 |
|
|
||||
| |||||||
|
Keep Your
Fork... the Best is Yet to Come
There was
a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given
three months to live. So as she was getting her things "in order,"
she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain
aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the
service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be
buried in. The woman also requested to be buried with her favorite Bible.
Everything
was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly
remembered something very important to her. There's one more thing," she
said excitedly. "What's that?" came the pastor's reply. "This
is very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a
fork in my right hand." The pastor stood looking at the woman, not
knowing quite what to say.
"That
surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest,
I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor. The woman explained.
"In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I
always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared,
someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my
favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety
chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with
substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork
in my hand and I want them to wonder "What's with the fork?'. Then I want
you to tell them:
"Keep
your fork... the best is yet to come."
The
pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He
knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death.
But he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She
KNEW that something better was coming.
At the
funeral people were walking by the woman's casket and they saw the pretty
dress she was wearing and her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right
hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question. "What's with the
fork?" And over and over again, he just smiled.
During his
message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman
shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it
symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking
about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop
thinking about it either. He was right.
So the
next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you oh so gently, that
the best is yet to come. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you
smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of
praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.
~ Author
Unknown ~
* * *
|
|
