DAVID. DAVID, OPEN YOUR EYES.

I can’t look.

YOU’RE WITH ME NOW.

Where are we?

THIS IS YOUR FUNERAL DAVID.

Why are we here?

WE ARE GOING TO LOOK BACK UPON THE LIFE YOU LED.

Oh boy. Are you sure there aren’t any other things that are more important than me right now.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO ME.

Isn’t there any other way to do this? Lightning rod or something?

WHY ARE YOU AFRAID?

Lord, I didn’t have a lot of friends and my family is all gone. I’m afraid that my funeral will be small and uneventful.

WHY SHOULD THE QUANTITY OF MOURNERS MATTER? DON’T YOU KNOW THAT I CAN SEE INTO THE HEARTS OF MEN? DON’T YOU REMEMBER ME WITH YOU WHEN YOU LIVED YOUR LIFE?

Well…yeah but Lord I don’t see how my life can be reviewed by this scene.

WELL THEN I DON’T THINK THAT YOU ARE LOOKING CLOSE ENOUGH.

But look at this. Look at the turn out. Actually it is more than I even expected. About a dozen or so. That’s funny. Some of them I don’t even know. Is there a buffet or something? I’m gone and I still feel like I’m being taken advantage of.

WHY?

Well there looks to be freeloaders at my funeral for starters. Why shouldn’t I feel this way?

BECAUSE YOU AREN’T LOOKING CLOSE ENOUGH. THAT MAN THERE. THE ONE WITH THE RED JACKET. WHO IS HE?

I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.

YOU’RE WRONG. LOOK AGAIN AND REMEMBER.

Hmm. He’s not very old is he? About 20 or so I’d say.

25 IN FACT. WHAT ELSE.

Well. I guess he looks familiar. Wait, wait a minute. Is that they guy who ran over my dog last year?

YES

Well what the heck is HE doing here? I’m still mad about that. Jerk!

DO YOU FORGET WHO SITS WITH YOU EVEN NOW?

Oh. Sorry. I guess I should forgive him.

YOU SHOULD HAVE FORGIVEN HIM LONG AGO. I GAVE THE TRIAL OF LOOSING YOUR PET TO YOU. HE SHARES IN YOUR EVENT, BUT HE IS NOT TO BLAME.

But who should I blame? He’s the one who was driving the car.

BLAME IS THE PROBLEM HERE, NOT THE SOLUTION. THE LATCH ON THE GATE IN YOUR YARD WAS WORN DOWN AND RUSTED. THIS IS MY WORK. THE CAT THAT WALKED BY WAS FOLLOWING THE PATH THAT WAS SET OUT FOR HIM BY ME. THE CIRCUMSTANCES LINED UP ACCORDING TO WHAT WAS MEANT TO BE AND THIS MAN WAS DRIVING HIS CAR AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, RIGHT ALONG YOUR STREET AS I HAD DETERMINED FOR ALL INVOLVED.

You actually planned this. But why?

YOU WERE NEVER GIVEN ANYTHING MORE THAN YOU COULD HANDLE. THE REASON WHY IS MINE TO DECIDE, BUT TRUST THAT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN MALICE HERE.

I still don’t understand.

IT WAS SCRUFF’S TIME TO RETURN HOME. HIS TASKS WERE COMPLETE. THE CAT LEARNED A VALUABLE LESSON IN SURVIVAL, AS IT’S LIFE WOULD LEAD IT TO FACE MUCH MORE DEMANDING CHALLENGES THAN THE ONE BEFORE IT THAT DAY. YOU HAD GAINED THE EXPERIENCE TO TEST YOUR FAITH AND HEALING. PAIN IS A PART OF LIFE AND DEATH. PAIN IS WHAT YOU WERE TO FACE THAT DAY AND YOU ACTUALLY HANDLED YOURSELF WELL…CONSIDERING THE SITUATION. THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT THOUGH. DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID?

Yes. I don’t feel so hot about it now. I remember feeling so much anger and sorrow that day. I remember wanting to yell and scream at him out there on the road. How fast do you have to be going in order not to see something run out in front of you like that? I don’t think he even stepped on the breaks until after he had hit.

THAT’S TRUE. HE WAS ACTUALLY LIGHTING A CIGARETTE AND NEVER EVEN SAW SCRUFF RUN OUT FROM THE GATE.

So why tell me this now. Why bring this up.

WHAT DID YOU DO THAT DAY?

I wanted to go to his house and run over his dog. I wanted to …

NONE OF WHAT YOU THOUGHT WILL COME INTO PLAY HERE. SO MUCH OF THAT IS TEMPTATION. BUT WHAT DID YOU DO? THIS IS WHAT COUNTS. THIS IS WHAT BRINGS US HERE NOW. YOUR CHOICES WERE MANY BUT YOUR ACTIONS WERE FEW. DO YOU REMEMBER?

I remember sitting on my knees and picking up Scruffs. He was so heavy that day. I cried. I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t do anything. He was on his knees too. He was trying to apologize and explain. None of that mattered though. My friend was dead in my arms. I told you that I didn’t have many, and right then I was one down. One good one.

DO YOU REMEMBER TALKING TO HIM AT ALL?

No. All I could do was cry. It must have been forever for him. He stayed with me out on the road while I cried. Come to think of it I did say something to him. I thanked him for sitting with me. When I finally got up I thanked him. Well that’s ironic eh. He kills one of my best friends and I thank him.

THAT’S IT. THAT IS WHY HE SITS HERE WITH THE OTHERS.

Because I thanked him?

IT’S SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. THIS MAN FELT HEAVY GUILT FOR THIS EVER SINCE. BEFORE THIS HE WOULD HAVE JUST BRUSHED IT OFF AS ANOTHER WORTHLESS ANIMAL IN THE WAY. JUST MORE ROAD KILL. HIS DRIVING HABITS WERE BECOMING CARELESS AND HE WAS LOOSING HIS COMPASSION FOR OTHERS. WHEN YOU CAME OUT OF YOUR HOUSE THAT DAY HE WAS STOPPING TO CHECK FOR DAMAGE. YOU ACTUALLY CAUGHT HIM IN THE ACT OF HARDENING HIS HEART YET AGAIN. SITTING WITH YOU WHILE YOU WEPT FOR YOUR FRIEND PUT THE SPARK IN HIM. HE FELT YOUR PAIN AS THOUGH IT WERE HIS TOO. THIS WAS THE SPARK FOR HIM TO TURN AROUND. WHEN YOU THANKED HIM, IT STARTLED HIM. HE WAS EXPECTING ALL THE THINGS YOU WERE FEELING THE TEMPTATION TO DO AND SAY. BUT INSTEAD YOU THANKED HIM AND BROUGHT YOUR FRIEND UP TO YOUR HOUSE AS HE GOT INTO HIS CAR AND SLOWLY DROVE AWAY.

So what are you saying? That I converted someone from being a worse jerk into something else?

I’M SAYING THAT THE LESSON I SET OUT FOR HIM TO LEARN THAT DAY WAS TAKEN IN FULL BY HIM. YOU WERE TO LEARN SOMETHING THAT DAY AS WELL, BUT THE VERY NEXT WEEK HE WAS GETTING SET UP TO LIGHT ANOTHER CIGARETTE IN THE CAR WHEN HE REMEMBERED THE DAY HE SAT WITH YOU. TOSSING THE UNLIT HABIT ASIDE, HE WAS HEADS UP WHEN IN SECONDS HE DID SEE A LITTLE BOY RUN OUT INTO THE STREET BEFORE HIM. THE LITTLE BOY LIVES STILL TODAY AND MY LESSONS FOR THE MAN WERE REINFORCED. MORE WERE LEARNED THAT DAY AS WELL, BUT THAT IS THE CYCLE OF EFFECT.

So that’s why he’s here.

HE IS HERE BECAUSE IN THE LAST YEAR HE HAS GAINED SUCH A GREAT RESPECT FOR ME AND FOR YOU THAT IT WAS HIS CHOICE TO COME AND SHOW HIS RESPECT TO BOTH OF US. HE MAY NOT EVEN KNOW IT YET, BUT THIS MAN HAS CHALLENGES THAT WILL COME UP TO HIM THAT WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF SOMEONE’S LIFE. MUCH THE SAME WAY YOU HAVE CHANGED HIS.

Does this guy even count for me? I mean that I don’t even know his name.

HE ONLY JUST LEARNED YOURS TWO DAYS AGO WHEN YOUR PHOTO APPEARED IN THE PAPER HE WAS READING. I LED HIM TO THE OBITUARIES, WHICH IS NOT NORMAL FOR HIM, AND HE SAW YOUR PICTURE THERE. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE FOR HIM TO LEARN YET, AND IT WILL START WHEN HE LEAVES HERE TODAY.

If I had only known how much I could do, maybe I could’ve done more.

BUT YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN. I SPENT MY TIME TEACHING YOU. DIDN’T YOU LISTEN? MY WORKERS HAD EXPLAINED TO YOU MANY TIMES ABOUT YOUR JOB HERE ON EARTH. MY WORD HAS A PLACE IN YOUR HOME, AND YOUR HEART, BUT NOT I FEAR IN YOUR HEAD.

This isn’t going to go well, is it?

THERE IS MUCH TO BE SEEN HERE STILL. LOOK OVER THERE. WHO IS THAT?

Oh brother. That is Cyril. He’s my neighbor. I have spent way too many a day fighting with him over the fence. He’s here to gloat I know it.

DON’T BE SO SURE.

Why else would someone show up to a funeral for a guy that argued with him the whole time? That’s just lunacy. This guy is not a good one for me to talk about.

SO DON’T TALK ABOUT HIM. DID YOU EVER TALK TOO HIM?

Of course I did. Almost two or three times a week he would come running out of his house to corner me on something else. Whether it was how the sun reflected off of my windows into his living room, or why I voted wrong again, he seemed to have a never ending supply of reasons to get me mad. One of the other neighbors’s called the police one time. They thought that we were going to come to blows. I can’t for the life of me figure out how that would be even remotely dangerous enough to call the cops. Two geezers slapping each other with their canes couldn’t get very far before one fell over off balance anyway. I know why he’s here. I bet he’s here to tell me how I died wrong.

HE WAS QUITE A CROSS TO BEAR FOR YOU. HOW DID YOU EVER GET THROUGH THE DAYS?

Well sometimes when I didn’t think he was watching I would sneak over to his house and loosen the water hose from the wall just enough so that when he would turn it on it would soak him through while he tried to turn it back off. Or sometimes I would put a dollop of honey under his deck chair so that when he would go out the bees would be buzzing too much. I guess I really shouldn’t have done that stuff. He really wasn’t so bad. I just hated to see him come running out after me. You know that when I would see him coming I would feel almost young enough to go running the other direction sometimes. He always caught me along the fence between the two places while I worked on the flowerbed. There was this one spot that I just couldn’t get to grow anything, so I was always there trying to figure it out. Hey while were on the subject, why was that anyway. How come I couldn’t grow a thing right there?

POISON.

What?

WELL CYRIL WOULD SNEAK OUT WHILE YOU WERE AT THE PARK AND SPRINKLE A BIT OF SALT IN WATER, OR JUST OTHER THINGS HE WOULD FIND AROUND, OVER THE FENCE RIGHT THERE.

Why that low down…

NOW JUST A MINUTE THERE. WHAT ABOUT THE HONEY AND THE WATER HOSE? HOW WERE THOSE DIFFERENT?

Ooh. I guess they aren’t different really.

IN FACT THEY ARE. YOUR PRACTICAL JOKES WERE DESIGNED TO BE A BIT VINDICTIVE.

And his wasn’t?

TELL ME THIS. HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU EVER NOTICE HIM HAVING COMPANY?

Well never that I can recall. I guess I just figured that no one would want to come around to visit an old grouch like him.

THAT MAY BE TRUE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE HIM ANY LESS OF A MAN. HE STILL NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A BIT OF A FRIENDSHIP. EVEN IF IT MEANT TRICKING YOU IN TO COMING OUTSIDE OFTEN WHERE HE COULD SEE YOU. EVEN IF IT MEANT STARTING A FIGHT EVERY TIME TO KEEP YOU OUT THERE. YOU WERE HIS BEST FRIEND. YOU MADE HIS LIFE PURPOSEFUL. YOU BROUGHT HIM HERE, TODAY TO THIS CHURCH, WHERE HE WILL MEET VANESSA.

No no no. Not Vanessa. She’s so nice.

AND SHE WILL HELP HIM CONTINUE HIS JOURNEY HOME TO ME. HIS TIME IS NOT FAR OFF EITHER.

You’re going to give him a room beside me aren’t you?

WHO DO YOU THINK INVENTED THE SENSE OF HUMOR? BUT WE HAVEN’T DETERMINED IF YOU EVEN HAVE A ROOM YET, HAVE WE.

Let’s move on.

THOSE THREE. WHO ARE THEY?

That little girl is Amanda. She brings my groceries on Tuesday afternoons. Those are her parents I guess. Not very good people those two. Amanda would spend time with me and Scruff in the park down the street whenever she could. At first I couldn’t figure it out. What would be so interesting about an old fart and his dog, but before long I figured out that she just didn’t want to be home with those drunks. Awful awful thing to want to be away from your own parents at such a young age.

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT DRIVES MEN TO DO WHAT THEY DO. AND SO YOU ARE NOT THEIR JUDGE. THEY WILL SPEAK TO THEIR OFFENSES IN TIME, BUT MAYBE YOU SHOULD LET THE STORY GO DEEPER THAN JUST TWO DRUNKS. THEY HAD A SON BEFORE THEY HAD AMANDA. HE WAS LOST TO THEM BY DISEASE AT THE AGE OF 5. THIS WAS ALSO MY DOING. THEY HAD TO FACE THEMSELVES AND DEAL WITH THIS TRAGEDY. AS YOU MIGHT WELL KNOW, THINGS DIDN’T GO TOO WELL FOR THEM AT THAT POINT. THEY BOTH TURNED TO ALCOHOL AND OTHER UNDESIRABLE DISTRACTIONS. SO I BLESSED THEM WITH HER. THAT LITTLE GIRL WILL BE THEIR GUARDIAN ANGEL HERE. SHE WILL SHOW THEM THE WAY TO SALVATION.

But she’s so alone.

NO SHE’S NOT. I AM WITH HER AND YOU INTRODUCED HER TO ME.

What. How did I do that? All I did was take her to the park. I never took her to church or Sunday school. I stayed away from getting into trouble with her parents. You know how some people are about that kind of thing.

YES I DO. BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT SHE WASN’T GOING TO THE PARK WITH YOU JUST TO STAY AWAY FROM HOME. YOU WERE TEACHING HER ABOUT ME IN YOUR ACTIONS, AND THE LITTLE CONVERSATIONS YOU HAD WITH HER.

But that hardly constitutes leading her to you. All I did was try to make her understand life doesn’t revolve around her parent’s drunken stupors. I wanted her to not be afraid to go for more. I wanted to help her with the things that I felt her parents were failing her of. She was so shy at first. So afraid to even look up.

AND NOW SHE IS EQUIPPED WITH THE TOOLS SHE NEEDS TO STRIVE AHEAD AND BRING HER MOM AND DAD BACK TO ME.

Will she make it?

FREE WILL IS YET TO BE DECIDED BY HER, AS IT IS FOR HER PARENTS, BUT LOOK AT THEM. THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO COME HERE TODAY. AMANDA IS CAPABLE OF GETTING HERE ALONE. THEY KNOW THAT. THEY ALSO KNOW THAT SHE IS HURTING TODAY. THEY ARE NOT SO MUCH HERE FOR YOU, AS THEY ARE FOR HER. THEY LOVER HER AND AS WE SPEAK THEY ARE REALIZING HER IMPORTANCE TO THEM. LOOK AT THEIR FACES WHILE SHE SITS CRYING BETWEEN THEM. CAN YOU SEE THE FAMILY BECOMING STRONGER HERE? CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL OF THE THINGS YOU TALKED WITH HER ABOUT?

Oh man. I can understand the fact that I wish that I hadn’t given her as much bull and more of the truth. What if I’ve messed her up for life with the things that I shouldn’t have said? What if I mixed her all up with the ravings of a bitter old man? Oh that poor girl.

WELL DON’T BE TAKING ALL OF THE CREDIT. JUST AS I PUT HER IN YOUR PATH TO DEAL WITH, I ALSO GAVE HER THE COMMON SENSE TOOLS TO FILTER OUT THE JUNK FROM THE WISDOM AND FAITH. YOU MIGHT HAVE GIVEN A FEW TOO MANY OPINIONS AND A FEW TOO LITTLE TRUTHS, BUT SHE IS WELL ON HER WAY THANKS TO THE GUIDANCE PASSED THROUGH YOU BY ME.

You say that like I have been just a puppet for you. Then why do we even go through life if you are going to just pull our stings anyway?

IT HAS TAKEN YOUR ENTIRE LIFETIME TEACH YOU WHAT YOU NEEDED HERE. YOU ALWAYS HAD IT IN YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING. YOU ALWAYS HAD THE WISDOM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. I DON’T USE PUPPETS. I DON’T PULL STRINGS. I PUT MY FAITH IN YOU AND GIVE THE OPTION TO YOU TO MAKE THE CHOICES. YOU MIGHT REALIZE NOW THE IMPACT YOU HAD, GOOD OR BAD, ON THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE OR EVEN AROUND IT. EVEN NOW THE EFFECTS ARE STILL RIPPLING BY. LOOK THERE. DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS MAN?

No. He looks a little like my father did just before he died though.

THIS MAN IS PETER. HE IS YOUR BROTHERS GRANDSON. HE IS YOUR CLOSEST LIVING RELATIVE. YOU’VE NEVER MET EACH OTHER. HE OWNS HIS OWN BUSINESS IN THE STATES AND HE IS HERE TO INHERIT YOUR ESTATE.

Well good luck to him. I don’t think that there is anything here for him to have.

THERE IS. ONCE THE MONEY IS DEALT WITH AND BILLS PAID WITH THE SALE OF YOUR HOUSE, ALL THAT WILL BE LEFT IS A BIBLE. THE ONE THAT YOU USED AS A YOUNG TEACHER. THERE ARE LOTS OF SCRIBBLES AND NOTES IN IT. THE PAGES ARE TATTERED AND YELLOWED WITH AGE, BUT THEY ARE ALL THERE. THE COVER HAS BEEN RECOVERED TWICE, BUT IT SEEMS TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF CHARACTER.

I remember it. I remember those days too. I was filled with so much hope and ambition to help form the little ones into people who stood up for You. That book must be barely held together. Actually I thought that I had thrown it out when I quit teaching.

YOU HAD. BUT THERE WERE THOSE WHO FOUND IT AND SECRETLY RETURNED IT FOR ME.

What? You had someone dig through my garbage and bring it back to me?

I SENT AN ANGEL TO RECOVER MY WORD FOR YOU. I HAD IT PLACED IN YOUR ATTIC IN A BOX OF THINGS THAT KEPT IT WELL HIDDEN AND PRESERVED. I HAVE PURPOSE FOR IT YET AS YOU CAN GUESS. YOUR GREAT NEPHEW WILL NEED IT. RIGHT NOW HE IS A GREEDY MONEY-MONGER, WHICH IS THE ONLY REASON HE IS HERE NOW. HE THINKS THAT THIS IS FOUND MONEY FOR HIM. WHEN HE PICKS UP THAT BIBLE AS THE ONLY THING TO GAIN FOR HIS EFFORTS HERE, HE WILL BE TEMPTED TO TOSS IT AS WELL. BUT SOMETHING INSIDE HIM WILL STIR. HE WILL BECOME CURIOUS ABOUT YOU AS HE FLIPS THROUGH AND SEES YOUR NOTES AND LITTLE PICTURES. SO HE WILL DECIDE TO KEEP IT FOR LATER. EVENTUALLY HE WILL FORGET HE DID SO AND LIFE WILL GO ON. ONE DAY WHEN HE FINDS HIMSELF AT A LOSS FOR ALL ELSE IN HIS LIFE, HE WILL FIND IT, TUCKED INTO A TRUNK. HE WILL OPEN IT AGAIN AND THE CYCLE WILL GO ON. HIS CHOICES WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE GREAT UNCLE HE NEVER MET. GOOD OR BAD HE NOW HAS THE TOOLS HE NEEDS TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS.

Why not have him go through it now? Why wait?

HE ISN’T READY YET. JUST AS IT TOOK ME A LIFETIME TO PREPARE YOU, IT WILL TAKE TIME FOR HIM TO BE READY TO COME TO ME. HE HASN’T YET FELT THE PAIN OF GUILT AND CONSEQUENCE. HE NEEDS TIME TO DIG HIMSELF INTO IMPOSSIBLE HOPELESSNESS. AND IN THE MEANTIME HE STANDS TO HELP ME TEACH MY CHILDREN THE LESSONS THEY NEED THROUGH THE SUFFERING HE WILL CAUSE.

Sounds like a lot of work.

HEY, I GOT THE TIME. AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE LIFE YOU HAVE LEFT BEHIND?

Well. I’d feel better if I could figure out if they will all be okay now that I know I had such a part to play for them.

TIME WILL TELL, AND YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG.

I definitely wish that I’d done more to help the others. Even though you’ve shown me so much here, I can’t help but think that there is so much more I could’ve done for so many more.

BUT YOU HAVE. YOU ONLY BEGIN TO REALIZE THE EFFECT OF DAVID UPON THE LAND.

Hey wait. I see a couple of the kids I taught. And some of the guys from the bowling alley years ago. And isn’t that the fellow who tried to get my vote in the last election? Did I affect all of these people for the better?

SOME YES, AND SOME NOT SO MUCH.

Oh.

LET’S GO AND WATCH YOUR UNIVERSITY MID TERMS

Oh oh.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

Oh nothing. Maybe we could go to the beach instead.

YOU MEAN THE DAY YOU WERE ARRESTED WITH ALCOHOL IN YOUR CAR?

Uh no. How about the mall?

AREN’T YOU STILL BANNED FROM THE MALL?

Yeah but I figure that I’m dead now, and with you beside me, who’s going to turn me away?

YEAH I THINK WE CAN FIND A COUPLE OF BROKEN HEARTS YOU LEFT THERE YEARS AGO.

Mid terms it is.

LET’S GO.

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