Christopher Columbus, discouraged one day, walked by a monastery. He was thirsty, so he went in for a drink of water. An old monk sat with him and listened to how he wanted to go on an expedition to find another land. When the story was over, Christopher Columbus went on, but the old monk was a personal friend of Queen Isabella, and he was the one who convinced her to finance Columbus' expedition. Europe's discovery of America started with a drink of water in a monastery.

Abraham Lincoln was out in the back of his store o…