Legacy: What’s in my bones?
This is my last article for this column at least for a while. I would like to thank all the readers who have offered kind and supportive words. I am stepping back to pursue other opportunities that will and is making time and energy demands that force me to discontinue some existing outlets.
How much of our lives are influenced and impacted by those who went before us? A simple reminder is prevalent in every museum and with archives, documents, memorials, and other artifacts preserving for the generations that follow, the foundational precedence that may have led to where we are today in life. Where we are today is in great measure owed to those who have gone before us.
Think the Revolutionary war, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Civil Rights legislation, Supreme Court decisions, laws passed, medical advancements, technology, internet, and inventions or promotions by Einstein, Salk, Bell, Ford, the Wright Brothers, jobs, and you can fill in many names that have changed the world, for better or for worse.
Who we are as a people, or culture, but more so, you as a person, was shaped at least in part by others. Each of us has uttered the phrase, 鈥淢y mother/father used to say,鈥� or 鈥淚 remember my grandma/pappy saying, doing.鈥� We quote or reminisce a happening that influenced us, because it did. Maybe it was guidance, inspiration, or encouragements? Maybe it wasn鈥檛 what was said; maybe it was an example set?
In 2 Kings 13, especially v 21, is the story of how a dead man was thrown into the Prophet Elisha鈥檚 tomb and when it touched his bones, the man鈥檚 body came to life. Obviously, this was a miraculous occasion. But all miraculous occasions have practical meaning. He would have remained dead if his body would have simply hit the dirt and rocks. But his lifelessness was impacted, or brought to life, by what remained of Elisha. What Elisha left behind still brought life.
Your bones represent what remains after you are gone. Everything else perishes or fades away. But your bones, or legacy, can remain and still impact others. The people that you touch while you鈥檙e here is one thing, but the lives that are moved by what we leave is another. Ideas, principles, actions, examples, conversations, role modeling, love, forgiveness, repentance, holiness, sacrifice, faithfulness: The things we should live by that after we are gone, our children鈥檚 children will hopefully have by spiritual lineage.
Here鈥檚 how it happened: Before Elisha was gone, the life that he lived, the example he accomplished, the anointing he had, was so built up that it permeated, even into his bones (Legacy), so that even after he was gone, what he left behind, gave life. Can we ask rhetorically but sincerely, What鈥檚 in my bones? What heritage influence, impact, or legacy will make a positive difference after the rest of me fades away?
This isn鈥檛 about becoming a great historical figure; this is about a life that has meaning, purpose and is impactful for another generation, even if it鈥檚 one person. Too many of us are caught up into the mistaken and misguided notion that if we haven鈥檛 accomplished something of 鈥渂iblical proportion,鈥� then we didn鈥檛 have enough meaning to our lives.
Being a godly (grand)parent, a friend that sticks closer than a brother, marriage faithfulness, confessing our faults and asking for forgiveness are all of biblical proportion. Raising children in the admonition of the Lord, helping those less fortunate, praying, honesty, keeping unity in the church is of biblical proportion. Denying sinful indulgences, spending time with family, being a good employer/employee, tithes, and offerings are all of biblical proportion.
Please don鈥檛 let miracle occasions sidetrack us from the daily bread of laying and building a foundation that will give those who follow us something secure and stable. Elisha didn鈥檛 know that after he was gone, that life would be had by what he left behind. It鈥檚 not what we know or see now, but the fact that we should be living good lives before God no matter what, and with introspection, we can ask, What am I leaving behind? What鈥檚 in my bones?