Coats of Character.

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"Conscience is a man's compass." ~ Vincent Van Gogh.

Like many young boys I worked during my high school vacations to earn a little extra money. Sometimes it was washing dishes at a local cafe or pub, sometimes it was cleaning out cow stalls at the village dairy, and sometimes it was at the church clearing weeds from the graves and a bit of painting, sweeping, and odd jobs here and there.

It was at the church that I learned a lifelong lesson from the old caretaker. Bob was eighty, if he was a day, and he talked and moved real slow. He didn't say much but what he did say you could take to the bank. It was priceless stuff. One day Bob was varnishing the church pews and I noticed it was taking him a heck of a long time.

Day one turned into day two, three, and four and he was still applying coats of varnish. From what I could tell the pews looked the same on day four as they did on day one. So the impudent child in me asked him - "Bob - How many coats of varnish are you putting on those pews?" "Six" he said. "The pews need six coats of varnish".

"But Bob - They look the same after the second coat. Who would know if you just put on two coats and you could be done much quicker?"

"I Would Know" he said. ~ I'd know that I only put on two coats when they needed six. I never knew Bobs last name but to a young boy...

Some words, lessons, and truths last forever.