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WITandWISDOM(tm) - February 21, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never enjoy. - Greek Proverb Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Twelve-year-old William Colgate woke with a start as someone pounded on the door of the house. It was the middle of the night in the small town of Shoreham, near London. William Pitt, the British prime minister, had sent a private messenger to warn his friend - Colgate's father - that he must leave England or risk imprisonment or death. People knew that Robert Colgate had sympathized with the Americans during their recent fight for independence. So, in March 1795, the Colgates boarded ship for Baltimore. When the family arrived in America, they settled on a farm. Then William's father formed a partnership with Ralph Maher to manufacture soap and candles, and William helped the two men. The partnership dissolved after two years - William's father wanted to get back to farming. William, 19 years old, decided that he would go into business on his own. However, his business failed within a year. William determined to try again - this time in New York City. "Be sure you start right, and you'll get along well," advised a friend, a canal-boat captain who was a Christian. "Someone will be the leading soap maker in New York. It may be you! "Be a good man. Give your heart to Christ. Give God all that belongs to Him. Make an honest soap. Give a full pound." William read the Old Testament story of Jacob's vow. When Jacob left home, he said, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God. . . and of all that you [God] give me I will give you a tenth." - Genesis 28:20-22 Jacob's vow challenged William. He made a similar vow; he determined to give God first place in his life, and he also promised to give a tenth - a tithe - of his profits to God. In 1804, at the age of 21, William found employment with tallow chandlers Slidel and Company, where he learned more about the soap-making business. When, two years later, the company ceased production, William was ready to try again. William Colgate and Company met with success from the start. Within six years he added the manufacture of starch to his laundry-soap business. Later, he also produced hand soap and a variety of toilet and shaving soaps. As Colgate's business grew, so did his family. In 1811, he married Mary Gilbert, and they became the parents of 11 children - giving most biblical names. They attended church, had family worship, and read the Bible together. William became known as Deacon Colgate in his church. He liberally supported missions, temperance (the Colgates allowed no alcohol in their home), and Christian education. He donated large sums to several educational institutions, including Madison College, in Hamilton, New York. It's now called Colgate University in his honor. William never forgot his promise to God. From the first dollar he earned he devoted 10 percent of his net earnings to benevolence. As he prospered, he instructed his accountants to increase the amount to 20 percent and later to 30 percent. It seemed that the more he gave, the more he prospered. William saw, in his business, the fulfillment of the promise made to tithe payers that God will " 'throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." - Malachi 3:10 He took an active interest in the Bible, particularly its translation, publication, and distribution. In 1816, he helped organize the American Bible Society, and later he assisted in forming the American and Foreign Bible Society. The soap king died on March 25, 1857, but his influence continues. The Colgate name lives on in products in supermarkets throughout the world. And the name still preaches a sermon to those who know his story. By Robert Wearner, Ooltewah, Tennessee Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) November 2002, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com Submitted by Dale Galusha ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: You know you are living in the year 2003 when: 1. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is because they do not have e-mail. 2. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three. 3. Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver. 4. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home. 5. Every commercial on television has a web site address at the bottom of the screen. 6. You buy a computer and 3 months later it's out of date and sells for half the price you paid. 7. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go get it. 8. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make a purchase would be a hassle and take planning. 9. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave. 10. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow. 11. Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet. 12. Your idea of being organized is multiple-colored Post-it notes. 13. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person. 14. You get an extra phone line so you can get phone calls. 15. You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful feeling, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one. 16. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee. 17. You wake up at 2 AM to go to the bathroom and check your E-mail on your way back to bed. 18. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :) 19. You're reading this and nodding and laughing. 20.. Even worse; you know exactly who you are going to forward this to . . . Submitted by Lynda Walcker ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Mr. Peterson, a tourist from Toronto, arrived in Israel. In an airport taxi cab, Peterson asked the driver, "Say, is this really a healthful place?" "It sure is," the cabby replied. "When I came here I couldn't say one word. I had hardly any hair on my head. I didn't have the strength to walk across a room, and I had to be lifted out of bed." "That's wonderful!" said the tourist, "How long have you been here?" "I was born here." Source: Clean Laugh, http://www.cybersalt.org/lists.htm ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Shutdown Tool We've covered various shutdown/reboot tools before, including: "Wizmo" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-09-05.htm#1 "P owerOff" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-04-22.htm#5 and others. Now, Karen Kenworthy has released her own "PowerTool" version of this type of software, called "PTStopper." Like some of the others, it's fast, free, and fully-featured, offering easy ways to shutdown, poweroff, reboot, logoff, suspend or hibernate your PC either by clicking, by typing a command, or by timed event. But as usual, Karen also offers very clear explanations, so you not only pick up some free software and learn how to use it, but may also learn something about your PC's operations and options. You can read about PTStopper at http://www.karenware.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-28.asp and while you're there, check out her newsletter and CD. |