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Mitch, a
hard-shell Southern Baptist, loved to sneak away to the race track.
One day he was there betting on the ponies and nearly losing his shirt when he noticed
this priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of the horses
lining up for the 4th race. Lo and behold, this horse - a very long shot - won the race.
Mitch was most
interested to see what the priest did the next race. Sure enough, he watched the priest
step out onto the track as the 5th race horses lined up, and placed this blessing on the
forehead of one of the horses. Mitch made a beeline for the window and placed a small bet
on the horse. Again, even though another long shot, the horse the priest had blessed won
the race.
Mitch collected
his winnings and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest bestowed his blessing on
for the 6th race. The priest showed, blessed a horse, Mitch bet on it, and it won! Mitch
was elated!
As the day went
on, the priest continued blessing one of the horses, and it always came in first. Mitch
began to pull in some serious money,and by the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were
going to come true.
He made a quick
stop at the ATM, withdrew big money and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him
which horse to bet on. True to his pattern, the priest stepped out onto the track before
the last race and blessed the forehead, eyes, ears and hooves of one of the horses.
Mitchell bet
every cent, and watched the horse come in dead last. Mitchell was dumbfounded. He made his
way to the track and when he found the priest, he demanded, "What happened, Father?
All day you blessed horses and they won. The last race, you blessed a horse and he lost.
Now I've lost my savings, thanks to you!!"
The priest
nodded wisely and said, "That's the problem with you Protestants ... you can't tell
the difference between a simple blessing and the Last Rites!
