GoodGod's Journal

As a bagpiper, I was asked by a funeral  director to play at a graveside  service for a homeless man who had no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery in the remote countryside 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 were 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 up for long but this was the  proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I  played out my heart and soul.  As I played the  workers began to weep. I played and I played like I'd  never  played before, from Going Home and The Lord is My Shepherd to Flowers of  the Forest. I closed the lengthy session with  Amazing Grace 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, Sweet Jeezuz, Mary 'n Joseph, I have never seen  nothin' like that before in the twenty years I've been putting in septic tanks.