Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
How Faith and Partnership Created a Publishing Empire
What happens when unwavering love meets an entrepreneurial dream? The extraordinary story of Reader's Digest reveals how genuine partnership can transform rejection into worldwide success.
When DeWitt Wallace developed his concept for a magazine featuring condensed articles in 1910, publishers everywhere rejected him. Facing discouragement and nearly abandoning his vision, everything changed when he met Lila Atchison, a Presbyterian minister's daughter who saw potential where others saw failure. Her steadfast belief in DeWitt's dream reignited his determination, leading him to try direct mail marketing to potential subscribers. They were more than spouses; they were true friends who encouraged, supported, and respected each other completely. When two hearts believe in each other and in God's purpose, they truly can accomplish absolutely anything.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. Today I want to talk about the power of love in one of the most influential magazines in the last hundred years. You may wonder how that all fits together, but hang tight and we'll tell you the story. 1 Corinthians, chapter 13 and verse 7, says Love never gives up, never loses, faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Well, that's the key to our story today.
Speaker 1:It began back in 1910, when a fellow by the name of DeWitt Wallace developed a new idea for a magazine. It would consist of a collection of condensed articles and he would call it the Reader's Digest. He put together a proposed sample of this and he sent it to publishers throughout the country, but nobody seemed to be terribly interested. And he sent it to publishers throughout the country, but nobody seemed to be terribly interested and DeWitt became very, very discouraged. Well, at the same time he met a lady by the name of Lila Atchison. She was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, and before long these two fell in love. Lila believed and supported DeWitt's dream. She wouldn't let him give up and she encouraged him to keep trying his idea for a magazine. Boosted by her faith in him, dewitt started mailing letters to potential subscribers. In October of 1921, lila married DeWitt. On returning from their honeymoon, they found a bundle of letters from interested subscribers and together they worked on Volume 1, number 1 of the Reader's Digest, which appeared in February of 1922. Dewitt made sure that he included Lila as his co-founder, co-editor and co-owner.
Speaker 1:Over the years, their magazine grew and now it is printed in at least 18 languages and Reader's Digest is the best-selling magazine in the world. Along the way, it had some significant highlights. In 1928, it was the first magazine printed in Braille. In 1948, they published a Canadian edition of the Reader's Digest, which quickly built a reputation as one of the country's most read and most influential magazines. Then, in 1952, reader's Digest included a groundbreaking investigation.
Speaker 1:Risks of smoking cigarettes began to be known as early as the mid-1940s. The majority of the public was kept in the dark until Reader's Digest published the article Cancer by the Carton. The story summarized the latest science linking tobacco to lung cancer at a time when an estimated 54% of Canadians smoke, reader's Digest was credited with contributing to the largest drop in cigarette consumption since the Depression. Then, in 1982, reader's Digest published a condensed version of the Bible. It was 40% shorter than the 850,000-word revised standard version and it took seven years to put together. In a Roper poll conducted in 2001, reader's Digest Canada was named as the country's most trusted magazine, and it's held that status almost every year since. In 2008, they were named the most influential magazine in all of North America and the key to their success.
Speaker 1:Well, dewitt and Lila were more than husband and wife. They were true friends. They encouraged, supported and they believed in each other. They worked side by side to make their dream come true and in the process, they respected each other. Dewitt once said I think Lila made the digest possible, and Lila would probably say the same about DeWitt. Once said it's a glue that will bind people together, under the grace of God, to accomplish incredible things.
Speaker 1:It's been said that love is the most powerful force in the world, and the Bible backs that up. It tells us that love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one's achievements or inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing in the best of others. And love never takes failure as a defeat, for it never gives up. Love truly is the most powerful force in the world, and when a husband and wife who love each other work together and let God's love shine through them look out, they can accomplish absolutely anything. Have a great day, my friends. We will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right, with Danny Mac.
