“Be the thing you loved most about the people who are gone” by an anonymous wise person was one of the most popular shares I have ever done on Facebook. I just saw it, loved it, and shared it on my account. It resonated with so many of my friends too. So many commented. I searched the internet for the author. I wanted to give credit to the person that spoke such universal truth to my soul but my search came up short.
We long for those who have gone ahead. I have done grief counseling and learned a lot. When we lose a parent, we lose our past. We lose the person who knew the story of when we walked, talked, ate our favorite foods, and how we loved our stuffed animals. We lose the persons who held the key to all the folks in those black and white photos and Aunt “so-in-so’s” pie recipe. Those of us who have lost a parent long to visit with them and reminisce. When you lose a spouse, you lose your day-to-day. You miss the person you ate supper with, shared details of your day, and worshiped with on Sundays. When you lose a sibling, you lose the person that knew you intricately and loved you fiercely and protectively. They thrive on your most embarrassing moments and yet run to your corner when you need them. If you lose a child, you lose your future. Every parent would take the place of their child in hurts or danger. I once attended the funeral of a 40-year-old friend; I introduced myself to her 70-year-old mother. She kept saying, “no mother should have to bury their child.” Parents see the future in the eyes of their children. When the unspeakable happens, there is a hole in their soul.
God hardwired memories into us. HE instructed the Israelites to build memorial stones so they could remember and tell their children. The feast was instituted as memorials to what God did and will do for us. We are exhorted to teach our children who God is. Communion was given to believers in remembrance of what has been done for us.
In Luke 2:19 and Luke 2:48-50 “…Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Can you imagine all the memories of Jesus she stored in her heart for the rest of her earthly days?
Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.” and Psalm 112:6 “Surely he will never be shaken. The righteous man will be remembered forever.” The memory of those in our great cloud of witnesses is an amazing comfort. A spiritual legacy is one of the greatest gifts God gives us to strengthen us.
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” We have a built-in helper to remember everything we have been taught and gently keeps us safe in Christ.
So what do we leave behind? What do we emulate from those who have gone ahead? Ponder it in your heart. I have a long list I shelter in my heart. My mother-in-law praying for something forty years that she never saw in her lifetime. My father singing “Lily of the Valley” notoriously off-key when he didn’t think anyone was listening. My Grandma praying for rain and chickens and literally everything that affected her daily life. Mrs. Dorris at church making tea cakes anytime there was food to take to someone. My friend Nancy praying for her children she would never see grow up on this side. No one ever told me to remember those things but somehow the Holy Spirit helped my recall so I can be the thing in my life.
Go and serve someone today. God has already placed them there for you to find and you may find the example treasured away in your heart. Maranatha! Jayme
