What is one’s legacy in life? This is not something I think the average person thinks about very much. I certainly don’t.
I just try to do a decent job, educate myself properly, help my fellow man, etc. But I think you can see, as you go along in life, the good that you’ve done and the bad things that have occurred as well, these are all a part of your legacy.
So I think in a way, a little bit like karma, we should be conscious of what we’re doing along the way of life, so to speak. Because later, when we leave here, why am I here? What’s my mission?
What happens when I leave here? Then my legacy will come forward, obviously, and people will speak of me in the past tense in the way I was, the things I did, the kindness that I prooffered, and perhaps the bad things I did as well.
And you hope that the good will most assuredly outweigh the bad. And if you look throughout history, some of the more infamous people, they have a terrible legacy.
So if you think of Adolf Hitler, Adolf Hitler’s name will extend forever as an evil man. Now probably in his own mind, as Socrates tells us, he really believed that he was going to do good.
But after Nazism was brought forward in the 1920s, it had its plan, and a couple of gentlemen were involved in the plan, and they were maybe more efficient than Adolf Hitler in implementing the plan, getting rid of inferior human beings, getting rid
of inferior Christians and Jews, and people that had mental illness, Russians that were not on the right side of Nazism, which would mean virtually all the Russians, communists, commissars. I mean, the legacy just goes on.
These people took his words and did horrible things in Russia, things that defy imagination if you really study what went on in history. We can’t possibly, in the modern era, really understand the kind of evil that was perpetuated there.
Look it up, it’ll shock you even more than me saying these words. But Hitler, of course, will be deemed as responsible, so his legacy will be forever tarnished. And you can go into history and look at Christ.
Whatever you think about Jesus, the historical Jesus or the existential Jesus, either way, he comes across as a man of love. This is his legacy, for sure. So we think to ourselves, legacy, ultimately, what is it?
Well, it is perhaps the enduring influence, maybe that would be a way to put it, of a person’s life after they are no longer here. Now, why is it important, in a sense? Because I’m here and I won’t know, will I, to be honest?
Well, I think most importantly, it does give a meaning to people, right? Especially religious people, to do the right thing.
And if you think to yourself, if you have a family, you want to have some legacy, some positive statement that people can refer to later. And I think, die empty. Todd Henry, he always tells us this, doesn’t he?
That we most assuredly should get everything out that we possibly can, so then it can be evaluated, right? So other people in future generations are able to say, if this were to be a good thing or not.
And I think many times if you had a grandfather, perhaps who passed away, or an important mentor that is deceased, you remember them, you remember the kind things that they did, and the things that they shared with you in life.
So, legacy most assuredly is important. This is a poem from the lady who wrote Anne of Green Gables, of all things, Lucy Maud Montgomery. My legacy.
My friend has gone away from me, from shadow into perfect light, but leaving a sweet legacy, my heart shall hold it long in fee, a grand ideal, common bright, a song of hope for ministry, a faith of unstained purity, a thought of beauty for delight.
These did my friend bequeath to me, and more than ever these can be the worthy pattern of a white, unmarred life lived most graciously. Dear comrade, loyal thanks to thee, who now hath fared beyond my sight.
My friend has gone away from me, but leaving a sweet legacy. And this was written to Montgomery’s friend, who died in 1919 during the Spanish flu, the Spanish Influenza. So obviously that friend made an impression on this lady.
So you think in your own life, who is important to you that has passed away? And maybe you only have their diaries or their picture or something, but they made a statement to you, didn’t they? And I would just like to leave you with a thought.
Some quotes on legacy. Socrates, of course, most famously said, the unexamined life is not worth living. So he asks us to think about life and lay down a legacy that matters.
From Aristotle, What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. So he’s discussing, of course, friendship and the legacy from that.
From Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great transcendentalist, the only gift is a portion of yourself, of course, after you’ve passed on. Marcus Aurelius, his famous book, The Meditations.
Waste no more time arguing about what is a good man and what a good man should be. Be one. Interesting.
Be a good man. Benjamin Franklin. Well done is better than well said.
Wow, so true. Winston Churchill. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give, what we give back.
An act of kindness, which is something I try to do every day, and I write in my notebook. Try it. What is my act of kindness today?
It could be something very small. A smile. Open the door for someone, right?
Jane Austen. There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart. And finally, from Steve Jobs’ most famous, the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.
So you ask yourself, without vanity, which is the most important, right? With modesty. What will be my legacy?
What will be what I leave for others after my life has transcended? What will be my legacy? Interesting question.
And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is everything, especially if you’re going to lay down some form of legacy during your lifetime.
And critical thinking is great. Truly great. You take care.
God bless. Bye-bye.