When presidents and politicians leave office, they have an entire staff to create their boss's legacy by starting foundations and putting their name on buildings, schools, highways, etc. It is all to get their message out. To remind people what they stood for. And sometimes, to change the way history treats them.
As individuals we have a responsibility for our own personal legacies. Not that we need to have roads named after us or foundations in our memory. We just need to be sure that the message we sent in life becomes a tool for those we leave behind.
The path we clear on our journey will be followed. The example we set will be used to chart future courses. Think of the brush and weeds cleared away by those who traveled before you. And we mustn't wait until the end to catch up.
Did we lead those who follow us on a clear path to God? Did we clearly pass the temptation to skip valuable life lessons just for the sake of speeding up or simplifying our journey? Did we show our grasp of the talents we are blessed with by using them to do God's work along the way? Reaching out to others and walking them through the bramble on life's journey will be our legacy.
We don't know when our journey will end. We do know that when God wakes us with a new day of challenges, our legacy planning should already have begun. Marble edifices crumble. Names on roads and buildings change when their patron is gone and forgotten. But when we chart our course to one of giving instead of receiving. One of reaching back to others rather than clinging to those around us. One where we are focused on the mission and not on our minor stumbles. Then we will leave behind a legacy that others will find easy to follow. And when God asks us "what is your legacy?" then all we will have to do is turn around.
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