What is your legacy by Brendan Conboy
When I left the charity I co-founded and developed for 24 years, people told me I had left a wonderful legacy. Ever since, I have been considering what we all leave behind as a legacy.
The charity helped thousands of young people and their families. Are they also part of my legacy and what legacy will they leave behind? What impact did my influence have on them?
As I think about this question, I naturally think about the many who influenced me. Am I, their legacy? My dad was a builder and as a young man he laid sewer pipes and built manholes (now called inspection chambers). There is a particular area that I know he worked and whenever I walk those streets, every manhole reminds me of him. What a legacy he left and he influenced me into the building trade. Are the houses that I built part of my legacy?
My mum wasn’t a great achiever as far as work, but in her 50’s she decided to study for her English Language GCSE and she passed. Some 20 years later, when she died, we found the start of her story scribbled in a notebook. It was part of her legacy and it was inspirational.
My mum inspired me to write my biography, The Golden Thread and 15 other books. Are these books my legacy? Yes, partly, they will continue to influence long after I have gone.
I have come to the conclusion that this is what true legacy is – Influencing beyond our lifespan. You may not have published a book, but your scribbled notes can be a great influence.
Having said all of this, there is a great song by Casting Crowns called ‘Only Jesus’. It talks about Jesus being the only legacy that we should be concerned about.
Brendan
Conboy aka Half Man Half Poet is
the author of 16 published books including two fascinating
autobiographies, The Golden Thread and I'm Still VALUED. In
1986, Brendan invited Jesus into his life and God blessed him with the gift of
rhyming words. He used that gift as a Christian Rap artist for 25 years
and has written 6 poetry books including the entire Book of Psalms in
Rhyme. He has 3 published novels - Issues, Invasion of the
Mimics and Legacy of the Mimics. He is the creator of Book Blest
I've been pondering legacy too ... in fact that was going to be my next post here, lol. No matter! Thanks for this, Brendan. The people we love who've now gone on leave a precious legacy and we hope to leave one too, but in Christ we have all the legacy and treasure that we need.
ReplyDeleteI think as we head towards... errr... maturity, we tend to think more about this subject. Just because I have shared some of my thoughts, doesn't mean that you can't. I would like to read your blog on this.
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