"What Will Matter"
Very early this morning, everyone in North America, Europe and some other countries turned their timepieces one hour backward; Daylight Saving Time this year has ended. People had an extra hour of sleep this morning.
Turning back the clock is not, however, the same as going back in time. For time progresses, goes on, and no man can do anything about it. The "time machine" where one can go back in time, exists only in fiction.
My father knew only four Latin words: "Tempus fugit", which means "Time flies." The other two are: "Memento mori", or "Remember death." These four Latin words are words of wisdom. They were a most important legacy of his to me, and words which everyone would do well to live by.
Last night my sister-in-law Lita shared with me a poem, which appeared in their Church Bulletin. Its title is "What Will Matter" and was written by Michael Josephson. I wish to share it with those who will read this little blog:
“Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave. What will matter is not your success but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone. What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters.”
My prayer is that we will all decide to live a life that matters. We owe it to ourselves . . . to those journeying with us in life . . . and to the One Who gave this life to us.#
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Mt 6:19-20
