In 1935, Chester Carlson was a young New York lawyer. He grew impatient with the time it took to copy legal documents. Three years later, he completed a prototype machine to do the job faster and cleaner.
An impressive list of companies—IBM, Kodak, RCA—said no to Chester’s machine. Only Harold Wilson, owner of a small photographic paper company, saw something that others did not. That machine that Chester created? Today, we call it a copier. And Harold Wilson’s company? We call that Xerox.
This is Howard Butt Jr. of Laity Lodge. Sure, many great ideas die under the weight of the word “no.” But remember: it takes only one “yes” … in the high calling of our daily work.
“When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. ‘Zacchaeus!’ he said. ‘Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.'”
Luke 19:5
