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 didn’t know 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 the
last time 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, 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 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.
*Author * *Unknown*
