Morning Briefings

Man’s accidents are God’s purposes, attributed to Sophia Hawthorne, 1843. Our need for words of wisdom like this is ancient, as old as ‘the wisdom of the ages’ itself, which is why the aphorism is the oldest written art form on the planet.

– James Geary
The World in a Phrase

The rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord is the maker of them all.

– Proverbs 22:2

A primary task in taking a company from good to great is to create a culture wherein people have a tremendous opportunity to be heard, and ultimately, for the truth to be heard.

– Jim Collins
Good to Great

Despite their prevalence in American high school culture, college admissions exams–such as the ACT and SAT–may not be critical to making good admissions decisions at many of the colleges and universities that use them, stated the National Association for College Admission Counseling report. [Bates College’s William] Hiss stated, ‘We felt students were spending way too much time worrying about and trying to prepare for testing instead of taking advanced calculus or taking a Chinese history course or working at an AIDS clinic.’

– Morgan Modjeski
More than 280 U.S. universities ditch SAT, The Manitoban

Rosh Hashanah means, literally, ‘first of the year.’ No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded.

– Judaism 101: Rosh Hashanah

The Community Reinvestment Act was passed into law by the 95th United States Congress in 1977 as a result of national grassroots pressure for affordable housing, and despite considerable opposition from the mainstream banking community. The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities to underserved populations and commercial loans to small businesses.

– Wikipedia, Community Reinvestment Act, as cited in the YouTube video
Burning Down the House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

Keeping the Faith: Damian Williams says his transfer to USC was divinely driven. Williams’ faith in such scripture [as Proverbs 16:9] is why he wears cardinal and gold today. On Tuesday afternoons, you can catch him on campus sharing his faith and inviting people to a study group he co-founded.

– Adam Maya
The Orange County Register

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

– Proverbs 16:9

We often worry about our position and status, hoping to get proper recognition for what we do. But God’s recognition counts more than human praise.

– The One Year Book of Bible Readings

According to a new Baylor University survey on religion, 55% of all adults say they’ve been ‘protected from harm by a guardian angel.’ This number surprised the study’s authors, and includes 66% of evangelical Protestants, 57% of Catholics, 49% of  ’other religions’ and even 20% of those who say they have ‘no religion’!

– Michael Medved
Townhall.com

and everything of mine is yours, and everything of yours is mine.

– John 17:10

Memo to law enforcement investigators tracking down who broke into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account: Gabriel Ramuglia might be a good place to start. ‘Usually, this sort of thing would be hard to track down because it’s Yahoo email,’ said the 25-year-old operator of Ctunnel.com, the browsing proxy service used by the group that hacked into the vice presidential candidate’s personal email account. ‘Since they were dumb enough to post a full screenshot that showed most of the URL, I should be able to find that in my log.’

– Dan Goodin
Not Quite Anonymous, The Register

Try stuff. Luck is a big part of many successes, so (a) don’t get too bummed out when you see a bozo succeed; and (b) luck favors the people who try stuff, not simply think and analyze. As the Chinese say, ‘One must wait for a long time before a Peking duck flies into your mouth.’

– Guy Kawasaki
Five most important lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur

Don’t tell your problems to people: eighty percent don’t care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.

– Lou Holtz (NCAA football and NFL head coach)

World stock markets tumble on Lehman bankruptcy filing, Merrill Lynch takeover: The 158-year-old Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was crippled by $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings and unable to find an investment partner to throw it a lifeline…when Bank of America balked at buying Lehman, the government urged it to buy investment bank Merrill Lynch instead.

–
AP, September 15, 2008

God gave us the power to imagine. Without imagination I suspect that Thomas Edison would have been a common laborer. He could not have invented anything unless it was first born in his imagination.

– Reverend James O’Leary
I Think I Am Happier Than I Think I Am

We all have our respective paths to travel. Some of us will make it to our desired destination, whether the Promised Land, World Series, chairman of the board or parent. Some of us will come up short. But all of us have a part to play in God’s mysterious master plan and should, as Ernie Banks has taught us, make the most of our journey along the way.

– Gary Graf
And God Said, ‘Play Ball!’

We’ve always needed God, from the very beginning of this nation.

– A Call to Prayer
9/11 tribute

Entrepreneurs sacrifice homes to save business: Study of 2.7 million small U.S. businesses showed the most severely delinquent business owners continued to pay their company’s bills even as they skipped mortgage payments.

– Jan Norman
Jan Norman on Small Business blog

Business is a race to see who can be the first to bring a product to the customer, and inventions and ideas are often born simultaneously around the world by any number of unrelated individuals.

– Yvon Chouinard
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman

Jesus said to his disciples: To those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

– Matthew 13:10-12

Make a little progress every day: I used to believe in the big-bang theory of marketing–a fantastic launch that created such inertia that you flew to ‘infinity and beyond.’ Now my theory is you make a little progress every day–whether that’s making your product slightly better, increasing your skill in one small way, or closing one more customer.

– Guy Kawasaki
Five most important lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur

For if a man will betray God, he will surely betray man!

– Gereon Goldmann
The Shadow of His Wings

Someone has said that the greatest sin is to make God unattractive. Unfortunately, we can do this not only by the words we preach but more so by our very demeanor. Today we ask ourselves, ‘How approachable and kind am I to the people I live with, work with, serve or meet on the street? Do I reflect the amiable God I believe in?’

– Sr. Melannie Svoboda, S.N.D.
Living Faith, September 3, 2008

Heaven truly is the vacation that never ends. And don’t bother packing–not even your toothbrush–because this is one resort that is really all-inclusive.

– Anthony DeStefano
Travel Guide to Heaven

I need a sign to let me know you’re here, all of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere. I want a reason for the way things have to be. I need a hand to help build up some kind of hope inside of me.

– Calling All Angels
Train

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.

– James 3:13
King James Version

Fortunate are those who take the first steps. Someday people will realize that men and women are capable of speaking the language of the angels–and that all of us are possessed of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and that we can perform miracles, cure, prophesy and understand.

– Paulo Coelho
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

Cash is what keeps the doors open and pays the bills. As my mother used to say, ‘Sales fixes everything.’

– Guy Kawasaki
Five most important lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur

God hates cheating in the marketplace; he loves it when business is aboveboard.

– Eugene H. Peterson on Proverbs 11:1
The Message

Being made in the image of God invests us with a portable spirituality center. No matter where we go, so long as we carry this core identity with us, we remain spiritually impervious to the ups and downs of external circumstances.

– Naomi H. Rosenblatt and Joshua Horwitz
Wrestling with Angels