Sunday, April 25, 2010
Forgotten
Note: Right after I posted my last entry, I was invited to go to Scotland on a three-week business trip. The idea for this entry came when I visited the Howff, a very old cemetery(centuries-old) in Dundee, Scotland.
Sitting on a parkbench almost half a world away from home, I began pondering on the meaning of life and what it means to leave a legacy.
Looking at tombstones dated back to the 1500s, I couldn’t help but ask myself why these remain standing. Because of their state of disrepair, I began to assume that the relatives of those buried here have either moved on, or worse, didn’t have any descendants. Looking back at it now, my best guess would be that local historians prefer to have the Howff remain the way it is to show Dundee’s rich historical past.
How long are people remembered? I mean really remembered? Maybe a generation or two?
Material wealth may be passed from generation to generation, but again one fool in the lineage could easily obliterate millions.
What mark can I leave on earth that can live on through generations, if not forever? This brought me to an early childhood memory of a coffee mug: Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.
Which got me thinking... perhaps I got it right when I wrote my obituary.
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