Amazing Grace

[Gunny]

anonymous,

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 Eastern Oregon 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 poor, 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 hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the
workers say, "I ain't never seen nothin' like that before and I've been
putting in septic tanks for twenty years."