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WITandWISDOM(tm) - January 15, 2004 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: All of us are always going to do better tomorrow, and we could, too, if only we started today. - Author Unknown Source: Carol's Thought for Today, http://www.kalama.com/~carola/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Ernest Gordon recounts an experience from his years as prisoner of the Japanese during World War II. In the Changi Prison for civilian internees at Singapore there was a man whose friend was sentenced to solitary confinement. He asked himself, "What can you do to help him?" The obvious answer was "Nothing." His friend was locked in a tiny cell in a section of the prison which was so heavily guarded that none could get in. One day the Methodist Bishop of Singapore saw him trying to cut another prisoner's hair. "Hello, John. I never knew you could cut hair." "I can't. It's something I've never done. I'm just learning." "Why?" "My friend is in solitary. He is allowed to have his hair cut once a month. So I thought I'd apply for the job." Some time later the Bishop heard that John had been appointed as the barber of those in solitary. He asked him how things were working out now that he could see John once a month. "Oh, I'd say fair." "You can't bring him anything, I know that. But can you speak to him?" "No." "Well, what can you do?" "This is what I do. While I'm snipping away at his hair, I keep saying to him, 'Please keep your chin up, keep your chin up.' The guards think this has something to do with the barbering trade, so I'm allowed to say it-and I do, over and over." Every church needs encouragers. There may be times when we can't say much more than "keep your chin up," but we could say that. Will you pledge today to become an encourager? We can never tell when someone is contemplating quitting or giving up when only an encouraging word is needed to motivate him to press on to victory. By Wilbur Irwin, from the newsletter of the Forest Hill Baptist Church, Jackson, Mississippi, February 16, 1983. Source: The Timothy Report, Copyright (c) 2003 Swan Lake Communications, http://www.swanlake.twoffice.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: I had just moved from an apartment to a house in the same small town. One day at the grocery store, I used the last of my personalized checks bearing my old address. The cashier examined the document and asked if everything on it was correct. I assured her that it was, and she started to put the check in the cash drawer. But then she inquired again if everything was accurate. "Why do you ask?" I responded. "Because," she replied, "my husband and I moved to this apartment yesterday, and I don't remember seeing you at breakfast." Submitted by Sherry Purdy ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Definition: Baby A loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Source: Joke For Your Day, mailto:baldmark@myexcel.com?subject=Subscribe_Joke_For_Your_Day ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: TOKYO (UPI) -- Japanese phone firm NTT DoCoMo has created a wristwatch phone that uses its owner's finger as an earpiece, the BBC reported. The gadget, dubbed Finger Whisper, uses a wristband to convert the sounds of conversation to vibrations that can be heard when the finger is placed in the ear. So far NTT has given no date for when a commercial version will go on sale. The Finger Whisper phone is reportedly answered by touching forefinger to thumb and then by putting the forefinger in the ear to hear who is ringing. The call is ended by again touching forefinger to thumb. Source: Science and Technology, http://www.arcamax.com |