Jack’s Winning Words 1/12/22

“Never feel sorry for raising dragon slayers in a time when there are actual dragons.”  (Facebook post)  Some think that due to current affairs, it is not a “good” time to bring children into the world. These thoughts have occurred in previous generations too, but the dragon slayers prevailed.  My first great-grandchild was born last year.  I’m confident she and other “pandemic babies” will do great things in their lifetime.  Whether past or present, there are dragons out there for each generation, and we need strong people to confront them.  For my generation, it was social issues and racial unrest.  I like the hymn that became the rallying cry for that time: We Shall Overcome. What was the name of the dragon that you faced?  In the long run, many of our dragons turn out to be imaginary.  ;-)  Jack

ROM MAGGIE:  Hello, Jack. You and I faced the same dragons. We are the same generation. I would like to add the dragon of disease, specifically TB. Mike and I waved to our dad for a year while he was treated for TB in a tuberculosis sanitarium near Union Lake Michigan. Until recently the disease had been eradicated from the US population (thanks to the dragon slayers). However, it has begun to pop up here and there. I pray that your 2022 will be dragon free 😉 ===JACK:  You've reminded me that I once spent a summer as a student chaplain for TB patients in Chicago.  At the end of summer I had to be tested to see if I had contracted the disease.  I remember how anxious I was waiting for the test results.  Yes, each "time" has its dragons.

FROM WILLMAR REV:  A little tongue in cheek comment this morning…first nine years of our marriage we were never successful in bearing a child…when moving in ministry from Ohio to Missouri we made a choice to drop the maternity benefits thinking there was no reason to pay for something that was seemingly not going to happen…within that first year our son, Joseph, was born and we just celebrated his 43rd birthday yesterday!! 0;-)===JACK:  I don't think that Mary and Joseph had maternity benefits, either...and they were able to survive.  The Lord will provide.  Do you remember when you were 43?  The prime of life! ===REV:  …had been in Willmar a few months with this welcomed ministry that has ventured me over  thirty years of experience.===JACK:  Do you know of the hymn:  "God calling, yet, shall I not hear?  Earth's pleasures shall I still hold dear?"  It's funny how those old Sunday School songs keep popping up in my mind.

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  are you going to tell them they can't slay oppressive tyrants, tho? bc to do so might be "unkind" or something...i am an only bc cuban missile crisis. were the nice castro bros are off-limits, too?===JACK:  Some things are best seen in the rear view mirror.  There comes a time to move on... and to fight new dragons.  Each generation seems to be apprehensive as to how the new generation will face its dragons.  I have confidence in my great granddaughter..  One of the dragons that needs to be slain is the "hatred" prevalent today.===LIZ:  hatred? pls review your prior email to me. am i a bad peraon bc i disagree w/you politically. would hitler deserve the death penalty?  why is it "the other side" can't discuss or express an opinion anymore? bc it hurts your feelings? bc it's the truth, and might escape if you let it?  i am relieved to see biden tanking at 28%, so more people seem to be getting it despite efforts to silence us "dissenters."===JACK:  You're reading between the lines.  I wrote about "hatred" in general and did not connect it to you or any other individual.  As a child, I never liked it when someone yelled, "I hate you."  I still dislike the word, when used without specifics.

FROM BNB NIN CHGO:  I love you and I love this post. Once again thank you so much. I’d submit the issues faced today are precisely those you enumerated, social issues and racial unrest.  Just started reading/meditating on “The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice” after meeting the author last summer.  He’s a prof at Creighton.  The book includes brief essays and journaling prompts for each day allowing us to consider how we may have a closer relationship with Christ by seeing Him in others.  All of the others, irrespective of ethnicity, background and such.  The prompts are very thought-provoking.===JACK:  Most dragons have "people" faces.  The dragon-problem is solved when the people-problem is solved.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Not a personal issue, but cancer is definitely a dragon for many, and heart  failure another one which is personal!  But of course we enjoy much better health than previous generations into old age!! I think Covid will be around for a very long time, unfortunately!!===JACK:  "Our days are numbered."  I remember when people reached their 90s that they were REALLY old.  ...not you nor me.

FROM DR J IN FLA:  I love this post… we definitely need more dragon slayers! Great analogy!===JACK:  I think that you're raising one.

FROM DAZ IN CO:  I remember people saying the same thing about not bringing children into the world during the cold war. I was working on missile guidance systems then and did raise a family. That dragon was slain.  But we always seem to raise new ones. How many dragons have we seen come and go during our lifetime?===JACK:  If we run short of dragons the media and politicians are right there to create new ones.  I like the words of Scripture: "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."