable bringing comfort. ====JACK:  I can't recall that I ever eavesdropped on some important people talking.  But, I have been part of some interesting conversations.  Does that count?

 FROM FM IN WISCONSIN:  Jack, we have had enough winter this year to take care of all of the first three months of 2014 . . . from your choice today you must be having a tough winter too!====JACK:  I wear my shoe-spikes when I walk down the driveway to get the mail.  No slip-sliding for me during this winter weather

 FROM BS IN ENGLAND:  I do hope so------it can be quite difficult at times to see the light at the end of the tunnel!====JACK:  In the movie, The Blues Brothers, I like the scene where John Belushi dances and yells, "I've seen the light."  I guess that was a different kind of light.

 FROM CK IN MICHIGAN:  Jack wasn't it the Byrds that said in the sixties a time to laugh a time to cry turn turn turn - to everything there is a season!! So true I find! Maybe they were readers of the bible as we'll! Be good!====JACK:  You're right.  It was the Byrds, and it's one of my favorite songs.  Can you sing it?
To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time of war, a time of peace
A time of love, a time of hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!
 ====CK:  We'll done Jack! That song sure says a lot and offers a lot to think about! I know you get that! ====JACK:  I appreciate the abilities of song writers (and hymn writers) who are able to tell a story and set it to music.I think of Stephen Sondheim's, "Send in the Clowns."  I remember the first time I heard it.  Our church organist was playing it as a prelude.  I asked him, "What was that song you were playing as I walked up to the altar?"  I laughed when he told me.

 FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  LAL====JACK:  I think that means, Like A Lot.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I ALWAYS HAD SEVERAL POSTERS ON THE WALL OF MY SCHOOL ROOM, AND THIS SAYING WAS ONE OF THOSE...WITH A PICTURE OF SNOW ON THE GROUND, AND A SPRING FLOWER JUST POKING ABOVE  THE SNOW...YEARS LATER ONE OF MY STUDENTS WROTE THAT THEY COPIED ALL THE SAYING S ON THE POSTERS I PUT UP (AND OFTEN CHANGED) AND THAT THIS SAYING BY CAMUS HAD BEEN HER FAVORITE, AND HAD HELPED HER  GET THROUGH SOME TOUGH TIMES! WINTER CAN BE BEAUTIFUL, BUT ALSO STARK AND GRIM.  WE ALREADY HAVE WIND CHILL TEMPS BELOW ZERO...TODAY HAD A HIGH OF 24 AND A LOW OF ONE DEGREE LAST NIGHT!
A WHITE CHRISTMAS SEEMS LIKELY!!  :-)  I LIKE ALL FOUR SEASONS,AND WOULD MISS THEM IF THEY DID NOT OCCUR WITH THEIR CHANGES OF SCENERY AND WEATHER, GOOD  OR BAD, CHRISTIANS WILL GET THROUGH IT...====JACK:  Teachers can make a lasting impression...and you have been one of those.