**The Bagpiper**
As a young bagpiper, I was asked by a funeral director to play at 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 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 My Home & 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, "Jeezuz, Mary'n Joseph, I never seen nothin'
like that before -- and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty
years."
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--
“Right at the depth of the human condition, lies the longing for a presence,
the silent desire for a communion. Let us never forget that this simple desire
for God is already the beginning of faith.”
Brother Roger of Taizé
