Legacy

This past week was a whirlwind. It seemed there were concerts, parties, dinners, and events taking up every spare moment. Sunday night I sat down to catch my breath and I think about the many people that had crossed my path over the past few days. Friends, parishioners, relatives, retailers, entertainers, the list was almost endless as I counted the young and old that had been part of my living in those days.
How do we measure the impact of others? I often ask the congregation to think of the people who were role models and mentors for them… ministers, teachers, group leaders, neighbours, parents, grandparents etc. etc. those people who were formative in their growing in wisdom. When I think of those adults who influenced me when I was young I so appreciate those who created space for me to ask questions and wrestle with confounding ideas.
Poet Maya Angelou wrote, “Your legacy is every life you’ve ever touched.” Reading that made me reflect on what kind of impression or word of encouragement I had given to those I met – stranger or friend. A few years ago I received an email from a woman who had been a child in one of my congregations. She told me of the way I had encouraged her and said she even remembered the scent of my perfume! I was humbled, beyond reckoning, to think that I, unknowingly, had played such a role in her young life that years later she still remembered me. It is not surprising, when we think of those moments that shape and make us, and of those individuals who through a kind gesture, an affirming word or a positive action make us who we are that we, likewise, influence others.
Legacy can go either way, I guess. We can create a positive legacy or we can leave behind pain and hurt. Given that, it is important to remember that any life touched by ours bears the mark of that interaction.
In these harried and busy days of the festive season let’s be sure to make our legacy a good one.