A kindergarten teacher was suddenly taken ill and a replacement was hastily found. The substitute teacher was at a loss as to what to do with the children. She decided to tell them stories. And always, at the end of each story, she would say, "And the moral of that story is..."

After dozens of stories, the children had sat through dozens of morals. The regular teacher recovered from her illness and returned to her class. One of her students greeted her with a smile and said, "Teacher, I'm sure glad you're back. I like you better than that other teacher."

The teacher was flattered, but curious. "Why do you like me better than the other teacher?"

The child looked into the teacher's eyes and said, "Because you don't have any morals." (1)

We may not end every story we tell with the words, …