Jack’s Winning Words 10/13/15
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”  (Vincent van Gogh)  I browsed Vincent’s work and saw a Starry Night, Sunflowers, Thistles, a Bible and Two Rats.  I remember going to a van Gogh exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts and seeing an original of him in a straw hat.  In fact, I have a copy on my wall.  Just for fun, look for “beauty” in the ordinary things that surround you.  Is there something of interest that you would paint today?    ;-)  Jack

 FROM MK IN WL:  I'd paint my son, Garrett, playing his clarinet for his dog.====JACK: Great subject!  Be sure to show the dog's reaction!

FROM EDUCATOR PAUL:  It is so interesting to me that beauty is such a subjective cultural phenomena....as well as so egocentric.  We are a complicated species!====JACK:  I think that it's telling...that when there's a crunch for school dollars, the first program to be cut seems to be the arts.  I'm impressed that Jewish people, on the whole, have a real appreciation for the arts. 

 FROM TARMART REV:  I'm one to admire the beauty of another's!!====JACK:  What is beauty?  "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  and yet he was so tortured himself.  like many artists I suppose... ====JACK:  I remember the words of Isaiah (6:5), "Woe is me, for I am ruined.  I am a man of unclean lips living among people of unclean lips."  Do you ever feel like saying, "Woe is me?" ====ST PAUL:  not too often but then I think I got an extra measure of Serotonin somewhere along the way.  but I am very sympathetic (I  hope) to people who often claim the feeling/emotion.  and yes,  there have been a few times when that sentiment has been kind of cathartic for me.

FROM CH ON CAPE COD:  The expression on my daughter’s face when something finally “clicked” as I was helping her study for a math test before school this morning!====JACK:  It's called "an A-HA moment."  It's one of the great rewards a teacher gets from a pupil.

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Vincent's painting Wheat Field with Crows has been a favorite of mine since the first time I saw it.  That image was real for me, a common sight during the grain harvest when I was growing up in rural Missouri.  It keeps me in touch with my roots.  There is something here to paint today...from our window we see a row of maples up the street, ablaze in autumn red.  Simply stunning!====JACK:  It's beauty is in its simplicity.

FROM TARMART REV:  I'm certainly found beholding often!!====JACK:  I like the piece from Handel's Messiah...Behold, I tell you a mystery."  The beauty of God is in the mystery of God.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  As John Keats so poetically expressed, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever".  And it truly is! Beauty abounds in nature, especially for me, scenes of Lakes and the Ocean, or beautiful flowers; in the faces of our loved ones, and the amazing variety of animal life in the world!  So blessed!  Each sees beauty in his/her own way!  A member of our church sees interesting beauty in snakes and reptiles!====JACK:  Beauty Pageants seem to be going out of vogue.  Did you or your twin ever pretend that you were "Miss America?"====OAKS:  Oh yes, we've sung that song, and funny, I was just humming that song yesterday, as I fixed Sunday lunch. Have no idea why that popped into my head. Maybe I have YOU to blame! :-)  Don't know who to blame for the CUBS silent bats!!

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  This made me laugh this morning.  There is a fat old toad who comes out every night to feast on the juicy bugs of our porch lights.  It has been cold the last little while, and the toad comes out when it's not too cold.  The bugs are less and less too.  So, every night I go out and catch what bugs and spiders that are out and feed them to this toad.  He's going to go into his hibernation soon and I want to make sure he comes back next spring.  I know....weird....but I'm also one who would (and I have) stop to let geese, ducks, turkeys, and even have moved a turtle out of the road.  I also think God made this world so beautiful it's incredible!====JACK:  If Cinderella were a frog, she would have kissed a prince to turn him into a frog.

FROM HAROLD AND LOIS:  We love van Gogh, too, and have two of his paintings on our bedroom walls.====JACK:  In our bedroom we have a copy of the saying: "Cast all your cares upon him, because he cares about you."  Those words were boldly painted on the front wall of the church (Covenant) her father grew up in.

FROM FM IN WISCONSIN:  Yes, a beautiful Lake Michigan – so peaceful, so quiet and so blue.====JACK:  Outside of our kitchen window is a bird feeder with six openings.  Often they are all filled, with many other circling around waiting for their turn.