Thoughts on one's legacy

I’ve been thinking about our personal legacy recently … especially since sitting with a family and heard them share about their father and grandfather. Just what is it that we wish to pass on to our loved ones at the time of our own passing? What memories do we desire for them to carry for the rest of their lives? We worry more about the “stuff” that they will inherit than our relationship with them … don’t we?

I’m thinking about my Last Will and Testimony … is has been professionally written, my two daughters have their own copies … but what is it that I will be truly passing on to them? The Will speaks about the family trust, property, material possessions and yet, the things that really matter are not the kind of things that you mention in a Will. So what will I truly be passing on?

Maybe I should make a list of what matters, how I would wish they would remember me, of what I desire to pass down to my grandchildren … just what will my legacy look like? I use to worry about what others thought of me, how I was perceived by my colleagues in the ministry, how members of my congregation thought of their pastor … but in the long stretch of human history those things do not matter. Oh, it does matter the effect one has on another and in the impact a pastor can have on the spiritual development of someone else and that is a part of my legacy – for good or for bad, but it is the legacy which is passed down to your children and grandchildren which will have the longest impact … the deepest effect … the true legacy … the outline of your spirit upon their soul.

What will be your legacy? How will you be remembered? Celebrated? What will be said about you at your funeral? Sobering thoughts, but too often ignored as we simply move from day to day in our living … our attempt to make sense of our world.

In light of these thoughts I pass on a modern day parable from nature:
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.
'He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge.'
(Psalm 91:4)

Quote for today: Single men are jailed more often, earn less, have more illnesses and die at a younger age than married men. Married men with cancer live 20% longer than single men with the same cancer. Women, who often have more close friendships than men, survive longer with the same cancers. Married or not, relationships keep us alive. Dr. Bernie Siegel