A dying man gathered his Lawyer Doctor and Clergyman at his bed side and handed each of them an envelop containing $25,000 in cash. He made them each promise that after his death and during his repose they would place the three envelopes in his coffin. He told them that he wanted to have enough money to enjoy the next life.



A week later the man died. At the Wake the Lawyer and Doctor and Clergyman each concealed an envelop in the coffin and bid their old client and friend farewell.



By chance these three met several months later. Soon the Clergyman feeling guilty blurted out a confession saying that there was only $10,000 in the envelop he placed in the coffin. He felt rather than waste all the money he would send it to a Mission in South America.



He asked for their forgiveness. The Doctor moved by the gentle Clergyman's sincerity confessed that he too had kept some of the money for a worthy medical charity. The envelope he admitted had only $8,000 in it. He said he too could not bring himself to waste the money so frivolously when it could be used to benefit others.



By this time the Lawyer was seething with self-righteous outrage. He expressed his deep disappointment in the felonious behavior of two of his oldest and most trusted friends. I am the only one who kept his promise to our dying friend. I want you both to know that the envelop I placed in the coffin contained the full amount.



Indeed my envelope contained my personal check for the entire $25,000.