Jack’s Winning Words 2/16/16
“A bad attitude is like a flat tire—you don’t go anywhere until you change it.”  (Unknown)  It’s been a long time since I’ve changed a flat.  I don’t even know if my car has a spare.  But, I do know that a flat tire needs to be changed.  And I do know that there are times when my mind has to be changed if I’m going to function in this world.  Sometimes we need to remind others (and ourselves) that things have to change if we’re going to move ahead.    ;-)  Jack

FROM TARMART REV:  AAA has been experienced to have lightened the load and responsibility of road ware for our automobiles and well worth the small yearly investment.  Often our treasured spiritual truths are entered into and experienced in the same way-- the spiritual flat tires or cars not wanting to start any longer and finding the best solution to our dilemma...God's "AAA" Word on the matter has proved well worth the investment over the years...an attitude needing changed, notwithstanding.====JACK:  I remember reading something like this..."Let God be your steering wheel, not your spare tire."

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I really believe that we either have evolution. Or revolution.    The obstinate Republicans are pushing us toward the latter.====JACK:  I found it interesting to read that Scalia and Ginsburg were good friends "off the bench."  They could live with their differences.  It used to be that way with much of Congress.  Now, the country's riding along on a flat tire, and nobody wants to step out and do something about it.  Bump, bump. bump, bumpity, bump.

FROM PRJM:  Amen to that, brother!  My latest motto for self and congregations is "Old ways can't open new doors".====JACK:  Sometimes pastors can be as obstinate as congregations...and you know what happens when the unstoppable force meet an immovable object.

FROM ANON:  Good timing on that quote!====JACK:  Sometimes the Spirit of God moves in mysterious ways.

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  As ever, wise words.  I am so distressed over all of the political friction over Scalia’s replacement.  I went to see the premiere of the opera, Ginsberg v. Scalia, last summer.  It was wonderful and based on the fact that while the two justices view legal and constitutional issues very differently, they’ve always had a warm personal relationship and respect for one another.  Those qualities are so lacking just now and they were a beacon of hope.====JACK:  I haven't given up on "the workings of the Spirit."  I like the words of Job: "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him."  There'a an old Gospel song, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way."

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  As old Socrates said, "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."  There is a difference! I like this saying today; we've had to change a lot of judgmental attitudes over a long lifetime! C'est le vie!====JACK:  Some would blame falling church membership numbers on changes that the Church has made.  I'd hate to think what they might be without the changes.  BTW, numbers aren't necessarily a sign of strength. ====OAKS:  The church has not changed fast enough in recent decades..years ago they were in the forefront of  Women's Suffrage, and Civil Rights, etc. Now most denominations are pretty "safe" in what they try to do, and we've lost your young middle-aged people and most college age youth.  Part of it of course, is both parents working, needing weekends to unwind and "catch up", and the preponderance of so  many organized sports from Kindergarten on up, etc but many do not find the church relevant to their lives. I don 't know how they get through traumas and stress without faith! I couldn't.

FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  For me, attitudes permeate the atmosphere plus or minus. It appears that Scalia and Ginsburg agreed to disagree about issues without being vindicate. I've just finished a first novel by Blackman, a Swede. Most of the characters are Swedish. And, though I realize that fiction is not on everybody's bedside table, this book, for me, is a warm evolution of a "connection", with today's WW. The book is A Man Called Ove.====JACK:  I think of the marriage of Mary Matalin and James Carville...talk about opposites attracting.