March 28 Minute Message

Mar 28, 2019Tom Ellsworth

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It has been wisely stated, “There is no acceptable substitute for honesty; there is no valid excuse for dishonesty.”  Hi, I’m Tom Ellsworth from Sherwood Oaks Christian Church with a minute message.

The Republican National convention of 1876 was looking for a vice-presidential candidate to run on the ticket with Rutherford B. Hayes.  Hayes was from Ohio so many believed his running mate should come from an east coast state.  Few in the audience really cared about the issue; they just wanted to get home. For fun, some of the delegates from New York suggested a congressman they believed would bring a cascade of laughter from the entire assembly.  And so, a Vermont representative placed little-known New York congressman, William A. Wheeler, into nomination as a joke, but the nomination was approved by acclamation.  Most did not even wait to applaud but rushed out the doors to catch the first train home. 

The Hayes/Wheeler ticket won the election that November and Wheeler is remembered for two distinctions: one, he was nominated as a practical joke, but secondly and far more importantly, he was known as a man of complete honesty.  Let’s make it our goal that we, too, will be remembered for our honesty – there’s just no substitute for it!

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