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 
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.
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 
latest “news” of our day?
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.
that man has imposed upon those who seek to share their faith by joining a religious organization. That is especially true for younger people who have reached an age where they question the validity of everything; especially the rules of behavior and practice imposed their religion. If not before, college is certainly a place where that questioning take hold of young lives for a while. Eventually one is able to separate out the things that are man-made in religions from the foundations of faith and belief in God and become able to accept some of the practices of organized religions in order to share in the celebration of that common faith in God. It is in the quite peace of prayer that one reaffirms one’s beliefs and faith; and, it is in religious celebrations and church services that one shares the joy of that faith.
with questioning one’s faith. Centuries ago, Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church and the practices of granting religious indulgences. That challenge eventually led to the split from the Catholic Church that led to the formation of all modern Protestant denominations. The fact that there are so many different denominations and variations within denominations just further shows the hand of man in religions. The base upon which all are built remains the belief in God and His Son, Jesus, and, as Dylan said, “You either got it or you ain’t.”
medicine seems to be focused more upon relief of symptoms than actual healing. Whatever you have, there’s a pill for that, or at least a pill to make you feel better while it runs its course. Nature still takes care of that over time.
what ails us. That certainly beats the opioid option that modern medicine has come up with as a solution. From time to time we see studies that indicate the power of prayer in “miraculous” recoveries from some disease or condition. Perhaps it is the power of that prayer to encourage us to persevere while nature works its cure. Just sayin’ that there’s nothing wrong with prayin’.
like that where you feel like turning to God and saying, “A little help here, God.”
So start today and every day by awakening the power of God in your life and you will be able to approach the day like the kids in 
NormsMilfordBlog 