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The Phone Call By Edward Tooley The audience sat in silence when the speaker named John finished his message. The stillness was not the awkward type, but more of the stunned variety. It took a moment or two for the audience of about a thousand teenagers and faculty to regain focus. Then a smattering of clapping began and built until the room was filled with applause. I had a bird’s eye view of this event as I happened to be seated near the top of the auditorium.
Periodically, this community phone would ring asking for a particular student. Most of the time, the student in question was eagerly waiting by the phone and would immediately answer the call. On some occasions, the phone would ring waiting for someone to answer. John made it known that if you picked up a random call, you then would have to locate the person. This could take much valuable time and energy, so students normally avoided picking up these calls.
The students had gathered for a weekly chapel service. At these events, teachers were responsible for making sure students were on their best behavior. It was obvious from the beginning that this would not be difficult. The entire student body was engrossed with the speech right from the start.
One day while John was picking up his mail on a rather uneventful day, the phone rang. And you guessed it, no one was waiting to answer the phone. John ignored the rings until they stopped. He sat down in the lobby for a brief moment to read his mail when the phone rang again. This time John thought of sneaking out of the lobby and letting someone else answer it. He was not in the mood to go searching high and low for the person in question. John changed his mind at the last moment and picked up the phone. This is where the miracle begins. The caller asked for a student named Pete who happened to be living at the far end of the building. John reluctantly said he would go and alert the student that he had a call. John recalled that he moaned and groaned all the way to Pete’s room for making what he felt was a foolish decision. He finally arrived at Pete’s door and knocked.
So, what did John say that left us in such a daze? His message focused on how miracles can occur at the most unlikely times and places. John highlighted his message by recounting a story that happened while he was in college. He explained how the students in the dorm where he lived had to share one pay telephone located in the lobby. I guess you could call it a community phone. The story, of course, took place back in the day before cell phones. I noticed a few students reacting in disbelief as if this must have taken place hundreds of years ago, but back to the story. John pointed out there were times when a long line of students was waiting to make their nightly call. He got a chuckle from the crowd when he said that many of the calls were made to parents asking for much-needed money. 66 | M AG A Z I N E N A M E PAGE 3 23
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