As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a
graveside service for a homeless man, with no family or friends.
The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and
this
man would be the first to be laid to rest there. As I was not
familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost! I did not stop for
directions.
When I finally arrived an hour late, I saw the backhoe and the crew, who
were eating lunch, but the hearse was no where in sight. I apologized
to the
workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave,
where I
saw the vault lid already in place.
I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, but this was
the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their
lunch.
I poured out my heart and soul. As I preached the workers began to say
"Amen," "Praise the Lord," and "Glory." I preached, and I preached,
like I'd
never preached before: From Genesis all the way to Revelations. I
closed The
lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car.
As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the
workers saying to another, "I ain't never seen anything like that
before and
I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."
Carol Melton
Valley of the Sun
Phoenix, AZ USA
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
