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A Country
Funeral
As a young minister in Kentucky, I
was asked by a funeral
director to hold a grave-side
service for a homeless man, who had
no family or
friends. The funeral was to be held at a
new
cemetery, way back in the country, and this man
would be the
first to be buried there.
I was
not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon
became
lost. Being a typical man, I did not stop to
ask for directions.
I finally arrived an hour late. I
saw the backhoe and the open
grave, but the hearse
was nowhere in sight.
The digging crew was eating
lunch. I apologized to the workers
for my tardiness,
and I stepped to the side of the open grave.
There I
saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the
workers
I would not hold them up for long, as I told
them that this was
the proper thing to do. The
workers gathered around the grave and
stood silently,
as I began to pour out my heart and soul.
As I
preached about 'looking forward to a brighter tomorrow'
and
'the glory that is to come,' the workers began to
say 'Amen,'
'Praise the Lord,' and 'Glory!' The
fervor of these men truly
inspired me. So, I preached
and I preached like I had never
preached before...
all the way from Genesis to Revelation.
I finally
closed the lengthy service with a prayer, thanked
the
men, and walked to my car. As I was opening the
door and taking
off my coat, I heard one of the
workers say to another, 'I ain't
NEVER seen nothin'
like that before, and I've been puttin' in
septic
tanks for thirty
years!' |
