Jack’s Winning Words 2/24/16
“Sometimes memories sneak out from my eyes and roll down my cheeks.”  (Andrew Guzaldo)  Maybe it’s a quivering lip, or a shaky voice…a song, a picture, a situation.  Most of us have had the experience of not being able to hold back the tears.  Can you remember the last time you cried?  We tend to keep our guard up, to protect our inner feelings.  I’ve read that crying can be helpful, an emotional release.  So, it’s OK to let a memory sneak down your cheek.    ;-)  Jack

FROM TTPAT:  Well, a struggle, rather than a memory, slipped down my cheek at services on Sunday....====JACK:  Have you heard of a song..."Laughing on the outside; crying on the inside?" ====PAT:====PC: Yes, I have. Of recent, that's the caption for my life....but all is good. God's got this

FROM TD:  Thanks for the lovely words.====JACK:  Somehow the fingers seem to know which keys to touch.

FROM CEO:  I agree with you...crying can be a good thing, a positive release.====JACK:  I suppose you see teary people almost every day...or am I wrong?

FROM TARMART REV:  ...just yesterday helping conduct the memorial service of another one of our senior saints I've walked alongside of these past twenty-five years, as one of his pastors and the one leading our senior adults.====JACK:  Do we ever get used to the fact that death is a part of every life?====REV:  Eventually.

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  That's an eloquent description of human response when one feels the heartstrings being stroked.  Many will hold back a tear because they fear it belittles them, denying their feeling of pride or passion.  Throughout my life, in various moments of achievement, my father showed his pride in me with congratulations and tears.  I have to admit I have shared similar moments of pride with my own son.====JACK:  The Bible has many references to tears being shed, often by males...sometimes tears of joy, such as you have experienced.

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  So true. I was at the gym on the treadmill yesterday and my sister called from Wisconsin to say all her cancer was successfully removed by last years operation. A few more tests but it looks like all clear.  I think people wondered why a guy on a treadmill was leaking tears. ====JACK:  If you saw someone in the gym shedding tears, or in a parking lot, would you be so bold as to go up to them and say....?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  That's a touching picture, which defines moments I think we've all had! "Why do we close our eyes when we pray, cry, kiss or dream? Because the most beautiful things in life are not seen, but felt by the heart." (Denzel Washington, actor)  Our dear memories hold times  close to the heart!!====JACK:  It's been said that "eyes are windows to the soul."

FROM KANSAN DON:  Tears are/can be holy water.====JACK:  "Count your many blessings, name them one by one."  Could tears be one of those blessings?

FROM ST PAUL IN MESA:  I think crying can be very therapeutic for most people.  a real tension reliever!====JACK:  How to react to a crying person can sometimes be a puzzle.

FROM GUSTIE MARLYS:  The first time our Sr. Choir practiced “Abide With Me” after Clem died, I just lost it.  My shoulders shook.  I still have trouble with the 4th verse of that song! ====JACK:  Abide With Me is one of my favorites.  It takes on special meaning when we realize that it was written by Henry Francis Lyte as he lay dying of tuberculosis.  A real hymn from the heart.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  God made tears for a reason.  He knew on this earth there would be a need for them.  However, He did give us smiles and we use a lot more smiles than tears.====JACK:  Tears and smiles sometimes go together.  Do you remember Mary Richards laughing and crying at the same time at the funeral of Chuckles the Clown?

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  Smiling!  I cry in church often.  Think it’s easier for females (socially) to leak even happy tears than for males.  I get teary whenever I see someone in their “zone”, ie. When the pianist, organist or other musicians during the service (or elsewhere) rock out, it makes me ecstatic.  My father who had an out-of-body-died in the ER experience said he didn’t see the pearly gates, just light but he knew he was close because he heard the music!  He said the sounds were incredible, perfect harmony, perfect joy.  The end!====JACK:  There are certain hymns that cause me to choke up, for no apparent reason.  Why is that?====BB:  Are they hymns you perhaps remember from childhood….or from before precise memory?  A connection with the writer?
I found myself choked up frequently around 9/11 as the advent hymns of hope and reconciliation seemed such a stark contrast.  As the war began (and continued) that sentiment became worse as every time there was a reference to the salvation and hope and grace we have in Christ I felt utterly bereft of hope that there would be any earthly reconciliation at all.  Obama was the President of Hope and Change.  Unfortunately, the way our political situation is now, things once again seem rather hopeless.  Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then, we will meet our redeemer in a different way. ====JACK:  As September Song goes, "It's a long, long way from February to November."  Many things can happen between now and then.  So, don't give up hope.  It ain't over til it's over.

FROM ST PAUL IN MESA:  that was often the case the year I worked as a chaplain (my internship year) at Fairview Riverside Hospital in Mpls. in the early 1970s. the whole year was a great learning experience for me.  i also got 3 quarters of CPE at the same time.  and, yes, people can cry for lots of reasons====JACK:  A rhetorical question....  When was the last time you saw someone cry?  It makes a difference when we are in the situation, but not of the situation.