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Keep
Your Fork
There was a woman who had been diagnosed
with a terminal
illness and had been given three months to live. So as 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 were 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 of 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
goodbye. 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
that 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 he
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 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.
Contributed
by
Phyllis Reed
Defining
Moments
Archives
Copyright
© 2006, Jace Carlton. All International Rights Reserved.
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