The following was written for my uncle's funeral last week. He was the last patriarch in my father's line. His passing means the new patriarchs come from my generation. Yikes!! Somebody's getting old."Legacy"
“The king is dead. Long live the king.”
England and other monarchies have their succession plans laid out well into the future. They are never without a leader. As soon as the monarch dies, another is in place. The kingdom is never without a king.
Enemies lurk about, waiting for a weakness in leadership, looking for a gap in the wall, ready to take advantage of a sleeping sentry. Today, we give our enemy no opportunity for attack. We are ready to take our place in the line of succession.
As we look around, there are just a few artifacts of such a rich and full life:
A short wave radio,
A Count Basie record,
A sky blue Buick Deluxe,
A thousand books or so,
A painting or a sculpture,
These things hold just a whiff of a man’s impact.
The real souvenirs come in the form of legacy… memories… the things he always said, over and over, as if we would forget them.
His legacy is in his actions:
The jobs he took when no one else was there to do the job,
The tough choices he made when others just looked on like the problem would fix itself,
The words he spoke when others were silent.
For many men, the sweat of his brow resides inside a building that he hammered together, or a building that bears his name in etched concrete. For some men, the sweat of his brow lives on in the students he taught, the scholars he mentored, the family he loved.
We feel his legacy when we remember his touch. We are imprinted by his style. Funny how some things pass so naturally from generation to generation.
Are we more than a picture on a wall? When a child asks, “who is that,” what will we say? Let us be known not just by the deeds on our resume. Let us be known by the things we care about. Let us be remembered by our passion.
Yes, tell the stories, and remember what you hear today. Tell the stories to others, and write them down if you can. The details get kind of sketchy over time. Take pictures today. Put time into building the slide show. Those who are bored by the stories of past trials and triumphs just don’t get it. We’re smarter and richer when we learn from our mothers and fathers.
A fool ignores history. An absolute fool ignores his own family’s history.
We are in a generational battle. We are trying to build our place in this land, and our challenge is to take our parents’ fight to the next level.
Yes, we can vote. Yes, we can eat in any restaurant or sleep in any hotel we can afford. Now what? Can we build businesses? Can we write best sellers? Can we hold on to the faith of our fathers? Can we build strong families?
We take our place, standing on shoulders of the elders. Standing up here, we can see out beyond the horizon.
I bid welcome to the new patriarchs and new matriarchs. Do you feel ready? It doesn’t matter. Jesus asked the Father, “take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”
We stand because we must. Today, leadership is thrust upon us. And the younger ones look to us, to see how far they can go. Almighty God, help us be wise. Give us strength for the simple and profound task of being a role model.
The king is dead. Long live the king. We’ll never forget you, Uncle John.
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