Jack’s Winning Words 12/4/15
“It is a common experience that a problem, difficult at night, is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.”  (John Steinbeck)  I’ve read that the brain does not sleep when we sleep.  “It keeps on ticking,” making decisions, filing memories, connecting ideas, storing information…and processing unresolved thoughts.  Taking the time to “sleep on it” works.  At least it does for me.  “Ah, sweet mystery of life!”  The brain is but one.    ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  Does  Donald Trump's brain work at night?    If so, is it still deceitful? ====JACK:  In a remake of the Wizard of Oz, they're looking for someone to play the Scarecrow.

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  This is true this morning and most mornings for me...====JACK:  A couple of nights ago my brain woke me up at 2 am with an idea for Winning Words.  It kept on pestering me until I had to get up and enter into the computer.

FROM QUILTING CAROL:  Plus it keeps our heart and other body parts functioning…no wonder some mornings we feel tired when we wake up.====JACK:  It's amazing...how this body of ours works.

FROM THE FOOD PANTRY GUY:  This happens to me all the time when I'm working out pantry procedures and figuring what I should be doing next.====JACK:  Before there were computers, there was the brain.  God knew what he was doing when he thought up that organ.

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  Have you ever experienced this amount of civil anxiety? My measuring stick???...Trump proposes some horrific actions and his poll numbers go up. This isn't a joke anymore! This latest shooting is scaring more people than any of the previous ones.  When people get frightened to this degree, horrible things can happen.  Just some thoughts.====JACK:  What goes around comes around.  I'm sure that there was civil anxiety prior-during-after the Civil War.  In a sense, the divide still exists in a muted way.  But I know the point that you are making.  I've lived long enough to have seen anxieties come and go.  What calms me is a belief in a G-d who creates, who cares and who ultimately judges.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:    How ironic!  I had a rough night because my mind wouldn't shut off.
  When our sleep is peaceful, our day is so much better but just to awake up is a blessing!====JACK:  Do you remember the song...."When I'm worried and I can't sleep  I count my blessings instead of sheep  And I fall asleep counting my blessings."?

FROM TARMART REV:  ...sometimes in the middle of the night it awakens my senses in a dream, puts a smile on my face and is kept there as a secret for eternity, because for the life of me I cannot remember it the next day!!====JACK:  Sometimes babies smile when they're passing gas.  Maybe you're sleeping like a baby.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  also, the brain is cleansing itself of certain toxins when we sleep.  a big Time Mag. article last year postulates that lack of sleep may be one cause of dementia in later life because the brain has not been able to get rid of enough of these toxins over time.  but yes, sleep helps lots of issues and even problems.====JACK:  When it comes to getting rid of toxins, some brains have to work harder than others.  That's a reason to try to keep a clean mind.

FROM PD CHAP:  How true…made me think of the movie Inside Out…which if you haven’t seen it, is worth the time.====JACK:  Wouldn't it be interesting if we could manipulate the emotions in the mind, or would that we another instance of "playing God"?  I read of the movie, but didn't see it.

FROM THE CHALDEAN:  My kids hated when my reply to their "unique" requests is:  Let me sleep on it.====JACK:  I think that God sometimes answers our prayers in that way..."Let me sleep on it."

FROM CHESTER THE GOOD:  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz====JACK:  I've heard that there is such a thing as "brain dead."

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  I am glad that we all have brains.  By the way, did you stay awake for the end of the Lions and Packers game last night?  Probably a lot of people had trouble sleeping last night.====JACK:  My brain told me to go to bed and miss the 2nd half of that game.  I've learned to trust my brain...at least, as far as favorite football teams are concerned.

FROM WATERFORD ANNE:  I often wake up with answers.  Sometimes to issues I had not pondered.====JACK:  God has various ways to communicate with us.