Jack’s Winning Words  5/17/22 “In order for the light to shine brightly, the darkness must be present.”  (Sir Francis Bacon)  The darkest dark that I have ever seen was in the depths of Carlsbad Caverns.  At one point our guide lit a candle and the massive cavern flooded with brightness.  Some rooms are like that…filled with darkness and sadness.  Then, suddenly, a person with just the right words speaks, and the whole atmosphere changes.  Perehaps you can be “that light” to someone today.  “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine!”  ;-)  Jack FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  and are we not glad that light dispels darkness and not the other way around!?===JACK:  There seems to be a real danger of that in our world today.  I had in mind (what I thought was) a clever response, but "politcal correctness keeps me from using it.     FROM NORM'S BLOG:  Darkness seems to be forever linked with bad things happening, but is may just be an indication of how someone is reacting to things going on around them. The world can seem to be closing in on them, blocking out the goodness (the light) that is still there. They focus on the darkness and don’t see the light.   If you know someone who seems surrounded and overcome by darkness,  Perhaps you can be “that light” to someone today.  “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine!”===JACK:  There's a song I learned in Sunday School..."In this world of darkness we must shine...you in your small corner, and I in mine."  FROM BB IN CHGO:  Wonderful    !  I think I sent a book to you about darkness, written by an Episcopal pastor.  She referred to certain Christian circles as having “full solar spirituality” i.e. denying the darkness because we have a risen Lord.  That truth allows us to carry the light within and hopefully be a light to others.  Yet, it does not mean we do not also experience difficulty and darkness in our journey.===JACK:  I'm in the dark.  I can't recall getting that book.   FROM WILLMAR REV:  ". . . shine all over Willmar, yes, I'm going to let it shine . . . let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!!" 0;-)===JACK:  While singing that song, did you ever wave your finger in the air, pretending that it was a candle?  FROM INDY GENIE:  So true and one of my favorite songs! My granddaughter Grace had her First Communion celebration on Saturday and the last song in the service was “This little light of mine!” You know we were all singing it with gusto and hand movements. And a little dancing too:) ===JACK:  Leave it to the Lillstrom girls to "jazz up" a church service.  What a great song for a child's Communion celebration. FROM GUSTIE:  So true!===JACK:  Was "This Little Light of Mine" part of the Larks' song list? FROM CAROLE R:  Winning and wise words.===JACK:  I try to make them worth your reading.  FROM NORM'S BLOG:  One of life’s toughest tasks may be becoming comfortable just being yourself. Most of us spend a good deal of our lives (some spend their entire life this way) trying to be something or someone that we are not, usually to please someone else. These charades begin in childhood when we are constantly told by our parents to act in certain ways, ways that may not necessarily be how we want to act. We go along to get along.  As we age, we become more cognizant of how others are acting and how they react to us, we start playing the games of emulating the look or actions of others in order to “fit in”. The fact that we can never actually be like someone else leads to frustration and, in some, can lead to depression. The fact is that we have not become comfortable just being who we are. ===JACK:  I remember a poem with the title: Be Whatever You Are...by Douglas Malloch.