Doing Good to All Men

We need to mirror the ability to state clearly and without equivocation our individual commitment to a statement of faith such as this:

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul - We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."       

- a portion of a reply to the Chicago Democrat in 1842

What a better world this would become!

Zig Ziglar's Most Unforgettable Character

By Zig Ziglar

The Eartha White story appeared in Reader’s Digest nearly 40 years ago. She was four-and-a-half feet tall and the daughter of a former slave. She believed that “service is the price we pay for the space we occupy on this planet.” She lived by the principle that each of us should do all the good we can in all the ways we can in all the places we can for all the people we can while we can.

Miss Eartha gave up a promising opera career to join her mother in trying to make things easier for the people who came to her mother’s free soup kitchen. She taught school for sixteen years, then used her small savings to open a department store that catered primarily to blacks. She eventually started a steam laundry, an employment agency, a real estate company and an insurance business. She amassed an estate worth well over a million dollars, only to commit most of it to projects that made her a one-woman welfare department.

Her life was about helping people. She reached down and lifted those who needed a hand up instead of a handout. She maintained an old folks boarding home for indigents and a mercy hospital for those who had become completely helpless. At another house she took in unwed mothers and in another she nursed alcoholics back to sobriety. She also donated buildings for two child care centers and turned a vacant movie house into a recreation center for slum children. Her deep faith led her to quote John 15:7 which says, “If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.”

She worked hard, lived expectantly and died fulfilled. If each one of us did a fraction of what she did, our contribution to society would be significant. The sheer joy of giving and doing for others is hard to top. Take action and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Ben Franklin's Secret to Success

Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of 13 virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726) and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life. His autobiography lists his 13 virtues as:

1. "Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
2. "Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
3. "Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
4. "Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
5. "Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
6. "Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
7. "Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
8. "Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
9. "Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
10. "Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
11. "Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
12. "Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
13. "Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates." 
    

Franklin did not try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week "leaving all others to their ordinary chance". While Franklin did not live completely by his virtues and by his own admission, he fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt made him a better man contributing greatly to his success and happiness, which is why in his autobiography, he devoted more pages to this plan than to any other single point; in his autobiography Franklin wrote, "I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit."