Jack’s Winning Words 5/15/20
“If you have a hard time forgetting the past, remember you can’t drive a car forward by looking into the rearview mirror.”  (Sent by Bill Bertakis)  Because of a curve, I use the rear view to back out of my driveway.  If I were to use that mirror when driving forward-oops!.  The past is like a mirror.  Some people have trouble taking their eyes off the past.  This world needs people who know the purpose of the rearview mirror and are forward-looking.  ;-)  Jack 

FROM LBP:  Ooh. I like that last line. It’s not that we disregard the past but we are forward looking. A few years ago I was director of Sunday school at my church. Many people came asking for a children’s choir. Then I would be regaled with memories of the many kids of all ages and the Sunday afternoon picnics and field trips they’d take. It didn’t work to say that this didn’t fit the current situation. So finally I asked, what was most important to you most about the choir? We cannot recreate the choir of our childhood, but we can aim to find an activity that meets it in spirit. It’s a good philosophy now. We cannot do activities in the ways we used to. So how can we recreate the spirit of them? ===JACK:  Thanks for your observation.  Many churches are experiencing the downward trend of Sunday School, and it's often perceived as a negative.  You have helped me to see it as a sign of the times, and new strategies need to be developed as a way of passing on the faith.  Just as someone in the past came up with the idea of Sunday school, someone needs to come up with a new "way."  That someone can be a someone like you...or me...or ????

FROM WILLMAR REV:  A friend of mine for many years enjoyed driving his various private coaches, one being formerly owned by Conway Twitty and he called it the "Twitty Bird". One of his favorite sayings was, "What I enjoy most when driving the coach was to look into my rearview mirror and find the sign saying, 'Welcome to Willmar!'" 0;-===JACK:  What do you mean, coaches?  Funeral hearses?  Buses?  Limos?  I know of a college student who had a hearse as his drive-around car.  It certainly got the attention.===REV:  "bus"  would be better understood . . . I have always thought when one took a bus and redesigned it into sleeping, eating and traveling transport, it was called a "coach"-- but that is just me. 0;-))  

FROM SM IN MN:  Working on it!===JACK:  Forgetting (or learning from) the past is something we all have to work on.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  At 90 you have a LOT of past! But you're right, you gotta keep going forward with the times. My "great-grands"  help me do that! My son also has a curve in his driveway

that necessitates the help of a rear-view mirror. There are times when looking back into the past helps you with making decisions for the present, however! Many lessons learned! :-)===JACK:  Each item, including the mirror, has its purpose.  Don't use the oven to keep ice cream cold.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  thanks, i needed that today!===JACK:  The past is past.  What we all need is the ability to separate the good from bad when looking back.  Today, why not concentrate on making a list of some of the good memories that you have?  I remember the fun day we met in Moline for the 1st time, and you brought some cake for me and my daughter===LIZ:  i was so glad to meet you in person finally. i’m touched that you keep that in your happy memory file also!  ==JACK:  Life has "precious memories" when you take the time to look for them.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  Along the same lines, someone said that's why the windshield is so big and the rear view mirror so small....spend 95% of your time looking ahead and 5% looking back (to perhaps learn from the past).===JACK:  ...and the brake pedal is larger than the gas pedal.