A pious woman with a rather sharp tongue, who professed to be a Christian but gossiped like an old hen--approached the rector of her church in London. She complained that the white bands which he wore with his pulpit gown were altogether too long and that this annoyed her greatly. She wanted permission to shorten them and had come armed with a pair of scissors. The pastor agreed, handed over the bands, and the woman snipped away with her scissors and then handed the garments back to the rector.

He said, "Now, my good woman, there is something about you which is altogether too long and which has annoyed me and many others for quite some time, and since one good turn deserves another, I would like your permission to shorten it."

Startled, the woman said, "Certainly sir, you have my permiss…