The Golden Phone

John Chester was a famous photographer and he decided that he was going to embark on an ambitious new project: photographs of houses or worship around the world. Temples, churches, mosques, synagogues, everything. As different as they all were, he noticed one thing in common. They all appeared to have a golden phone on the wall. So at one stop, he finally got up the courage to ask the spiritual leader if he could use the phone.

“You may but it costs $10,000 per minute,” said the holy man. The photographer was flabbergasted.

“Is this because it is a direct line to heaven and you can speak directly to God?” asked the photographer.

“That is correct, my son.”

Every house of worship he visited, the photographer confirmed the same story.

Until finally he came to Jerusalem where he entered a small synagogue with an old rabbi sitting at the front, where sure enough there was a golded phone on the wall with a sign that read, "Calls: 25 cents." Fascinated, the photography approached the rabbi.

"Rabbi, I have been in countries all around the world and in each house of worship I found this golden telephone, and I have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but the cost was always $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 25 cents a call. Why?"

The old rabbi smiled and replied, "Because now it’s a local call."