The Inurnment

Twenty mourners and a pariah sit in an empty chapel, bowing their heads in silent prayer. Twenty people pray to God; one person prays for a dead man's blessing, but the dead cannot bless any more than their hearts can beat. A little girl walks to the pew. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." God has given his beloved daughter the gift of grace, a second chance to run into his waiting embrace. An outstretched hand reaches towards the drowning sinner; the prodigal son spits in the face of his grandfather. The faithless have their own path to walk, the lonely trail meant for the damned.

Watch him walk now, trailing behind the family of the dead as they stand at the place where the inurnment will commence. The urn and a photograph are placed behind glass; the face of the grandfather is now looking down at his prodigal grandson. "Come to Jesus and be sanctified," he pleads. "Walk in the path of the light, and graps my outstretched hand." The grandson stands beneath him, looking up. "I cannot," he says," for I have chosen my destiny, even if someday my ashes will burn eternal in Hades." The grandfather doesn't respond. The dead never will, after all. Instead, he watches as the pariah he once called a granddaughter walks away, head bowed in a silent prayer for forgiveness.