It's the blind man, can I come in

Last weekend we met a group of friends for lunch. One friend was reminded of a time when he was regaling the group with a story and when he came to the somewhat saucy story and the pub they were in went quiet at the precise moment he came to the punch line. This caused him much embarassment and gave the friends a huge laugh.

I was then reminded of the time something similar happened to me when I was retelling a joke from the end of an episode of the Vicar of Dibley which involved a nun and a blind man. I'm not going to relate the joke here. Google it. All I will say is that at the precise moment I came to the punchline, a waitress leaned over me.

In a strange coincidence, in the week I had a visit from a blind man. That is a man who came to measure up a window for some Venetian blinds.

He had been due to arrive about 4pm but had phoned just before to say he was struck in traffic. By the time he arrived he was close on an hour late. I was hoping he'd be quick as I needed to get on with cooking dinner before my wife came home and in order for me to get out to a meeting. But the blind man wanted to talk once he realised I was a minister.

It turned out he'd been brought up in a Christian home and had attended a baptist church for many years. But as an adult he'd drifted away. But clearly his grounding had had an effect.

He shared several things he'd experienced recently. These included a conversation he'd had with a client who was a primary school teacher who wanted an old style of blinds. "I said to her 'These went out with the ark'. And she said 'What's the ark?' And I said 'You know, Noah and the ark.' But she really didn't know anything about it. What's the world coming to?"

He shared a few other things too.

He went on to tell me about a good friend of his who had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease last autumn. And the man poured out his great sadness about his friend. And he said how he felt he wished there was some way that his friend would not have to go through the great suffering that will inevitably come about as the illness develops.

Close on an hour after he arrived he left. Having poured out his heart and leaving a quote for some new blinds.