Jack’s Winning Words 12/19/14
“God is watching us from a distance.”  (Bette Midler song)  I remember the first time I heard the “God is watching” song.  Two little girls had been invited to sing at a nursing home “prayer service.”  I was amazed at how well they sang, at the simple and beautiful tune…and the words,  “God is watching us…”  God was watching those little singers, the residents, the care-givers, and …me.  What a comforting realization to know that God is watching over us.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM JE IN WL:  Amen!! Simple but beautiful message!====JACK:  The interesting thing is... We can make the idea of God simple or complex, and it's the same God.  A noted theologian was asked to explain what God meant to him.  People were surprised when he simply said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."  Someone else has put it this way, "Jesus knows me, this I love."

FROM HONEST JOHN:  It can be comforting and overwhelming.   "Am I a God at hand and not a God afar off".  Was not meant to comfort but to remind us that there is to be a reckoning.====JACK: Isn't it interesting... Given the situation, God can be near at hand, or he can be far, far, far off.  I like the story of the little boy who asked his mother, "Is God everywhere?"  She replied, "Yes."  He then asked, "Is God in this sugar bowl?"  When she replied, "Yes," he quickly put the lid on the bowl and yelled, "Now, I've got him."

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  and the angels watching over me... two songs for today!====JACK:  There's another song..."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."  Now substitute "Mary," for you.

FROM TARMART REV:
"Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart feel lonely
And long for heaven and home?
"When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is He
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches over me!
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me!"
====JACK:  That's one of my favorites, too.

FROM PAUL IN ST. PAUL:  i have used this song as a sermon illustration for Christmas Eve.  God is not only watching from a distance,  but he also came very close to us in the form of his Son.  the whole point of Christmas and the incarnation.   i like the song too but it really tells only half the story. ====JACK:  God who sees his creation with a wide-angle lens, also has a zoom lens which he can (and does) use.

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  It is Grace indeed when one experiences "vocatus"...the distance from which God is watching is unnoticeable.====JACK:  A rhetorical question...When does God seem closest to you?

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  I was thinking of Christmases in Moline which were celebrated Swedish style.  Do you still celebrate with lutefisk etc.?  The other day there was a wonderful travelogue on Minnesota and all of the customs there, including a lutefisk plant. We are all still here for a reason.  And God knows what that is.====JACK:  No lutefisk for me.  But when I attended a recent Santa Lucia Breakfast, the music, the candles and the food brought back memories of Christmas in the growing-up years.

FROM AJ IN MICHIGAN:  Love this particular Word of Wisdom.====JACK:  Wisdom doesn't always come with many words.

FROM CHESTER THE GOOD:  Maybe He is watching from a distance because He is "farsighted." ====JACK:  Sometimes he's like Mr. Magoo, too.