Jack’s Winning Words 7/31/20
“The baddest people are born on July 31.”  (The Urban Dictionary)  “She” was reading over my shoulder and said, “My mother was born on July 31, and she was good.”  Urban slang is not always understood by the “boomer” crowd.  Do you know what it is to be hangry?  ..or, are you familiar with frankenfood and a trunpbump?  To a large extent, today’s social unrest is caused by each side not knowing (or misunderstanding) what the other side is talking about.  ;-)  Jack

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Yes, Sir . . . I even find myself listening at times, but still walking away confused, especially with those nowadays talking behind their mask?.?. 0;-)===JACK:  I can only imagine what it must have been like at the Tower of Babel.  Our job as pastors to try and understand our people, whatever their idioms might be.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  k... if you say so.===JACK:  You're the one who supposed to keep me up to date on the latest jive.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/30/20
“Be happy, not because everything is good, but because you can see the good in everything.”  (From CCS)  Here’s a challenge for you today: Find something good to say about…pandemic…unemployment…protests…racism…a person you dislike.  OK!  Now, do you feel better?  It’s really difficult to see good in some things.  Imagine the challenge before God, tyring to see good in all people.  Thank God! that He’s a God of grace and looks for the good in us.      ;-)  Jack

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:    Perhaps one of the things that could come from the pandemic is many of us have had the opportunity to reevaluate our lifestyles, budgets, priorities, and new educational opportunities.  Some get a chance and time, at last, to think about what is essential.  Most of us will come out of this with better health awareness and habits.  Most of all, it is time to practice and attend to being concerned only with things that are actually in your circle of influence.  Turn off the TV. ===JACK:  I also see ...more caring about others.  Those who don't care seem to be in the minority.

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  It is not always easy to see the good in people or situations that arise during the day. In fact, the easy way out is to just see and react negatively to the bad that you might encounter. It is unfortunately that so many (and I include myself in this group) tend to take the easy way out. We dismiss the hateful or unhappy people that we encounter without taking the time to think about what may be making them angry, hateful or unhappy, Moreover, because it is so easy to just dismiss them and move on, we seldom even consider what we could do to help them or to change their mindset. In the case of situations, it is often easier to bypass them than to try to resolve them in a good way.===JACK: It's hard to "walk in moccasins  that are not our own...yet, that it what we are called on to do

FROM LS IN MI:  What, Who is  CCS ?===JACK:  In this case, the letters represent the initials of a person, whose identity I was to keep hidden.  Of course, in other situations, they could also indicate a publication.  I like a question such as yours.  It shows that you are curious.  I appreciate curiosity.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Just enjoy each day! Every day has something new and challenging! ===JACK:  What is there about today that brings you joy?===SHIRL:  The beautiful day and the fun of visiting with families and friends!

FROM WILLMAR REV:  I will always remember the story of two brothers who were known as reprobates in the community...no one trusted them and they we always out to scam someone out of their money or an asset. One died and the remaining brother was looking for a minister to officiate his brother’s funeral...when he couldn’t find any, he then offered $5000.00 to any reverend who would say something nice about his brother while officiating his service...the pastor of a small church in town took the brother up on his offer...at the funeral and in sharing the brother’s obituary, the minister is heard saying, “next to his brother, this brother was an angel!” 0;-))===JACK:  God often acts as a magician..."Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

FROM HUNGRY HOWIE:  The pandemic brings families closer we’ve invented Thursday’s at the museum  Unemployment’s opens new possibilities   Protests give voice to all and affect change

But i find no good in racism so,  We need to talk about this  Is there some good in everybody ? Does the evil in some people cancel whatever good that may exist ===JACK:  ...about racism?  It still exists, but I recall times when it was far worse...so, is that good?  I look forward to it becoming less in the future as it is not.  Progress is being made.  Since we are continually being influenced by the world in which we live, and since the world (in many ways) is not perfect, we will always be short of perfection.  But, as we strive for perfection, progress toward the goal is marked as a positive.  That's the good, as I see it.

FROM SALON SUZY:  I am thankful for a busy day today at work. My hubby got my favorite pumpernickel bread and a beautiful sunset on my walk tonight. Also have my first bride of the year tomorrow🎂===JACK:  It's true!  Some days are better than others.  There's a children's song:  This is the day, this this is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice, let us rejoice and be glad in it.  You can find it on Youtube.  

Jack’s Winning Words 7/29/20
“I’m a little pencil in God’s hand.”  (Mother Teresa)  By her words and her life, Mother Teresa expressed God’s love for the poor and needy.  No wonder she’s be named, “a Saint.”  I recall Paul  Gilbert’s poem:  “You are writing a Gospel, a chapter each day, By deeds that you do, By words that you say.”  His poem ends with the question: “What is the Gospel according to you?”  In these days of confusion, many are looking for living examples of God’s Gospel.  Remember that you, too, can be a little pencil God’s hand.  ;-)  Jack

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Once again, a great post.  Thanks for leading me to the poem! ===JACK:  A very pointed question at the end!  

FROM BLAZING OAKS:    Yes I remember that poem! Good reminder! I try not to be negative, which is often difficult in this era of gov't. (Or should I say NON-gov't?!) and this terrible

pandemic, but we need to find humor, do kindness and keep our loving spirit in focus for the sake of our friends and family, and those we meet along the way!  My Cardiologist's nurse remarked yesterday, "It's so nice to see you dressed so beautifully (!) AND a  constant smile on your face! You don't know how that brightened my day!" I was totally taken by surprise, and it reinforced my awareness that you never know who might need a little uplift just by a smile!!  She brightened my day by telling me that, and I  let her know that!!  Yes let's "write" positive things with our pencils!

===JACK:  When little children draw faces, you usually add a smile...and pictures like that make me smile.  ...and "when you're smilin' the whole world smiles with you."  It's contagious..

FROM RUTHIE:  Love, love the message.  Thank you dear, Jack. Your life could be a permanent marker💕===JACK:  God's permanent marker...I like it...except that sometimes I want to erase some of my words.  But, with God, our sins (thought words and deed) are not permanent.

FROM MY FRIEND FLYNN:  That was a real good one Jack, as I’m sitting on a plane waiting to take off for Juneau.  We’re going to meet our new grandson. I’ll be thinking about my gospel.===JACK:  It's a scary thing to imagine my name attached to a book in the Bible.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Mine still is found with a corrective eraser needed at times on the other end. 0;-)===JACK:  Jesus uses "white-out."  Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:   Juxtaposed against merely reading the Bible, living its themes can be more far more difficult. ===JACK:  That's why we shouldn't "believe" everything we read about people.  Edgar Guest wrote a poem, "I d rather see a sermon than hear one any day."

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  While people may evaluate you by the story of your life; it is most often the children in our lives who learn from that story. What will your children learn from the Gospel according to you?  Some books are banned, especially for children, because their content is inappropriate for young minds. Others are best sellers or required reading because he story is so good and the lessons to be learned are so powerful. Which would you rather the story of your life to be?  Many families have someone in the family tree that they just don’t talk about or talk about only in whispers, so that the children don’t overhear. These are not the role models that are held up to the children to emulate, but rather the bad examples to be avoided. Their Gospel is one of shame.  So what is the Gospel according to you? What things are you writing in your Gospel today that you want your children to learn from? Would you be proud to see that your gospel is being read or would you have to caution, “Don’t do what I did?”  The best way to write a bestseller with your life is to be like Mother Theresa and let God guide your pencil. Maybe you can add to your prayers, “God please guide my actions today so that they may make a great chapter in the Gospel of my life.”===JACK:  To be an example is mighty burden to bear.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/28/20
“The goal is to die with memories, not dreams.”  (Tiny Buddha)  TinyBuddha is Lori Deschene who explores “simple wisdom for life’s hard questions.”  Her blog is sort of like Winning Words, except that it has 200,000 followers.  I agree with Lori that there are amazing possibilities in this life that we are living.  I recall having life-dreams when I was a youngster.  Now, I’ve lived enough years so that I have a mind full of life-memories.  Do you have dreams that have turned into memories?  ;-)  Jack  

FROM BLAZING OAKS:    I had opportunities to travel the world, which I hadn't even dared to dream of doing as a young girl and woman! But my dream of becoming a teacher eventually came

true, and many wishes in our ministry were realized!  I count my blessings!!! ===JACK:  The song, "Young at Heart" seems to apply to you...."Fairy tales can come true." 

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  I’d go even further and state: “Life is only memories in the end.” It is only our memories we take to the grave and other’s memories of us (our character) that survives once we assume room temperature. Choose kindness.===JACK:  If only there were some way to store (and retrieve) all the information that is in the brain of those who die....  NAH!  It would be an invasion of the privay of thye dead.  But, it's worth thinking about. 

Jack’s Winning Words 7/27/20 “God sometimes does His work with a gentle drizzle, not storms.”  (John Newton)  The hymn Amazing Grace was written because slave-trader Newton believed that God had rescued him from a storm at sea.  Others, too, have had miraculous conversions.  But for most of us, God has come in a gentle drizzle.  Maybe it was the chance of being in a home where faith was passed on from parent to child.  It was that way for me.  Storm or drizzle, God’s work never ceases.  ;-)  Jack FROM AFIE:  i loathe that song... and now we get to cancel it bc a racist wrote it. good news! ===JACK:  I sense a misunderstanding.  We need to talk. FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  ok... i seriously do loathe that song, too.===JACK:  The lyrics, the melody, or both?  I can say "ok" to that, but the story of John Newton is something to become familiar with.  I particularly like the line..."that saved a wretch like me,"  Wretchedness seems to be an onamatopoeia word. t FROM NORM'S BLOG:    We sometimes only think of God, or call on Him, when life gets stormy. Hopefully, for most of us life isn’t all that rough and God comes into our lives in the more gentle settings of loving and faithful homes or in our Sunday School classes and church services. But, for some, life may seem to be a constant battle with storms all around buffeting and tossing them. Perhaps it is the demands of their jobs or the obligations that they have at home. Maybe it something like the Corona Virus Pandemic upending everything else that they had to hold onto in life. Whatever it is they can begin to feel like warriors engaged in constant battle. Many of our front line health care workers probably feel that way each day as they head into work.  For those who feel embattled, seeking God’s help allows them to take up the mantle of the warrior and face the storm anew each day. For those people another quote from Jack’s blog has stuck for some time in the back of my mind –  “Fate whispers to the warrior ‘you cannot withstand the storm’ ... the warrior whispers back ‘I am the storm.’" (Author Unknown)===JACK: I can only imagine what it must have been like on the Titanic.  I think that the ship's orchestra played, Nearer My God to Thee,"  FROM BLAZING OAKS:   My MYF Youth group with Pastor and Mrs. Honeywell was Influential in my life, with retreats and camp, etc. I prayed very rd in H.S. and College about big decisions i was making; I believe it helped me to choose wisely! Of course my mom saw that we always got to church, and choir, etc.!===JACK: I think that, for most of us, God comes in a drizzle...He's always there, but we hardly are aware of it. FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  How true,===JACK:  Are the Tampa rains like a drizzle, or do they come as a deluge?  FROM BB IN CHGO:  Once again, your words warm my heart.  Maybe it was a heavy drizzle on the homefront😊?===JACK:  Storms do get our attention...like when the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee when a storm came.  It seemed as tho Jesus was asleep.  "Master, we are perishing.  Don't you care?  Wake up!"  Jesus heard their crying and said, "Peace, be still."  Was that said to stop the storm, or to stop their cries of fear?

Jack’s Winning Words 7/24/20
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”  (Sent by Robin Klehr)  Psychologist Jim Taylor asks, “What’s the worst emotion you’ve experienced…fear, anger, sadness?  For most of his clients, it’s regret.  Shoulda!  But a new day dawns.  We’re given a chance to make a new start and to do better.  Replace coulda in your life with gonna.  I’m gonna do better starting today.  With God’s help, I’m gonna!  ;-)  Jack

FROM SK IN SJ:  I love that message. It’s a message of hope. We have a new day to do better. Thank you for an inspiring message.===JACK:  In these days of so much unrest, I think that messages of hope are needed.

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  We often spend too much of our lives regretting the things that we might have done differently in the past and not enough time thinking about doing things differently in the future. Freed recommended saying to yourself, ”with God’s help I’m gonna…”  One needs to deal with the fact that in the instances in your life when you coulda, woulda, shoulda, you didn’t. The best way to deal with that is to forgive yourself and move on to the gonnas that are still ahead of you. For people who cannot find a way to forgive themselves the ending is often depression or worse – suicide. Those are endings that must be changed.  You prefaced the words “I’m gonna” with the phrase “with God’s help” and that is the best way to begin. Every week in our church service (now on video during the Corona Virus Pandemic) one of the first things that we do is a confession of sins and an ask for forgiveness. It is easy to understand that one’s coulda, woulda, shoulda’s are sins of either commission or omission – we state it as “things done and left undone”.  After admitting our sins the Pastor exercises his authority, thorough Jesus Christ, to forgive them.===JACK:  I don't think that the scholars who write the liturgies we use in church would use shoulda and gonna, but we common people know what they mean. 

FROM LBP:  I think this one needs to go on my wall===JACK:  On my wall is: If it weren't for the last minute I wouldn't get anything done.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/23/20
“We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it all the time is love.”  (Tennessee Williams)  It might seem as tho we in America are in a fiercely burning building…the pandemic, political and social unrest, lack of direction.  Tennessee Williams suggests that love is the only way to rescue humanity. It can be tough to love those we disagree with, or those who cause pain to ourselves or others. Who are you going to give love to today?  ;-) Jack

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  Williams’ comparison of life to a burning building may be a bit dramatic; but, it serves the purpose of asking the question, “what is important to you…what would you save?”

When people who have faced a disaster like a fire or a flood  are interviewed on TV they are often asked what they took with them from their homes. Aside from pets, the answers most often given concern family pictures or other memorabilia that related to family, such as a family Bible. Those are objects that relate to the history of the family. As the interview goes deeper and looks to the future the love that was salvaged from the disaster is most often mentioned – loved ones who were spared and the love of the town or area in which they reside. It is hard for some to understand why someone who has been flooded out multiple time continues to want to rebuild and go on living in that same location. Simply put, they love it there. The perpetually burning building that we find ourselves in today is fueled by the Corona Virus Pandemic. Everything has changed, yet all is still physically the same. The flames of this disaster have signed our lifestyles and destroyed most of the patterns and traditions that we enjoyed. Having stripped away almost everything else that we used to do, the flames of this virus now lick away at our relationships, hoping to also interfere with them. It is most important that we not let that happen; that we remain strong in our love and support for one another, even in cases where we cannot be together.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/22/20
“Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope – a slight change and all patterns alter.”  (Sharon Salzberg)  Kaleidoscopes can cost from 69 cents up to $12,000 for the best.  Have you used one?    Salzberg teaches meditation, and I believe she uses a changing kaleidoscope, along with soothing music, to help people change their outlook on life.  Life can be beautiful, depending on how we look at it.  Are there pattern changes in your life that have turned out to be beautiful?  ;-)  Jack

FROM ER IN SKO:  Like a kaleidoscope, it is intriguing to me how the same quote can have multiple meanings and life applications to the same person depending upon where they are at in their life. This message has a totally different meaning to me today than it would have a mere 8 months ago. Thank you for making me think at 5am nearly every morning.  ;-)===JACK:  Thanks for seeing  that today's WWs are not about Kaleidoscopes, but are about life.

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  As Dr. Drew Weston (2006) notes in a psychology text, “We all spin the ‘cognitive kaleidoscope’ until the pieces fall into the pattern they want to see, and then the brain repays them by activating circuits involved in pleasure. It seems that the feeling of cognitive dissonance can literally make your brain hurt!”  We all do this at some level when we learn information we don’t appreciate to make ourselves more comfortable.  Sometimes we “spin the cognitive kaleidoscope” until we are satisfied with the new information, or it is distorted or blocked from our perception. The beautiful change in my life has been learning to recognize this phenomenon and have the ability to hold an opposing view alongside my existing belief and rationally discuss. Yes, it takes more work than tribalism, groupthink, and spouting prechewed thoughts.  With proper application, the dissonance subsides; the picture is clear. ===JACK:  Thanks for the mind-bending response.  I like that.  Yes, we do tend to focus on the picture we like...and there's always another picture, when you look at life using something like a kaleidoscope.===JON:  Thanks, the more education you can absorb assuming you not wearing blinders the more meaningful life is. A scientific approach requires an open view, few things in life are certain.

FROM GUSTIE:  Keith, Carol, and I had our picture taken through a Kaleidoscope.  Kind of fun to try to find us.  ===JACK:  I've never heard of being able to do that.  I'm not surprised, because we often show ourselves in different ways to different people.

FROM ST PAUL:  remember too that most good K-scopes are made from broken glass and yet they produce something of real beauty.  there must be a lesson there too. ===JACK:  We pastors are always looking for things and situations to illustrate a point. 

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  Well, the Coronas Virus has certainly set the kaleidoscopes of our lives spinning. Let’s be honest, nothing in our lives has been the same since this pandemic started and each day brings new news that spins the kaleidoscope again and changes all of the patterns of our lives again.

Some change in life is probably good. Those changes keep life interesting; however, the Corona Virus is not just some change it is almost total change. The changes have come so fast and been so pervasive and persistent that it has resulted in many of us having a hard time keeping some point of reference for stability purposes.  It has left us with little from the past to hold onto. It is as if we had been snatched from our old world and plunked down on some new planet where we didn’t recognize anything and were all of the rules were different. In addition, we don’t recognize many of the other inhabitants of this new world, because they are wearing masks. Even my phone doesn’t recognize me when I wear my mask.  In this disconcerting environment it is all the more important to hold onto the one thing that has not and cannot be affected by this virus – our faith.===JACK:  "Believers" know who it is that operates the kaleidoscope.  Sometimes He even lets us take a turn at operating it.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  A work in progress, like fine wine they tell me, as I am an abstainer (of the fine wine, that is). 0;-)===JACK:  They story is told of a church lady (an abstainer like you) who was asked, "Don't you know that Jesus used wine at the Last Supper?"  She replied, "Yes, I've heard that, and that's one thing I don't like about him."

FROM BB IN CHGO:  T gave me several over our years together and I treasure them still.  Both of my children would get very relaxed looking at the patterns before bedtime.  They were a Godsend!===JACK:  I can picture it now...so relaxing.  Life has its pleasures.===BB:  Thank you for the calming thoughts.  I will take them to heart.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/21/20
“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”  (Rev Peter Marshall)  Back in 2012, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Rep. tried to fire the Chaplain for being too political in his prayers.  That was a far cry from the time (1947-49) when the prayers of U.S. Senate Chaplain, Peter Marshall, for their forthrightness and integrity.  Apart from  praying, how much freedom do you think freedom allows?  …just to do whatever pleases you?  ;-) Jack

FROM LBP:   Hmmm seems like a difference in freedom vs free will. But in the end someone has to decide what is “right”... right?===JACK:  There's a hymn that I like...
Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
and the choice goes by forever, 'twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
ere her cause bring fame and profit, and 'tis prosperous to be just;
then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had deniedecide what is “right”... right?===JACK:  There's a hymn that I like..."Once to very man and nation"

Jack’s Winning Words 7/20/20
“When you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, you have to say something, to do something.”  (John Lewis)  The US Dept of Homeland Security says that in order to keep our country safe, “If you see something, say something.”  We’ll miss John Lewis, an unceasing voice for fairness, justice and Civil Rights.  It was not only his voice, but his feet and his votes in Congress.  He saw something; he did something to make our country a better place.  ;-)  Jack 

FROM BLAZING OAKS:    He sure made his life count! He seems to have been esteemed by both House and Senate, as well as so many others. Now someone else will have to take up the torch. It seems so many of the younger protesters lean to destructive actions, which gives them negative

publicity and hurts their cause!  Lewis or MLK did not condone such actions, although they understood the frustration and desperation which caused it. Change often comes with unrest and hard feelings! ===JACK:  It seems that Corey Booker is one the younger ones who is poised to carry on a more "reasoned" approach to getting the message across in a more reasoned way.  Right now, the loss of John Lewis from among the living is a sad occasion.

FROM THE SHARK:  Amen to that my friend.

FROM DR J:  I like his mantra “make good trouble!”===JACK:  There's a similar quote with the same idea..."A certain amount of fleas is good for any dog."

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  I ran across this earlier also:  Tennessee Williams reflected as he approached his death that “we live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love… love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend.”  This quote doesn’t specifically address injustice as posited in today’s WW’s. Still, it would take little imagination to consider the burning building society today and the love we need for all (period, full stop with “all”)===JACK:  What a great thought to connect up with the death of John Lewis and today's situation in America.  Thanks always for your thoughtful thoughts.

Jack’s Winning words 7/17/20
“Work is much more fun than fun.”  (Noel Coward)  Have you ever had a job that was more fun than fun?  A listing of the top 10 fun jobs to have includes pet groomer, race car driving instructor, sommelier, fortune cookie writer and Fire Chief.  Being a pastor was not on the list, although I can’t think of a job that I’d like better. As you interact with others who are working, see if you can help make their job more fun. Sometimes all it takes is a smile…even if you are wearing a mask! Is there a dream job that you’d like to have?  ;-)  Jack

FROM TAMPA SIHRL::    orking for eastern and then continental airlines was great fun after learning how to book flights on the computer in 1978 !===JACK:  The "free flights" weren't a bad perk, either.  Even tho both airlines are gone, do you fly free with any others?

FROM LS IN MI:  Good morning.   The job of Mother was the most difficult, rewarding, fun job until I was promoted to Grandma.  The promotion to Grandma came as I was living a purposeful life of gratitude for the “fun “ I was having giving hope, empowering and strengthening my community through each person brought to me.  The added work I am called upon to do with each of my life’s promotions,  I pray for health of mind, body and spirit to continue to do until my last breath is taken.  Here on earth and beyond as I continue to be promoted by the Grace of God.  I say Amen.  =-==JACK:  Time flies!  There aere so many chapters in our life's book, and I'm familiar with several in yours.  Congratulations on being G-d's servant in each one of them. 

FROM SB AT AG:  hank you, Pastor Freed, for your calling as a pastor. Your “Winning Words” are even more of a blessing during this pandemic when we can’t worship in person.===JACK:  As I grow older I find that i enjoy shorter sermons.  Maybe that's just me.

FROM ST PAUL:  we have a good friend who is an dog groomer.  most of the time fun but once in a while she get nipped if not bitten. but she does make good money too. ===JACK:  Once in a while I got nipped/bitten by a parishioner...but once in a wile I also bit back.  ("forgive me, O Lord, for I have sinned)

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Fortune cookie writer sounds pretty fun.  I’ve had some interesting jobs over the years and wanted to have others that I’m glad I never got.  As a child I most wanted to be a trapeze artist.===JACK:  From trapeze artist to bunny to attorney.  A psychiatrist would have fun with that.  There must be a story behind the story.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  ...been there...done it...and even doing it in a smaller fashion this very today...wouldn’t want to be caught doing any other... 0;-)===JACK:  You also had a chance to become a pro bowler.  That would have been fun (for a while).  It's good that you were able to put that behind you.  A pastor wouldn't want to play a game when his mind was sometimes in the gutter ===REV:  I always imagined what it would have sounded like for the congregation to hear their pastor was away this Sunday bowling in the “Budweiser Open===JACK:  It might depend on how much prize money he brought back...and if he were a tither..

FROM SF IN WB:  .Teaching. That was my fun job. 😉===JACK:  Did you model your work after any one teacher that you had?  What's the difference between being a teacher and a principal.  BTW, someone once helped me remember the difference between principle and principal.  The pricipal is to be the pal of the children.  Have you heard of that?===SF:  Yes, I had some teacher models along the way...Mr Krucki and Ms Monaster. They both understood kids. The princiPAL thing...yup! ===JACK:  Our 6th grade principal was an "old maid" who lived in a hotel apt.  One Saturday she invited us "patrol boys" up to her apartment for a party.  We thought that we were special...and the party was special, too...Miss Donnahay.

FROM SALON SUZY:  I’m living my dream job! Love providing services for my clients===JACK:  I'm glad that I'm in your dreamworld.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/16/20
“Although we can’t stop the world around us from changing, some things are precious enough to preserve.”  (Linda Kast, Editor Reminisce)  Reminisce is a magazine with articles and pictures that help people recall the past, often filled with pleasant memories. Yet sometimes symbols of the past bring painful memories. Deciding what is precious enough to preserve isn’t always easy. I enjoy the Hobo Nickel I have. What things from the past are you hanging on to?  ;-)  Jack

FROM ER IN SKO:  This coin is interesting to me. What year is it, and can you take a picture of it to text to me?  How did you come across it?===JACK:  The coin is back in Michigan.  I think the date is 1936.  During the Great Depression, hobos would carve pictures on nickels and sell them.  Mine was given to me by a coin dealer friend.  They are now quite rare, even at coin shows.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  “a cross” 0:-) ===JACK:  "...and I love that old cross..."

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Memories===JACK:  Memory...What a great gift associated with life.  Memory...What a great loss when illness takes it away.  Heaven.  Anticipation that the lost shall be restored, the wrong shall be made right.

FROM ST PAUL:  i have a collection of 3,400 different pop cans.  does that count for anything?:):) ===JACK:  Either it means that you are a pastor full of pop...or a pastor full of fizzzz.

FROM HONEST JOHN:   The Secretariat my Grandfather built...in 19th century.    He was a journeyman cabinetmaker in Germany and built this desk for himself.....he owned a Sash and Door Works in EM ....I never met him....died at age 44....TB.     I got it from my Aunt’s porch...redid it it and added to it.   I love it.===JACK:  What a treasure!  You can only imagine what went into the making of it.    Then, too...the faith that is yours, passed on by your parents (and others).  One can only imagine what went into the making of it.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I never had heard of a "Hobo Nickel"! How interesting!! I have a great many pictures of the past, including my grandfather's families, and books on our family genealogy, done by relatives that detail ancestors. My oldest son's wife is very interested in keeping those in the family. I label all the photos, as my g.children would not remember many of these people.My wedding gifts are now 70 yrs. old!! Unbelievable! I have a great-aunt's quilt, embroidered with her name, and date of making it, and many of my mom's things which are now "antiques'!  Precious is the right word for these!===JACK: "Precious mem'ries, how they linger..."

FROM GUSTIE:  I have 3 forks with wooden handles that my grandmother brought from Norway.  They are precious to me.  ===JACK:  If no one in your family wants them, I call, "DIBS!" ===G:  I think there may be a fight.  They all know they are NOT to put them in the dishwasher.  I do use them at the lake.  A lot.  ===JACK:  I have a book in my hand that you might want to use as a family: "WHO GETS GRANDMA'S YELLOW PIE PLATE?"====G:  I have that book too.  One of the writers of the book is a good friend of mine.  Shirley Barber.  She did a presentation at our Prime Timers.  There was a short movie that went with it and the couple in the movie were very good friends.  When I got a new car I made sure that Jean could get in and out of it easy.  I picked her up for just about everything and she sang in Larks till she died. I still keep in touch with her son and his family.  I have not done anything with the book except page through it.  Guess I had better start working on it.  I had supper at my friend Marlys Nelson’s tonight—Spaghetti Pie.  Yummmm.  She and I do so much together and I have not seen her for all these months.  Only on email.  Her husband Duane is a retired Lutheran Minister.  Wartburg.  It was the first time I have been to someone’s home.  It was WONDERFUL! ===JACK:  Sometimes responses, such as yours, surprise and amaze me.

FROM LBP:  I have one of my granny’s cast iron skillets and one grandma’s scarves and broaches ===JACK:  Imagine your daughter showing that pan to her children and talkinh about great great grandma.  I only saw one of my grandmas and neither of my grandfathers.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/15/20
“Pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends of you.”  (St. Augustine)  Many of us have prayed for a Godly miracle to happen “…on Earth as it is done in Heaven.”  The Latin phrase, ora et labora, says that words and action go together.  The song, “Let there be peace on Earth” says, “and let it begin with me.”  Some prayers involve more than words.  If racism and poverty are to end, it’ll take more than “Ora.”  “Labora” will be needed, too.  ;-)  Jack

FROM SA IN WA:  Ah, yes, St. Augustine. I read his Confessions, books I-VIII. Interesting, he regularly, and consistently, refers to his soul as "she"===JACK:  You and your dad...two peas in a pod...most of the time.   Both of you would read Augustine...and remember reading it.  I wish that I were able to do that...at test time.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We’re praying hard but I’m sure it’s not what you’re praying.  What do you think God does about those prayers!===JACK:  I think that God hears our prayers and then does it his way>    Isn't that what we pray?  Thy will be done on Earth?===JUDY:  I’m glad he doesn’t do my will.===JACK:  I think that you meant to say: "I'm glad that He does His will."  Right?

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  i LOVE THAT SAYING.===JACK:  A lot of what the Roman Catholic Church is today is based on the teachings of Augustine.

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Amen…the will for justice has always been G-d’s – we’ve just been fairly poor on the execution….===JACK:  Justice?  That's why we pray, "Thy will" instead of "my will" we done.  Life is a continuing search for what is justice? and what is the Will of God?  BTW< what's with G-d?  Have you been hanging out with some Jewish people?  I understand the use of G-d, but it seems new to your blog answers.  Just wonderin....===BB:    Funny the shorthand was unconscious.  You hit the nail on the head, the Mishkan/Jewish community  uses the hypen and I’ve been on their pages lately.  They marched with the evangelical/black churches on the southside as well as the Uptown Catholic church where many of our Loyola Jesuits are doing their practice priesthood.  I don’t know all the stages of the novices an such but like to see them getting their feet wet doing “justice” and neighborhood outreach. We need more of that cross-culture, ecumenical and neighborhood collaboration.===JACK:  You may (or may not) know this, some Jews consider it to be a sin to write or say the name of God.  So, they leave out the o and replace it with a hyphen (G-d)...and do not sin.  I wonder if it's for the same reason that God is sometimes referred to as, "the great I Am"

FROM BLAZING OAKS:   Like saying "Put  hands and feet on your prayers!'  Some prayer

petitions (often of mine) are for situations that we are helpless to do anything BUT pray about: A mother and sister who need prayer for a son with bi-polar who has gone amok, all professional people, all in different states: A friend of my daughter who has lost her job in the Travel Industry due to the pandemic, asking prayer as she seeks new employment; college educated, but 57 yrs. old, etc. are a couple on my prayer list. Health petitions are really in God's Hands, but of course we can give unselfishly to share our means with people in need, which Jesus has asked us to do without judging.  We succeed at varying levels to do  that!  All could probably do better!  St. Augustine became an

inspiration for sure!===JACK:  Prayer is mysterious.  Why do we pray?  To get God to change His mind?  To get God to do something that He might know about?  To let Him know of what we're concerned about?  How often do we need to prayer about something.  For me, it's like talking with a good friend...in fact, our very best friend.

FROM LBP:   You say the answer to prayer can be “maybe” or “later.” I suppose it could also be “let’s get working”===JACK:  That doesn't sound like "King James Version" of God speaking. ===L:  Get thyself up! 

Jack’s Winning Words 7/14/20 “The price of democracy is the ongoing pursuit of the common good by all of the people.”  (Saul Alinsky)  Is there such a thing as the common good?  Is there such a situation that can satisfy all people…or is it a goal than can’t be reached?...a goal such as, “to love your neighbor as you love yourself.”  Alinsky was called, “a radical” for trying to organize the have-nots to get their share of the common good.  Do you have an opinion as to what’s “fair for all?”  ;-)  Jack FROM BLAZING OAKS:  I believe it was JL Kraft (Kraft cheese) who said, "There is enough in the world for everyone's Need, but not enough for everyone's Greed." In this pandemic there are many stories of unselfish giving and sharing, but also disheartening ones of money allocated to needs of unemployed and poor, not reaching the neediest.. The common Good often does not include "the Least and Lowliest" in America. However in other countries, their plight is even more desperate, and unattended! Working for the "have-nots" is often discouraging, but there are always brave souls who do!! Saul Alinksy seems to have been one!!===JACK:  So much of "church' has been sharing with the less fortunate that being asked to do so at the present time does not seem out of the ordinary.  Many of the wealthy (in the past) seem to have had a church influence in their lives...Kraft, JC Penney, Kresge.  Do you know of any in the present? ===OAKS:  I think Bill Gates and his wife are making the world a better place with their Millions given to various education and health projects.  Pres. Jimmy Carter is also working and administering millions via his Health Center, to name a couple. I need to research that to find  others! :-)===JACK:  God keeps an accounting department which is not available to us...which is even more secret than Trump's tax records. FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  i hope you are not suggesting alinsky was admirable.  what constitutes a “have” vs a “have-not”? the path to happiness is a good job, a good education, respect for oneself and others... personal responsibility. seems an awful lot of emphasis is placed on “having,” not “doing” these days.   we are a constitutional republic, btw, not a democracy.===JACK:  Alinsky?  I try to find some good in everybody.  Alinsky had a real concern for people who he thought were being taken advantage of.  Haves/have-nots?  I know that I have an advantage over some who have to scrounge.  I feel the need to share.  Democracy or constitutional republic?  Semantics!===LIZ:  let me know if you find some good in hitler in your spare time. ===JACK:  Obviously, he is a GOOD example of what is bad.  He also was a good example of how to motivate a segment of people.  "There's so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us to speak ill of the worst of us" said someone. FROM AA IN WB:  I do, but Saul wasn't one of my favorite people.  My son said at an early age, around 8 years old, "who said life is fair"  Sometimes you have to take what you get, the good and the bad.  Some of the nicest people I have ever known died young while some of the biggest jerks live on.  Not fair.  We could spend hours and days with good and bad examples.  I don't worry, just glad to be alive with family, good enough.===JACK:  What's fair?  God's final judgment!  ...and as far as a long or short life is concerned...we don't know at this point what is best.  I'm enjoying life now, so I'm in favor of the days continuing.  In the future?  Who knows? FROM NORM'S BLOG:  Right now, it feels like the price of democracy is an endless squabble between polar opposites, each intent upon destroying the other. There are many issues that the politicians in Washington should be able to agree upon, like fixing our decaying infrastructure and providing equal opportunity for all to succeed; however, agreement almost always breaks down over the issue of how to pay for those things. One side wants to tax the well off to help those less fortunate and the other side says, “I got mine, you go get your own and leave mine alone.” There is an almost total lack of any sense of “the common good”. In fact, one side has labeled that sense of the common good as “Socialism” and attached a stigma to that labeL.===JACK:  In the early days of Christianity, people looked out for one another.  When there was a need, someone stepped up to meet that need.  They held thing in common.  Those who didn't like that way of doing things added an "ism" to that word to create the negative...communism!.===SA:  Yes, that's true. I wonder how much of a difference it makes for understanding love, truth, and the ends of life, not just the means to it. FROM LBP:  I wonder how many of us have advanced our idea of “fair” beyond the elementary school tally counting complaints of our childhood.===JACK:  Here in Minnesota there's a program...Fare For All.  It's a co-op food program where a semi-load of good food pulls up to a church parking lot.  People from the community can come up and get fresh food, frozen and canned at very reasonable prices.  I think that some churches even provide vouchers for the poor.  Fair? ===LBP:  Fair to who and how? Having access to healthful food should not be in question. But would it be fair if I were to shop there when I have the means to pay full price? Is it fair to say I cannot? What time of day is the truck there? Is it fair to people who are working at that time? What about the producers? Are they getting fair compensation for the goods being sold a low prices? Are there environmentally unfriendly practices being used to keep costs low, and is that fair to the global community? Fair is a tricky word. A while back you introduced me to “the good place” show. In season 3 they meet Doug Forcett, the guy who figured it all out.  But life is so complex that he ends up losing no matter what he does. Score keeping is maybe not the right approach to find fair. Perhaps the phrase in the WW “common good” is better. Is this food distribution serving a need that supports the well-being of the community? Is it meeting that need in a way that is equitable? Does it support good practices in production?  What about that?===JACK:  WOW!  You're on your soapbox today.  First of all, it's Fare for all, not Fair for all.  Secondly, Jesus says that the poor will always be with us.  That doesn't seem fair, so it's open for interpretation.  I believe that God has given us a brain so that we might reason and be able to choose...and not be robots.   "The Good Place" is s a show that enables us to see that our reasoning isn't always right.  There's a book that you might read in your spare time...The Will of God.===LBP:  Ha! Sorry. Didn’t mean to be sop boxy but I really was... I just feel like getting bombarded from all sides with how we are screwing up. Every choice has a consequence. Every view has two sides. How do we navigate “fair?”===JACK:  I think that "our leader" is stirring up the pot as to opinions about fairness. FROM WILLMAR REV:  Realizing we all live in a broken world that we were not asked to be born in, inherited situations we didn’t choose for ourselves and can now choose to make the best of it, “learning to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run?!”  For the Christian, the reward for “counting your blessings, naming them one by one” comes “when the dealing’s done!” 0;-)===JACK:  I'm not good at cards.  Some poor people aren't good at making choices.  In the Bible it says to be wise as serpent and harmless as doves."  Some "evil-serpents" are out there lurking around to take advantage of some "harmless doves."  I believe that God has called some to do that job. FROM SA IN WA:  "All people, irrespective of the accident of their birth, are entitled to enjoy aspiring to become fully complete and free." T.J.  After wrting these words (he is credited with writing them) Jefferson lamented, knowing a reckoning with slavery was unavoidable, if the country were to survive as a true democracy and free society.  The statement contains two key elements, as I see it. The first is humility. Whether we like it or not, our birth is an accident, and each person has to square with that notion. Second, and more in line with your WW, is the concepts of entitlement. We are entitled to enjoy aspiring, and the government is charged with ensuring this entitlement is available, as much as possible, to all citizens equally. The seatbelt law is an example of government acting in response to data, to reduce the likelihood that a car accident infringes on that entitlement, and did so act without unduly infringing on the rights of the individual.  Another, more significant, and crucial affirmation of Jefferson's statement, was the ruling by the, then conservative, Supreme Court, regarding Roe v. Wade. There is no debate that an abortion ends the life of a fetus, and there is also no debate that the burden of unwated pregnancy is placed soley upon the woman. Who comes first, the parent or the unborn child? The parent, always. The court did not take long to decide, for the common good. And 18 years later there was a precipitous drop in crime rates across the country. Politicians took credit, but the true credit goes to the Supreme Court.  It seems Jefferson's words are nearly as portentous today as they were in 1807. Let's hope the common good prevails. ===JACK:  Words are spoken for a specific time and do not necessarily translate to another time and situation.  Thanks for a good response to "the common good." FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  e’s not someone I would look to for advice.  There has always been and always be a “have and have not” situation until this world.  It’s Biblical.  Does that mean we shouldn’t help others?  No.  There are many more examples of people helping people but it’s not sensational news!===JACK:  Since "The Bible" says that there will ALWAYS be haves and have nots...what group are you in?  Did God create that discrepancy?  And, if so, why?  I'm glad that my study to be a pastor included philosophy as well as theology...and sociology as well as economics.===JUDY:  I’m am in the “have -have nots!”===JACK:  From what you've told me, you're leaning more to the "have" side of the page.  God is good!

Jack’s Winning Words 7/13/20
“People who have a sense of humor get through life more comfortably than those who don’t.”  (Carl Reiner)  Before his death Carl (98) and Mel Brooks (93) would meet each night to eat, laugh  and watch…Jeopardy!  Life was comfortable for them.  What is it about your friends that makes you want to be with them?  It helps that political views are similar and you each like to watch Jeopardy.  Reiner says that it helps when you like to laugh at the same jokes.  ;-)  Jack 

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  do you recall a time prior to today when you’d have said that “political views” enter into a friendship? before social media we barely knew whom our friends voted for... and we didn’t care. we were all americans, all people of equal value.  i am disappointed===JACK:  Yes, I remember times when we picked our friends according to political views.  GOPers hated FDR. Truman as much as Trumpers hate Obama.  I remember a time when best friends liked the same kind of humor.  "Birds of a feather..." as the saying goes.  But, in many ways we are now living in strange times...and they seem to get stranger every day..===LIZ:  i’ve always experienced diversity, i guess. i, like my dad, have friends of every ilk... sure would be boring otherwise. 🌷===JACK:  I don't recall any hint of racism in his being.  

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  Life without a sense of humor must be a mentally desolate place to live. There are certainly many things in life that are serious matters, but a life spent focused only upon only the dangers or sadness or anxiety in life is one that is usually shorter and much less satisfying than a life filled with humor and laughter. My wife and I often say in the midst of some calamity or setback that we’ll look back on this someday and laugh. Just saying that to each other is usually enough to lighten the moment.===JACK:  I can picture God with a sense of humor, too...laughing at some of the things that we get so uptight about..  Instead of the word, "love" in the quote, "Love your God with all your heart," substitute the word, "trust."

FROM ST PAUL:  Jeopardy is my favorite show on TV.   some days i can answer well over half the questions and some days barely 10%      a lot depends on the categories of course  ===JACK:  Who is your "Mel Brooks" when you watch it?  Is he named, Margaret? ===SP:   for sure.  and she sometimes answers the questions faster than i can! 

FROM BLAZING OAKS:   A sense of humor saves the day many a time! (But often things are funny only in retrospect)! My sis could see the humor in situations better  than I, but I got much better at it over the years~!  For instance when I tripped, & fell down a flight of stairs at church, to gasps and OH NO! from onlookers, I got up brushed myself off, and said, "That's the fastest I've moved in years!" And everyone began to laugh.... (Thank goodness I had on a heavy coat which padded the fall, and I wasn't badly hurt...) :-)  Jeopardy is also a favorite of mine; I sit in awe of their ready answers to such varied questions, but sometimes I can beat them on Bible or Literature questions! Rarely!!===JACK:  I still think that your "out of gas on the bridge" is the best.  One of mine is when I had a sneezing fit while preaching and had to use the fire escape door behind the altar until it subsided.  I came back to the pulpit and said, "...as I was saying..."

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We have our youngest grandchildren every other week for a week.  My youngest grand, 5, has got the wit and wisdom from Mark Twain and keeps us laughing. ===JACK:  People with good humor are fun to have around.....so are Good Humor Ice Cream bars.

Jack’s Winning words 7/10/20
“Progress is not created by contented people.”  (Frank Tyger)  …Discontented people cause things to be invented!  Did you know that someone’s invented an automatic toothbrush (like a mouthguard)?  It cleans teeth in 3 seconds.  There’s a robot game fish that entices fish (that look like it) to go where the fishermen are.  But, what discontented people really are looking for is a vaccine to combat COVID-19.  Pray for an Alexander Fleming or a Jonas Salk to appear.  ;-)  Jack.   

FROM WILLMAR REV:      "Even so, may it come quickly, Lord Jesus?!" 0;-)===JACK:  God's calendar is not necessarily the same as ours...ur prayer is: "Thy will be done ON EARTH!" 

FROM BB IN CHGO:  Discontented people are also looking for racial equality and justice but I fear it’s longer off than a vaccine.  The NYT ran an interesting article by a pediatrician yesterday talking about Americans relationships with vaccines, i.e. if and when a Covid19 one is available, will people even receive it in a large enough quantity to combat this problem.  Ugh.===JACK:  ...and there be anti-vaccine people who will refuse to have their children vaccinated...and we'll have to deal with that.  "It's always something," as Gilda Radner used to say.

Jack’s Winning Words 7/9/20
“One day you will ask me which is more important?  my life or yours?  I will say mine, and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life.”  (Khalil Gibran)  I like this quote, because it causes me to think.  Gibran was Lebanese and grew up in America, becoming a poet, painter and philosopher.  Philosophers are supposed to make you think..so are painters and poets, I guess.  Do those who are important to you know who they are? ;-)  Jack 

FROM BB IN CHGO:   I love Gibran but don’t believe I’ve read this quote before.  My folks had the Prophet on our bookshelves and I read it frequently.  Thank you for sharing and for making me think in a different way. ===JACK:  I considered many of Gibran's sayings before choosing this one.  Without giving me a name, "who is your life?"===BB:  Perhaps I misunderstood.  Thought of the children and how we say we’d “take a bullet” for each other and then (with the recent SCT decisions on  access to contraception or abortion, and various quandries on weighing a pregnant woman’s interest versus her unborn….the mother can always (likely) have another child but if you sacrifice the mother’s life for the child, the reproductive line is lost. Would love to hear your perspective.===JACK:  Gibran's answer was an enigma.  I meant mine to be one, too.  For what it's worth, I'm pro-choice.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  So you think, why wouldn't he say "Yours"?! Because...etc.  Is he saying we are inept at clarifying what is important in our relationships? I always told Bill that the best part of my life was sharing His. (He didn't always believe that, but it was true!)  He would more humbly say that people probably say, "He must have SOMETHING, he got HER for a wife." Oh my, so not true! ===JACK:  Relationships are complicated!! :-)===JACK:  Some people just seem to go together...George & Gracie; Chase & Sanborn; Amos & Andy; Mar & Jan; Sonny & Cher; Mutt & Jeff; Dairy & Queen; Preacher Bill & his "one-of-a-kind wife"...perfect for each other.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Pretty sure they know who they are and they know how important they are to me.  I would gladly die for any of them===JACK:  Jesus said something similar.

FROM CA IN MN:  ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤===JACK:  Evidently you liked it.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  I’m still in thought after reading your post several times...”what’s mine is yours?!” 0;-)===JACK:  Couples have sometimes asked me to read Gibran quotes about love.  Has it happened for you?  Do they know what love is all about?

Jack’s Winning Words 7/8/20
“With God, all things are possible.”  (The words of Job, 42:1)  Biblical Job’s life problems seemed to have no solution, but Job found that God can indeed do all things… and faithfulness has its reward.   True story: 3-yr-old Kyleigh was brought outside to see her first rainbow.  “Where did it come from?” she asked.  When told by her mother that God made the rainbow, the little girl replied, “and He didn’t even go outside of the lines!”  Trust God with your problems; He knows how to color.  ;-)  Jack

FROM ER IN SKO:  Remind me, when next we talk, to tell you about a conversation I had with someone about just that very thing...trusting God to steer you down the right path especially when you are too busy scribbling in color to see what's on the canvas.===JACK:  I'm going to be all ears.

FROM SALON SUZY:  He sure does! Master painter!===JACK:  He does a pretty good job with the Spring flowers and the Fall leaves.  We don't always appreciate His coloring when it comes to people, do we?

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It’s wonderful to know we have an all-seeing all knowing God who loves us when we’re unloveable!  He gave his son to die for us...I marvel!!!===JACK:  I wonder if God ever considers someone to be ugly?

Jack’s Winning Words 7/7/20
“Everything is simple.”  (Mike Corrao)  What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the end of the month?  The answer is simple. The letter, “r”. Sometimes the answers to life’s problems, like children’s riddles, are simple when boiled down to the basics. Jesus once said, “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  What do you suppose He meant by that?  Don’t overthink it.   ;-)  Jack

JJack’s Winning Words 7/6/20
“You should never be so high and mighty that you can’t listen to somebody else and learn something from them.”  (Sent by Robin Klehr)  Robin has an interesting career…She’s a sign interpreter for the deaf.  Here are some other ways to use your hands to help people:  Sew a face mask for someone.  Play patty-cake with grandma.  Pet a pet.  Learn to say Hello and Thank You in sign language.  Wave good-bye to haters.  Fold your hands and thank God for giving you hands.  ;-)  Jack

FROM WILLMAR REV:  ...have used the "hi" sign for years when meeting anyone being deaf. I like seeing their smile, but certainly lost from there on. 0;-)===JACK:  I hope that you noticed the link that shows you how to do some basic signs.  I wonder if there's swearing in signing?  ...just so you can avoid making a mistake and signing the wrong word.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  All very good advice!  Thank you!===JACK:  When you were working at Eastern, did you ever face a suation when signing was necessary?===SHIRL:  What kind of signing and for what purpose?===JACK:  Sign language to communicate with deaf customers.

FROM pEE WEE:  Love this.  ===JACK:  Maybe you can use the link to teach your granddaughter some basic signs.

FROM ST STEPHEN:  I'm grateful for my hands, and give thanks.  Thanks for using your hands to remind me. (Even if you use speech-to-text)===JACK:  Matt, the farmer's hands are gnarled to the poin that he uses voice to text.  I'm so old-fashioned that I don't even text.  BTW, when you were teaching in prison, were any of the prisoners deaf, so that they needed sign language?===SS:  I had students with disabilities, but none that I recall being deaf.  We have a carpenter apprentice, who I believe graduates this year, who is deaf and has done quite well. Safety is a concern, but the emphasis of safety training is prevention, so not being able to hear 'Look out!' to avoid injury, doesn't present a danger. Of course, accidents, by their nature, are a surprise, but accidents are also preventable. ===JACK:  Are you still at the prison, or are you back in the work-a-day world?===SS:  No longer at the prison. Back in the work-a-day world, writing curriculum and providing tech support for the carpenters apprenticeship in Washington. We just launched online content for 2100 apprentices a week ago in response to the pandemic.===JACK:  We need more "learners" in the trades, or we will soon find ourselves with lots of college-educated people who don't know which end of the hammer to use when pounding a nail.===SS:  True. There is dignity in work. Thinking is important, of course. But things still have to be assembled..parts and pieces organized, connected, finished... there's work to do! :) ===JACK:  It's said that Jesus was raised as a carpenter's son.  I'll bet he'd have a blast in  Home Depot or Lowe's.===SS:  He probably would like the variety of choices. I'll bet he wouldn't use the self-checkout, and give up the opportunity to say hello to a checker. The checkers wearing head scarves might make him feel right at home.===JACK:  He's able to see thru "our masks," so knowing who the checker might be would be no problem.

FROM RK'S MOM:  Well I sure like your winning words today, ha!!===JACK:  Do you have any knowledge of basic signing?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  It's good that they have signers during the news broadcasts now, (at least in My area of IL).I've had to talk VERY loudly to some of my elderly SS members, but none were actually deaf/ Fortunately I have my "teacher's voice" perfected after so many years! :-)  Yes, how thankful we are to have working hands!  Such a blessing!! My mom's hands were so misshapen

by arthritis in her final four years that she could hardly unction. I, so  far, have escaped that plague of old age!===JACK:  The handicapped look forward to "heaven" when imperfections will be made new again.  No more pain!  No more sorrow!  Quoting MLK Jr in another context.  "Free at last.  Frfee at last.  Thank God amighty, we are free at last."