Humor with
a Message
Or sometimes ...Just a Message ... or just
humor
From time to time a
thought provoking bit arrives in the
e-mail or from other sources.
Some of
it is humorous but it all makes you think.
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"Friends"
A short
story with a message. A parable of our
modern world.
A man and his
dog were walking along a road. The man was
enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly
occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog
walking beside him had been dead for years.
He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white
stone wall along one side of the road. It
looked like fine marble. At the top of a
long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that
glowed in the sunlight.
When he was standing before it he saw a
magnificent gate in the arch that looked
like mother-of-pearl, and the street that
led to the gate looked like pure gold. He
and the dog walked toward the gate, and as
he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one
side.
When he was close enough, he called out,
"Excuse me, where are we?"
"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.
"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?"
the man asked.
"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll
have some ice water brought right up."
The man gestured, and the gate began to
open.
"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog,
"come in, too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The man thought a moment and then turned
back toward the road and continued the way
he had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the top of
another long hill, he came to a dirt road
leading through a farm gate that looked as
if it had never been closed. There was no
fence.
As he approached the gate, he saw a man
inside, leaning against a tree and reading a
book.
"Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you
have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come
on in."
"How about my friend here?" the traveler
gestured to the dog.
"There should be a bowl by the pump."
They went through the gate, and sure enough,
there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a
bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the water bowl and took
a long drink himself, then he gave some to
the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked
back toward the man who was standing by the
tree.
"What do you call this place?" the traveler
asked.
"This is Heaven," he answered.
"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said.
"The man down the road said that was Heaven,
too."
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street
and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use
your name like that?"
"No, we're just happy that they screen out
the folks who would leave their best friends
behind."
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St
Julie Billiart Parish