Jack’s Winning Words 9/8/16
“If you are more fortunate than others, it’s better to build a longer table than a taller fence.”  (Unknown)  Battle Creek, MI was once known as the city with the longest breakfast table.  It stretched several city blocks with room enough for all who wanted to come…and the food was free.  In today’s world we talk more about fences than about long tables with room for all.  Most of us agree that we’d like to have a better world.  WWJD?  I think I know.    ;-)  Jack

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  Whoa....Jack!!!!! Great WWD today!!!!====JACK:  These are words for those of us who would separate ourselves from the unfortunate by whatever means necessary.  The word "ex-clusive" comes to mind.  I'm reminded of another word..."in-clusive."====EP:  Yes...and the term that better describes an environment that values diversity is an environment that values inclusivity.  I actually like that better.====JACK:  Would "a fence" make us a gated community?      

FROM HY YO SILVER:  Beautifully said...you should send it to Clinton's campaign as a rebuttal to Trump's Wall.====JACK:  You're the one with the political connections.  But, in reality, "the words" have broader implications than one wall.  They applies to all of us.

FROM TARMART REV:  I'm reminded this morning of that long table Jesus told about in Luke 14:15-24 . . . food was free and the table was long as well, but many begged off attending with one excuse after another . . . the invitation then was extended to the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame, and there was still room for more . . . one more directive was given to include others, even if they had to be dragged to the table (plenty of room for “whosoever will may come)”   . . . then Jesus ended his story by saying not one of those who were invited and declined will taste my dinner. ====JACK:  The parables that Jesus told are nice stories, but they are meant to be applied to our personal situations.  "Who is my neighbor?" is a good example...and "How do I get to heaven?" is another."  Jesus comforted the afflicted, but he also afflicted the comfortable.  Ouch!====REV:  Good point. I was thinking more about "that fence" (that hedge of protection)?! If our neighbors kept sending their children over to our houses to raise, I wondering if a fence might qualify as a deterrent in our front yards...or for sure, a good lock for our front doors.

FROM MY LAWYER:  Today's Winning Words sure sound good; and, in peaceful times, the American Way.  Unfortunately, there are world components that don't agree with our civilization and seek to destroy it.  There are also porous gaps in our borders that permit those components and unlawful drugs to enter our great land unabated by a strategic plan to keep them out.  I think sometimes a tall fence is the answer.  It has certainly helped Israel.  It has reduced suicide bombings there from thousands to handfuls.  I like our Tuesday morning breakfasts and the longer the table, the better.====JACK:  Robert Frost, in his poem Mending Wall wrote: "Before I built a wall, I'd ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was likely to give offence."  God didn't build a wall; he sent a flood.  That's something for all of us to think about. ====ML:  America's a great ark. I'm glad we're surrounded by the oceans. Where's Noah???====JACK:  In the Ark Story, the ones who were saved were those faithful to the Godly way of acting.====ML:  I'm sticking with you!====JACK:  We each have our own interpretation of what is the Godly Way.  I'm not so bold as to say that my interpretation is the only one, or even the right one...but I try.

FROM THE CHALDEAN: Amen my friend.====JACK:  Some churches have an "Amen Corner" where a group of people gather whose job it is to give shouts of "Amen" during the pastor's prayers and sermon as a way of encouraging him/her.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL: does Jesus also serve corn flakes?====JACK:  I've heard of a pastor who served Ritz crackers and Coca Cola during a youth group communion believing that's what Jesus would do if he ate supper with people of that age group.====SP:  heresy!!   ( just kidding....)

FROM DAIRYLAND DONNA:  Let's start building that table Jack! Love this!!====JACK:  We are building that table whenever we advocate for poor, the homeless, the refugees...whoever is downtrodden.  And I will raise my hand to say that I'm not doing enough or speaking up enough.  The fences are constantly being advocated or being built.  Someone has to say, "Enough!"

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  What a great quote; sorry I missed this yesterday.  Didn’t know about the longest table.  We should put one together in Chicago’s Daley plaza outside of the cook county courthouse!====JACK:  A long table with nothing on it is like the empty promise of a politician trolling for votes.