I like to look back and think that I was helping him, but sometimes I wonder!
I enjoyed being with my father whenever possible. Saturdays were usually when we would head out for one of his jobs; please remember that I am speaking of a time when Bermuda did not have cars, so I would sit on the cross-bar of his bicycle and off we would go.
This day his job was to dig a grave for Pappa Joe. This gentleman did not have any direct relationship to us, but in those days, it seemed you were related to everyone else, whether directly or indirectly made little difference.
Dad had checked with the church about the location ahead of time, and so our project got underway. I like to look back and think that I was helping him, but sometimes I wonder!
We had gotten almost to the bottom of the grave when my father said: “Well, I’ll be! I just hit a handle of a coffin. At my age, at that time in my life, I could imagine all types of things. He picked it up and commented that it was solid brass. For sure it had been there for a long time, and because we had just grazed the area where it was found, it was obvious that someone had not recorded a previous burial in that area.
I was told how you could find many burials had taken place without stone around the inside, and were just finished and let the grass grow over it. In Bermuda they usually support the inside of the grave with concrete block, but that had not been done here, and there was no slate on the top. Another factor is that the grave can be opened a year and a day later for an additional burial. They always place palm leaves over the previous casket to cover all existing visibility. All of these things came back to my mind as I was attending a funeral for a friend of mine recently.
I doubt that you are not aware that God has appointed a moment in time when you, like I, will be called out of this life. It is important that we are ready for that moment. Faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a must for proper preparation. I am reminded of the words of Amos 4:12, “Prepare to meet your God.” As I quote so often: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved.” – Acts 16:31
ETCetera 