Jack’s Winning Words 1/7/16
“To err on the side of kindness is seldom an error.”  (Liz Armbruster)  Life isn’t always easy, especially when we know what’s the right thing to do, and we don’t feel like doing it.  Someone cuts us off…or, snaps at us.  What did Jesus mean: “Turn the other cheek?”  Or, “Pray for those who take advantage of you?”  At times it seems easier to force a camel through the eye of a needle.   Liz says that we can never go wrong when we do the kind thing.    ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  "Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees"====JACK:  God is a God of grace (yeah!), but he's also a God of judgment (whoa!).  "When did you see me in need and offered (or, did not offer) kindness?"====JOHN:  I think that "kindness" is sometimes used to translate "chesed"..... Which is also translated by "mercy".     That is a very complex word in the OT.    God's mercy is sometimes seen as justice rolling down like waters.    We are in dire need of that mercy as we face the Grim Reaper and stand before the judgment seat.    I think in part that means right now standing up for what is right. ...as best as we can understand that.    I can't condemn Luther for standing up to the users in the church.====JACK:  Since you are a Shakespearean "expert," you know the lines in the Merchant of Venice..."The quality of mercy is not strained."  Mercy should be freely given and not constrained, or forced.  Grace is a quality of God that we should seek to emulate.

FROM TARMART REV:  ...especially when later I find out it was me who didn't have all the correct understanding in a certain situation and in being happy I hadn't revealed my ignorance by being unkind with my actions. 0;-/====JACK:  As the song goes....
"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.
Silently now I wait for Thee,  Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me,      Spirit Divine!"

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Most people are kind, don't you think?====JACK:  I don't know about most people, but most of the people I hang out with are kind.  I wish that most politicians who are running for office would be kinder...but I guess that doesn't add up to votes.

FROM WATERFORD ANNE:  Agree.====JACK:  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

FROM MY LAWYER:  Every good thought and prayer has its time and place.  Would Liz have turned her cheek on Hitler during WWII who was trying, in a maniacal way to overrun Europe and the world; nor can we pray for ISIS who is driving Christianity from the Middle East and, like Hitler, is trying to impose its fanaticism on the world.  Times dictate appropriate responses.  At least that's my view.====JACK:  It's one thing to ask the question (turn the other cheek) in the abstract.  Reality is something else.  A German Lutheran, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, helped plan an assassination of Hitler.  Bonhoeffer was eventually placed in prison and was hanged just days before the Allied liberation.  When Jesus was crucified, he prayed, "Father (God) forgive them (the ones causing his death), for they know not what they are doing."  In the abstract, I don't think that I could do that.====ML:  We are on the same page!!!  No wonder I love you!!!====JACK:  Someone said that the job of a pastor is comfort the afflicted to afflict the comfortable.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  i think i have shared our school rules with you before, but it's always good to hear them again.  be kind to everyone.  be kind to everything.  be kind to your self.  and our motto is..."we are caring, sharing, loving, peaceful people".  to hear these words come from the mouths of babes is precious and gives me hope for a kinder and gentler future.  speaking of kindness...i received a lovely little book from an earth angel.  it is a wonderful life.  thank you!
====JACK:  You are one who tries to practice what she preaches.  One of the ways is to distribute car magnets which read, "Kindness Matters."   Only the future will tell how your teaching of the children will affect the world.

FROM JAN IN SUNNY PALM DESERT:  Good Morning and Happy New Year!!!.  God has blessed me today by getting your message.====JACK:  Sorry to hear that your computer's been down.  But evidently things are working now.  Happy New Year...in more ways than one.

FROM DC IN KANSAS:  We need your word.  I wonder about immigrants, terrorists, Muslims etc.  Should I add Politicians, Republicans, Democrats?  Maybe this is the most important word to hear today -- love, forgive.====JACK:  Even though our Michigan governor has pulled back the Welcome Mat for Muslims, today's newspaper has a story and a picture of some Muslims helping out in a Detroit church's Food Kitchen...feeding the hungry and the homeless.

FROM CHESTER THE GOOD:  whoever heard of erring on the side of kindness? Kindness is a deliberate act.  Rather obtuse.====JACK:  All I know (obtuse or not) is that you'll seldom go wrong by being kind, even if the person you're being kind to doesn't deserve it.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It's never ever wrong to try kindness but there are reasons not to.  Sometimes it's dangerous:  stopping to help has dire circumstances sometimes and sometimes it's dangerous for the majority.  I would never want to be the one who makes either choice. ====JACK:  I guess it really was dangerous for the Samaritan to stop and help the man who had been beaten and robbed.  Why do you suppose he did such a thing?====JUDY:  He was full of kindness and compassion.  Just because something is dangerous doesn't mean people won't step in to help.  My son-in-law does it all the time as a firefighter.====MORE JUDY:  I thought you'd like this Pin on Pinterest..."Do not pass by a man in need, for you may be the hand of God to him."  (Proverbs 3:27)====JACK:  Perfect!  It fits with my reference to the Good Samaritan.