Jack’s Winning Words 3/24/15
“The person who grabs the cat by the tail and holds the cat upside down for twenty seconds gets a hundred times more information about that experience than one who may have read about it in a book."  (Mark Twain)  I smiled when I read these words last week in an article by Rick Barger.  He was writing about how important practical experience is in the education of pastors.  It works that way in much of life.  Helpful lessons aren’t always in books.    ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  Again, how about "both/and"?    Both reading and experience can be valuable.====JACK:  Yes, you are right.  In seminary, I appreciated the professor who had a graduate degree and who also had spent time as a parish pastor.

FROM TARMART REV:  ...carrying a few battle scars myself that proves that very thing!! ====JACK:  Have you ever sung the hymn, "We're on the battlefield for the Lord?"

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  Yup...but doing the research before the experience is not a bad idea! ====JACK:  In fact, it's a good idea.  However, the "experience" that a teacher has is all of life...the home...being a student, from Kindergarten on up...disappointments and successes...interpersonal.  Of course, student teaching is a help. too.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  Sort of like that when we judge people.  If you haven't walked a mile in their moccasins................Always felt that way when people would ask me about Viet Nam - when I would tell them something about it many would say "I know how you feel" or "I know what you mean."  I always felt that they couldn't, as I could never have imagined the brutality of war had I not seen it first hand.  Nothing like first hand experience or on the job training in terms of learning.====JACK:  One of your uncles served as a medic on a ship bringing back the battle wounded from WW 2.  When we asked, "What was it like?  He responded, "You wouldn't want to know," and then he was silent.
====RS:  Yup - Nothing glamorous about war.  Dumbest thing man ever nvented.====JACK:  ...not to mention the wars over religion.

FROM CHESTER THE GOOD:  The School of Hard Knocks has more cum laude graduates than all universities combined.====JACK:  Do you remember this song?
Please teacher, teach me something   Nice teacher, teach me something
 I'm as awkward as a camel   That's not the worst

My two feet haven't met yet   But I'll be teacher's pet yet
 'Cause I'm gonna learn   To dance or burst

Nothing is impossible I have found   For when my chin is on the ground
 I pick myself up, dust myself off   Start all over again

Don't lose your confidence if you slip   Be grateful for a pleasant trip
 And pick yourself up, dust yourself off   Start all over again

Work like a soul inspired   Till the battle of the day is won
 You may be sick and tired   But you'll be a man, my son

Will you remember the famous men   Who had to fall to rise again?
 So take a deep breath   Pick yourself up, dust yourself off   Start all over again

I'll get some self assurance   If your endurance is great
 I'll learn by easy stages   If you're courageous and wait

To feel the strength I want to   I must hang on to your hand
 Maybe by the time I'm fifty   I'll get up and do a nifty

Nothing is impossible I have found   For when my chin is on the ground
 I pick myself up, dust myself off   Start all over again

Don't lose your confidence if you slip   Be grateful for a pleasant trip
 And pick yourself up, dust yourself off   Start all over again

Work like a soul inspired   Till the battle of the day is won
 You may be sick and tired   But you'll be a man, my son

Will you remember the famous men   Who had to fall to rise again?
 So take a deep breath   Pick yourself up, dust yourself off   Start all over again

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  Amen to that!

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I  like Chester the Good's comment about the school of hard knocks....What we learn from experience sure stays with us! Tho you have to have some book knowledge to try to function in your field!!   I imagine holding a cat upside down by the tail would teach you a lot in a hurry! HA!====JACK:  I've been to Galesburg many, many, many times, but never have seen the campus of (hard) Knox College.  I would like to have seen the spot where the Lincoln/Douglas debate was held.