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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 24, 2004 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. - Martin Luther King Jr. Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Among many illustrations of this sterling quality of real nobleness is that of the celebrated Adam Clarke, the commentator on the Bible. When a lad he was put to work in a linen factory in Ireland. One day while thus engaged, a piece of cloth was wanted to be sent out, which proved to be short of the quantity required. The master, however, had an idea that it might be made the proper length by stretching. He thereupon unrolled it, and taking hold of one end himself, he gave Adam the other and said, "Pull, Adam, pull." "I cannot, sir." "Why?" asked the master. "Because it is wrong, sir," was the brave lad's reply. Hearing this the master declared he would not do for a cloth manufacturer and sent him off home. The result was he became the friend of the Duke of Lupec, and ultimately one of the most learned commentators on the Bible England has ever had. Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) July 24, 1893, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: As the passengers settled in on a West Coast commuter flight, a flight attendant announced, "We'd like you folks to help us welcome our new co-pilot. He'll be performing his first commercial landing for us today, so be sure to give him a big round of applause when we come to a stop." The plane made an extremely bumpy landing, bouncing hard two or three times before taxiing to a stop. Still, the passengers applauded. Then the attendant's voice came over the intercom, "Thanks for flying with us. And don't forget to let our co-pilot know which landing you liked best." Source: Good, Clean Funnies, http://www.slonet.org/~tellswor ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you're not in shape for it, it's too far to walk back. Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Blackbird roosts are a common thing in the Southern United States. The size of these roosts vary, but they can be made up of millions of various kinds of blackbirds that come together each night. While the roosts are common enough, little is known about how the birds behave in the roost or how they come to select the location for it. However, two ornithologists happened to observe the beginnings of one of these roosts, and their report is remarkable. Steve Fretwell and Elmer Finck observed a roost of about 300,000 blackbirds. It was apparently the first morning of the roost. The birds departed, flying just south of due east. The next morning the birds all flew out due east. On the third morning the birds flew just north of east. Each morning thereafter, the birds would shift the direction of flight by about twenty-five or thirty degrees counterclockwise on the compass. Furthermore, when the birds returned each evening, they would be flying in a long continuous stream from a direction about fifteen degrees counterclockwise from the direction in which they had left that morning. The birds continued this rotation each day until they had completed the circle and were ready, or so the watchers thought, to begin the circle again. But on the morning after the blackbirds had completed their rotation, they broke into different flocks and flew in no apparent pattern to all points of the compass. It appeared that they had scouted all the country roundabout and were each now on their own to find what they could in the area. As Fretwell tells it: "It was a mob scene, with waves of birds heading out in all directions." Source: Glimpses of God's Love by James A. Tucker and Priscilla Tucker, Copyright (c) 1983 by Review and Herald Publishing Association, http://isbn.nu/0828002169 Submitted by Nancy Simpson |