A pastor of a church in a small surfing town in southern California was perplexed because he didn't seem to be having much success with the young people of the area. All they seemed to be interested in was surfing. Understanding this, he decided that his next sermon would be on surfing.

When his wife found out about his plan, she nearly went into a rage.

"You don't know the first thing about surfing," she protested. "You're going to make a complete fool of yourself."

"Well," he started, "I do have a week to study up. I'll go to the library, where there any number of surf magazines I can study. Besides, I've already put in the announcement that next week's sermon will be on surfing and for all the kids to invite their friends. Why, I'd look like a fool if I didn't preach on surfing."

That wasn't the end of it; the argument raged on all week.

That Sunday on their way to church, the pastor told his wife, "It's all right, I've studied well, and I can even recognize the top surfers just by their pictures."

Arriving at church, she said that if he insisted on making a fool of himself, she wasn't even going to go in, so in the car she stayed. Some of the church members stopped by the car and asked why she wasn't going in.

"Well," she started, "I don't think my husband knows the topic he's about to preach on very well, and I just don't want to witness his embarrassment when he makes a fool of himself."

"Very well," they exclaimed and rushed on in with peaked curiosity.

As the sermon was about to begin, the pastor recognized some of the top international surfers in the congregation.

"My wife was right," he thought. "If I preach on surfing now, I'll truly make a fool of myself."

To avoid this, he changes the topic of the sermon to sex, a sermon he had preached many years before.

After the service, the same members stopped by the car again and told the pastor's wife that the sermon went well and that he had related it well to the young people and that he really did know his topic.

"How could he," she fluttered. "I mean I ought to know! He's only tried it twice. Once before we were married and once after -- and he slipped off both times..."