<< forwards looking for a get out jail free... >>

I heard the story told recently about a king in Africa who had a close
friend that he grew up with.   The friend had a habit of looking at
every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative)
and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition.  The
friend would load and prepare the guns for the king.  The friend had
apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after
taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was
blown off.  Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This
is good!".  To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and
proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have
known to stay clear of.  Cannibals captured him and took them to their
village.  The tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and
bound him to the stake.  As they came near to set fire to the wood,
they noticed that the king was missing a thumb.  Being superstitious,
they never ate anyone that was less than whole.  So untying the king
they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his
thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend.  He went
immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.  "You were right" he
said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off."  And he proceeded to
tell the friend all that had just happened.  "And so I am very sorry
for sending you to jail for so long.  It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"

"What do you mean, 'this is good'!  How could it be good that I sent my
friend to jail for a year."

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."