Lately, I’ve thought a lot about leaving a legacy. Perhaps that happens when you move to a new place. The people you leave behind must carry on. And you soon realize they can do rather well without you! It can be a humbling experience when the world doesn’t stop because you’ve moved elsewhere!
There is something within each of us that hopes we will be remembered long after we are gone. But the truth is, we are very mortal and entirely forgettable. Have you ever returned to your alma mater or childhood home to find there are new faces? Life carried on after you left. It’s nothing personal. It happens to all of us! Yet we all want to be remembered long after we are gone. What is the best way to leave a legacy?
The last couple of years have been challenging, haven’t they? World events have caused us to pause and wonder what is the point of it all. What is the meaning of life?
Sometimes, life’s deepest questions have the most obvious answers. Maybe it isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but it’s there just the same.
The meaning of life has bugged people for years. A dictionary I picked up says life is, “The property of plants and animals that distinguishes them from inorganic matter.” That helps a lot!
Dictionary.com has four definitions. The fourth one made me pause and think.
There is something about humans that makes us long for something more than the short span of life we have on this planet. at the very least, we want our lives to mean something after we are gone. We hope that people remember us when we are gone.
Except for one, my great-grandparents were gone by the time I was born. I have hazy memories of one of my great-grandmothers. The rest have lived only in the stories my mother and father told me.
My children know even less of their great-great-grandparents. They were fortunate to know five of their great-grandparents before they passed away. Each generation knows precious little of the one that went before.
We like to believe our descendants would know us a hundred years from now. But will they? What is the meaning of it all? As I get older, Ecclesiastes has a stronger message to me than what I would like. Is it all just meaningless? Do any of us have a true legacy?
The True Meaning of Life
What are we here for? Who will remember us when we are gone? What is our why while we are here on earth? Collecting money and things is meaningless. Going places is meaningless to anyone else unless we help someone along the way.
I’ve discovered life has meaning when you love unselfishly and serve unashamedly. Selfishness just saps the life right out of a person! An act of kindness goes a long way to building a legacy.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
Both pastors had compelling stories on how their legacies affected their call to ministry.
Both pastors emphasized while their family lineage was something to cherish, neither was called just because it was the family business. In fact, they may have hesitated because they didn’t want to enter ministry simply because it was expected of them.
Different Paths
But each traveled on different journeys. to get there.
One pastor ran from his calling and lived a life far from God until he was called back to faith and ministry. It’s a compelling story of redemption. He has been near death twice. He has a testimony that maintains nobody is too far gone to be saved.
The other pastor felt the call after he had been out in the workforce for three years. His career was flourishing, but he found the call to ministry irresistible. He has benefited from the mentorship of his father and is passing that legacy to the next generation.
Families of Origin
I resonated with their stories because, though I haven’t been called to pastor a church, my grandfather was a pastor. I felt similar pressure to perhaps go into ministry because of my legacy. Now mind you, nobody placed that pressure on me but myself. Still, I felt it and didn’t want to succumb to it just because it was part of my ancestry.
At the same time, the legacy of my parents, grandparents, and preceding generations had a profound impact on my life and the lives of my children. While only my maternal grandfather was a pastor, all faithfully lived their lives in powerful ways.
Legacies are important facets of our lives. They don’t totally define us, but they are a part of us. Some of us have great legacies that can be cherished. Others are working through baggage brought on by our family history. Every family has some skeletons in their closet—even good families.
We are not ultimately defined by our past, though it is part of our definition. We can embrace the good aspects of our family of origin and learn from the less than the pristine side of our family of origin.
Today, we have an opportunity to affect our future generations. If we are called, we can answer that call. If we need to address the sins of the past, let’s do it and give the following generations a good start. It reminds me of a song by Steve Green, May all who come behind us find us faithful.
When I read this Inc.com article about United Airlines and the importance of smooth leadership transitions in business, I was impressed by how a CEO and leadership had the wherewithal to leave a business on good footing. What was more impressive is that the transition has occurred during the coronavirus pandemic and that by outside observations, it has been a smooth transition from to Oscar Munoz to Scott Kirby.
All airlines have had some rough times lately. What would have happened if the former CEO didn’t have a plan? Would United be in a much rougher spot? Would Munoz have been forced to stay on while the crisis dragged on?
Transition plans matter, but can be tough to plan and implement. It forces the leader to acknowledge they won’t be there forever. It is why Summer Redstone of Viacom and Rupert Murdoch of News Corp have had such a hard time with it. Their egos and the required humility to face your mortality can be too much for many leaders, especially if they founded the company.
But if you want an entity that will outlast you, a healthy, thoughtful transition is necessary.
We fool ourselves if we think the guy who dies with the most toys wins. The other day, I ran through a cemetery. There were impressive headstones, large monuments, and simple markers. Yet I was the only one there. No one cared about these tributes to a past life and the occupants didn’t seem like they cared either.
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