If Not, Call...

Pastor Patty told Randall Nathan on Friday, when they ran into each other at The Mills of the Gods Coffee House and Persimmon Emporium, as they always do, that she was preaching on sin come Sunday.

He told her some jokes he used to use when he preached on sin, since he thinks sin stems mostly from an absence of humor.

There was the priest who wanted to speed up confession and so installed a drive-through confessional with the blinking neon light above it, "Toot and tell or go to hell."

And there was the minister who announced that there were 127 forms of sin and was quickly besieged by those wanting the list.

Finally, there was the church bulletin board on which the pastor had put: If tired of sin, come on in." Underneath someone had scrawled, "If not, call 468-7467," which with the letters on the phone is GOT-SINS.

Pastor Patty told the last one in her sermon this morning. She couldn't remember 468-7467, so just used her cell phone number.

On the way home, she got six hang-up calls.