Stan the Pilot

A preacher dies and goes to heaven, where he's greeted at the gate by St. Peter. "Who are you?" St. Peter asks. "I'm Joe Brown. I'm a preacher. I've been preaching the Word of God for 50 years!" "Hmmm... Let me go check and see if you can come inside." Peter replies and wanders off into Heaven.

While he's gone, someone else comes to the gate and knocks. Peter promptly returns to the gate and asks the new arrival: "Who are you?"

"I'm Stan Smith" the guy replies.

"Stan Smith? Stan Smith 'The Pilot'???" Peter exclaims.

"Why... that's right." the guy replies.

Peter throws open the gate and ushers the new arrival inside with an enthusiastic "Come in! Come in!"

"What about me?" asks Preacher Brown.

"Give it a few more minutes - we're still checking" Peter replies, and shuts the gate again.

After what seems like hours, Peter comes back to the gate and opens it. "We have checked, and it's been decided that you can come in," he tells the preacher. The preacher walks in, and while Peter is escorting him to his eternal reward, he asks, "You know, I don't want to seem jealous or resentful, but I've been preaching the Word of God for 50 years, and it took you forever to decide if I could come in. But you practically pulled that pilot out of his shoes getting him inside Heaven's gate. Why is that?"

"Well... " Peter replies, "for 50 years while you preached, people slept in the pews. But every time someone got aboard an airplane with Stan, they were praying their hearts out!"
 

Last updated: 18 August, 2004 09:48