Jack’s Winning Words 1/30/15
“To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle.”  (Walt Whitman)  Have you ever experienced a miracle?  I mean…a real miracle.  We read about them in the Bible, but what about miracles in the here and now?  Many “religious” people believe that God is still active in events that happen around us.  Whitman saw it in nature.  Some see it in an “unexplained” cure or occurrence.  Be on the look-out today for the “miraculous!”   ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I find it something of a miracle that a good guy like you can come from Moline!====JACK:  I find it miraculous that I've lived in "Detroit" over twice as long as I lived in Moline...and you keep showing up!

FROM QUILTING CAROL:  Yes…our daughter-in-law being a surrogate for a college friend who lost her ability to have children.  The miracle of that birth was truly a leap of faith.====JACK:  What a miraculous gift!

FROM TARMART REV:  I know it can be explained, but just think, Jack, I'm standing in our kitchen in Willmar, MN, typing with my thumb on the face of an I-Pod and about to touch the "Send" tab and these few lines will almost instantly be seen by you 800 or so miles away...maybe not a miracle, but truly remarkable!! Hopefully in touch with you, Monday!!====JACK:  It doesn't always have to be inexplicable in order to be a miracle.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  I agree with Al Michaels - "Do you believe in miracles?  YES!"   While that night 35 years ago was pretty miraculous, I agree with Walt - just the diversity and complexity of life is truly amazing.  Even some humans have done some pretty miraculous things - recovering from "incurable" diseases, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds (Louis Zamperini), etc.  ====JACK:  There are miracles and then there are miracles.  The meaning is in the nuance.  A miracle is still a miracle.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  For  some reason, I didn't think of Whitman as being so upbeat!  Yes we had a healing miracle at least twice, when our 3rd son was healed of internal bleeding after trying many treatments (when he was 3) we turned to prayer alone, and within a week the bleeding stopped and never returned; And Bill at 58 suffered cardiac arrest on the handball court at the 'Y', and was clinically "dead" for 45 minutes, before his breathing resumed; He had nine heart bypasses (a record in Springfield), and he made a full recovery. The Springfield doctors always referred to him as Miracle Man...! I agree with Walt; we need to be open to miracles, big and mall....====JACK: There was more to Whitman than Leaves of Grass.  I guess that's the way it is with each of us.  I wonder if he "saw" more miracles than those he saw in nature?  God has a way of showing up in unusual places and circumstances.  "Ohhhh...there he is!"  Ask your Sunday School class if they've seen God lately.  Where?  When?

FROM CHESTER THE GOOD:  You are right. Keep your eyes (and mind) open.====JACK:  I learned this song in Sunday School.
Open my eyes, that I may see  Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key  That shall unclasp and set me free.
Open my mind, that I may read  More of Thy love in word and deed;
What shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead?  Only for light from Thee I plead.
Silently now I wait for Thee,  Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my mind, illumine me,  Spirit divine!

FROM MOLINER JT:  I don't have to look far !  AMEN====JACK:  That's right.  You're a living miracle.

FROM MV IN MICHIGAN:  This isn’t exactly in the miracle category but maybe in the “meant to be” category: A friend of mine and I were discussing coincidences one day and he told me about a book called Synchronicity he was reading. We spoke about a girl his daughter was dating. We know the family. My wife and I were at a movie that same night, the room was full, there were three seats next to us and guess who walks in and sits right next to us? That family we were speaking about that morning! An interesting coincidence but not a miracle or maybe a small miracle in that there may have been a reason we needed to connect with these people. Only God knows the greater plan, right? ====JACK:  Synchronicity can simply be one of the items in God's tool box.