Читать книгу At the End of the Day - James W. Moore - Страница 7

When your days on this earth are completed, how will you be remembered? When all is said and done—in the final analysis, "at the end of the day"—what will be your lasting legacy? When people think back over the full spectrum of your life, what will be the most obvious memories of you that will immediately jump into their minds? If your family and friends and acquaintances tried to sum up your life in one word or one phrase, what would that word or phrase be?

When I, as a pastor, sit down with a grief-stricken family to plan the funeral for a loved one who has died, I usually do two things that I have found to be very therapeutic for the family. First, we talk through the details of the memorial service, and second, I ask the family to reminisce with me about their loved one, to think back over the scope of that person's life, and to lift up and say aloud that person's top qualities or attributes.

It's an amazing experience to watch and hear a family do that. They will cry; they will laugh; they will sum up their loved one's life in a word or a phrase, or in a single sentence.

"Kindness . . . that's the word; she was just so kind to everyone."

"Family . . . it has to be family. She was so devoted to her family, so proud of her family."

"Caregiver ... that says it all. She gave her life taking care of others."

"Gentleman . . . he was such a gentleman. Whoever coined the word gentleman must have had someone like him in mind."

"Sense of humor . . . he was so witty and so fun. He never took himself too seriously. He could light up the room with his humor."

"Churchman . . . he loved the church so much."

As I go through this poignant experience with a family, I am always so touched and inspired, and I find myself wondering what words or phrases my family and friends would use to sum up my life when my days on this earth are completed.

I have found that most of the time, people are kind and gracious and thoughtful in their remembering; but this was not always the case. In earlier days, the remembering was done for all to see on tombstones—sometimes with humor and often with amazingly blunt candor. For example, below is a list of actual epitaphs on tombstones from earlier generations.

On the grave of Ezekiel Aikle in Nova Scotia, we find these words:

Here lies Ezekiel Aikle

Age 102

The Good Die Young

In a Ribbesford, England, cemetery, we find this inscription on a tombstone:

Anna Wallace . . .

The children of Israel

Wanted bread

And the Lord sent

Them manna

Old clerk Wallace

Wanted a sweet wife

And the Devil sent him Anna.

In 1837, in Winslow, Maine, somebody was unhappy with a man named Beza Wood, and here's the epitaph on his tombstone:

In memory of Beza Wood

Departed this life November 2, 1837

Aged 45 years

Here lies one Wood

Enclosed in wood

One Wood within another;

The outer wood is very good

We cannot praise the other.

In a cemetery in England, we find this poem:

Remember me as you walk by,

As you are now, so once was I,

As I am now, so shall you be,

Remember this and follow me.

Someone wrote a reply on the tombstone:

To follow you I am not content

Until I know which way you went.

On a tombstone in Georgia are these words:

I told you I was sick.

In a Thurmont, Maryland, cemetery, a tombstone has these blunt words:

Here lies an Atheist

All dressed up

And no place to go.

In a church near Cambridge, England, an Anglican priest is buried with this extraordinary plaque marking his grave:

Here lies Father William who served as vicar of this church for more than 30 years without the slightest trace of enthusiasm.

Well, what do you think? At the end of the day, what will people say about you? If they were totally candid, totally honest, how would your epitaph read? In the Talmud, it is suggested that to be successful in this life, you should plant a tree, have a child, or write a book. This is not to be taken in a strict, literal sense. What it means is this: At the end of the day, be sure you have done something that will be here after you're gone, something that outlasts you; be sure that you have exerted an influence for good in this life that lives on long after your days here are done.

Interestingly, the apostle Paul wrote his own epitaph. In 2 Timothy 4:6-8, we find these powerful words:

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation [a drink offering to God], and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness.

Many scholars believe that this was Paul's last letter, written just a few days before he was executed by Nero— a tender moment when he realized that his days on this earth were coming to an end. Reflecting on his life, he wrote these touching words to express his confidence in God, to reassure his friends, and to summarize his life in one sentence: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

So, the question for us is this: At the end of the day, how will we be remembered? How will our lives be summed up? And, more pointedly, how well would our lives on this earth measure up to the apostle Paul's three-point formula for living? Let me be more specific by inviting you to think honestly about these three thoughts.