[You can find more of the same at: www.ecunet.org/ecunet/eculaugh/laugh]

Once there was a painter who was very poor. When
his parish

church needed repainting the members of the congregation

and the church elders got together and when bids
were

considered for the job, offered him the job because
while

his bid was not the lowest it was close and he
was of their

congregation.

So the painter bought paint for the job and set
to work.

When he got about three quarters of the job finished
it became

apparent that he wouldnt have enough paint. Well
his bid was

about as low as he could go and so he decided
to thin his

paint some so that it would spread farther. Well
he got about

half of the remainder done and concluded that
he would have to

thin what he had left just a little and his paint
would

strech to cover the whole church.

Unfortunately, that night a terrible storm came
to the town and

when the painter was awakened by the crash of
thunder he

realized the thinned paint wouldnt stick to walls
of he church

and would be washed away. Well then the painter
is panicked and

he realizes that he has betrayed the trust put
in him by his

neighbors and that he will be shamed in front
of everyone.

As soon as the next day has dawned, he rushed
out of the house

to the church and sees all of the thinned paint
covering the

lawn in front of the church. Faced with humiliation
and possible

ruin of his business, he does what is only natural
and falls

down on his knees and prays.

"God," he says, "please forgive
me and help me to see the error of

my ways."

Just then the heavens open above him and he is
bathed in a

pearly radiance from above. A voice can be heard
in the sudden

stillness of the morning that rings as if it
comes from Heaven

itself. God speaks to the painter and says:

"Repaint and thin no more!"