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MEETINGS WITH HERBERT TAYLOR
It was with great good fortune that my
wife. Ele, and I had an opportunity [actually two opportunities]
to meet and enjoy great conversations with PPRI Herb Taylor and
his wife, Gloria. I don’t remember the exact dates of those two
meetings, but they occurred sometime during the late 1970’s, or
possibly the early 1980’s. At that time they would quietly visit
the Dallas-Fort Worth area to spend time with their
granddaughter who lived in Dallas. My very good friends, PDG
Austin Watson and his wife, Millie, had met and become friends
with Herb and Gloria.
On two such occasions PDG Austin
hosted small dinner parties at the Petroleum Club in Dallas to
honor Herb and Gloria. My wife and I were pleased and greatly
honored to be included, along with [later to be DG] Vactor
Stanford and his wife, Patsy, and PDG Doyle McKinney and his
wife, Faye. There were two such gatherings at which my wife and
I were grateful to be. Each of the dinners included just four
couples, allowing for great inclusive conversations.
Inevitably those talks included references to the Four-Way Test
and its conception. My recollection is as follows: recalling his
experience in taking over the Aluminum Company of America in its
state of near bankruptcy, he told of putting $6,000 of his own
money [mortgaged his home, I believe] to help the floundering
company. As he sat at his desk one day, praying for guidance and
wondering how he was going to proceed, he opened his
ever-present Bible. He seemed uncertain whether it was by chance
or purposefully that it opened at Paul’s letter to the
Philippians, and his eye fell on Chapter 4, verses 8 & 9:
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever is true,
whatsoever is honorable, whatsoever is
just, whatsoever is
pure, whatsoever is lovely, whatsoever is gracious, if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things that you
have learned and
received and heard and seen in me, do; and
the God of peace will be with you.”
From those words of
the Scripture he wrote the Four-Way Test:
“Of the things we think, say, or do:
First, is it the
TRUTH?
Second, is it FAIR to all concerned?
Third, will
it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Fourth,, will it
be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
The application of that
test to the everyday business of the Aluminum Company of America
was greatly responsible, he said, for the turnaround of that
company’s fortunes.
PDG Wallace Bailey
District
5810, 1974-75
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