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WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 24, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: They will say you are on the wrong road, if it is your own. - Antonio Porchi Source: Quote Lady's Quote of the Day, mailto:quote-a-day-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: The life of Abraham Lincoln was shaped by his godly mother. When Lincoln was but nine years of age, he promised his mother on her deathbed that he would never use alcohol or tobacco. She had observed the influence of these narcotics upon others. That promise was never broken. Had it not been for Lincoln’s mother, and the promise he then made to her, probably nothing would have ever been heard of the man. Lincoln’s mother taught him the meaning of prayer. She wisely encouraged him in the reading of the Bible and helped him to memorize many of its inspiring passages. The following story, told by his friend, Captain Gilbert J. Greene, illustrates how well he used this knowledge in later years: “One day, while practicing law in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln said to me, ‘Gilbert, there is a woman dangerously ill about fifteen miles in the country who has sent for me to come and write her will. I should like to have you go with me.’ I cheerfully accepted the invitation. When we arrived we could see that the woman had but a few hours to live. After the will had been written, witnessed, and signed, the dying woman said to Mr. Lincoln, ‘Now, I have my affairs of this world in order, and I have also made preparation for the life to come, I do not fear death.’ “Mr. Lincoln replied, ‘Your faith is wise and strong. Your hope of a future life is a blessed one.’ She asked him then if he would read a few verses from the Bible. They offered him the Book, but he laid it aside and began reciting from memory the twenty-third Psalm. Then he quoted the first part of the fourteenth chapter of John, ‘In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’ “After he had given these and other quotations from the Bible, he recited several hymns, closing with ‘Rock of Ages, cleft for me.’ A little later the woman passed away. As we rode home in the buggy, I expressed surprise that he should have acted as pastor as well as attorney so perfectly, and he replied, ‘God and eternity were very near us today.’ “ Lincoln declared, “All that I have, all that I am, I owe to my mother.” His mother taught him lessons of patience and integrity. By D. H. Kress Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) May 4, 1954, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Thoughts On Exercise "Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness." (Edward Stanley) "A man's health can be judged by what he takes two of at a time - pills or stairs." (Joan Welsh) "My idea of exercise is a good, brisk sit." (Phyllis Diller) "I am pushing sixty. That is enough exercise for me." (Mark Twain) "Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading." (Thomas Jefferson) "True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body, the two are ever united." (Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt) Source: Mark Mail, http://mrhumor.net/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: It was Sunday evening and Harry Ironside had preached five times that day. He was weary, and on the way home his wife asked a question to which he responded with irritation. Immediately he felt conviction, and apologized to his wife. Saying: "Forgive me, I am quite tired. Remember, I have preached five times today." To which his wife responded, "Yes, dear, I know. But remember, I have had to listen to you five times today!" (Moody Monthly) Source: Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter/subscribe.html ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: It appears there will be no bonuses in the Somerville police department this year. That's because police in the Massachusetts town accidentally discarded more than $31,000 in confiscated drug money when they sent an old desk to the landfill, according to a May 12 Associated Press report. They didn't realize that an evidence technician -- while doing some cleaning of the evidence rooms -- had stashed the cash in a drawer of the broken desk. While the tech was out of the office, officers helping with the cleanup project threw out the desk along with other old furniture. When the technician returned to work and realized what had happened, officers went to the Rochester, NH landfill to try to retrieve the money. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived the desk was buried under hundreds of tons of super-dense, hydraulically compacted waste, and even with heavy equipment they couldn't get to the desk. "A very bad mistake," acting police chief Robert Bradley said of losing the money. The $31,535, which covers about a dozen investigations conducted by Somerville police since July 1, 2005, was to have been split between the department and the Middlesex County district attorney's office if prosecutors won convictions in those cases. Source: Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter/subscribe.html