God <3's Pittsburgh

I know I said I'd give my first impressions of Pittsburgh in the next post, and I will, but I got the following story in an email today, and I thought it was a sweet answer to the smack-talking that's cropped up between fans of the Ravens and Steelers. Those Baltimore fans are saying some lame stuff and taking some cheap shots. But it's cool. Steelers fans just let it roll off their collective back. This helps to explain why:

The Golden Telephone

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there.

At 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, "Calls: $10,000 a minute."

Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price, he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he visited churches in Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee and all around the United States [also, Baltimore], he found more phones, with the same sign and the same answer from each pastor.

Finally, he arrived in Pennsylvania. Upon entering a church in Pittsburgh, he saw the usual golden telephone. But this time, the sign read, "Calls: $0.35."
 
Fascinated, he talked with the pastor, "Father Jones, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone. But in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only $0.35 a call. Why?"

The priest, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania now, home of the five-time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Penguins. You are where three vibrant rivers meet at the point of the most beautiful downtown area around, in the city with the best hospitals, the best neighborhoods and the friendliest people in the world! You're in God's country, Son. It's a local call."

AMEN