Keep Your Fork

As Lynne Snead and I were having breakfast  in the Dallas Airport as we waited for our plane to Belize and our kayaking adventure, she noticed that we were eating with silver-colored plastic utensils.  She asked me if I knew the story about the woman who wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand.  I didn't.

So she told me the short version. When her pastor asked the woman why she wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand, she told him that as she was growing up, after every meal as the dishes were cleared, someone always told her to keep her fork because dessert was coming.  She wanted to be buried with the fork because "the best is yet to come."

Sometimes it's hard to imagine that the best is yet to come, but I kept that plastic, silver fork as a reminder that we never know what life will bring us and that, indeed, the best still may be coming.

Thanks, Lynne!

Original story below.

From:  http://www.smallchurch.com/esmfork.htm

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 stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite 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 goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times 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 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?" And 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 also 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. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you oh so gently, that the best is yet to come.

A personal note: Pastors, we often become overwhelmed with the present, but always remember - The Best is Yet to Come!

Comments

[Roger von Oech]

What a nice way to start the day!