Jack’s Winning Words  3/30/20
“Communities prosper and flourish in just the degree that they practice or neglect to practice the primary duties of justice and humanity.”  (William Seward)  It was called a Folly, when Seward (as Sec’y of State) arranged to buy Alaska from Russia at 2 cents an acre.  He was a smart man.  Look at his quote.  That’s the kind of politician that many of are looking for.  Seward was one of Lincoln’s closest advisers during the Civil War.  What a team!  ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  We stayed once at the William Seward Inn in NY....his home at one time.   Read a couple of great biographies of him.    He was a real fighter for Justice.===JACK:  It's unfortunate that "folly" is attached to his name, because most people don't bother to read "the rest of the story."

FROM DR J:  Amen! All sorts of silver linings in this too… I’m really enjoying my time at home with family. Kiki has been really good at discussing all of this… and she told me to tell you she’s studying christianity and other world religions online in her humanities class right now… she loves the story of Moses best.===JACK:  I like Moses, too...but I like the Jesus story best...where God chose to appear in human form to help us understands what it is to be human and to show us how humans are to act.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  He sounds like an interesting person to read about, which I have not done. Doris Kearns Goodwin covered some of his Lincoln interactions, in her book "A Team Of Rivals". There  is always something new to explore, and your WW words  have often been the catalyst for that!===JACK:  Interesting, isn't it...that rivals can also be a team?  I like the song..."People."

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  2 cents turned out to be a great deal. Andrew Mellon (later sec of Treasury) purchased  100's of acres of Pittsburgh with wheat. If the 1800's people trusted wheat more than money (it was far more fungible).  If we have a financial collapse, what will be more valuable? Paper assets with little to no backing, real estate, gold?  Ever notice a normal house rents for about what a normal person makes in one week?  It's hard to rent gold.===JACK:  Nobody seems to be talking about lowering the debt these day.  I thought that that was part of the GOP platform. ===JON:  I'm disappointed too. Like my song said, "The Right has no courage, the left has no shame."

FROM DAZ:   I There’s a good book which deals with Lincoln and his cabinet called Team of Rivals. Great story.===JACK:  Did teamwork decide the war?===DAZ   guess I’d have to say that after some adjustments in the cabinet many of them performed great service in their areas so they were a team but decide the war, maybe partly.

Jack’s Winning Words  3/27/20
“I don’t want to make money.  I want to make a difference.”  (Lady Gaga)  Gaga may not have wanted to make money, but she’s worth over $300 million, and she gets $1 million per concert.  …and, as for making a difference…Lady Gaga supports 77 charities and 38 causes.    Wow!  There’s nobody just like her.  So, what’s that got to do with you and me?  Forget the money.  Today, think of ways you’ve made a difference in someone, in some place!   ;-)  Jack 

Jack’s Winning Words  3/26/20
“Baseball is a very simple game.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.  Think about that for a while.”  (From the movie, Bull Durham)  Opening Day of the baseball season is such a happy time.  so much enthusiasm.  “Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack!”  Then, reality sets in…you win some, you lose some…and sometimes there are postponments. Life can be like that.  It’s part of the game.  But, oh, the winning…nothing like it!   ;-)  Jack

FROM ST PAUL:    i would like baseball a lot better if it were 7 innings.===JACK:  ...and I'd like it better without replays.  Umpires make errors, too.

FROM BB IN CHGO:  I love the quote and loved the movie.  Thanks for sharing with us today.  We are still counting the days…until opening day.  Whether or not we’re able to enjoy games in the stands.===JACK:  I liked it better when we went to Wrigley Field instead of Cubs' Park.

FROM OUHOUSE JUDY:  I miss baseball.  But, the season’s too long anyway!  There’s still time! ===JACK:  I like baseball on TV when you can see the plays and players up close.  In person, I have to look at the scoreboard TV to see what happened. ===OJ:  My favorite sport to watch is our Red Wing hockey.  But I’d rather watch sports on tv.  I’ve been to the new Tiger and Lion arenas but not the ice arena.  I like to see the players up close too...and re-plays!===JACK:  Covid 19 has taught us that we CCAN get along without certain things.

Jack’s Winning Words  3/25/20
“Pretending (or acting) is a very valuable life skill, and we do it all the time.”  (Meryl Streep)  Acting star, Streep, was a “gawky kid with glasses and frizzy hair.”  Pull out your yearbook and look at your high school picture.  Meryl’s mother was her mentor…“You can do anything you put your mind to…You can do anything!”  …and she did, becoming one of the greatest actresses of our time.  Is she the real Meryl, or is she pretending?  Who’s the real you?  ;-)  Jack 

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I think a crisis like this helps us understand who we really are.   I enjoy people and love the internet connection like we have with you.   I miss church a great deal.   I love the service and being with the people of a God.     I still have my devotions at home but I miss the communion of saints.    I love my books and have done a lot of reading.    I have spent a good deal of time in my workshop....have been building a Shaker Colonial Chest....with my own variations...hard for me to follow blueprints!     I love change...within a framework of stability.    We have taken one hour walks every day....need the outdoors.   I have followed the economic crisis with interest.   The activist in me wants to do something.....the realist says to me that my day is past.     ......good question.===JACK:  A "pretend" worship service will not replace the real thing....but it's better than nothing at all..

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Now a days, I’m not sure.  But I am mom, Monnie, Grandma, hand was her, gardener, reader, scrapper. Quilter, wife and a firm Believer in God!

FROM SA IN WA:  It would be nice to pull out my yearbook, but my sister threw out the box with mine and Cheryl's yearbooks after we inadvertently left it behind at the house, and before we could get back to retrieve it. So, no I won't be looking at my yearbook photo, but I can find one in an old photo album (that the internet has no knowledge of thank goodness!) that fits today's WW. ===JACK:  I still have my old yearbooks...Great memories of some great friends.

FROM GUSTIE:  I still look the same.  Even my hair.  Right now I feel devastated.  I just found out that our church is cancelled and closed till May 8.  How do we celebrate Easter alone???  ===JACK:  Easter alone?  Remember,, the first Easter was celebrated by Mary, alone with Jesus in the garden.  Remember, Easter is a personal experience.===G:  Thanks Jack.  I am a people person so I really miss the camaraderie.  Our choir director is going to figure out how we can sing together on line.  That will be a real uplifting experience in this tough time.    ===JACK:  "Where there's a will, there's a way" is a saying that fits a variety of circumstances.

Jack’s Winning Words  3/24/20
“Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love if only you knew their story.”  (Mr.  Rogers)  I’d like to substitute the word, understand, for, love.  Only God “so loved the world.”  Let’s remember that Mr. Rogers was talking to little children, trying to get them to live in a friendlier neighborhood.  Maybe we should reread his words with that in mind.  Look around your  neighborhood, Do you see people that you should get to know better?  ;-)  Jack

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Yes; Those we don't really know are not understood, and therefore often not liked.  Negative personalities tend to repel, no matter what made them that way: But knowing

their life circumstances can often bring empathy.===JACK:  One of the inspiring things about being a pastor (and part of a pastor;s family) is to "know" more about people...and to know how to keep your lips sealed.

FROM EUNICE SINGS:  Right now I am referencing your Winning Words of 3/16/20. I have shared it with several people as I think it is so true!  These are such scary times and we are both very much at risk as I am an oldster and he has many chronic underlying issues. We had just been talking about the many people that are working from home and maybe finding that is the way they would like to continue. More family time, etc. It should all be interesting! ===JACK:  Amazing....that our minds can go back and remember people who have made a difference in our lives.  Thanks for being in that Memory Bank.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  We have been in the same neighborhood in Tampa for 50 years and have the same neighbors on each side! Right now it is changing because because of deaths! But we all know and help each other when needed! In Moline our neighborhood changed when the state took the houses for the Bettendorf church! That is when mother and dad moved to Tampa In 1970 and that was a blessing in disguise!===JACK:  Frankly, all of life is "a blessing in disguise" if we were to know the whole story from God's point of view.

FROM SF IN FL:  I love this quote and use it often. Thanks for the reminder.===JACK:  Do you ever tie a string around your finger as a reminder?  I can't think of ever doing that. 

Jack’s Winning Words  3/23/20
“I think of my life as vintage wine…It poured sweet and clear.  It was a very good year.”  (Frank Sinatra song)  As you think back on the recent past, has it been a very good year?  I guess it depends.  Pandemic virus, tanking stock mkt, continuing Afghan War.  On the plus side: Lots of people helping people, youth-led climate change rallies, steps made toward cure for autism.  It’s strange how a song can get us thinking.  This past year?  Vintage wine or sour grapes?  ;-)   Jack

FROM ST RITA IN TN:  Good morning, Pastor Freed!  Just a note this morning from us in Tennessee to let you know how much we appreciate reading your WW each morning - Thank you. In these times, it is calming to know that there will be words that are encouraging and supportive to look forward to each day.  You continue to shepherd a diverse flock.===JACK:  It seems that Winning Words occupy much of my mind...so much to say.  But I do have time to recall past experiences that have influenced me...such as your daily stops at the chapel before you began your nursing duties.

Jack’s Winning Words  3/20/20
“If we had no winter, spring would not be so pleasant.  If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”  (Anne Bradstreet)  Last January was one of the warmest on record; so the past winter wasn’t so bad.  Some lives are like that…with ups and downs.  There have been “downs” way below zero for some folks.  But have faith.  God has not forgotten you.  “The Lord has promised good to me” are the words of a favorite poem of mine.   ;-)  Jack

FROM HONEST JOHN:  That is why Kant argues that there must be justice...ultimately.....or we have been cruelly tricked.    Justice demands that the crooks pay and the deceived get recompense.   The Cross goes beyond Justice when the statement of forgiveness is made to the man on the other cross.   Which means that God chooses to act as God and not bend to our rules.    Who can know the mind of God?===JACK:  Finally!  You've jogged my mind to help me recall which philosopher helped me develop my belief system.  I believe as you have described Kant. 

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Kind of like, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh... but blessed be the Name of the Lord! — I like this one even better- “It’s Friday… But Sunday’s Comin’! 0;-) ===JACK:  I have this Winning Word scheduled..."It's Good Friday, but Easter Sunday's coming!"

FROM KIMLM:  Thanks for the continued words of encouragement. These are very interesting times in our world.===JACK:  "Interesting" is putting it mildly.  But, God still lives!

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  We count our blessings! Which r many!===JACK:  I learned this hymn in Sunday School..."Be not dismayed whate'er betide, God will take care of you."

FROM TRIHARDER:  Not sure about that one.===JACK:  In the Optimist Club we say these words each week:  "Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind etc."  It's sometimes easier said than done.

FROM SB AT AG:  Happy Spring, Pastor Freed. Thank you for your “Winning Words.”  Amazing Grace has started a “TELECARE ministry” with volunteers phoning each member each week to check in and to share faith together. Pastor Susanna Muzzin is sending e-mail worship services via text and videos. Hope you’re staying well.  God bless –===JACK:  That's what the Church has always been about...sharing the Good News in different places and in different ways, depending on the circumstances.  God always presents us with challenges...and is there to help us meet them.

Jack’s Winning Words  3/19/20
“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.”  (Dali Lama)  Ogden Nash wrote, ‘God made the fly and forgot to tell us why.”  Nash  probably used “fly”, because he couldn’t find a rhyme for mosquito.  But, just as God has a purpose for each of us, he has a purpose for that pesky “night” insect.  The mosquito provides food for wildlife and also helps pollinate flowers.  Everyone has a reason for being.  ;-)  Jack

FROM BB IN CHGO:  GREAT quote.  Thank you so much for the smiles and the insights. ===JACK:  I'm one who cannot sleep with a mosquito (or elephant) in the room.

FROM CZB:  “God made the mosquito, not so neat-o”    Ogden Nash’s home is two doors down from mine. And he used to write in a barn that was next door on the other side of our house. Neat-o!
===JACK:  I wonder if he'd be able to rhyme coronavirus?  
A mighty creature is the germ, 

Though smaller than the pachyderm. 
His customary dwelling place 
Is deep within the human race. 
His childish pride he often pleases 
By giving people strange diseases. 
Do you, my popet, feel infirm? 
You probably contain a germ. 

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  One thing I love about Winter is...no mosquitos!  But, they do feed our bats, frogs, toads and birds around our pond.  Just as long as they stay by the pond! 

FROM THE FISH IN NOVA SCOTIA:  When I used to commute to work from West Bloomfield, I sometimes
listened to the French CBC station in Windsor to keep up my French, and (finally getting to my point today) the latter sometimes played a popular ditty
called "Ne me moleste, Mosquito".===JACK:  Since you also listened to Cairo radio, what was the Arabic version?

Winning Words  3/18/20
“God loved the birds and invented trees.  Man loved the birds and invented cages.”  (Jacques Deval)  Recently I visited the zoo and watched the feeding of the rhinoceroses.  Wow!  What magnificent animals.  I know that there’s a controversy about caging animals, but if it weren’t for zoos, animals like the rhinos would become extinct.  The Detroit Zoo has freed its elephants to live in a wildlife preserve.  It was a good day when God invented animals.  ;-)  Jack 

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I saw some Hippos up close in Congo  Africa, and they are pretty intimidating but awesome! Also saw Alligators and BIG snakes. Had a meal of Boa constrictor

in the home of one of the missionaries. Was the consistency of a scallop, tasted a bit like pork. They 

wouldn't tell us what we were eating until after the meal! :-)===JACK:  I recently tried alligator meat for the first time.  Not bad...but I plan to stick to the usuals.  A parishioner once served me bear meat.  I ate it, but didn't ask for 2nds.  Venison isn't for me, either...nor is snake!

FROM WILLMAR REV:    . . . and us too that we could appreciate them!!===JACK:   Is it possible that we might have been created for the entertainment of the birds? ===REV:   Possibility . . . every time someone dies of late, I find folk texting and posting on social media, "Fly high, my good friend, fly high!!" 0;-)===JACK:  Your response has the makings of a Winning Words...."Fly high, good friend."

FROM PROUD MARY:  it was a good day when god created animals.  every day since i was a child i loved going outside in the morning and hearing the creature voices.  yesterday my beloved and i were walking with our little puggle in the forest preserve.  in spite of practicing social distancing, there were several people who stopped to ask if they could say hello to lucy.  the comments varied, but the jist was..."at least we can still have contact with the animals".  i am so thankful for kucy pugglestein and lyla kitty.  our life is fuller with the innocence and joy they bring us. ===JACK:  ...and lonely people can even "talk to the animals."  (song for the day) 

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  The wolves of Yellowstone are a good example.  As long as they stay in the boundaries of the park they are protected.  Outside the boundaries.....fair game.  Unfortunately, poachers abound.===JACK:  Is "man" an endangered species, too?

FROM ME IN NEWPORT BEACH:  Gardening has been our principal virus refuge.  Very rewarding and can be good exercise if you choose to make it so.  I remember wondering as a young boy why my mother enjoyed it so much.  ===JACK:  A lot of things that I wondered about concerning my parents when they were alive are now coming into focus.  We're walking in other moccasins. ===ME:   Hopefully wiser but certainly tender on the feet bottoms in my case.

FROM PRFM IN RACINE:
Yes there is fear.

Yes there is isolation.

Yes there is panic buying.

Yes there is sickness.

Yes there is even death.

But,

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number

through the neighbourhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are.

To how little control we really have.

To what really matters.

To Love.

So we pray and we remember that

Yes there is fear.

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes there is isolation.

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes there is panic buying.

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes there is sickness.

But there does not have to be disease of the soul

Yes there is even death.

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,

Spring is coming,

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able

to touch across the empty square,

Sing.

(from Richard Hendrick (Brother Richard) in Ireland)

===JACK: I love it when I hear the birds singing in the Springtime.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Nothing is so nice as to sit on my Family room and watch my birds.  I have a Red

Winged Blackbird Brutus as he does not share.  Our family loves the Detroit Zoo.  God planned a wonderful world for us to watch His beautiful creatures.===JACK: Besides watching the birds at the feeder, I love outwitting the squirrels.===JUDY: We don’t have a lot of squirrels.  Just one brown one.  The squirrels are in the “way back” as we call it.  We are surrounded on 3 sides by farm land.  But I do love squirrels!===JACK: Those varmints need trees for ways to escape.

Jack’s Winning Words  3/17/20
“I’m not a saint.  I’m not an angel.  I’m a human being.”  (Annie Lennox)  Annie would make a good Lutheran.  One of Luther’s key teachings is that we are simultaneously saint and sinner.  A saint is a believer in God, not a super-holy person.  We aren’t perfect human beings, but God loves us anyway.  In the Bible St Paul said of himself, “I am the chief of sinners,” but God was able to use him to preach the forgiving love of God by word and by example  ;-)  Jack

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Good morning Jack. Saint, Sinner, Loser, or Winner seems we can touch all four of those bases daily, yet we can only pitch from the Human Pitching Mound. I am not given to baseball analogies but seem to recall the from the history books the 1960 World Series was won by Detroit over the NY Yankees, even though the Yankees outscored the Tigers 55-27 in the overall series score. We can use this old analogy to remember in the series of life there are times when we are Saint, Sinner, Loser, or Winner. We probably all get more than seven games. It is more important to win the series often than a single game. If I took marriage, family, friendships, relative health, I could say I won the World Series of my life. Though I indeed did not sweep my series in four, a reasonable mix of failure and successes helps enhance humility and gratitude. I am still pitching and somehow simultaneously at-bat. And the matters of better financials, helping others, and finding fulfilling work are still “series games” being played. ===JACK:  The "team" is made up of a collection of players, each with their own story.  There's the game on the field, and there's the game of life.  If truth be told, life's game is far more interesting and poignant.  

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We all have a little angel and a little devil in us.  Hence, the need for Jesus to suffer and die for us so we may have eternal life!  Thank you Jesus!===JACK:  Do you recall Geraldine who would say: "The devil made me do it?"

FROM LBP IN MI:  In this time of rapidly changing life situations, I'm getting some wins and some whoops. It's a good message to know we are loved anyway.===JACK:  At this point in the world, the whoops seem to have the edge...but, in the end, God wins!

FROM CL:  Thanks Jack! Nice words which encourage being gentle with oneself as we recognize imperfections!  Happy St patty’s day!===JACK:  Gentle is a word that sounds like what it describes.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Would probably hear a strong, "Amen!" in that Assembly of God church next door?!?! 0;-)===JACK:  We are closer in the faith than some folks believe.