Number 48, September, 1998
Postage Stamp: Giving & Sharing, An American Tradition
United States postage stamps represent our country before the world. Americans are the most generous people on earth. Giving money and time to benefit others less fortunate has helped make our nation great. Seventh-day Adventist Milton Murray, age 76, believed that America needed a postage stamp to picture our philanthropic spirit. He thought it would honor all those little causes like hospitals and youth programs that didn’t have the wide recognition that Boy Scouts and Red Cross had (which had enabled the large groups to win stamps of their own). Getting a stamp message and design approved is not an easy process. He began in earnest in the 1980s, but was rejected time and again. He continued to write senators and even the Postmaster General. By the middle of 1997, Murray’s hard work finally paid off. The U.S. Post Office plans to issue the new 32-cent stamp in October, 1998.
How would you picture the spirit of giving unselfish service to others? "Giving & Sharing, An American Tradition," was the name selected. The new stamp has an orange bee zeroing in on a flower against a yellow-green field. The honey bee is tiny and busy, performing the service of pollination of flowers. That is the way serving others should be. Each one of us should be "giving and sharing" the Almighty’s Truth to others. That is the Messianic tradition. Although Milton Murray knew nothing of Giving & Sharing, the non-profit mail order bookstore serving Sabbath-keepers around the world since 1978, we thank him for his persistent efforts to promote the spirit of giving unselfishly to others.
We appreciate those who help make the Giving & Sharing service possible. To express our gratitude for your unselfish help, for any donation, we will send a lapel pin or key chain (your choice) made with a Giving & Sharing postal stamp full-color replica. If you donate $50 or more, you may have both the key chain and lapel pin. For a donation of $100 or more, you may have the key chain, lapel pin, and a quality 2x3 inch paperweight made with white Italian marble and the stamp emblem attached directly on top of the paperweight. All donations will go towards printing Giving & Sharing materials. Write: Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849. Let us continue the Messianic tradition of Giving & Sharing.
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