Jack’s Winning Words 10/7/14
“Science cannot tell us why an old song can move us to tears.”  (Erwin Schrödinger)  A lot of what Erwin writes is beyond me, but that’s because he’s a physicist.  He asks, “If you put a cat in a box with a flask of poison, will the cat be alive or dead?”   It’s an illustration of… there are some things that we cannot know.  But, back to old songs.  “September Song” sometimes chokes me up.  Is it the memories?  Or the tune?  There are some things that only God knows.    ;-)  Jack

FROM JLF IN MICHIGAN:  My friend has a cat named Schrodinger.  I never knew why she picked that name, now I do!====JACK:  Under strange pet names I found...Purrscilla, Tru-purr, and Peanut Wigglebutt.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Science can't tell us a lot of things having to do with the "heart", but let's face it, we tear up much easier in our old age over many sentimental things. (I've been going through boxes of photographs, cleaning out the garage...!! SOB! ) HA!  Thankful that we have the capacity to feel deeply, right?   Many of the  old songs can make me misty-eyed! Erwin is a new name for me, which isn't too surprising, I guess, since he is a physicist.Not my usual genre...====JACK:  I remember the scene from Christmas Vacation where Chevy Chase is locked in the cold attic in his pajamas.  He gets teary eyed as he watches the old home movies of his children in their growing up years.  That could happen to any of us.  You happened to be in the garage and not the attic.

FROM TRIHARDER:  "The Science of Laughter."====JACK:  There is such a thing as inappropriate laughter...laughing at the wrong time at the wrong thing.  A psychologist might be able to explain it.

FROM TARMART REV: 
Precious memories, unseen angels,  Sent from somewhere to my soul.
How they linger ever near me,  And the sacred past unfolds.
Precious memories how they linger,  How they ever flood my soul.
In the stillness of the midnight.  Precious sacred scenes unfold.
====JACK:  George Beverly Shea has a good rendition of this.  At times, it can be a tear-jerker.

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  Science applies to those things of the world. That which is of the spirit isn't a "thing" at all....but the spirit can certainly affect things like the body....like the Life that enters it. Physicists call the spirit of Life: "energy". ====JACK:  Could the spirit (energy) possibly come from the God-particle?========RAY:  If we want to call the life spirit energy, we might as well add a God-particle to our body. I suppose it's like Jesus saying, if you don't believe in me, believe in the works I do.====JACK:  The verse you quoted could use "works that I do" to mean the entire life and ministry of Jesus, and not just miracles...I know that that might be a stretch.  But I see Jesus among us as God in human form, showing God's love for us and also showing us how we might express Godly love to others....the spirit of God among us and in us.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  september song was my mom's favorite. haunting melody. bittersweet lyrics. i can cry just thinking about it.  "god only knows" is my fav beach boys song.  faith is being cool with what god only knows.====JACK:  YouTube is great.  Within seconds we can pull up both September Song and God Only Knows and relive some memories.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Memories of people who loved those old songs maker cry. Y dad loved "The old rugged cross".  My mom loved "Amazing Grace" and Gary's mom loved "How great thou art".  Those songs always make me Teary-eyed. ====JACK:  I wonder if there are songs that will make our children and grandchildren teary-eyed...and what they might be. 

FROM JB IN CHICAGO:  Ah, “September Song” was my parents’ song. They were married on Sept. 1, 1951, and way too young to be thinking of the September of their years. They were a faithful pair to the end – my father died in 2009 and his last words to my mother were the ones he spoke to her every night, “Good night, my dear.” Yes, it brings tears to my eyes.====JACK:  What a great story about those "December" words!  "Good night, my dear."  Talk about Precious Memories....

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  my moving songs are "when you walk through a storm", "let there be peace on earth", and "away in a manger".====JACK:  Away in a manger has two tunes.  Do the words move you, or is it the tune?  Children of the Heavenly Father is a good one, especially the verse..."Neither life nor death shall ever  From the Lord, His children sever."

FROM IKE AT THE MIC:  My favorite poem about music is:  Speaks what can not be explained
Soothes the mind & gives it rest  Heals the heart & makes it whole  Flows from heaven to the soul
Best wishes for New Year 5775!====JACK:  The earliest sounds we hear are often lullabies sung by our mother.