Legacy

The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone,

but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”

                                                           Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

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The white stars shine

Against the darkness of the Christmas tree

Intricate and beautiful

Each one given to the church

In memory of a friend, now long gone

Seeing them I felt again a great loss

Even after all these years

Remembering

His laugh

His compassion

His presence

There is still a hole in my life

Created by his transition to what was next for him

It was not because he was rich (he wasn’t)

Or because he had it all together (in many ways he was a mess)

It was because he gave himself for others

In ways big and small

He listened, he got wood for widows

He mowed lawns

He encouraged people in recovery

He played the guitar infectiously

And so he is missed, not just by me

But by those who offered Christmas stars in his memory

I wonder about my own life.  Do I do what I do for others,

Or merely for myself?

What kind of legacy am I creating

I suspect I will be missed, but I also suspect

I do too much for myself

And this Christmas, as I look at these stars

Glittering on the tree

I will seek to be more a “person for others’

I would invite all of you to join me