THE FUNERAL Thursday
Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>
decayed and dim. When slowly through the
window came a plaintive funeral hymn. And
my sympathy awakened and a wonder quickly
grew. 'Til I found myself envired in a
little Negro pew.
nearly wild. On the altar was a casket and
in the casket was a child. I could picture
him while livin', curly hair, protuding lips
I'd seen perhaps a thousand in my hurried
southern trips.
little wooden desk With a manner sorta
awkward, and countenance grotesque. The
simplicity and shrewdness in his Ethiopian
face showed the wisdom and ignorance of a
crushed, undying race.
pretty bit of clay. For the little boy who
lived there has done gone and run away
He is doin' very finely and he appreciates
your love, but his shore 'nuff Father wanted
him in the big house up above.
hundred thousand miles. He just thought you
need some sunshine, and He lent it for awhile
And He let you keep and love it 'til your
hearts were bigger grown. And these
silver tears you're sheddin' now is just
interest on the loan.
'long on sorrows life's way. What a blessed
picnic this here baby got today. Your good
fathers and good mothers crowd the little
fellow 'round in the Angel's tender garden of
the big plantation ground.
pretty things he viewed. But a tear came,
and he whispered, 'I want my parents , too.
But then the Angel's chief musicians teach
that little boy a song. Says if only they be
faithful they'll soon be comin' 'long.
with Jesus rest. And don't go to criticizin' the
One what knows the best. He has give us many
comforts, He's got the right to take away. To
the Lord be praised in glory, forever, let us pray."
A ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on
it were able to swim to a small desert like island. The two
survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they have no
other recourse but to pray to God for help.
However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they decided to
divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the
island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the
first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the island, and he
was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained
barren.
After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a
wife. The next day, there was another ship wreck, and the only
survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the island. On the
other side of the island, there still was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, and more food. The
next day, like magic, all of these things were given to him.
However, the second man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife
could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked on
his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife
and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the
other man unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his
prayers had been answered.
As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from
heaven boom-out, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for
them," the first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered and
so he does not deserve anything."
"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer,
which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any
of my blessings."
"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that
I should owe him anything?"
"He prayed that all your prayers would be answered."
Dave and Barbara
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