Epitaph

If you had one last thing to say, what would it be? What would you want to stick with you in the minds of every person that speaks of your name? Every time you’re visited you repeat simple words for them to remember…what would they be? What would your epitaph say?

Living on the east coast there are a lot of cemeteries with some really old graves in them. I don’t do this often but I’ve walked through a graveyard looking at different headstones, imagining the life that they lived. Every once in a while you find someone with a meaningful story. Someone took the time to tell their story because their life had great meaning. I am amazed by this. Have you ever thought about what you would like your epitaph to say? If you looked at your life right now, what would it say? With the start of the New Year I contemplate this more and more.

I have a deep appreciation for Saint Patrick. He felt God’s calling, dropped everything, followed it, and died with a great epitaph on the breastplate on his tomb. It reads:

Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.

When I die, I want everyone to understand that in all areas of my life, Christ was there. Now…I need to examine what needs to happen in order for Christ to be where He belongs.