The legacy of a life
2021 is past, but it will never really be behind us.
Especially for those who lost loved ones in 2021.
Those lives – fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends – created ripples of joy and pain, hope and despair – as they battled health conditions, grappled with the twists and turns of circumstances, and faced a global pandemic. They fought bravely.
As their loved ones now live with an ache that cannot be filled, the question remains, what is the legacy of a life?
Is it only memorable if mentioned in print? Or compelling if filled with great achievements? What impact does one really have in the world?
When I reflect on the various individuals who died in 2021, I can see that each one has left a tremendous legacy. In the anguish of their family, I see evidence of the great love they provided and received. That love was so profound, so tremendous, that the pain now is so acute. The memories are so tender, so fragile, because they awaken a gamut of emotions that ring of grief: sadness, regret, anger, bitterness, numbness, shock, longing, gratitude, exhaustion.
Their death impacts us so much because their life mattered so much.
They are lost to us, but in their loss we find their true worth. It feels like it’s too late, but this realisation of how much they mattered, how much they’re missed, is their legacy.
The truth that their life was a gift, is the legacy.
A gift that we were privileged to share.
One of the most poignant verses in the Bible is John 11:35 – just two words: “Jesus wept.”
He was in front of the tomb of Lazarus, one of his best friends who had died quite suddenly, and his sisters were weeping as they expressed their honest lament, wishing Jesus had come sooner, wondering why He hadn’t.
Jesus fully intended to resurrect his friend (cf John 11:11), so it wasn’t for Lazarus that he wept, but for his loved ones in pain. Their grief still broke his heart. In fact, the original Greek implies Jesus burst into tears as his soul was deeply troubled and even angry – angry with death, angry with the cause of death, angry because He cared so deeply for Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters, and for everyone else who pretended to cry around them but who were just there for selfish reasons.
He knew those very same people would be spectators at His “trial,” just a few days from then, and that some would cry out, “Crucify Him!”He knew that once again Mary and Martha would weep, this time at the foot of His cross.
Jesus wept. Even though He is the resurrection and the life, He wept.
And we can weep, too. We can get angry, too. Even though there is hope of the resurrection. Even though we know this isn’t the end of their legacy, we can still weep and be angry that life is unfair, that death comes at all.
We can grieve knowing He understands. Not only our pain, but the true legacy of their lives.