In modern society, to leave a “legacy” ordinarily means to specify the distribution of property to heirs
according to the terms described in a legal document. It’s a relatively rare event for most people to be
mentioned in a will.
What we are inclined to forget is that each of us leaves a legacy, whether we mean to, whether we
want to or not. Our legacies are the quality of the lives we leave behind.
What are we leaving behind? That is the question that marks the timbre of a lifetime.
We leave behind our attitude toward the world. We are remembered for whether or not we inspired in
others a love for life and an openness to all of those who lived it with us. We will be remembered for
our smiles and our frowns, for our laughter and for our complaints, for our kindness and for our
selfishness.
We leave behind for all the world to see the value system that marks everything we do. People who
never asked us directly what we valued in life never doubt for a moment what it was. They know if we
cared for the Earth because they watched us as we seeded our flowerbeds—or left the debris from the
garage spill over into what could have been a garden. They know what we thought of people of other
colors or creeds by the language we used and the lives we connected with. They know the depth of
our spiritual life by the way we treated those around us and what we thought of life and what we gave
our lives to doing.
We leave behind the memory of the way we treated strangers, how we loved the individuals closest to
us, how we cared for those who loved us, how we spoke to them in hard times, how we gave ourselves
away to satisfy their needs.
We leave behind, in our very position on life and death, on purpose and meaning, a model of
relationship with God. Our own spiritual life is both challenge and support to the spiritual struggles of
those around us.
Our legacy is far more than our fiscal worth. Our legacy does not end the day we die. We have added
to it every moment of our lives.
–from The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully by Joan Chittister (BlueBridge)
according to the terms described in a legal document. It’s a relatively rare event for most people to be
mentioned in a will.
What we are inclined to forget is that each of us leaves a legacy, whether we mean to, whether we
want to or not. Our legacies are the quality of the lives we leave behind.
What are we leaving behind? That is the question that marks the timbre of a lifetime.
We leave behind our attitude toward the world. We are remembered for whether or not we inspired in
others a love for life and an openness to all of those who lived it with us. We will be remembered for
our smiles and our frowns, for our laughter and for our complaints, for our kindness and for our
selfishness.
We leave behind for all the world to see the value system that marks everything we do. People who
never asked us directly what we valued in life never doubt for a moment what it was. They know if we
cared for the Earth because they watched us as we seeded our flowerbeds—or left the debris from the
garage spill over into what could have been a garden. They know what we thought of people of other
colors or creeds by the language we used and the lives we connected with. They know the depth of
our spiritual life by the way we treated those around us and what we thought of life and what we gave
our lives to doing.
We leave behind the memory of the way we treated strangers, how we loved the individuals closest to
us, how we cared for those who loved us, how we spoke to them in hard times, how we gave ourselves
away to satisfy their needs.
We leave behind, in our very position on life and death, on purpose and meaning, a model of
relationship with God. Our own spiritual life is both challenge and support to the spiritual struggles of
those around us.
Our legacy is far more than our fiscal worth. Our legacy does not end the day we die. We have added
to it every moment of our lives.
–from The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully by Joan Chittister (BlueBridge)
WHAT ARE WE LEAVING BEHIND?
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