Jack’s Winning Words  1/16/15 
“I’m thinking about how a status symbol is those cell phones clipped to their belt or purse.  I can’t afford one, so I’m wearing my garage door opener.”  (Ramblings of an old man)  What makes this “rambling” funny?  Is it because people who are “climbers” can’t see how silly they look?  Or is it about some “aging” person who tries not to age?  Jokesters are like a mirror.  They often help us to see who we are.    ;-)  Jack

FROM MM IN FLORIDA:  Very cute and very funny a real LOL====JACK:  I suppose you have an I-Phone.

FROM TARMART REV:  "The jolly ol' fat man!!" Remembering him well every morning . . . we've been parting company now for many a year from the bathroom mirror, facing a new day together!! ====JACK:  We have a group in our church called, "Healthy Luserans."  They're dedicated to having healthy eating habits, which leads to controlling weight.  No-salt popcorn, without butter.

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Satirists too, they bring a lot of insight when they ridicule shallow thinking pervading our day-to-day life.  Sadly, there are so many with closed minds believing they must, by whatever means, destroy such people, like those who attacked the publishers in Denmark and France. ====JACK:  When we look at our own religion, whatever that may be, we ought to be able to say, "but the king has no clothes."  That's how reformation begins.

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  "We see ourselvs as ithers see us." I forget the poets name, from junior high English class====JACK:  Bobby Burns.  When one believer (Christian, Jew, Islam, Hindu, etc.) believes that their's is on the only true belief, it's hard to see another belief objectively.  That's simply an observation.

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I remember being in line at a McDonald's, and a man had one of those "in-the-ear", hands free telephones. I remember thinking about how some "important" telephone call just might occur at any moment...so Important that it might even interrupt his order for French fries. Then I thought...would he actually have to suspend the completion of his order if he did receive a call? The entire idea of walking around with a telephone in my ear all of the time seemed like such an exaggerated level for the importance of telephones, in general; not to mention the unflattering fashion statement!====JACK:  I have a similar feeling when I happen to see people texting during the church service.  Except that it could be a commentary on the service.  Nahhhh!

FROM HONEST JOHN:  How can something that almost everyone has be a status symbol?====JACK:  Jesus said, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."  He didn't seem to like ostentatiousness.

FROM TARMART REV:  That sounds familiar . . . remember the old church bulletin quips: The class meets in room 201, beyond the double doors!!=====JACK:  I don't get it!  An old jokester used to say to someone who didn't get the joke, "Why don't you hand a piece of crepe on your nose.? Your brain is dead."====REV:  I should have emphasized the "double doors" . . . weight class having to walk through double doors to meet in the classroom ====JACK:  Originally you left out "weight" in describing the class.  Now, I get it.

FROM DOCTOR JUDY:  Profound!!====JACK:  I've noticed that many of the great comedians are Jewish.  I'm sure that there's a profound reason for that.