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WITandWISDOM(tm) – November 1, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Source: Cybersalt Digest, http://www.cybersalt.org/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: The late Danny Thomas lost his life savings of $600.00 at a time when he was out of work. He and his wife, Rosie, had a baby on the way, and they needed money. Danny worked at part-time jobs so Rosie could buy groceries. He also borrowed money from friends. It was a tough time in his life. A week before the baby was born, Danny had the grand total of seven dollars and eighty-five cents to his name. What would he do? "My despair led me to my first exposure to the powers of faith," Danny would later recall. On Sunday morning Danny went to church. When the offering plate was passed he put in his "usual one dollar." But something unexpected happened that day. A special missions offering was taken. The priest explained where the mission offering would go, and Danny felt he had to give something. "I got carried away," Danny said, "and ended up giving my seven dollars." He had given away all his money that Sunday. What in the world had he done? He walked up to the altar rail, got on his knees and prayed aloud. "Look, I've given my last seven bucks," he prayed. "I need it back tenfold because I've got a kid on the way, and I have to pay the hospital bill." He went home with a mere eighty-five cents in his pocket--all the money he had in the world. "You won't believe this," Danny Thomas later wrote, "but the next morning the phone rang in the rooming house hall." It was a job offer. He was offered a part in a commercial. The job wasn't much but the pay was good--seventy-five dollars. "I literally dropped the telephone receiver," Danny remembered. "First I whooped with joy; then an eerie feeling came over me." He remembered what he had prayed at church the day before. "The seventy-five dollar fee," he said, "unheard of for me at that time was almost exactly ten times the amount of money I had donated to the church." "Like Parent, Like Child," by Dr. Arthur G. Ferry, Jr. Source: Illustrations, http://www.cybersaltlists.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: BRISBANE, Australia (UPI) -- Harriet, a giant Galapagos tortoise who may have been raised by Charles Darwin, is 175 years old, a testimony to Darwin's survival of the fittest theory. Harriet, who is being cared for in Australia, is believed to have been hatched when Britain's Queen Victoria was a teenager, reports The Times of London. The tortoise's Australian handlers believe Darwin plucked her from obscurity in 1835, which would make her the oldest creature walking the planet. While a British micro-paleontologist thinks she was picked up by whalers for fresh meat, other support the more exotic theory is the claim that Harriet was one of four giant tortoises collected by Darwin's expedition to the Galapagos in 1835. The four were loaded on a boat, reaching Plymouth in 1836. Two died but Harriet and the fourth reptile was shipped to Australia in 1841. The fourth died in 1929. Whatever her bona fides and antecedents, no one doubts her age, with the most conservative estimate placing it at 170. So, Happy 170th (or 175th birthday), Harriet. Source: ArcaMax - Off the Wall, http://tinyurl.com/9kf44 The people on St. Helena say that their Jonathan the Tortoise is 215 years old. http://www.sartma.com/art_2006_7_0_1.html ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Vote early and vote often. - Al Capone Source: ToInspire Newsletter, http://www.toinspire.com ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: My wife and I entered a shop that had a sign out front proclaiming antiques. I asked the owner if he had any medals or badges. "No," he replied, "just my father-in-law's service medal, and it's not for sale." However, he showed it to me, repeating that it wasn't for sale. "That's right," his wife agreed, "we'd never part with Dad's medal." I examined the medal, which was in excellent condition, handed it back to him and also gave him my business card. "If you ever decide to sell it, please let me know." As we were leaving, the owner asked, "Just out of interest, how much would you have paid for it?" "Five hundred dollars," I replied. With a look of astonishment on his face, he stated: "It's yours!" Submitted by Lorraine