At the end of our lives when we are laid to rest, the stone at the head of our grave gives brief summary to the entirety of our days on this earth.
Serious, comical, poetic or simple styles all reflect one and only one element of life.
Regardless of our success, accomplishments and notable achievements, the only thing that seems to matter enough to be engraved in epitaph are the relationships of our life.
Loving Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Wife or Husband and Compassionate Friend are the kind of words most often inscribed. The final twitter post of our life seldom includes anything more than a simple summary of the relationships we had.
It seems clear that our relationships define us, so the question arises, are we putting the emphasis on them that they deserve?
How do you choose to relate?
I remember when I was in the Boy-Scouts, we were taught a simple principal when we went into the wilderness for camping expeditions. “Leave it better than you found it”, meaning if someone else had left some trash behind, clean it up though it’s not yours, respecting nature and the people who may come afterward. I think that is a great principle for relationships. Taking the time to clean someone else’s garbage and help the people we relate with in life become better and better, not just so you can enjoy their company, but so others can too.
There are a few skills we need to be able to do that, one is letting someone else help you get better at life, another, and probably the most important, is learning about life, it’s purpose and design, when we understand that, we can guide people towards it, and we are less likely to resist those guiding us.
I believe the Bible offers more than clues and hints to this stuff.. Why not read some if it today?
