Bible Most Influential

BIBLE -- Most influential
A recent poll of 223 corporate CEO's and college presidents identified the Bible as the most influential book among those surveyed. Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities was the second most influential volume, followed by J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. A quarter of those surveyed indicated they'd recommend the Bible first to young people, according to the National College of Education, which sponsored the poll. (EP News Service, 6/29/90)
COMMITMENT -- How much do we want?
A pair of fellows from Chicago grew tired of city life and decided to become cotton farmers in West Texas. After they bought their land, they went to town to buy supplies. One asked the manager, "What will we need to get started in the cotton farming business?"
He suggested several things -- a plow, feed, fertilizer, and a mule. The storekeeper had the other items, and offered to help them find a mule. Not knowing much about mules, they said they'd appreciate the help.
As they visited with the merchant, they noticed a stack of watermelons. "What did you say you call those?" asked one of the city boys. The storekeeper thought he'd play a joke, so he answered, "Oh, why I almost forgot. Those are mule eggs."
One of the two new farmers said, "Is that so? Well, we'll just take one of those and grow our own mule!"
They loaded all their new supplies -- the seed, the fertilizer, the plow and their mule egg -- into the back of their pick-up truck. As they headed down the bumpy road, they hit a really bad spot and the watermelon fell out onto the road and burst open. The driver noticed what happened and decided to go back.
Before they could get back to the watermelon, a big West Texas jack rabbit had crawled up into the middle of that watermelon and started eating. They'd never seen a jack rabbit before, so one turned to the other and cried out, "Hurry up! This thing has hatched and our mule's right here!"
As they ran, the jack rabbit saw them and started running in all directions. The two fellows -- not wanting to lose their investment in the mule egg -- began chasing it. The rabbit would dart this way, then that way, and the fellows would chase it in all directions, never quite catching up. They finally fell exhausted to the ground, as the rabbit ran away.
After they caught their breaths, one of them said, "It's a real shame. Now we've lost our mule and we'll never get it back." The other fellow responded, "I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. I don't believe I'd ever want to plow that fast anyhow!"