Time is like a river. You cannot touch the water
twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every
moment of life. 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 Nova Scotia
back country.
As I was not familiar with
the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for
directions.
I finally arrived an hour
late and 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. And 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 was hung low, my heart was
full.
As I opened the door to my
car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothing like that
before and I've been putting in septic tanks for years."
Apparently I'm still lost...
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