Jack’s Winning Words 1/20/14
“Courage is being afraid, but going on anyhow.”  (Dan Rather)  I’m currently reading “A Small Treatise on Great Virtues.”  One virtue listed is, Courage.  No one could deny that it took courage for MLK Jr to lead the Civil Rights Movement….lynchings, beatings, bombings, jail-time.  Yet, he pressed on, in spite of danger.  Today is not only a time for remembering, but a time for us to courageously stand up for that which is right.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM TARMART REV:  Can even run parallel with being a pastor in a community or world that no longer enjoys having  "In God We Trust" life position . . . but pluralistic notions of what life is all about apart from our Jewish//Christian founding tradition. ====JACK:  Celebrate the fact that you live in a country where people are free to practice their religious beliefs...whatever they might be.  Some people shop at Walmart, some at Target, and some stay home.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Glad we have the opportunity to remember and celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. in our community. In a couple of hours we'll be walking and singing and then hearing some speeches and presentations to help us keep on standing up for that which is right, for the dream that MLK lifted up for all of us.====JACK:  A march begins with the first step.  And, sometimes, that step involves courage.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  I'd be afraid to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, and I'll be damned if I'd do it anyhow. Don't mistake courage for stupidity====JACK:  As with MLK Jr, courage happens because of a cause.  If by jumping off a bridge meant saving a loved one of yours, I think you'd trade stupidity for courage and make the jump.  "Greater love has no one than this, than to give his life for a friend (or someone in need)."

FROM FM IN WISCONSIN:   What a great word for the day – you should forward it to CBS so that they could include it tonight on the evening news broadcast!====JACK:  Just like with some sermons...."That's a great word.  I should follow up on that."  Sometimes we do.  Sometimes we don't.  Today, I didn't.  Maybe, next time.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  "COURAGE IS BORN AT THE POINT WHERE GOD'S GRACE AND HUMAN EFFORT INTERSECT"...(Father Timothy M. Gallagher) JUST BACK FROM A COUPLE OF WEEKS IN SUNNY CA (YESTERDAY) AND IT TOOK COURAGE TO BRAVE ILLINOIS ARCTIC WEATHER TODAY! :-) BUT A GOOD DAY TO REMEMBER A VERY COURAGEOUS MAN (AND HIS WIFE!) AND ALL HE ACCOMPLISHED WITH HIS LEADERSHIP!  WE MARCHED WITH MLK IN CHICAGO, AND IT COULD GET UGLY!!  WE'VE COME A LONG WAY, BUT STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO.  READING OF MALCOLM BOYD'S BOOK "ARE YOU RUNNING WITH ME JESUS?" IN YOU BLOG, ALSO BROT BACK MEMORIES. GREAT PRAYERS AND INSIGHTS!====JACK:  No marching in northern Wisconsin while you were marching in Chicago.  In fact, no African-Americans in the community where I lived.  We watched on TV.  Only later did I come to realize the significance of what was going on.====OAKS:  THANKS...I'M SURE THE SOUTHERN MARCHES WERE MUCH WORSE THAN THE NORTHERN EFFORTS!  PAUL BICKNELL, A BRETHREN PASTOR IN ELGIN (LATER UNITARIAN) WANTED BILL TO GO TO ONE OF THE SOUTHERN MARCHES, CAN'T RECALL WHICH ONE, BUT WE HAD OUR  SMALL SONS, AND I WAS NOT AT ALL ENTHUSED; HE TOLD PAUL, "THANKS BUT I THINK I CAN GET  CRUCIFIED RIGHT HERE IN ELGIN!'  BILL LED A CRUSADE FOR OPEN HOUSING, PUTTING AN AD IN THE PAPER WITH PEOPLE'S NAMES WHO WOULD SELL THEIR HOMES TO BUYERS OF ANY RACE, AND IN OUR LARGE CHURCH (1176 MEMBERS) HE HAD SEVEN SIGNERS!  IT WAS A BITTER BLOW! HE DID HAVE MORE SUCCESS WITH SOME OTHER  CHURCHES, BUT THE RESPONSE WAS MINIMAL COMPARED TO THE WHITE POPULATION.  THE AD WAS NOTICED, AND WE HAD SOME ANGRY (AND A FEW ENCOURAGING) RESPONSES BY OUR OWN NEIGHBORS. ONE HISPANIC FAMILY MOVED IN NEXT DOOR TO US!====JACK:  Elgin or Selma?  Really, what's the difference?  God is the ultimate judge.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  Amen.====JACK:  That's a song for you.
 See the little baby, amen
Lyin' in a manger, amen
On christmas morning,
Amen, amen, amen

See him in the temple, amen
Talking with the elders, amen
Who marveled at his wisdom
Amen, amen, amen

See him by the seaside, amen
Talking with the fishermen, amen
Makin' 'em disciples
Amen, amen, amen

Marchin' to Jerusalem, amen
Wavin' palm branches, amen
In pomp and splendor
Amen, amen, amen

See him in the garden, amen
Talkin' with the father, amen
In deepest sorrow
Amen, amen, amen

Led before Pilate, amen
Then they crucified him, amen
But he rose on easter
Amen, amen, amen

Hallelujah!, amen
He died to save us, amen
But he lives forever!
Amen, amen, amen
====MARY:  uncanny...i saw the end of lilies of the field today...it's the seen when sydney and the nuns  and, well, me are singing just that song.  synchronicity at it's best!

 FROM AW IN ILLINOIS:   Jack, when Judy died, I was lost..but then I was inspired to adopt the motto, "smile and keep on  going"......and it has helped me.====JACK:  I like the words of the song..."Let a smile be your umbrella" when the tears are falling..

 FROM KF IN MICHIGAN:  Agreed! A current lesson here would be more courage for students to stand up to bullies = fewer teen suicides! Needs to be taught!