HOW to be RIGHT ALL the TIME
When I say right I mean doing things in accordance with some reason or set
standard.
My thoughts this week were inspired by reading
an old book from my husband’s office. The blue, cloth-bound book is titled Will Rogers: Ambassador of Good Will, Prince
of Wit and Wisdom by P.J. O’Brien.
I noticed the fly leaf contained an
inscription from my husband’s grandmother to another family member, Christmas 1935.
She must have bought it hot off the press since that is also the year of
publication.
A Noteworthy Person
I could not begin to list all the
notable things about Will Rogers’ life, but here are a few things that
impressed me:
He
was an excellent roper by age fourteen. That skill enabled him to travel the
world and gave him his start in showbusiness.
His
wife said, “. . . he doesn’t change his own personality to suit others.” (Maybe
he knew the old saying “To thine own self be true.”)
Rogers
never signed a contract on Broadway, with Florenz Ziegfeld or anyone else. He
said, “My word is good and the other feller’s ought to be, too.” He remained
with Ziegfeld for ten years and always considered “Ziggy” the one who gave him
his start.
He
purchased chewing gum by the gross to keep the Ziegfeld girls from using
tobacco, which he believed spoiled a woman’s beauty.
From New York to Hollywood
When
he abandoned the stage for moving pictures, Ziegfeld warned him to “watch out
for those movie cuties.” Will replied, “Shucks, if your gals couldn’t break me
down in all these years, what chance has those in the movies got?”
He
humorously commented on his Hollywood stardom by saying, “I’m not a real movie
star. I still got the same wife I started out with nearly twenty-eight years
ago.”
Hollywood is not the only place short on
long-term marriages. And, in spite of current headlines, it’s not the only
place that has exploited women for years.
We’re short on people like Will Rogers. It
would help if more people set high personal standards and carried them out consistently.
Now there’s a word to remember.
A verse in the Amplified Bible says the
Lord declares “blessed (joyful and favored with blessings) the home of the just
and consistently righteous” (Proverbs
3:33b).
A Big Challenge
Naturally when I saw the emphasis on consistency, I thought of Rogers. Will consistently
held onto his principles and put them into practice. He was blessed and blessed
others with many unpublicized charitable works.
By being true to himself, he was right
all the time. You can be, too. Follow his example and decide on your own
personal standards. Then start putting them into practice and don’t let them
go.
HOW to be RIGHT ALL the TIME
When I say right I mean doing things in accordance with some reason or set
standard.
My thoughts this week were inspired by reading
an old book from my husband’s office. The blue, cloth-bound book is titled Will Rogers: Ambassador of Good Will, Prince
of Wit and Wisdom by P.J. O’Brien.
I noticed the fly leaf contained an
inscription from my husband’s grandmother to another family member, Christmas 1935.
She must have bought it hot off the press since that is also the year of
publication.
A Noteworthy Person
I could not begin to list all the
notable things about Will Rogers’ life, but here are a few things that
impressed me:
He
was an excellent roper by age fourteen. That skill enabled him to travel the
world and gave him his start in showbusiness.
His
wife said, “. . . he doesn’t change his own personality to suit others.” (Maybe
he knew the old saying “To thine own self be true.”)
Rogers
never signed a contract on Broadway, with Florenz Ziegfeld or anyone else. He
said, “My word is good and the other feller’s ought to be, too.” He remained
with Ziegfeld for ten years and always considered “Ziggy” the one who gave him
his start.
He
purchased chewing gum by the gross to keep the Ziegfeld girls from using
tobacco, which he believed spoiled a woman’s beauty.
From New York to Hollywood
When
he abandoned the stage for moving pictures, Ziegfeld warned him to “watch out
for those movie cuties.” Will replied, “Shucks, if your gals couldn’t break me
down in all these years, what chance has those in the movies got?”
He
humorously commented on his Hollywood stardom by saying, “I’m not a real movie
star. I still got the same wife I started out with nearly twenty-eight years
ago.”
Hollywood is not the only place short on
long-term marriages. And, in spite of current headlines, it’s not the only
place that has exploited women for years.
We’re short on people like Will Rogers. It
would help if more people set high personal standards and carried them out consistently.
Now there’s a word to remember.
A verse in the Amplified Bible says the
Lord declares “blessed (joyful and favored with blessings) the home of the just
and consistently righteous” (Proverbs
3:33b).
A Big Challenge
Naturally when I saw the emphasis on consistency, I thought of Rogers. Will consistently
held onto his principles and put them into practice. He was blessed and blessed
others with many unpublicized charitable works.
By being true to himself, he was right
all the time. You can be, too. Follow his example and decide on your own
personal standards. Then start putting them into practice and don’t let them
go.
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