Jack’s Winning Words 12/30/20

“We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it?”  (Marcus Aurelius)  I was reading an article on what to expect next year.  There’ll be change, but no change.  The pandemic will get worse before it gets better.  Work on climate change will improve the environment, but 2021 will be the hottest on record.  There’ll be an increase in bankruptcies…I-phones will improve and fold (like my old flip-phone)…Teezo Touchdown will be in the news.  What changes do you expect, or want?  ;-)  Jack

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Blessings on President Biden as he copes with all the changes that come! We have to welcome the new year hoping it will bring better things, but no matter, our Lord will be with us in it.===JACK: Blessings on the changes that will come into your life in 2021...and  as they come to each of us.

FROM JB IN OLV:  May you enjoy all good things in the New Year and learn from the bad.......this from my dear departed Mother.  Every year during the time between Christmas and New Year this was  a sentence my Mother used often.  It was good preparation for a young person to expect the good and to to accept that there will be some bad experiences too.===JACK:  Saintly advice from your mother.  It was good for you as a youth and, now, as an adult.  A gift that keeps on giving.

FROM GUSTIE:  You paint a pretty picture.  Uff Da!===JACK:  Think of the changes that came in 2020....Are we ready for another NEW year?===G:  I want to start going backwards.===JACK:  Wouldn't that be interesting?  I think that we'd begin to miss the adult experiences as we retreat to the teens, to the toddler phase and even to birth.  Are you sure you want to live backwards?

FROM JJ IN SJ:  Positive thought for the day.  The snow is light and fluffy and it’s 20 degrees out !  However if I see you out making snow angels I will call 911. ===JACK:  You "paint" a pretty winter scene....pretty awful: para-medics picking me up.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  i have always liked a change of underwear... ===JACK:  As we used to say when handling dirty underwear in my growing up home...P! U!

FROM WILLMAR REV:  Repeating the words of a good pastoral friend of mine this morning, "There’ll be change, but no change." 0;-)===JACK:  Danger time in the Church....When a new pastor comes and he hears, "We've never done it this way before."  In my first congregation they were used to a printout at the end of the year with the name of each member and how much they contributed during the year.  It was handed out with the Sunday bulletin.  From the pulpit I saw people scanning the sheet instead of listening to the sermon.  The next year, a change was made...and (to the surprise of some) giving increased.===REV:  How true...timing is so important and being able to read our congregation’s responsiveness for our best interests. 0;-)===JACK:  It's nice when things go smoothly.