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WITandWISDOM(tm) - October 12, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity." - Zig Ziglar Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) ACTS International, 2004, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.php ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Back in the 1970s I was a flight attendant with Piedmont Airlines. I had to deal with difficult passengers, but one in particular stands out. It was Thanksgiving Eve, and the plane was leaving Roanoke, Virginia, en route to Cincinnati. A man with a large bag got on. The plane was a small with no overhead bins. I told the man he'd have to check his bag. He let loose with a string of curse words, but finally gave in. A Bible passage I'd read that morning leaped to mind, about being kind even to those who mistreat you even when you don't feel like it. He continued to badger me. First he demanded a pillow. Then he complained I wasn't fast enough with his drink. Then his sandwich was soggy. On final approach he rang the call bell one last time. I got to the man's seat. I was stunned to see tears running down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry," he said, sobbing. "My mother is ill and I've been taking it out on you. Forgive me." "May I pray with you?" I asked. Where'd that come from? I'd never prayed with a passenger before. And this one had been so mean. "Yes," he answered. "God," I prayed, "please, help this man's mother, and grant him and his family peace." I thought about him a year later, when I had to work again on Thanksgiving Eve. Same plane, same trip, same time. I was welcoming passengers when one stopped short. "It's you! " he said. 'You prayed for my mother last year. I told her about it in the hospital. She left intensive care the next day and is doing fine now. In fact, she's making dinner for us. I can't wait to tell her I ran into you again!" Not for a moment did I think my prayers alone healed that woman. I'm sure others were praying for her. But the message was clear: When you're kind and pray for someone - even if the person is unkind - the sky's the limit. By Kay McDonald, Jeffersonville, Pennsylvania Source: Guideposts, Copyright (c) November 2005, http://www.guideposts.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: From Jokeworm: Fred Allen, on the radio program The Big Show, Dec. 17, 1950: Television is a new medium. It's called a medium because nothing is well-done. Tom Lehrer, lecturing in "The Nature of Math", 4/4/90: On my income tax 1040 it says 'Check this box if you are blind.' I wanted to put a check mark about three inches away. David Brenner: A vegetarian is a person who won't eat anything that can have children. Brian Kiley Got a piece of mail today, and it said, "This is not a bill." So I opened it up, and inside it said, "That was the envelope. This is the bill." Fred Allen: "A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done." Source: Jokeworm's Quotes, http://Jokeworm.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The three B's of public speaking are: Be brief, Be interesting, Be gone. The three S’s of public speaking are: Stand up, Speak up, Shut up, Sit down. ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: At the tender age of three, actor Peter Falk had his right eye surgically removed (and replaced with a glass one) when a malignancy was found. His glass eye did not prevent him from participating in team sports like baseball and basketball at school. In fact, despite his disability he excelled at both games and the eye became the source of much amusement. During one Little League game, Falk was called out by the umpire at third base. Falk, sure that he had been safe, angrily pulled his glass eye out of its socket and handed it to the umpire. "Here," he declared. "I think you might need this!" His daughter Catherine Falk is a private detective in real life. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000393/bio Submitted by Lorraine