“If you’re going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can’t be erased.”

– Maya Angelou

Deep down we all want to leave a legacy, we all want to make a dent, and we all want some evidence that our life mattered. How do I know this? Because almost every public building, church facility, hospital, pew and/or stained-glass church window, and every cornerstone of a large building has a plaque with someone’s name. Cemeteries are filled with stone markers proclaiming the virtues of those who lie beneath. The sad truth is that in 100, 50, or even 20 years later circumstances change, people move on, and nobody remembers the person on the plaque. I am thankful for people who give so we can have these facilities, but I believe our legacy should also be living. The people who remember you will best carry the legacy you leave. That may only be a couple of dozen years, but not many of us will make it into the history books anyway.

You are created to leave a legacy. You have within you the desire, even the need to leave behind evidence that you have passed through this life. Every time you ask yourself questions like, “Why am I here?” or “How can I live a life that matters?” that is your soul seeking to find a way to leave a legacy. You will leave a legacy, the question I have for you is, “What legacy will you leave?”

After two close friends were diagnosed with cancer (different cancers, but equally serious cancers) just months apart, I noticed an acceleration in their conversations around this topic of legacy. No doubt spending inordinate amounts of time in CT scanners and MRI machines gives one time to think. Their thinking led them to talk about what they would leave behind and what would be remembered about them. One lost her battle with cancer in July 2020 and the second entered his heavenly reward about eleven months later. Their deaths have been significant in my view of legacy.

Both left amazing legacies. As I prepare this article, I am wrapped in one of the hundreds of quilts she created. As I consider these words I am sharing, his sermons and daily conversations ring in my ears. Virginia was a talented crafter and Marty was a gifted preacher; both left this world too soon in my opinion.

Both lived passionately, which is the opposite of living passively. Both lived with resilience, living by the motto of getting back up when you get knocked down. Both learned and lived the value of perseverance. Both were proactive, both lived with the end in mind, and both expected the best but accepted the worst.

Living passionately means we must be proactive, not reactive. Reactive living produces regrets, but proactive living is busy living, even when diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sure, bad things happen to good people, but as Vince Lombardi said, “It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up.” And before him, Paul wrote, “We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out.” So, get up! Make a plan! Get moving! My friends had a choice, get busy dying or get busy living. They chose to get busy living.

Because living passionately was their choice, they began with the end in mind. I have no idea how many attended their funerals, in-person or online, but I’m sure it was in the 100s… maybe thousands (online makes that kind of thing very possible these days). That’s because they lived with the daily focus of, “What is the most important thing I can do for God today?” Living with the end in mind, the end of your life in mind, while loving deeply helps bring focus and clarity to daily decisions, goals, and priorities. I watched my friends live like this to the very end.

Passionate living also means that they accepted the worst and worked for the best. Death is inevitable. If you are over 40 you have a 20% chance of dying in the next five years, and that chance increases by 20% every decade after that. Nobody gets out of this life alive. What are you putting off?

Virginia and Marty accepted the worst but worked for the best. They both loved deeply and lived passionately. They did everything they could to leverage their situations. They were both all in for the cause of Christ. 

Where are you being reactive? 

What are you putting off? 

What situation in your life needs you to actually work to make it better?

Brian Tracy’s Four Rules for Your Future:

1. Your life gets better when you get better.
2. It doesn’t matter where you come from, it matters where you are going.
3. You can learn anything to achieve any goal if you want it badly enough and are willing to make the sacrifice.
4. Success is in direct proportion to what you do after you do what you’re expected to do.

This article was submitted by Rev. Lynn Benson, Director of Legacy Giving for the United Methodist Foundation, Inc. If you would like more information regarding UMF, you can contact Lynn at [email protected].