Benjamin
Franklin, scientist, inventor and a principal architect of the United States
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, may have been the first self-improvement
expert, too. In 1726, a young 20-year-old Franklin was crossing the Atlantic from
England back to Philadelphia. During his 80-day journey, Benjamin Franklin used
the time to develop a personal plan of conduct. His plan consisted of 13
virtues listed below. Franklin committed to focusing on one virtue per week. At
the end of the 13th week, he would start the process over again; thus, cycling
through the plan four times a year. Ben Franklin followed this plan until his
death at age 79. He found comfort and happiness in each of the virtues and used
these to guide his entire life.
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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