Grave-side Service

This was posted on an e-mail group I belong to:

Grave-side Service

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. The funeral was to be
held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first
homeless person 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 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 Revelation. 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 nothing like that before ...
and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty-five years."