A man from Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches in the
United States. He starts with the very large Grace Cathedral in San
Francisco and begins taking photographs, etc. He is about to leave when
he suddenly spots a golden telephone on a wall with a sign that reads:
"$10,000 a minute." Intrigued, he seeks out the pastor and asks about
the phone and the sign.
The pastor said, "Oh, this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to
Heaven and, if you want to use it, you can talk directly to God. "Thank
you very much," says the man and continues on his way.
As he travels across the country, he finds the same phone with the same
sign in Clinton, Nebraska; in Milwaukee and Chicago, and at the
Cathedral of St. John, the Divine in New York City. At each site, he
makes the same inquiry and gets the same answer from the local pastor.
Finally, he arrives in Alaska. Upon entering a local church in Willow,
lo and behold -- he sees the usual golden telephone with a sign. But this
time, the sign reads, "Calls 25 cents." By now fascinated, he seeks out
the pastor and says, "Pastor, I have been in cities across the nation,
and in many churches I found a golden telephone like that one on the
wall over there. And in each city, I was told that it was a direct line
to Heaven and that I could speak personally with God. But in all the
other churches across the country, it was $10,000.00 a minute. Your
sign reads: 25 cents a call. Why?"
The pastor smiles and says "Simple, my son, you are in God's Country now
and it is a local call from here."