epitaph

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man of many words
few of which were worth reading
but those that were... mmmm


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There's a leadership exercise that many corporations (and not a few churches) go through to get you thinking about what's important in life. They ask you to write your own eulogy, or your epitaph. "If you could view your own funeral", they say, "what would you like to hear said about you? And would people actually say that? How do you want to be remembered?"

I used to think that my epitaph should read: "He lived what he sang and taught." But I don't think so now. I sing far less than I used to, and haven't taught in some time (although I still hope to). And when I do teach, I think I'll be asking more questions than giving answers.

So.. maybe I'd rather hear people say "he made an impact on me... an impact for good." I'd like to make a difference - a positive one - in the lives of people around me. I'd like to leave them better than I found them... better off for having known me. Then I think I'd feel like I did good in this world, and I could face my Maker with a clean heart, even if not with perfectly clean hands.

Words sometimes make an impact for good. But actions often do.