A friend of mine sent me this email.

A man in Topeka , Kansas decided to write a book about churchesaround the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and startedworking east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and makingnotes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and wasIntrigued with a sign, which read 'Calls: $10,000 a minute.' Seekingout the pastorHe asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that thisgolden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price hecan talk directly to GOD. The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continuedto visit churches in Seattle , Denver , St. Louis , Chicago , Milwaukee , and around the United States , he found more phones, withthe same sign, and the same answer fro m each pastor.Finally, he arrived in Tennessee, upon entering a church inColumbia, TN.behold - he saw the usual golden telephone.. But THIS time, the signread 'Calls: 35 cents.'Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor, 'Reverend, I have beenIn cities all across the country and in each church I have found thisgolden Telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that Icould talk to GOD, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute.Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?'I love this part...............................The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, 'Son, you're in the South now .You're in God's Country, It's a local call.'American by Birth - A Southerner by the Grace of God.

Anonymous

I am not a southerner but I got a good laugh out of this anyway.