A Celebration of Life or A Celebration of Death?
Monday, May 2, 2011
At my mother’s funeral my father shared his heart and simply said, “I was lucky to known her at all”. I have lived my life with the premise that when people gather to celebrate my life those who celebrate it will say, “I was lucky to have known her at all”. What will people say when you leave this earth?
This past week the world has had two major deaths, Reverend David Wilkerson and Mr. Osama Bin Laden. Both men had an impact on society while they served their time on this earth but each impact was very different. The news of Rev. Wilkerson’s passing brought tears of sadness that comes with the passing of anyone who has such a profound impact. Upon his death across the world many joined in celebration of his life, his impact, and his accomplishments. The passing of Mr. Bin Laden was much different. Across the nation a sigh of relief was felt and tears of joy were shed. Across the world many are celebrating his passing rather than his contributions. When you die will people celebrate your life or death?
Personally, I have always tried to live my life so that after my journey on this earth that my life will be celebrated for the contributions and impacts I made. In order for there to be a celebration at the end of our lives we must properly live the first part of our lives. Janice Hughes says, “How you live one day is how you live your life”. How are you living your life?
We have multiple accounts in our life. The one we are most familiar with is a bank account. In back accounts we make both deposits and withdraws in the form of currency and it is important that withdraws never exceed our deposits. We also have many other accounts: relationship, societal, health, and a list of others. Just like in our bank account our deposits must be greater than the withdraws. When the withdraws are greater the account runs dry. When was the last time you assessed your accounts?
Rev. Wilkerson made many deposits and he served society-making use of his time on this earth. While I do not know the deposits made by Mr. Bin Laden I do know that his withdraws were that of a large scale. At their death their accounts were settled and the celebration of life or death was decided. What does your societal account look like?
I have lived my life and will continue throughout my journey blessing others in anyway that I can and contributing in anyway possible in to all my accounts. When I pass I want to be remembered for the blessings I was a part of and the lives I touched. When my account is settled I want my deposits to be greater than my withdraws. I am not aiming to live a life of perfection but a life worthy of reflection so that those who knew me “were lucky to have known me at all”.
Love. Laugh. Adjust.
Dr. Martha Nessler, Innate Girl