Honest Mistake

Sorry everyone. It has been a rough couple of weeks and I haven't felt like writing anything for the past couple of days. Just needed some time to get things put into perspective. It's not easy when you think you have all the important things put first and then you find out they really aren't. It took a huge blow up at work and a night in the hospital with Isaac to help me figure this all out and quite frankly, I'm tired. So, that being said, I got this e-mail from Stacey this morning and it was just the kind of humor that I needed, so I decided to share. I forwarded it to my mom so that she could print it off for my dad. I wish I could be there when he reads it.

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 new 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 I did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the crew, 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 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.

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 that before .... and I've been puttin' in septic tanks for more'n twenty years.