Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Jack’s Winning Words  4/14/20
“The secret to a 79-year marriage is sharing a Hershey’s bar every day.”  (Curtis & Virginia Peters)   I don’t know how long (or if, or how often) you’ve been married, but do you have any secret to share?  Don’t stress the small stuff…Unhappy?  Talk about it.  Communication is key…Don’t let the romance die…Go out of your way to do something nice…Listen!!!...to what’s being said and …not being said.  Sharing a Hershey’s bar (or Kisses) is a good idea, too.    ;-)  Jack


FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  Nita and I always speak highly of each other, whether in business or casual conversations, no matter who we are talking to.  Of course, the small kindnesses mentioned, are essential, though few things build and sustain a relationship like knowing you will always be well represented wherever the other travels. ..and, Used too for to.  Also not a great sentence structure but seems to work ending my proposition with a preposition. Thank you===JACK:

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We’ve been married 42 years. We find it’s the little daily little annoyances which have to be talked about.  Left to fester, they would grow into hurt feelings and built up anger.  So talk about everything, especially the little things.

FROM GUSTIE:  Oh the Hershey Bar!  Ha!

FROM BB IN CHGO:  I am so happy that you ad Joan are blessed to have each other, especially during this time that is challenging and lonely for many.  I snuck my mom over on Easter.  We wore masks in the car.  She sat 8 feet away from everyone but she was at least present.  We put church on the tiny computer screen and blasted it from the speakers so she could hear the service.  At 96, she lost her job dueto the virus shutdown so is now really on her own.  I think she’s handling it very well as it reminds her of sacrifices made during the depression when she was little and with food vouchers during WWII.   That said, she does go to the store on occasion….at least a nurse neighbor brought her some masks to wear, even an N95.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Enjoyed your WW this morning also.  Jerry and I have been married close to 51 years and I believe our secret is and has always been a strong understanding that God brought us together.  We met in high school when my family moved to the same small Iowa rural community Jerry's family lived in and we all attended the same small Church of Christ congregation.  Despite all the ups and downs over the years and the sort of constant moving around following his job prospects, neither of us ever got over that initial understanding of our marriage bond.  But this experience is why I believe that Reformation theology might do well to rethink whether marriage is or is not a sacrament.  When we lived on Long Island and attended Trinity Lutheran in Rocky Point, one of the Pastors was a single man.  Just within the past few years, after he retired from ministry, he has "come out" and now is legally married to Fred.  Having heard so many of his sermons and having participated in his Bible studies and also been in the committee meetings which had to do with social service and outreach, the hot meal program at the church, etc., and supposing that as he continued Pastoring in other congregations, marrying and burying members and so forth and so on, he--and others having a call to serve God--have had to do a lot of serious thinking about marriage and the marriage bond and the integrity of marital love in the eyes of God.  All of these folks discerning living out an authentic call on their lives, as Jerry and I have also been trying to do, really and truly there is something going on that I believe has to inform the theological understandings of sacramental living within the church and even the whole Church as the history of the Church moves on in historical time.  This is my opinion anyway and makes sense to me, rather than succumbing so much to secularization and the weakening of faithfulness to God's laws and prescriptions for us and our well-being of living in this world.  Well, have thunk some and wish you and your wife a very, very pleasant week and pray and hope that neither of you are touched by the coronavirus. 

FROM THE FISH IN NOVA SCOTIA:  We were asked this at the time of our 50th anniversary. My reply (which Hannelore heard and apparently found reasonable) is that there are times when each partner will feel they have to reach out more than halfway to touch. The payoff for this is a long and growing relationship. 

FROM ST PAUL:  from Ogden Nash, poet and playwright:  When you're wrong, admit it.  And when you're right, forget it!   hard to do sometimes but very wise words indeed.

FROM LBP:  20 years! "Communication is key" but I think that good communication for us depends on a lot of things, like respect, trust, openness, being present to listen, giving feedback, taking feedback, being willing to say "I was wrong," saying and showing "I love you," patience .... Sharing something sweet daily, chocolate or otherwise, might not be a bad practice to take up though.





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