A man in Topeka, Kansas, decided to write a book about churches around the world. He started by flying to San Francisco, and working east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign which read ” $10,000 a minute.”
Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor said this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to Heaven and if he pays he can talk directly to God. The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way.
As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Virginia, Michigan, Chicago, Milwaukee, and all around the World, he found more phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.
Finally, he arrived in Ireland. Upon entering a church in Dublin, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read “Calls: 35 cents.”
Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor. “Father, I have been in cities all across the world and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 35 cents a call. Why?
The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, “Son, you’re in Ireland now….it’s a local call.”
Can you guess that my wonderful brother Kevin just sent this? Others of his I’ve posted: Louisiana ghost story and virus warning.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Elayne Riggs // Dec 4, 2003 at 7:37 am
Heh, heard the same one years ago with “Israel” instead of “Ireland.”
2 Betsy Devine // Dec 4, 2003 at 1:05 pm
I think I remember hearing that version also. And that was a good joke too–but a more philosophical kind of good joke than this one.