Ken, a hard shell Baptist, loved to sneak away to the race track and bet on the ponies. One day, he was nearly losing his shirt when he noticed a Catholic priest stepping out to the gate and blessing a horse that was lining up for the fourth race. Lo and behold, that horse - a very long shot - won!
Ken was most anxious to see what would happen in the next race. Sure enough, as the horses lined up for the fifth race, the priest was there again. And again, he blessed another horse.
Ken made a beeline for the betting window and placed a small bet on that horse. Even though rated a long shot, the horse that the priest had blessed was the winner!
Ken collected his winnings and eagerly waited to see what the priest would do before the sixth race. The same scene played out. The priest showed, blessed a horse, Ken bet on it and won. He was elated!
As the day wore on, the priest continued blessing horses and the anointed nags kept winning. Ken was now pulling in some serious money. By the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were about to come true.
He rushed to an ATM and drew out everything from his savings account. He waited to see what the priest would do. True to his pattern, the priest appeared as the horses reached the gate. This time, his ritual was more extensive. He blessed the horse's nose, eyes, ears and hooves. Ken bet all his winnings and all his savings on that horse - and watched it come in dead last.
Dumbfounded, he made his way to the track. When he found the priest, he demanded, "What happened, Father? All day, before each race, you blessed a horse and every time that horse won - until the last race. What gives? I bet everything I had on that horse and now I've lost it all."
The priest nodded wisely and said, "Sure 'n that's the trouble with you Protestants. You can't tell the difference between a simple blessing and the Last Rites!" |
