R
ralphsulser
As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold
a grave-side Service for a homeless man, with no family or friends,
who
had died while traveling through the area. 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; And being a typical man did not stop for directions. I
finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew,who was
eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere 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 long, But this was theproper 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.I felt I had done my duty for the
homeless man, and that the crew would leave with a renewed sense of
purpose and dedication, in spite of my tardiness. 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 this before and
I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."
a grave-side Service for a homeless man, with no family or friends,
who
had died while traveling through the area. 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; And being a typical man did not stop for directions. I
finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew,who was
eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere 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 long, But this was theproper 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.I felt I had done my duty for the
homeless man, and that the crew would leave with a renewed sense of
purpose and dedication, in spite of my tardiness. 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 this before and
I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."
