My Dad went to be with his Saviour this summer and since that time I have often reflected on his life and what it has meant to me, my family, and others. I enjoy looking through his books which he read and re-read. I’m intrigued with the legacy he left because of the kind of man he was. The more I think about his life the more I recognize it was his loves which shaped who he was and how he was. It was his loves not his knowledge or his education primarily which resulted in the legacy he left.
“Education in not primarily a heady project concerned with providing information; rather, education is most fundamentally a formation, a task of shaping and creating a certain kind of people.” James K. Smith.
I like this quote because it gets at what was lasting and significant in my Dad’s life, what most impacted those who knew him. I ask myself what kind of legacy will I leave, and now I have better questions to ask myself. What do I love, and most importantly who do I love? These questions cause a state of repentance and humility. They help me realize it is far more important that Jesus loves me and that I’ll always be amazed by this truth than acquiring information, skills or power. For it is in our weakness that we are made strong when we love the good, the true and the beautiful; knowing Jesus is the fountain head of them all.
