Being Remembered

 During this time of the year, we often begin to think about things we maybe don’t otherwise think about at other times of the year.  Gift-giving, kind gestures toward others, holiday snows, special church services, gathering with family and friends…I’m sure you can think of other things that come front and center in your thoughts during this time of the year.

I too think about several of these kinds of things.  But I also sometimes think about something perhaps not many people think about, or even like to think about.  You’ve sometimes heard, I’m sure, the question that is asked at times in conversations regarding life and living…”How do you want to be remembered?”

Now, I know that my thinking about this question at this time of the year may seem a bit unusual, but I assure you that I’m not the only one who thinks about this from time to time.  And, at the end of the year when things are “wrapping up,” so to speak, and a new slate is on the way in the coming year, it really isn’t such a weird thing at all.

I don’t obsess about it, and frankly, the thought usually only comes a very few times during the end of the year.  But I always have a difficult time in trying to come up with some kind of an answer.

I’ve heard other people answer that question, but those answers never seemed to me to be something I would say for myself.  Most, I think, would want to be remembered as someone who was kind to others, generous, loved life, and so on.  Those who are committed Christians would probably say something like that they wanted to be remembered as a child of God.

However, when I think of what I might say, it’s difficult for me to come up with anything that in any way makes me look like some kind of a saint.  You see, I know myself better than you do.  I know the things I struggle with…my failures…my trials.  I know my sins and shortcomings.  I know when I’ve said things…done things...thought things…things that are anything but kind and generous.

Yes, I know I’ve been forgiven.  I know my slate is clean from that standpoint.  But I also know of the messes I’ve left on doorsteps and in hearts.  I know not everyone is enamored with me and how I’ve sometimes behaved.  And I can’t in good conscience sugarcoat it all with words that I know are not always true.

So, how DO I want to be remembered?  I feel much better when I answer that question this way.

 

I’d rather not be remembered so much as I’d like for those I know and love and have touched in some way to move on in life and living…and live their lives in ways that promote peace, understanding, kindness, and yes…the kingdom of God.  If those I know, love, and have touched over the years would do that, I think that would constitute for me a completion of the life I was given and had lived.

I will be remembered anyway…regardless of how I might SAY I want to be remembered.  Everyone who knows me or knows of me has a mental picture in mind of who an what I am.  What I might say in answer to the question about being remembered won’t change that picture.

Additionally, I’ve always been someone who has  advocated for us to move on when something bad or unexpected has happened…to do what we can to fix it if necessary, but not dwell excessively on the past…to move forward and look ahead.  Life goes only one direction, and we need to move along with it.

I realize this may not be the kind of holiday Thursday Thought you might have wanted to see here, a mere seven days before the Christmas holiday.  But it’s my thought today.  I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to post a thought next week or the week after…we’ll just see how things go.

Now, I need to take some time to wrap the two gifts I’ve bought…I don’t do much shopping this time of the year.  I leave that to the wife, who is much more into the season and enjoys the shopping experience more than I do. 

May God bless you as we all enter into the final week before the Christmas holiday, and the New Year holiday a week after that.