Jack’s Winning Words 12/9/13
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”  (Carl Sagan)  I read this week that commercial space flight is expected to begin in a year.  Eventually a trip from LA to London will take an hour.  Robotic surgery will be commonplace.  Stem cell use will help cure incurable diseases.  Amazon will use drones to deliver orders to your door. “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.”  What incredible thing would you like to see?   ;-)  Jack

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Do we have to see drones delivering amazon.com orders to our door? That's a bit too much for me.====JACK:  People used to think that it was "too much"  when those noisy Model Ts would frighten the horses.  But, you're right, a sky filled with drones would not be a beautiful sight, like birds on the wing.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  Peace,  Justice,  and Charity.====JACK:  Incredible, but not impossible.  As I heard Isaiah's prophecy yesterday in church..."In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all."

 FROM TARMART REV:  " . . .a "kinder, gentler nation."  -George H. W. Bush====JACK:  It's too bad that "We ain't seen it yet!"  That doesn't that it's not a good idea.====REV:  “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” -- The best is yet to come!!====JACK:  As they say in Willmar, "Ya betcha!"

 FROM YOOPER BOB:  I’d like to see   “Peace on Earth.”   That would truly be the incredible! ====JACK:   One of my favorite Christmas songs is, "I Heard the Bells," written during the Civil War by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Best Winning Word this week. ...Love it....====JACK:  Sagan was a great teacher of science who looked "positively" at the future.  People loved it when he translated science into everyday language.  Pastors ought to be able to do that with theology, too.

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  This world has become a Pandora's Box, and the rapid progression of "incredible" things coming forth every day, deemed to be improving our lives, will eventually drive us to despair.  Like the builders of the Tower of Babel, men believe they are creating heaven on earth, but it may turn out to be hell.====JACK:  That's one way of looking at it, but I think that Sagan was more optimistic than that.  However, I see that you did quality your answer with a "may."  That's always good to do.
====RI:  My negativity is due to my belief that most of what is sought in science and industry these days is an effort by someone to make more money, rather than being beneficial to the common good.  A lot of that generation of money ends up being detrimental to an enlightened society.====JACK:  I wonder if Edison, Bell and Ford has profits in mind while they were inventing?  I'd like to think that George Washington Carver did not.====RI:  Your point is well taken, but they were of a different era, and their ideas became the means to create more job opportunities.  The inventors of television and computers probably didn't have profits in mind either, but the people who "hijacked" those media did recognize the "cuh-ching, cuh-ching" potential and have delivered so much mediocrity that deserves to be stifled, along with the explosion of commercials that smother the media.  I know there will always be those who say, "All you have to do is hit the off switch!" however, Sagan's "something incredible" I want to see is the public rising up and shouting "I'm mad as hell and not going to take that anymore."====JACK:  Ooooh!  You're mad (at something).

 FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  WISDOM! or how we  could all live together in peace..====JACK:  I like the song where there's a line..."Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

 FROM WATERFORD JAN:  I look eagerly to the future for inventions that improve the health of humanity and the environment.  Regarding some predicted inventions--"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."  Right now there are errors being made with robotic-type surgery procedures that a skillful human surgeon could avoid.  Air traffic could become a nightmare with delivery drones when there are air traffic near-misses and even collisions happening now.  "Think it through before you do!"====JACK  Yes, the "what if-s" tend to discourage, but, to me, the major decision is an ethical one...If you can , should you?  The what-if-s tend to be worked out in time.

 FROM HCC CHUCK:  People of the world living in peace,  children playing with lions and snakes,  God's creations living in a loving relationship..I say Amen to that.====JACK:  ...and, then, there is that "peace" that passes understanding...peace, perfect peace.  God's peace is beyond what we can image.  I long for that kind of peace.

  FROM RS IN TEXAS:    All those accomplishments and yet man still hasn't figured out how to live with his bother without war and hate.  My wish - world peace and an end to hunger in the world.====JACK:   As long as we are who we are, imperfect individuals, peace will have to remain a goal.  My next door neighbor and I are at peace with each other.  I guess that's where it begins.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  The most incredible thing for me would be to see peace in the world.  I am enjoying the texting and pictures of my grandchildren snowboarding in Fort Worth and of the Confirmation in Ashburn, VA. What an amazing world in which we live.====JACK:  The incredible peace that you and so many others long for is the ultimate peace that is found in heaven...which passes understanding.  There is relative calm today, compared to the wars we've lived through.  But even in our own country, people are at odds with one another over political (and other) issues.  Even at that, I like what Yakov Smirnoff says, "What a great country!"

 FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  I,too, would like to see and experience world /and local peace.....Which we've been working towards for ....? In the meantime....look what's been discovered, developed, devised , dispersed....and it's all going to advance. Soooo, I would like to see the realization that we can and do travel and expedite life on Mars and the Moon! Think of all the brain power, pioneer spirit, inventiveness, jobs(?)..that would promote!!!! And, unfortunately....conflict! ====JACK:  Another vote for peace.  Does that simply mean, the absence of conflict...world, national, local, personal?  If so, that's why I believe in God's heaven.  Meanwhile, my children and grandchildren have had many incredible experiences...but they've never lived the ones that I've had.  No regrets!  Maybe, a few (as the song goes).

 FROM AW IN ILLINOIS:  This reminds me of a man I knew who was convinced that the windshield wiper was not the best solution to seeing in the rain.   He puzzled for years but never came up with an alternative.  He is long gone, but the windshield wiper lives on.====JACK:  Do you remember the popular song about the windshield wipe?  The beat is to the timing ,of the wiper in the rain.