I’ve written about this before. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Joseph (The Coat of Many Colors) was a sold into slavery by his brothers. He was then thrown into prison. Then Joseph interpreted a dream and became the governor of Egypt. He reunites his family, saves a region, and teaches us to save in good times for the coming bad times. Joseph dies and they bury him. That’s the end of the book of Genesis. In the first chapter of Exodus, the eighth verse says, There arose a new King who knew not Joseph. They forgot a guy that rose from a slave in prison to the governor of all Egypt. That’s quite a business rise and yet they forgot him in only eight verses. We shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously when they forget Joseph in only eight verses. How quickly will they forget us?
Let’s get down to the meat of this story. My grandfather sold coffins back in the 1930’s. Hard to believe that was almost a century ago. He had a building called the coffin house. He stored coffins in it and if you died you could be stored there for a day and buried the next. This was a fast process. Basically, you were put in a coffin and buried as soon as possible. My grandfather had a man that drove a truck for him named Bubby. Bubby would do handy man work, drive my grandfather some in my grandfather’s car and drive the truck to deliver coffins and sometimes pick up and deliver bodies to the coffin house.
Bubby would tell me that when people turned they’re back on your grave that was it for you. He was telling me not to take myself so seriously. He explained that you were quickly forgotten. “I would take women to the graveyard in the truck carrying the coffin. They would be about to kick the floorboard out of the truck. After the funeral, one women told me she had a date that night.” Bubby made it clear that you could be quickly forgotten.
Bubby did tell me one other story about the coffin truck. This happened on Christmas Eve. My grandfather told him that a woman had died in the State Hospital in Columbia. He was to get two guys to help him go get the body and bring it back to Greeleyville. He got into the truck which was a brand new 1935 Ford truck. Bubby and his two helpers drove to Columbia. They stopped a boy riding a bicycle and asked which way to the hospital. The boy said follow me and led them two blocks to the gates of the state hospital. They drove into the hospital grounds and were immediately surrounded by people. Bubby said, “Those crazy people liked to eat me up.” They loaded the body and headed back to Greeleyville.
My grandfather got the body put in the coffin house and then he gave them $2 for their trip to Columbia. Bubby said they went by the liquor store and it was the best Christmas ever.
I asked if he knew who the woman was. He didn’t know but said she was buried on Christmas day.
He told me many times after that about people that died and how quickly they would be forgotten. That’s always a good reminder for me.
Sometimes I think I’m a little more important than I really am. I think about how quickly they forget a man like Joseph and an unknown woman from 90 years ago.
That’s a good lesson for all of us. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
