As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a
funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless
man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a
pauper's' cemetery in the back country.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods I got lost and
finally arrived an hour late. I saw the funeral guy had evidently
gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the
diggers and crew left, and they were eating lunch.
I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the
side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in
place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.
The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played
out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like
I've never played before for this homeless man.
As I played 'Amazing Grace', the workers began to weep. They wept,
I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes
and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.
As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I
never seen nothin' like that before, and I've been putting in septic
tanks for twenty years."
No comments:
Post a Comment