legacy

My wife and I attended an intimate wedding this past Saturday of a dear daughter of close family friends.  Everything about the service was warm and personalized.  It was held in the Wren Chapel at the College of William and Mary.  Interestingly, the pews face across the aisle, rather than facing forward, in this small, but elegant, building.  As we sat, we would look across and smile at friends who were looking back.  I couldn't help but notice memorial plaques, made of marble or granite, that were mounted on the high walls of the chapel.  They memorialized famous personalities in the history of the College, and of Virginia.  George Wythe was one of those individuals.  The stone told us that he had lived from 1726 to 1806 and that he'd been a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Continental Congress, as well as a long-time teacher at he College.  The school of Law is named for him.   I was especially touched by the qualities of character that were ascribed to him at the bottom:

 

Courage as a Patriot

Ability as an Instructor

Uprightness as a Lawyer

Purity as a Judge

 

I thought about the strength of character and of living that had forged this legacy and I thought about the opportunity we have in this life to develop and demonstrate character that is the overflow of the presence of the Lord.   Hopefully we'll find courage, ability, uprightness and purity to be qualities that leave their mark on this world and impact it for eternity.  We may not have a granite memorial in a lovely chapel scribed to us personally, but perhaps, one day in Heaven, we'll find some kind of plaque that captures the marks of our legacy, as well.....the legacy of a character fashioned and used by our Lord.

 

blessings,

Rob Smith