¶ Welcome to Starting Right
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 . 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 .
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 . 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 . 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 . 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 .