As a young minister in Kentucky, I was asked by a funeral director to
hold a graveside service for a homeless man who had no family or friends.

The funeral was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be buried there.
I was not familiar with the backwoods area, and I soon became lost.Being a typical man, I did not stop to ask for directions.
I finally arrived an hour late.
I saw the backhoe and the open grave but the hearse was nowhere in sight.The digging crew was eating lunch and I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, as I stepped to the side of the grave. There I saw the vault lid
already in place.
I assured the workers that I would not hold them up for long, as I told
them this was the proper thing to do.

The workers gathered around the open grave and stood silently as I began to pour my heart and soul out.
As I preached about looking forward to a brighter day and the glory that is to come, the workers began to say 'Amen', 'Praise The Lord' and 'Glory!'
The fervor of these men truly inspired me. I preached like I had never
preached before. I preached from Genesis to Revelation!

I finally closed with prayer and thanked all of the men and walked to my
car.

I felt like I had done the best job I could do!

As I opened my car door, I heard one of the workers say to the
others.......

'I ain't never seen nothing like that before, and I been putting in
septic tanks for 30 years' !!!

Oops...shoulda gone in "Pieces of Eight".

Sowwy.