Our Unseen Influence is our Legacy
August 28, 2013 Leave a comment
“There is a very sad thing that I have seen happen in this life. People save their money for the future. Then something bad happens and they lose everything. So they have nothing to give to their children. People come into the world with nothing. And when they die, they leave with nothing. They might work hard to get things, but they cannot take anything with them when they die. It is very sad that people leave the world just as they came. So what does a person gain from “trying to catch the wind”? They only get days that are filled with sadness and sorrow. In the end, they are troubled, sick, and angry.” Ecclesiastes 5:13-17 ERV
“Legacy-a gift of personal property by will”
At an early age of 16, (I’m now 46) I’ve experienced a horrifying separation from someone very close to me. My father died at the age of 55 of kidney failure. He was a diabetic and I’ve known him that way since I can remember. I was at his bedside when he passed away. At his early years, he was doing well in life. He finished his Electrical Engineering degree with honors sometime in the 1950’s but an event in his life took place which led him to join the US Navy. When he was done with the Navy, he met my mother and that is how our family started. I don’t know much about him then because I was growing up emotionally distant and I thought that my friends and the world was the best thing in life.
Looking back now, I find it so amazing how he lived his life. Financially, he left us with something to survive. My mother was able to send us to college (5 of us) and managed the family needs on her own and plenty of left over.
When I’m trying to ask this question, “What did my father left me?” — these comes to mind (It was not the materials things that matters most)
1. Patience
2. Hardwork
3. Never complains about any bad situation
4. Being quite
5. Being a thinker
6. Writing a journal
7. Photography (life documentation)
One thing funny about these items is he did not even showed me or trying to teach me these. I’ve only noticed it when I tried to recollect in my mind on how he lived his life.
Our unseen influence is our legacy and it can be transferred to the next generation.
To Brittney and Brent, I do hope that in some ways I can deliver the same good stuff to you — an invisible but lasting legacy.
See it at YouVersion.com: