legacy
i like walking around cemeteries. i know...kind of weird. i guess if you find comfort, not fear in death, you may understand. at the risk of sounding sarcastic and insensitive, there are few places i can go to feel more alive and more thankful for each breath i take.
my walks over the years often take me to these solemn gardens. in prague, i would lose myself in the sea of tombstones seeming never to end. the krakow concentration camp bared no physical markers of the millions who died within it's walls, but i could not avoid the thought of the fate they suffered. i stood proud as an american when i visited the arlington cemetery in d.c. such honor displayed and i am humbled by the sacrifice. and then there is my favorite, sunset cemetery in manhattan, kansas, just down the street from my apartment. as the heat of the day was disippating and the evening breeze pushing it's way through, i would often find myself in that little cemetery, unwinding from a day in studio and preparing myself for another night of work.
i've come to realize i allow my mind to dwell in abstract thoughts far too often. however, in such an atmosphere, even those concrete in their thinking cannot help but indulge in reflections. as i read the names on the stones, i wonder what their story tells. who were the characters? what were their dreams? the dates reveal their beginning and end, but it is the '-' in between that i find important. what memories does it hold? what difference did they make in it? what legacy did they leave?
i'll never leave a legacy until i understand the significance of my '-'
as i wander, my contemplations always end on this thought.
at the end of the day, when the curtain is pulled and the lights are flipped, what will be left? did i invest in something that will out last my breaths or will all that i lived for die with me? do i have something to offer? did i work to live or live to work? will i leave having made a difference? or in years from now will my existence have mattered?
i usually spend my walk coming up with more questions and few answers. i make goals and dreams in hopes of using this life i've been given for something. i'm in that twenty-something age group; i'm expected to set such high aspirations for myself. but soon, the world tells me, i must put such ambitions away and trade in my idealistic thinking for reality.
maybe.
perhaps i'm too naive to understand the real world.
or perhaps i understand it all to well.
if i am to follow the trend, the husband, mortgage, 2.5 children and chocolate lab are around the corner. such contemplative thoughts will soon be overtaken by responsibility and dreams by parental duty. the years will pass by like days and before i realize it, i will find myself again walking through cemeteries, though now for other reasons. the reflections i once pushed away in the busyness will now be at the front of my mind as i wonder when my time will come. i'll remember the the goals and dreams i set so long ago and wonder if i met them. did i make a difference? did i use this life i've been given for something more? what did i live for? what did i do with my '-'?
there are more thoughts on this bouncing through my mind.
but this post has already become far too serious.
they can wait.
just know that in the end, only love wins.
[legacy. nichole nordeman]
i don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
and i enjoy an accolade like the rest
you could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
of all who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
at such'n'such ... it wouldn't matter much
i won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
we all need an 'atta boy' or 'atta girl'
but in the end i'd like to hang my hat on more besides
the temporary trappings of this world
*i want to leave a legacy
*how will they remember me?
*did i choose to love? did i point to You enough
*to make a mark on things?
*i want to leave an offering
*a child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically
*and leave that kind of legacy
i don't have to look too far or too long awhile
to make a lengthly list of all that i enjoy
it's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy
*
not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
just want to hear instead, "well done" good and faithful one...
*
my walks over the years often take me to these solemn gardens. in prague, i would lose myself in the sea of tombstones seeming never to end. the krakow concentration camp bared no physical markers of the millions who died within it's walls, but i could not avoid the thought of the fate they suffered. i stood proud as an american when i visited the arlington cemetery in d.c. such honor displayed and i am humbled by the sacrifice. and then there is my favorite, sunset cemetery in manhattan, kansas, just down the street from my apartment. as the heat of the day was disippating and the evening breeze pushing it's way through, i would often find myself in that little cemetery, unwinding from a day in studio and preparing myself for another night of work.
i've come to realize i allow my mind to dwell in abstract thoughts far too often. however, in such an atmosphere, even those concrete in their thinking cannot help but indulge in reflections. as i read the names on the stones, i wonder what their story tells. who were the characters? what were their dreams? the dates reveal their beginning and end, but it is the '-' in between that i find important. what memories does it hold? what difference did they make in it? what legacy did they leave?
i'll never leave a legacy until i understand the significance of my '-'
as i wander, my contemplations always end on this thought.
at the end of the day, when the curtain is pulled and the lights are flipped, what will be left? did i invest in something that will out last my breaths or will all that i lived for die with me? do i have something to offer? did i work to live or live to work? will i leave having made a difference? or in years from now will my existence have mattered?
i usually spend my walk coming up with more questions and few answers. i make goals and dreams in hopes of using this life i've been given for something. i'm in that twenty-something age group; i'm expected to set such high aspirations for myself. but soon, the world tells me, i must put such ambitions away and trade in my idealistic thinking for reality.
maybe.
perhaps i'm too naive to understand the real world.
or perhaps i understand it all to well.
if i am to follow the trend, the husband, mortgage, 2.5 children and chocolate lab are around the corner. such contemplative thoughts will soon be overtaken by responsibility and dreams by parental duty. the years will pass by like days and before i realize it, i will find myself again walking through cemeteries, though now for other reasons. the reflections i once pushed away in the busyness will now be at the front of my mind as i wonder when my time will come. i'll remember the the goals and dreams i set so long ago and wonder if i met them. did i make a difference? did i use this life i've been given for something more? what did i live for? what did i do with my '-'?
there are more thoughts on this bouncing through my mind.
but this post has already become far too serious.
they can wait.
just know that in the end, only love wins.
[legacy. nichole nordeman]
i don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
and i enjoy an accolade like the rest
you could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
of all who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
at such'n'such ... it wouldn't matter much
i won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
we all need an 'atta boy' or 'atta girl'
but in the end i'd like to hang my hat on more besides
the temporary trappings of this world
*i want to leave a legacy
*how will they remember me?
*did i choose to love? did i point to You enough
*to make a mark on things?
*i want to leave an offering
*a child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically
*and leave that kind of legacy
i don't have to look too far or too long awhile
to make a lengthly list of all that i enjoy
it's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy
*
not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
just want to hear instead, "well done" good and faithful one...
*
posted by jill m at 5:49 AM
2 Comments:
That is a wonderful song. With all of the negative in the world, you start to feel like there are very few people whose lives actually make the world a better place. It's not always easy to lose the selfishness and give back to the world.
You know, I believe that many people leave a legacy in this world and don't even know it.
I just heard at church last night, to leave a legacy, to be a world changer, you have to use the tools God has put in your hands. Samson used the donkey bone, Gideon used the trumpet, David used the sling.... here we are talking about them centuries after they are gone. To be who God has called us to be, we need to get ahold of the gifts he's uniquely give us, and use them. That's when we are in his perfect will, and truely happy no matter what we're doing, and we leave a mark on this world because we are giving glory to God!! I have stumbled across your blog by destiny (not chance) and been checkin it out ever since. You are an awesome girl.
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