The World Should Stop
I saw a man take his hat off as our funeral procession went by. He was an old man standing at the curb. He took off his hat and held it to his heart.
I turned and watched as he faded into the distance. He didn't put his hat back on when our cars were past, either. He kept it off until we were out of sight.
Something broke open in me and I started crying again. My grief had been a little stuck, but it loosened and flowed.
An older man in my church tells me that back in the day, all the men would remove their hats when a funeral went by. Cars would pull over and people would stop what they were doing.
Having been moved to tears by one gentle stranger, I can’t imagine what it must have been like to see everyone stop, to see the hats come off one by one, to see the women hush their children.
Just for a moment, the whole world would stop, like you think it should when a loved one dies.
Things are different now. Our cities are bigger and we are in a hurry. Modern life is complicated and can’t stop. It just can’t.
That’s too bad. The nicest thing you can do for someone who has lost her world, is let your world stop, if only for a moment.
The Preacher
9:01:03 PM 
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