Pastor’s Lawnmower Dilemma

Fred, who was the pastor of a small community church, set out one day to replace his old beat up lawnmower because it was no longer working. He went to some local garage sales in hopes of finding something that would do the job. Thankfully, he found a nice mower for a very reasonable price. The seller of the mower guaranteed that it would perform just fine, however, Fred would first need to fill it with the appropriate amounts of gas and oil. Pastor Fred took the man at his word, paid him, and happily drove home with his new (previously owned) lawnmower.

After he filled the mower with the proper amounts of gas and oil, he took it out on its first run. He pulled the cord once to start it, but the mower did not start. He tried it again and again….and again, but to no avail. “What a crock”, he thought…but, being a pastor, he rethought and said “what a disappointment”.

Obviously frustrated with the result, he returned to the home of the seller and told him what had happened. The seller calmly explained to him how to fix the problem. “Fred”, he said, “the lawnmower absolutely works fine but you just need to cuss at it a few times to get it to start”. Somewhat flabbergasted, the pastor informed him that it was against his principles, as a man of God, to cuss for any reason whatsoever. He further exclaimed that because he had not cussed in such a long time, he could scarcely remember how to do it. The seller then patiently reassured him. “Pastor Fred, go back home and pull the cord a few more times. It’ll come back to ya”.