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WITandWISDOM(tm) – July 1, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us. – Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784 Source: The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time, Edited by John M. Shanahan, Copyright © 1999, http://isbn.nu/0060194111 ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Only one car now stood between us and the Austrian/Yugoslavian border, but I knew that our wait was far from over. The Yugoslavian border personnel were already emptying its trunk, rummaging through its suitcases and ransacking its food baskets. Nothing was left untouched, and it had been exactly the same for each of the 50 cars that we had already watched pass through. Some of them had even been refused admittance! Most of the drivers and passengers ahead of us had seemed to take this all in stride. After all, in 1981, before the fall of communism, this was a pretty routine border crossing between the east and the west! But I was an 19-year-old U.S. citizen who had only been in Europe for three months. To me, it was FAR from routine! My final destination was the beautiful country of Greece, where my brother and I planned to spend the three-week Christmas break getting to know the culture, history and people of this ancient land. Our ultimate plan for travel was to hitchhike (we were young and foolish in those days, but God is merciful!), but when a lovely Greek couple from the school we were attending in Austria offered to drive with them as far as Thessalonica, we were happy enough to accept. But what we hadn't known until now was that this couple were "smuggling" a television set into Yugoslavia to leave with some friends in Belgrade. Neither did we realize how illegal it was to bring electronics into Eastern Europe! As I now watched the people in the car ahead of us get out and begin emptying out their pockets, terror grew in my heart. There was no way around it. We would be caught red-handed with the television. Would we be allowed into the country? Would they realize that my brother and I were just innocent passengers? Would they throw us all in jail? I held my breath, my heart pounding wildly as the border guard approached our car and asked for our passports. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the command to get out, to open the trunk, to start emptying out suitcases and backpacks, to uncover that television . . . But to my amazement, the guard quickly flipped through the two Greek passports on the top of the stack and was now staring at the last two in his hand, the ones marked: "United States of America". He said something in Yugoslavian, but all we understood was "American", then he hurried forward, waving the two US passports in the air. A short but animated discussion arose among the border guards, and in a matter of seconds, he was back at our window, handing us the stack of passports. "American! American!" He said. "Pass! Pass!" It was just as easy as that! We entered Yugoslavia with our smuggled television, without even having to open the trunk! Why? Because we carried the right passports. Friends, there will come a day for each of us when we must also cross a border-the border between Heaven and Earth. This border is even more stringent than the one between Austria and Yugoslavia. In fact, by ourselves, we will NEVER be able to pass over at all. But there is a way. Jesus says: "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture" (John 10:9 NIV). Lyn Chaffart Source: Illustrator, http://www.answers2prayer.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Just Think About - Stan Kegel Notice! Take lettuce from top of stack, or heads will roll! A TV can insult your intelligence, but nothing rubs it in like a computer. I tried to get in touch with my inner child but he isn't allowed to talk to strangers. I have to take my paycheck to the bank. It's too little to go by itself. We're lucky to have C-SPAN. Not many countries can watch their government in action. I must be following my diet too closely. I keep gaining on it. Welcome to Megacomputer's 24-hour helpline. If you have been waiting LESS than 24 hours, please remain on the line. Whenever I'm in a mood to watch the world go by, I just keep to the posted speed limit. Submitted by B.B. ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: One woman tells of a time her dog disappeared. After searching diligently, she placed a "lost dog" ad in the local newspaper. The following morning her phone rang and a weak, cracking voice began, "I'm calling about your dog." Then the caller coughed and cleared her voice a few times. She explained that she wasn't feeling well and that, in fact, she had not felt well since her husband's death three years ago. She went on to relate that her parents, too, had passed away since then and her sister was diagnosed with a fatal ailment. Even her friends, she continued, were not doing well, and she gave details of their various maladies and described the funerals of several of them. After 30 minutes of listening, sympathizing and even trying offers of help, the dog owner steered the conversation back to the original subject. "About the dog," she began. "Oh," the caller replied, "I don't have him. I just thought I'd call to cheer you up." Steve Goodier is the editor of The Life Support System, a motivational e-newsletter delivered daily to 85,000 subscribers in over 100 nations. His inspirational newsletter and books are available through his website at http://www.lifesupportsystem.com Source: Life Support System, mailto:LifeSupport-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: This is an unofficial list of well-known unsolved codes and ciphers. A couple of the better-known unsolved ancient historical scripts are also thrown in, since they tend to come up during any discussion of unsolved codes. http://elonka.com/UnsolvedCodes.html Source: Nybble Bi-Weekly Newsletter, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nybble