|
Three caskets, a community mourns
By John Charles Robbins
jrobbins@journalscene.com
Estill, S.C. — They spoke about pain, temptation and hate, about bitterness and revenge, but mostly they spoke about
love.
Family, friends and the faithful poured into the auditorium at Estill Elementary School on Wednesday, the hottest day
of summer, to say goodbye to a mother and her children — gunned down in the night one week ago near Summerville.
Diane Ruth Grant, 44, her son Jatavious Devore, 20, and her daughter De'Anna Devore, 14, were murdered at Archdale Forest
Apartments in the early morning hours of July 10.
While police continue to seek the killer, scores of people touched by this vicious crime gathered to remember the victims
and to praise God.
It was a spiritual, soulful, mournful gathering.
Every seat was taken in the auditorium and then some, as nearly 300 people crammed into the old red brick schoolhouse.
Most of the congregants wore black; men in stiff suits, women wearing their best hats, little boys in ill-fitting neckties.
The stifling heat did not deter the messengers nor the message. Handheld cardboard fans and the funeral programs were
fanned in earnest, enough to create a genuine wind down the aisles.
The setting of an elementary school auditorium, complete with a battered wooden stage, became surreal when the three caskets
were wheeled slowly inside — two bone white, one ebony black.
A wall of floral arrangements splashed some needed color among the caskets, including an enormous heart made of rich red
carnations accented with a shiny red bow.
Punctuating the three-hour funeral service were rousing gospel songs from a band and choir stationed on the stage.
Pastor Larry Heyward spoke to the family: "Cherish the memories, the good times, the love."
He said Diane was an outstanding and respectful young lady, who believed in the word of God and was filled with the Holy
Ghost.
"To the family, be encouraged because God has got your back. Love and take care of each other. Be blessed," Heyward said.
He implored the crowd to steer clear of revenge, and to let go of hate, his message building in volume and momentum, like
a deep pot of water coming to a boil.
"God wants to use us to support this family today, and God can't use us if we're bitter, if we're angry, if we're vengeful,"
he shouted.
The pastor acknowledged how hard it can be to wrestle with thoughts of vengeance, particularly in a case like this. The
tragedy was compounded by "how it happened," he said.
His voice growing louder still, Heyward yelled, "Lord, lead me not into temptation — because I want to take something
into my hands!"
He talked of the tremendous pain and the resulting bitterness but advised not to embrace it.
"As hard as it is to let go, let God have it. It's not easy, but leave it in the hands of the Lord," he said, his body
lunging over the podium.
"This is not all we're dealing with today in this country. Sometimes it's more than what we can handle.
"We got some wicked ways about us, as people. We got to change our ways, not only as people but as a community," Heyward
said.
"Stop judging — let the judging go and let's start loving," the pastor concluded.
|
