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WITandWISDOM(tm) - November 16, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. - Albert Einstein Source: Quote Lady's Quote of the Day, mailto:quote-a-day-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: People give gifts for many different reasons. Some people give Christmas presents because everybody is doing it, or because they would like something in return. Others give money to their church because they know they should. Martha Berry was different. She gave money, effort, and time to help others, but she also gave something far beyond any of those things. She gave herself. Born on a large plantation in Georgia just after the Civil War, Martha had all the advantages of a fine Southern family. She could have settled down to a life of ease as the wife of one of the wealthy young men who wanted to marry her. But Martha had other ideas. Ever since she was a small girl riding the hills on horseback with her father, she had noticed the way the hill people were forced to live in poor, rundown shacks, often with only greasy meat cooked over a fireplace and a slab of corn pone to eat. As she grew older she realized that these people didn't know how to live better. "Would you like to hear some Bible stories?" Martha asked three dirty-faced boys peering in through the window at her as she sat reading one day. The boys were shy but curious, so they finally came in and listened as Martha made Daniel and David come alive. The next Sunday the boys brought their sisters. Martha could see that the children were bright and willing, and right there she began her lifework of educating the hill children. After her class grew too large for the cabin, she moved it to an old church in Possum Trot. To encourage families living in isolated places to attend Sunday school, Martha rode her horse through the hills, giving personal invitations. As she approached a cabin, the children would cry out, "Here comes the Sunday lady from Possum Trot!" Before Martha died at the age of 75, her little Sunday school had grown into a school for boys and another for girls, with 125 buildings and a student body of more than 1,200. Martha Berry's school is now Berry College in Rome, Georgia. It continues on in her tradition. Source: Climbing Jacob's Ladder, by Jeanne Larson & Ruth McLin, © Copyright 1979 by Review and Herald Publishing Association ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: I don't wanna do the dishes I don't wanna do the wash I sprinkled clothes a week ago And now my iron is lost!! I don't wanna rattle pots I don't wanna rattle pans I see the mail light flashin' I wanna chat with friends!! Oh the tables need some dustin' and the floor could sure be mopped But I know if I get started there'll be no place to stop The closets are so full things are falling off the shelves I wish for cleaning fairies and magic little elves. They could sprinkle fairy dust and twitch their little nose The windows would be sparkling I would have no dirty clothes Oh I know that I'm just dreamin' My head is in the sky I must cook that meat that's graying and bake that apple pie The Hubby needs a bath Doggy needs attention Oh.. the other way around I mean my brain is in suspension I am runnin' round in circles I am gettin' nothin' done, I keep thinking of my web I am missing all the fun!!! Well I know I'm not addicted though I hear that all the time But I guess this stuff can wait on me Cause Today I'll Be On Line!!! Author Unknown Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A sign posted on the wall of an Army mess read, "Don't Waste Food -- Food will win the war." Beneath someone had written, That's fine, but how do we get the enemy to eat it? Source: The Lame Humor List, http://absoluterobeo.com ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Source: United Press International PERTH, Australia (UPI via COMTEX) -- Australian scientists have used a keepsake baby tooth to solve the mystery of the death of a couple's 7-year-old daughter, 14 years after she died. Scientists from the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the Neurogenetics and Forensic Laboratories determined the girl died from Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder. The researchers used a gene test on DNA extracted from the baby tooth to make the diagnosis. "Despite intensive investigation, the little girl's condition went undiagnosed by doctors all through her life, so the fact that the cause of her illness and death was finally pinpointed gave the family the information they needed to understand what had happened," said Ravine. "Not knowing what was causing their daughter's illness, her parents began to wonder if they were somehow responsible." Copyright 2005 by United Press International, http://www.upi.com Source: ArcaMax – Science & Technology, http://tinyurl.com/9kf44