I get an email every weekday from Jack Freed with the latest entry to the Jack’s Winning Words blog. Many times they serve as the inspiration for what I post here. Jack finds little quotes from various sources and adds a short comment to each to provoke thought and reflection. I’m sure that he intends that each day’s post stand alone; however I found that two recent posts just seem to go together.
Today’s post was – “Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.” (John Dryden)
As Jack (and me, too) gets older he is more cognizant of the ravages and toll of age on the body, while the mind can still race around and jump as if it were still young. I certainly notice it more as I try to keep up the gardens around my historic home.
Last Friday’s post was – “Every wall has a door.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Jack used that quote to offer life advice about overcoming difficulties in life. I’ve often written about that topic here.
It hit me, when I saw those two quotes in juxtaposition in my mail in-box that they really go together as a way to look at the end time of life. After all, death seems to be the final wall that we all face.
Certainly the human body does begin to break down and eventually gives up altogether; however, God has clearly given us a door in that wall, a way to overcome the death of the human body – eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ.
Just as believing that you can overcome obstacles in life is critical to success in problem solving; believing in the eternal life promised by Jesus is critical to opening the door to the wall that death seems to represent.
Like many other things in life, we all tend to overthink this topic. We focus in our minds too much on the scientific facts that we understand about death and not enough on the promise that our faith demands that we believe. There was another quote, this one from Bob Dylan that Jack used sometime ago that also fits here –
“You either believe or you don’t believe, there ain’t no in between.”
Death is just another wall in our lives and Jesus is the door in that wall. Thus, the title for today’s post – Believe and the door will open for you.
Have a great week ahead…
Posted by Norm Werner 
may not yet fully understand is that they are fitting in by filling the unique role that they play as the individual that they are. It can be especially hard to understand if the person is what we would call “good looking’, yet insecure about themselves. Julia Roberts, of the movie Pretty Woman, related in a magazine interview how she was an awkward and insecure person as a teen.
much too often lately. Then we see the back-stories of ostracism or bulling that led to the bad decision to strike back with violence. We hear from parents who didn’t see what was going on in their children’s lives. Sometimes we blame then for not stepping in and preventing the tragedy. In fact, it is a societal problem.
held by group members have become “litmus tests” for those seeking their political support. It is sad that our prejudices and fears have now taken on a role of political power and divisiveness.
the best you that you can be, because the world doesn’t have another you. If you don’t be you, no one else can fill that role.
raise that we work towards; but, those wild and crazy and fun dreams that we had as children. We become excessively serious and boring if we restrain our imaginations and stop dreaming.
real world and be that person who can fly again. Be there to make history or witness history being made. Be the bus driver, if only for a few moments.
formidable Sonny Liston. Nobody gave the young, brash Clay a chance against the bigger Liston, who had destroyed the former champion Floyd Patterson. When Clay made good on his boast that he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” and knocked out Liston, he proclaimed to the world, in the post-fight interview with Howard Cosell that he was ”the greatest of all time”.
So, if you are looking for amusement, go see the latest super heroes movie or dress up and go to a convention and enjoy yourself; but, if you are looking for the only true super hero of all time to save you, look to Jesus. With Him on your side; there are no foes that can defeat you, not even death. Now that’s a super hero worth following.
WE lost the ability to find compromises; the desire through give and take to find enough common ground to allow for peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence. Instead, we have retreated further and further away from compromise and into heavily armed and fortified positions; our fortifications made up of hate, bigotry and 
distrust and our weapons those of hateful speech and actions.
to love one another.
love them and accept them as Jesus loved us. We need to include them in our US.
This election season, let us all try to avoid the WE vs. THEM candidates and find the champions of US that are out there. Get out and vote for US.
world. Most of the time we are trying to appear to be normal and maybe even “cool” (or what we think is cool). Very few people set out each day to be perceived by others as being a dork or a jerk or anything negative, yet many achieve those distinctions through their actions and behavior.
you when you are gone and is happy when you return. He or she just wants to be accepted and welcomed into your “pack” and maybe be given an occasional treat and a pat on the head.
work for you. Start by putting a smile on your face and being conscious that you are smiling. Greet others when you meet them, rather than just looking away. Resolve to take the time to greet and speak to those whom you already know and to make the effort to meet some new people today. See if being perceived as a friendlier and welcoming person doesn’t make you feel better at the end of the day. Perhaps you will even find that your day was more successful, because more people felt good about meeting and interacting with you.
the end of winter and the arrival of Spring. In a larger sense, it is a metaphor for the celebration of life. As Hartley pointed out, children seem to find fun in life no matter what is going on around them. One can see that in the occasional news stories of children finding a way to play in the midst of war-torn countries. For them life is always fun, bright, colorful and full of things to discover.
We begin to believe that we can control things, manipulate things and decide outcomes to events and not to trust that God is in control. Many may substitute something new in place of the Maypole – success in business with promotions and more money – and dance around those goals in the belief that having more of everything will bring happiness.
working out for you? Don’t play the fool; return to the only true thing that you need to center your life around. Dance around God and be happy again, as if you were a child.
believe. Fred never talked down to the children; but, instead, he took the time to explain things to them, like how to be a friend.
reach out to God, who never leaves us, and ask His help to carry on. There are things that we cannot and will not ever “understand”; so, we must ask instead for the faith and strength to just accept them and move on.
people.
me. Worse is to discovering that someone that I may have been avoiding because of some pre-conceived notion or prejudice is actually a very interesting person from whom I might learn or at least enjoy knowing. When we judge someone from afar, based solely on their outward appearance, we blind ourselves to the true value that they have and the hidden stories that they could share.
and to listen to their hidden stories. You’ll be the better for it and perhaps they will gain from knowing you, too.
extent that we don’t look away from it long enough to see the lives that need touching as they pass us by. How can one see the distress and fear in the eyes of someone in need, if our eyes are glued to the screens of our smartphones? How can one have the conversation that leads to understanding of those needs if one is busy texting someone else with the 
touching and improving the lives of others. How powerful is that? Nothing else that you will do with your life will have greater impact than changing the lives of others for the better.
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