What would you want to be said?

This weekend, I had the opportunity of accompanying a close friend to the burial of his grandfather who passed away at the graceful age of ninety three years. As I reflected before, during and after this occasion my mind caught hold upon the thought, "when I die, how would I want to be remembered?”. Haven’t you thought about this question once in awhile? Well, I did and like that man that passed on, the common thread about him pertained to his humility and his desire for peace- devoid of arguments and nonsense.

As I often reflect on humanity and its imperfections, I have come to the observation that we will eventually reap what we sow. Some individuals live their lives arrogant, commanding and full of pride because in their eyes they have amassed this world’s wealth so they believe they can treat others like garbage; while others use their positions of control to frustrate those they don’t like because of their physical appearance, personal grooming and mannerisms and end up rewarding their closest friends with “goodies” and power within their organization’s. Still, the few good men and women left choose to walk the high road- not kissing anyone’s feet or sleeping with anyone but with hard work, persistence and character upward and upward they move up the trajectory- returning their all to their God. Which character out of these do you personify? Is it time to change the way you are treating others at home, at work or within your community? What will be said of you when your hourglass comes to a stop?

This week, I also had a conversation with a wise Bishop about life and how what we sow ends up being what we reap. As we chatted, he recalled a story of a kind woman who operated a cooking business from her humble abode. This enigma of a woman, was blessed with nine children and each time visitors’ came over, she would ask her children to make sure they prepared something for them. Her children would sometimes complain, murmur and tell their mother that, ” we are all out”, to which she confidently reported, ”please use all we have to feed them”. The children though disappointed would hearken and listen to their mother. In life, she made sure that nobody’s child would lack food when they came to visit her home. He continued…. that years later her nine children would all be blessed with a university education, living in the famous capitals of the world and holding positions of authority in their respective organization’s. All this can be attributed to their mother who planted a seedling of compassion, nurtured it with sacrificed and her children reaped the bounteous fruits of success and the myriad of opportunities in their lives! Friends, we cannot foresee the future, who don’t know what it holds for us and for our posterity. We cannot afford to let others suffer under our watch when we could have done something about it. There are opportunities around us just now to do a little good, mouths to feed, clothing to avail, kind words to speak, a smile to cheer, tuition to pay and employment to offer.

Let us all strive to do the little that we can within our capacity because surely we are all passengers in this journey of “life” and someday like it or not, our journey will end and for others it will continue. We will be buried by loved ones, friends, colleagues and community members and then our eulogy will be read in front of them. What would you want to be said? Which actions are you undertaking right now to personify your life? Is it time to make necessary and useful changes right now? I don’t have the answers to these soul searching questions…… I conclude with the sterling ones of Ralph Waldo Emerson who said:

“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”