October 28, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, October 28.
We all managed to live through the Covid Pandemic. That was almost seven years ago now. But seventy years ago there was another pandemic which had an even greater impact on America. Its name was Polio. It struck an American president, Franklin Roosevelt, but most of its victims were children, ages five to ten. My parents grew up during that era, and so did my older brother and sister. But one year before I was born, in 1955, there came a miracle. A polio vaccine was developed by a scientist named Jonas Salk.
In 1947, Salk began his polio project. In 1953 he tested the vaccine on his own children. A year later, over a million children were part of a final test. Declared safe in ‘55, the effect of the vaccine was immediate and overwhelming. By the 1960’s, polio was virtually eradicated in the United States. The epidemic, which had cast a shadow of fear over childhood, was now just a memory.
Jonas Salk was born on this day in 1914. His life is a tribute to scientific accomplishment and American vision. He also left an example of the best in human nature. Given the opportunity to patent his discovery, and reap unimaginable riches, he refused, saying, “Would you patent the sun?” A legacy of selflessness. A great story that encourages us this morning.
Approximately 350,000 babies will be born today. Maybe one of them will grow up to discover a cure for cancer. Check back with me in about 50 years and I’ll feature that encouraging story in the Daily Devotion!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
