This week our program will be about the Four-Way Test. Thought it would be fitting to share some history of how it became part of Rotary.
In the early 1930s Herbert J. Taylor set out to save the Club Aluminum Products distribution company from bankruptcy. He believed himself to be the only person in the company with 250 employees who had hope. His recovery plan started with changing the ethical climate of the company. He explained:
“
The first job was to set policies for the company that would reflect the high ethics and morals God would want in any business. If the people who worked for Club Aluminum were to think right, I knew they would do right. What we needed was a simple, easily remembered guide to right conduct - a sort of ethical yardstick- which all of us in the company could memorize and apply to what we thought, said and did.
I searched through many books for the answer to our need, but the right phrases eluded me, so I did what I often do when I have a problem I can't answer myself: I turn to the One who has all the answers. I leaned over my desk, rested my head in my hands and prayed. After a few moments, I looked up and reached for a white paper card. Then I wrote down the twenty-four words that had come to me:
Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned?
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
I called it "The Four-Way Test" of the things we think, say or do."
”
In the 1940s, when Taylor was an international director of Rotary, he offered the Four Way Test to the organization, and it was adopted by Rotary for its internal and promotional use. Never changed, the twenty four word test remains today a central part of the permanent Rotary structure throughout the world, and is held as the standard by which all behaviour should be measured. The test has been promoted around the world and is used in myriad forms to encourage personal and business ethical practices.Taylor gave Rotary International the right to use the test in the 1940s and the copyright in 1954. He retained the rights to use the test for himself, his Club Aluminum Company and the Christian Workers Foundation.
Please make note of the following!
Please help welcome new member Pete Rivera. Pete has been visiting with us the last few weeks, but if you have not met him, please take the time to introduce yourself and welcome him.
Next Board meeting will be this Thursday March 21st
Challenge air takes place This coming Saturday March 23. All our weekly donations collected in the baskets will go to challenge air for the month of March. If you are interested in volunteering, go to their website and sign up. Special thanks to Shane Williams for donating teddy bears for the event.
The All-Abilities Playground is set to open up in April. Once the final date is set, it will be announced. We would like to see as many members of the club there as possible so please keep this event in mind.
Make note of upcoming Sunset Club meetings. This is a great way to make up a meeting if you have to meet one of the regular morning meetings.
April 4th - Mayor George Fuller and Councilwoman Tracy Rath -City of McKinney Bond Program Q & A
May 2nd Patrick Tate, Pacific Tradewinds Coffee Company, "Coffee Roasters from Hawaii Come to McKinney"
June 6th Two Dog Handlers from Topaz Assistance Dogs, "How Service Dogs Assist People with Special Needs."
Time to enjoy the outdoors and the beauty of God's creation.
