Funny the
things we leave behind.
My dad was a
landscape artist. About the time he reached 50, and during the course of the
next twenty years, he painted hundreds of full sized oil canvases, sold many,
and gave some to friends and relatives. I own five, and they grace my living
room and dining room walls. Daddy was also an amateur genealogist and spent
countless hours in historical libraries throughout the southeast; doing
genealogy the hard way. (Now one can just sit down at a computer and pull together
scads of census, military and biographical records).
Sculptors
have left us amazingly detailed works of art. Michelangelo’s “David” is a
classic.
We can walk
through war museums and view the remnants of lives cut short. When my wife and
I visited Virginia Military Institute, we saw the bloodied battle jacket of
Stonewall Jackson; the blouse he had been wearing when “friendly fire” cut him
down, and robbed him of a promising life.
I’m a
collector of autographs. I definitely have some good ones. The pilot, copilot
and navigator of the Enola Gay; the aircraft which dropped the first atomic
bomb on Japan. The signature of Neil Armstrong affixed to a photo of “the great
one” standing next to an ancient bi-plane. John Glenn and Ted Kennedy.
An antique
hand-fashioned Victorian chair from about the time of the Civil War, and a cavalry
sword which predates it. But I suppose the relic which I hold most dear was
owned by General James Van Fleet, commander of allied forces during one phase
of the Korean War, and the oldest lived general in American history.
But these
are just passing things. In the light of eternity; altogether temporal.
There’s a
poignant verse in 1st John 2:17
“But this
world, and the lust thereof is passing away, but he that does the will of God
endureth forever.”
I am a
mentor, and believe strongly in a concept the Apostle Paul passed on to us in
the Book of Philippians.
Two very small,
but very powerful words,
“Copy me.”
For among
anything and everything anyone ever “left behind,” our impact on the lives of
our fellow human beings is the most precious and potent.
Our leave a
legacy. Our legacy becomes someone else’s heritage. We fulfill a destiny.
Our impact
on another human being is, to be sure, the only thing we are allowed to take
with us to the next life. As the old adage goes, “no one ever pulled a U-Haul
behind their hearse.” Not one of our human possessions will grace the desks and
curio cabinets of our heavenly mansions.
When our
heavenly Father hands out rewards I want to hear his “well done, my good and
faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” For anything of any value
we receive on the other side will be based on the time and efforts we expended
on those whom He has set in our pathway.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 9
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