There once was a rich man who was near death.

He was very
grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he
wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven.

So he began
to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with
him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him.

"Sorry, but you
can't take your wealth with you."

The man implores the angel
to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.

The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him.

The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided
to allow him to take one suitcase with him.

Overjoyed, the man
gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars
and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven
to greet St. Peter.

St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, "Hold
on, you can't bring that in here!"

But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and
asks him to verify his story with the Lord.

Sure enough, St.
Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are
allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its
contents before letting it through."

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that
the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You
brought pavement?"