Jack’s Winning Words 12/29/15
“We all have two lives.  The second one starts when we realize we only have one.”  (Tom Hiddleston)  Let’s pretend…that you have to leave the house every day, all day; where would you go; what would you do?  (No, not to Starbucks!)  I recall a time when I thought I knew what I wanted…a safe well-worn trail.  A wise professor encouraged a “new” road.  Looking back…It made all the difference.  What new road would you take, if you weren’t afraid?    ;-)  Jack

FROM TARMART REV:  ...been there and done that, leaving WB feeling reality had set in and now was the time to pursue and invest in any noticeable ministerial assets from the previous twenty years of fulfilling my dreams for pastoral ministry. This has proven the best and most rewarding results to the present . . . a brand new year is awaiting though?!====JACK:  From day to day and year to year, we move on to the next adventure.  Hopefully, we can leave behind a work, well done.  There's a saying..."One life, 'twill soon be past.  Only what's done for Christ will last."

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Those are perceptive words.  I think I may have first realized their truth when I read Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful".  That's when I learned that love of life is more important than love of materialism.  At this point in life, the road I would like to take would not be "new"...it's one that goes back to my rural roots, to live and work on my own small farm.  But would I survive?  (Does it matter?)====JACK:  Speaking of size (Small Is Beautiful), I read this week that 99% of earth's living space is in the sea...and only 10% has been explored by humans.  Over 90% of the earth's creatures reside in the sea.  ...and speaking of "small farms," they are becoming fewer and fewer as mega-farms with driver-less farm machinery being run by GPS are taking over the land.  I remember the Victory Gardens of WW 2 when people would use their home property to grow food, instead of growing grass.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  When I was in high school, I had the mandatory talk with my counselor about further education.  When he asked what I wanted to go into, I said "Forestry".  He said there were no females as yet in that field.  When I think back, I could have started a movement to have females included into the forestry department.====JACK:  I remember when women were first ordained in the Lutheran Church in America in 1970.  Now, even the Presiding Bishop is female.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  I like the quote:  the two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out WHY you were born...====JACK:  They seem similar, but not the same.  Do we ever figure out (really) the why?====ST PAUL:  no, we don't  when Kushner finished his book Why Bad Things Happen to Good People,  he quickly changed the title to When Bad Things...   because he said he was no closer to an answer even after writing the book.   he says its the wrong question to ask.  the right question to ask is this:  how can I survive this tragic event and somehow return my life to some degree of normalcy??   wise words from the Rabbi...====JACK:  I had an example of the "Why/When" yesterday and prayed long distance with a mother whose adult child suddenly died...this added to other family burdens.