“What will your legacy be?” In the ninth grade I was proposed this question by the most influential choir director I ever had, and in that moment in time I was completely oblivious to the very depth of that question. You see, some people merely exist, and float aimlessly in the conformed crowd lost in faces that run seamlessly into one another, and leaving footprints on the road much traveled by. We live such scheduled lives, sometimes to the point we become anxious or discontent when we aren’t living in timed arrangements. Alarm clock, coffee (maybe breakfast if we are lucky), and classes all morning. Maybe catch half a sandwich for lunch, afternoon classes or for some work, and finally our head hits the pillow and our eyes become heavy and… BEEP BEEP BEEP.

There we are, nose diving into the most monotonous cycle one can fall into. It’s like we find security in conformity because let’s face it, is being different even a compliment anymore? What is different and who defines it? You will never influence the world by trying to be like it so that bring us to the resuming question. “What will your legacy be?” Everyone we have encountered, every experience we have endured, and every change in events has been by products of the christening of our overall masterpiece of our legacy. Had we bypassed an experience, never met a particular person or failed to endure a drastic change...how different would you be today? Never look at particles of life as burdens, accidents or disruptions, but as pieces of your overall testimony. Don't relent, put periods where commas belong, and let your legacy end before it has even steadily begun. When I was a young child in children’s church a profound statement was made by my teacher “sometimes the only bible someone will read is your life.” We have to be the small shining light in such a cruel and harsh world.

Sometimes your smile is the only one someone saw that day, in some instances showing love or kindness can make one reevaluate themselves and sometimes you being you and simply letting Christ shine out could make all the difference. Be the light to the few to reach the multitude. We draw others to Christ by exerting a joy that’s so unique that they are desperate to know the source of it, not by loudly proclaiming how right we are and how wrong they are. While suppressing who we really are, changing to conform into spaces needing to be filled in social groups and becoming lost in the cognitive makeup of everyday life, we are deafening our legacy, and we are betraying ourselves and falling into the wasteland of our new found "normal". A legacy is not just something you will leave behind when you are long gone, it’s what you offer, create, impact and contribute today and then happens to live on. Does your life give a true reflection of who you serve? Could you one day lay on your death bed and say you sought out all the potential and possibility this life offered? Does the story you’re writing right now fall into the habitual everyday schedule or does it meet higher standards increasing opportunity that could later be your testimony? Are you writing a story for your own glorification or God’s?

It takes absolutely no effort to join the crowd, but it takes everything and all amounts of strength to stand alone. The traits that set you apart can more times than not feel like a burden, but they are what makes you individually incomparable. There is such capacity in the 24 hours we are given, though it doesn’t seem that way, but so much can be altered, rearranged and tinkered with in that small amount of time. “Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wilder seas. Where storms show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love.” –Sir Francis Drake.

We can chose to always play it safe and maintain inside the folds of our comfort zone where complacency is our best friend or we can chose to live a life worth following, and leaving our marks on others that’s worth praising Him for. At the end of life, what really matters is not what we bought, but what we built; not our religion but our relationship with Jesus; not what we changed but who we changed; not where we went but who we lead; not where we failed but where we triumphed; not what we got but what we shared; not our competence but our character; and not our success but our significance. “What will your legacy be?”