Jack’s Winning Words 10/10/14
“If in doubt, check it out.”  (Paul Engleman)  I was reading an article by a doctor in which he stressed the importance of early diagnosis of illnesses.  “If in doubt, check it out.”  This truism doesn’t just refer to medical situations.  If you notice something out-of-the-ordinary in the behavior of a person you know, check it out.  “If you see something, say something.”  We’re reminded of this as we walk through the airport.  Going back to the doctor’s article…Put away the excuses.  Check it out.    ;-)  Jack 

FROM HONEST JOHN:  That certainly goes for specious reasoning and outlandish statements, too. ====JACK:  Some of my best teachers would say, "Look it up!"  Nowadays we're lazy and go to "Snopes."  I wonder who checks on "Snopes" to make sure that their answers are true?  Humorist Will Rogers would sometimes begin a monolog by saying, “Well, what shall I talk about? I ain’t got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the papers.”  After that, everything was funny.  It still is today.

FROM TARMART REV:  I forgot to take along the two bananas left on the counter at home . . . good neighbors who are watching over the house, mail, trash, etc said they will gladly take them home with them and save us coming home to the fruit flies. Should have checked that list one more time.====JACK:  I checked it out...A fruit fly can live for 50 to 60 days...During that time the female can produce several batches of eggs (500 at a time).  The population of the flies could fill every nook and cranny of your house if the bananas were not removed by your good neighbors.

FROM BB IN  ILLINOIS:  Applies equally well to what we read/view on the internet.  Be suspicious people – use snopes, FactCheck and other resources.  As mom used to say, “paper doesn’t refuse ink”  Wonder what the modern equivalent of that phrase should be….====JACK:  "I saw it on TV!" is a common phrase.  I saw a debate of TV recently.  I wish that there had been something like "fact check" accompanying the dialog.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  My dad used to say in response to my excuses, I've got a cigar box full of excuses."====JACK:  I wonder how your dad would have reacted if you had said (like Steve Martin), "Well, excuuuse me!"  He probably wouldn't have laughed.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  "One has two duties--to be worried, and not to be worried". (E.M.Forster in Associated press). So one has to have the gift of discernment about when to be doubtful and double check something or someone. Certainly with the Ebola crisis, extreme caution is warranted! But hopefully those of us who have many years' experience should know when to doubt and check it out! AND do it!   I missed the chance to ck. on a young Chinese woman, working in one of our best Chinese restaurants, when she sidled up to me and whispered that she was being sent to  England. (I'd seen her several times in the dining room and knew her name) By the time I alerted the police to investigate, she was gone....the restaurant was closed 2 yrs. later for having illegal "trafficked" workers, so I was not imagining things! The police had kept an eye on the place and nailed them eventually. So when in doubt DO ck. it out. :-(====JACK:  There's a song that we would sing at Bible camp.  "He's got his eye on you, He's got his eye on you.  My Lord, sittin' in the Kingdom, He's got His eye on you."  Of course, one of the memorable symbols of God is a large eye.
====OAKS:  My friend Sarah Reed (my daughter is named after her, she was the Senior pastor's wife when we served at Elgin 1st Baptist) said that a huge "All-seeing eye of God" was painted on the front of the sanctuary in the Presbyterian church she grew up in, and it scared her to death to think that eye was always on her, seeing everything she did! :-)