An Uplifting Illustration
Posted: Saturday, November 12, 2011
by revruc1
Sugarwood Christian Community Church
A woman diagnosed with cancer was given three months to live. Her doctor told her to start making preparations to depart this life, so she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.
She told her pastor which songs she wanted sung at her service, what Scriptures she would like read; and what she wanted to be wearing. The woman also, told her pastor that she wanted 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, at least to her. She said elatedly, "There's one more thing."
"I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand," the woman said. The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing what to say. "That shocks you, doesn't it?" she asked.
The pastor stated, "Well, to be honest, I'm perplexed and puzzled by the request."
The woman explained. "In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say, 'You can keep your fork.' “Itwas my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew that something great was about to be given to me. It wasn't Jell-O or pudding. It was cake or pie, something with substance.”
“So, at my funeral I 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: 'Something better is coming, so you keep your fork, too.''
The preacher then hugged the woman goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would probably see her alive. But he also knew that she 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 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?" 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 told them about the fork and 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. Let Christ be the fork in our hand (heart), that way, we too will know something better was coming when we close our eyes for the last time in this earth serving a loving Christ.
Dr Clarence Rucker Jr
Thee1Bishop
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