WHEN I'M GONE. Pts. 1-4

Pt. 1

In the past week, my daughter, granddaughter, and grandson rode out Hurricane Irma with my wife and me. And it is not a stretch to say that prior to the landfall of the storm, but after it had set its sights on the Florida west coast, I wondered if I would be alive this week; (and still capable of writing a treatise such as this).

I mean, any time and every time one decides to “stay by the stuff” during a major storm, rather than evacuate to another location, there is always some risk that he, or she has just made the worst decision of his or her natural life.

Our power was restored three days after the hurricane. My daughter, granddaughter, and grandson went home today; their power having been restored two days after our own. Before the trio walked out the door, my granddaughter stepped into the dining room, and I greeted her with, “Old Sarah.”

To which she responded,

“My name is Sarah, but I’m not old.”

To which I replied,

“If you were old, I would be in big trouble.”

To which Sarah summarily exclaimed,

“No, you would be dead!”

And I had to admit, she was right.

I mean, Sarah just graduated from high school, and is currently enrolled in a psychology degree at my alma mater, (and four decades later, my place of employment as an adjunct faculty member); Southeastern University. Where, after all, has time gone? But gone it is. At 68 years of age, I am exactly half a century older than Sarah.

Pt. 2

I have often told my family, friends, clients, and interns that,

“I think about death every day of my life.”

(And, I do).

And I think, as a former professor, counselor and mentor, the reason I do so is that I am extraordinarily concerned that I fulfill every last whit of every dream that God ever dreamed for me…before He made the worlds.

To give you some evidence of, as it were, ‘where I come from’ is my love for the following adages; (so much so that they have become part and parcel of my mission statement).

“My students are living messages to a time that I will never see.”

(and)

“I am planting seedlings under whose shade I never expect to sit.”

Why, just the other day I was ‘sitting with’ a couple of my young interns, and for one reason or another, (but to make a point) I said,

“Parker and Johnathon, you are looking into a sunrise. I am looking into a sunset.”

(And indeed, I am).

Did I say I think about death every day of my life?

(Yeah, I thought I did).

So much so that I have already written my own obit, and have made my wife and children aware of its existence. While I suppose morbidity is in the eye of the beholder, my purpose in writing it in advance is, (me thinks) altogether rational; since who, more than the subject of an obit, knows himself or herself best, and is best qualified to write it?

Curiously enough, when Alfred Nobel’s brother died, and the local newspaper published an obituary under his name in error, he decided he ought to write his own; in the likely event that he, too, would one day pass from this mortal coil. (It seems Nobel was especially upset to be blamed in the mistaken obit for having been involved in the creation of dynamite, and the wholesale marketing of munitions, and as a result many thousands having been killed during the course of various wars during his lifetime; all of which was true. And it was due to this rather premature obituary that Alfred established the Nobel Peace Prize; so as  to be remembered for something besides the slaughter of his fellow human beings).

Pt. 3

Be that as it may, it may help you to understand that my favorite three words in the English language are:

Heritage

Destiny

Legacy

We receive a Heritage

As I implied earlier, I am altogether ‘taken up’ with fulfilling the plans our Creator dreamed for me, as an individual, before He made the worlds.

I have received a rich Heritage from two men whom I refer to as my spiritual fathers. For it was in the college sanctuary of my future alma mater that I first came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, I had only just graduated from high school in June of 1967, and a friend had invited me to a summer chapel service there.

A minister by the name of William Kirschke offered the sermon, and when I responded to his subsequent altar call, an immigrant missionary by the name of Jerry Triemstra knelt down beside me, and led me in the Sinner’s Prayer.

And though I never saw either of these men again, and they have long since passed from this earth, that day they delivered to me a rich Heritage, and I have taken great pains to learn all I can about their lives.

We fulfill a Destiny

Very much like Elijah’s sidekick, Elisha, I am compelled to fulfill the Destiny which my spiritual fathers so aptly prepared me to receive. As humbly as I know how, (since I am not responsible for my own talents, and I consider my service a gift to those whom God has set in my pathway) I have often told my clients and interns that, “I have mentored dozens, taught hundreds, and counseled thousands.”

Pt. 4

We leave a Legacy

One of my former interns, a young lady named ‘Rita,’ once shared the loveliest words with me that I think I have ever heard verbalized.

“Dr. Bill, I don’t want to disappoint you. I’ll go for you when you can no longer go. I’ll speak for you when you can no longer speak. I’ll reach and keep people in your name long after you have gone on to your reward.”

“My students are living messages to a time that I will never see.”

Rita, and people like her, and the message I have delivered to them for safekeeping are my Legacy, as surely as I am the Legacy of Rev.’s William and Jerry. I am all too aware that I stand on the shoulders of giants.

And interestingly enough, “what goes around comes around.” For you see, this thing is “a gift that keeps on giving.” William’s and Jerry’s Legacies are my Heritage. In the same way, Rita will refer to my Legacy as her Heritage.

I understand a preoccupation with death, for the sake of a preoccupation, might be thought of as a rather unhealthy thing. But I am blessed with a symmetrical preoccupation with life. It is because I cannot stay here that I am so taken up with doing what I can; while I am still here to do it.

God grant that believers may grasp the principle of Heritage, Destiny, and Legacy. We simply cannot stay here, and God’s plans for His people include so much more than waking, working and snoozing.

We receive a Heritage. We fulfill a Destiny. We leave a Legacy.

“But this life…is passing away. But he who does the will of God endures forever.” (1^st John 2:17)


by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 67. Copyright pending

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