Legacy
What legacy will I leave when I die? No, I am not morbidly
contemplating my last days. However, just this last week I had several little
nudges that stirred me in the direction of contemplating my legacy.
The first was a radio interview regarding our recently
sacked San Diego mayor, He admitted to grossly inappropriate (even illegal)
behavior in sexually harassing women of all ages. When asked about the
specifics of his guilty plea the attorney being interviewed stated “I think
what the ex-mayor is sort of calculating is his legacy and very specifically:
what will be in the first two lines of his obituary when it is published in the
media upon his death.” Interesting. What will be in the first few lines of
one’s obituary. Will it be very dependent upon whoever happens to write that
obituary or will there be general agreement, “Yes, this is Mel’s legacy.”
I happened to mention this to my daughter Liz who is in
private family therapy practice. She told me that she had just seen several
clients in which there were significant challenges in mother-daughter
relationships. She told me that she had asked the mothers to consider: “Many
years from now when your daughters will be recalling your late life, what is it
that you hope they will remember about you?’ That is another legacy question.
I have now been retired for 20 years. Tomorrow I go to an
international education symposium on Lutheran education. There I will listen to
the latest in the “Kieschnick Lecture Series” an endowed endeavor set up by my
friends at the time of my retirement. Most of the people at that lecture will
never have heard of Mel Kieschnick and I surely get that! The person delivering
the lecture is much younger than I and we have spent little time together. But
I have read his speech and is it good stuff. It is about his dreams and visions
for international Lutheran schools.
That is good. And as I listen I will be reflecting upon my
dreams and my nightmares; my successes and my failures, my satisfactions and my
regrets. I will be driven again to my vision of a God who is loving and
forgiving. And I trust God’s
verdict as to what my legacy shall be.
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