“Hello, Chaplain Lawson?” Jose said through the screen door on the RV trailer.
“Hello, come on in. I’m about ready,” answered Lawson from inside. “Come on in.” Lawson had just turned 88 years old. He was a fair-skinned, gray haired man who was a little unsteady on his feet when he walked.
“Come on in, Jose,” Lawson gestured for Jose to enter.
“Thanks,” Jose said, as he opened the trailer door and walked in.
Lawson emerged from his closet in a navy blue business suit, white shirt and yellow and brown tie with crosses on it.
“Wow, you look great, Lawson. I don’t think I have seen anyone in a suit in a while.”
“It’s all for the Lord. I am a happy servant.” Lawson picked up a worn-out Bible and walked towards the door. Jose joined him and they exited the trailer. Jose helped Lawson walk towards the gravesite.
Lawson and Jose sat in chairs nearby the gravesite. Others approached the gravesite and sat in some of the chairs nearby. About 30 people sat in front of the grave site, waiting for the funeral. Several Coleman lanterns were nearby, illuminating the grave area.
Jose told Lawson, “They killed Kirk with some kind of guillotine.”
“That’s what I heard,” Lawson said. “Terrible. But Kirk is in Heaven right now.”
One of the women nearby, Mary, asked Lawson, “Lawson, where is Lois?”
“She’s coming. Won’t be long.”
The sound of a shower, nearby and up the hill could be heard. Wallace was washing his clothes from behind a wall made of wooden pallets. His black backpack, machete, boots and gun were laid on the ground nearby.
“That guy is new here,” Jose told Lawson. “I think his name is Wallace.”
“Will he be staying here?” Lawson asked.
“I don’t know. He pretty much stays by himself. He walks around the area a lot. Kind of a military guy.”
“What’s his name again?”
“Wallace.”
“Did he go to our church?”
“I heard that he came every once in a while. I don’t think he ever really joined the church but he was there a lot. You might recognize him.”
“OK.”
More people came and sat in the chairs. Peter emerged from the tent area, holding something in his arms that was wrapped in a tarp. It was Kirk’s body. Lois and Jesse walked behind Peter.
“Oh, here they come.”
Peter knelt down and placed the tarp containing Kirk’s body next to the grave, then got into the grave and lowered Kirk’s body into the grave. Peter got out of the grave and sat on one of the chairs nearby. Lois sat next to Lawson.
Lawson stood up and walked to the grave, turned and faced everyone. “Brothers and sisters, we are here to remember and celebrate the life of our brother in Christ, Kirk Bryant. I will make a few comments, we will have a reading, then we will open it up to comments and remembrances from anyone here, then we will sing “I’ll Fly Away,” and then commence with the actual burying. I have been told that Kathy and Peter will be casting the first handfuls of dirt here. Let’s go to prayer.”
****