Jack’s Winning Words 3/23/16
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”  (Desmond Tutu) Belgians may remember 3/22 as Americans remember 9/11.  They were dark days, sad days… that will live in infamy.  But let’s be assured that, in the end, light does overcomes darkness.  “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,” wrote Longfellow in 1864.  He also wrote: “God is not dead, nor does he sleep.”  So don’t give up hope; continue to stand for the good.    ;-)  Jack

FROM TARMART REV:  Happy Easter Weekend, Jack!! Walking in the Light.====JACK:  We can more fully appreciate Easter when we've done life's Good Friday walk.

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  I love those lyrics; thanks for sharing and reminding me today.  I was at the doula volunteer job again yesterday and now thinking about what it means to have a new little life.  These are challenging times.  I think the situation we’re in with terrorists is parallel to the “war on drugs” which failed miserably in the US and across the globe.   If  ‘bad guys” with vested interests – whether it’s the lure of an incredible amount of money associated with the drug trade or a suicide bomber’s belief they are going straight to  heaven when they detonate a bomb, there is no way to stop these people.  The US and other countries spent billions on the drug war trying to eradicate the flow drugs.  We were unable - both before and after the “increased security” of 9-11.  If anything, we now have worse/designer drugs yet the cartels are still in operation here and abroad.  As long as there are lunatics/brainwashed followers that think there is some great gain by performing violent acts, it’s virtually impossible to stop the mayhem as their perceived benefit greatly outweighs the risk of being caught.    I’m sad to think our just  and loving God grieves watching humanity do this.    Then there’s the argument that we are complicit  either due to foreign policy or by our squandering of the earth’s resources in the tens of thousands that die daily of starvation.  Guess I am in a grey spot this gray day!  Tutu’s words, which you quoted, brought a bright spot.  Thanks====JACK:  Longfellow's words were written during the gray days of the Civil Way which were much grayer even compared with today.  On top of that, his wife had just died in an accidental fire, and he had just been notified that his son had been severely wounded in the war.  And it was Christmastime.  Picture that!  He wrote:  "There is no peace on earth."  In your response, you express the same feeling.  But I like how he responds to the negativity..."God is not dead, nor does he sleep...The wrong shall fail, the right prevail."  If Longfellow can look at life that way, so can I...and you.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We cling to the hope and know of God's love.====JACK:  "My hope is built on nothing less."

FROM MIPAT:  Si vis pacem, para bellum........====JACK:  I didn't know that you were a Latin scholar.  Let's see, pacem is peace and bellum is war.  You've been reading War and Peace? ====MP:  There is argument on how the phrase is made or interpreted, but many say it translates to "if you want peace, then prepare for war" or sometimes just "pray for peace, but prepare for war".  In my earlier life I was a voracious reader, but I'm not sure I have ever read War & Peace.  I hope you and you family have a happy and peaceful Easter.  (Don't worry about war)

FROM CHESTER THE GOOD:  And isn't it encouraging that it stays light an hour longer now! ====JACK:  It's strange...I've noticed that it stays dark an hour longer in the morning.

FROM DP IN MPLS:  Those words today are so encouraging...thank you ! ! !====JACK:  "Home, home on the range...where never is heard a discouraging word."  I like that song.  We used to sing it when we went on hayride.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  "FOR NOW WE SEE IN A MIRROR DIMLY, BUT THEN WE SHALL SEE FACE TO FACE. NOW I KNOW ONLY IN PART;THEN I WILL KNOW FULLY, EVEN AS I AM FULLY KNOWN. 1COR.13:12  GOD AND THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US ARE AWARE OF THE BIG PICTURE. WE HAVE TO HOPE CONFIDENTLY THAT BRIGHT DAYS WILL RETURN TO OUR WORLD. WE REALLY CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HOPE!!====JACK:  There are many bright spots in the world.  It's just that what we are shown is the dark side.  A TV V-Pres spoke to our Optimist Club recently and said "good news doesn't "sell."  They show what the viewer wants.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  i saw in the local media that moline/qcs is the home of the second largest belgian population in the country.  you are swedish? i am mostly german.====JACK:  I remember that there were many Belgians in Moline.  They tended to congregate in an area called Belgian Village.  I'm half German and half Swedish.  There were many Swedes in Moline, too.