Jack’s Winning Words 5/26/15
“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”  (Mark Twain)  Have you even taken a test to determine the best vocation for you?  Are you in that vocation?  I wanted to be a fireman, but God had other plans.  MLK Jr advised some students, “If your occupation is to be a street sweeper, be the best street sweeper you can be.”    “Be the best of whatever you are” is the title of a poem by Douglas Malloch.    ;-)  Jack

FROM COPPER COUNTRY BOB:  Amen, Jack.   I intended to be a labor negotiator with the migrant Mexicans on Dad’s farm.   I took Spanish my freshman yr. only to receive C and D  grades.    God has humor as then I needed to take Hebrew and Greek!====JACK:  Who can say that God doesn't have a sense of humor?  Maybe the thunder we sometimes hear is God's roaring laughter.

FROM TARMART REV: I like that thought-- motivating to say the least!! 
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill
Be a scrub in the valley--but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway some happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass--
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here.
There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,
And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail--
Be the best of whatever you are!
====JACK:  I had intended to post the poem.  Thanks for doing it for me.  It's one of my favorites.

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  My vocational plans started with choosing to enter the ministry, but God had other plans.  (No...I didn't become a fireman.)  The profession I chose was rewarding in many ways, in fact there were moments that seemed divine.====JACK:  Thankfully, God has not called everyone to be a pastor.  There'd be empty pews and crowded pulpits.  A bishop once described a certain congregation to a pastor who was considering a call there.  "In this congregation, there too many chiefs and not enough Indians."====RI:  As I approached completion of my elementary school education, the family discussion commenced about what vocation I should consider.  Due to my grandmother's strong favor for church life, and my father having been a Lutheran school teacher, a commitment to church service was encouraged.  Also, a classmate had made up his mind to enter the ministry, and there was the possibility of me going with him to a Lutheran high school as prep for attending the seminary later.  However, there was a cost burden on my parents for all of that, and I ended up attending public high school.  My father's decision about that same time, to build a new house for us, and his confidence that we could do a lot of the construction ourselves, got me involved in building.  That project turned out to be exciting, learning to master the skills of the various trades, and to manage everything to completion.  The experience converted me to the vocation I chose.

FROM ST. PAUL IN ST. PAUL:  that is a great MLK quote.  I have used it in my Labor Day weekend sermon.====JACK:  In no way was he demeaning the job of sweeping streets.  Our way of life depends on people being willing to do a variety of jobs.  I've lost track of the number of people who've said that they would not want to be a minister, let alone be a street sweeper.  ...Be the best of whatever you are!====ST. PAUL:  recall Luther's quote:  the maid with the mop,  the farmer with the plow, and the smith with his forge have just as high and holy a calling as any monk, bishop, or pope.  (I am paraphrasing a little here but not much)  recall his Priesthood of All Believers.   rather revolutionary for the middle ages I would think...====JACK:  And don't forget Brother Lawrence , scrubbing the pots and pans in the monastery kitchen!====S.P.:  or worse yet,  Luther scouring the monastery latrine and sleeping on a cold stone floor as a way of debasing himself and showing God how sorry and sincere he was in his faith life.   uffda!

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I LIKE THE POEM; HADN'T SEEN IT FOR MANY YEARS....AS I LOOKE "BACK",  I WAS DOING SO MANY THINGS, PARENTING, PASTOR'S WIFE, TEACHING JR. HIGH FULL TIME, CHURCH MUSIC DIRECTOR, (NO SALARY FOR THAT!), SERVING ON NAT'L DENOMINATION BOARDS,  AND DOING A LOTOF ENTERTAINING AND HOSTING FAMILY HOLIDAY EVENTS, SO NOTHING HAD MY FULL ATTENTION AND EFFORT, BUT WE DO THE BEST WE CAN IN EACH RESPONSIBILITY, UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES!  IT MADE FOR A FULL AND SATSIFYING LIFE. BUT YOU ALWAYS WISH YOU'D HAD MORE TIME TO DO IT BETTER!!!====JACK:  I guess the phrase, BURN OUT, hadn't been invented back then, or you chose to ignore it.  You have always seemed to be a "go-getter."

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  What an interesting quote!  When I was young, I wanted to be a Forest Ranger.   When I went to my high school counselor  he told me I couldn't because there were no females in the Forestery Department.  He suggested I become a nurse, secretary, or teacher.  I was broken hearted.  Times have certainly changed.  I went to college, babysat ($.50 an hour) for extra money, worked at Manufacter's Bank in various jobs, and ended up working as a church secretary.  It all worked out for the best!====JACK:  OK.  It's 2015.  Magically, you're back as a high schooler.  Would you want to be a Forest Ranger?  It sounds like an interesting occupation.

FROM MOLINER J.T.:  My Dads motto from 1940's.====JACK:  The Feed Store was always know for selling "the best."