Those Three Again

I hope all the fathers reading this had as nice a day as I had. Yesterday the sun shone all day. My wife brought her father down to visit. In spite of the heat he wanted a bowl of homemade soup. I made him some cock-a-leakie from produce from my plot. Later my daughter my son and daughter in law visited. We had a meal out in the garden and then we had a relaxed time until it was bed time.


My son is a lawyer, he was telling me how in some intensive negotiations humour often plays its part in keeping meetings relaxed and tension free. Often the lawyer is the but of the joke but under the circumstances he feels that may be a good thing.

He had me laughing when he told me he had used one or two of the stories I had told you on here. He was saying he had used the tale of the lawyer the doctor and the minister at the funeral, one I shared sometime ago.

I asked if he had heard what happened to these three after that event. He said I had not. So hear it is.

The three became friendly and had agreed to play golf together each Monday morning and then have lunch together. This had become a practice and each had looked forward to the meetings.

One day they were all playing their round of golf. In front of them there was a foursome. They were playing very slow and the three were having to wait. They became to grumble about the time they were taking. Eventually they went to the club secretary whom they saw playing not far behind them. They complained saying that the players in front were not good enough to be on the course. The club secretary explained that three of the four were in fact blind. They were firemen who had lost their sight while saving the clubhouse from destruction in a fire.

The three fell silent. The minister said it was a shame he would say some special prayers for them. The doctor said he would approach an ophthalmic surgeon friend to see if there was anything that could be done. The lawyer thought for a moment and then turned to the secretary and said, “Why cant they play during the night.”

Sometimes we can just never find it in ourselves to have sympathy for the struggles of others. I give thanks that I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who care.

This blog is linked to my other. The Eye of the Storm

The Doctor the Minister and the Lawyer

Yesterday’s blog was very serious, and for some sad though it was not meant to be but inspirational. On one of the two I mentioned that my family give me a row for giving away my art. My son, the lawyer of the family is always telling me that my art is worth more than I ever charge and that giving it away is not ever a good thing. He believes, and maybe rightly it devalues my other art. It is just me, not a lot I can do about me being what I am. I remember when I discovered acrylic paint and its drying potential how I used to love going and sitting on the beach and painting little seascapes on the flat stones you could find there. Once dry a quick spray of varnish and they looked like nice little miniatures. I would then take them back to the beach and lay them back among the stones seascape upwards. What a pleasure it was to see people find them and get pleasure in taking them away with them.


There is a story of the miser who before he died called his doctor, lawyer and minister to his bedside. He gave them each an envelope containing £20,000. He told them that he wanted them to be present at his funeral and each of them to place the envelope in the grave with his coffin. They duly turned up on the day and each deposited an envelope in the grave and watched them being buried with the coffin. As they left the graveyard they each asked the other if they had been honest. The minister confessed to using a small part of the money to repair the organ in the church. It was after all for the praise of God and not being wasted in a grave. The doctor said he had used a portion to get a small cardiac machine for the surgery. It was after all for the good of the community. The lawyer said he was shocked to the core at their dishonesty. He had he said put in a cheque for the full value of the money made out to the deceased.

Generosity comes in many ways. If there are any lawyers or doctors reading this my apologies, ministers well having been one I know they are used to being the brunt of jokes and are used to it.

I hope today you leave with a smile, and a little thought about generosity.

This blog is linked to my other blog which can be seen at:-Along the Shore