"Religious growth requires action, the actual doing of right things instead of the wrong. We advance only by doing."
- William Danforth, I Dare You
William Danforth is a St. Louis native who founded Ralston Purina. Chances are that if you've owned a pet or livestock in the last 100 years, you've purchased some of his company's products.
In addition to being a tremendously successful businessman, he was also a very active philanthropist, a tradition which has been carried forward by his family, which still resides in St. Louis. He graduated from Washington University in 1892, and today, that very same campus is named for him.
He was terribly interested in helping youth, and he wrote the above-quoted book, I Dare You, as a guide for successful living to help young men and women improve their lot. It's a fine book with many solid precepts.
I thought of this quote when reviewing the work of our volunteer ministers in Joplin. They demonstrated that it isn't enough to "think good thoughts" or "be good," but rather, that we must also act to help others.
The Local Messenger just published a very nice article about our St. Louis Scientology Volunteer Minister activities. You can read the article and view the photos here:
http://sbpmessenger.com/scientology-volunteers-spend-five-weeks-in-joplin-p988-91.htm
If you have not yet subscribed to The Local Messenger, may I suggest that you do so. The owner, Janette Lonsdale, is a very pleasant person whose editorial policy seems to focus primarily on the positive aspects of our community.
