Legacy

I recall those who came before me with incredible clarity.  It is as if they are still alive, encouraging, telling stories, and enjoying life as if there was only the present.  I often wonder how I can and should honor the memories of everything represented by these individuals.  They seem to know how to live!  Everything was in balance; relationships, belonging, and living in the present were all natural parts of their lives, or so it seemed.  As I have moved into their places I see life through very different lenses.  It is as if the honor of following their steps has come with a mandate.  I can hear their voices saying to me and those who follow, “He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you.” (John 16.14)
 
Is that the mission of those moving into the prime of their lives?  Is this the real mandate for every generation?  Perhaps everything revolves around the relationships between each other and Divinity.
 
If the premise anchoring the questions lies in our connection to the Divine, everything the world tells us is special, valuable, and precious comes into question.  Why is being successful in the world’s eyes that important?  What do material things matter at all?  Are status, power, and achievement really important?
 
As I examine the legacy my parent’s and grandparent’s generations have given me the answer is obvious.  It is in honoring the gift given to me by those who walked before me that I maintain, nurture, and, if truly successful, expand the principles of being fully and completely alive.  It is in the process of engaging in life that mercy, defending the weak and the gifts of unconditional acceptance to everyone in my path find their reality.  You and I have a unique opportunity to create a fresh legacy for the generations which follow.  This isn’t something one can easily ignore!  Everything is to play for.  We can be the agents of building a better world.  We can begin/continue/realize the opportunities in the moment in which we live.  Game on.