Inheritance

“It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It's what you leave behind you when you go” – Randy Travis in ‘Three Wooden Crosses’.

For each one of us, there will come a time when we grow old.

In anticipation of this, we must prepare for the decline of our physical capabilities and wrestle with the idea of our own mortality.

We will be forced to contemplate how those we leave behind will live on, and eventually, we will have to consider the inheritance we will pass on to them.

Some people may bequeath acres of land and beautiful houses that have been in the family for generations.

Others, perhaps a comfortable home and a car.

Still others may have little more than a wedding ring and some pots and pans to give their heirs.

And as we grapple with legal documents and fancy formulations to ensure that everyone receives that which they have been promised, we will inevitably come to a sobering conclusion:

It really doesn’t matter.

The material inheritance we leave behind is truly of little significance to the next generation.

However, there is a different inheritance - one that is far more important. It is one that cannot be drawn up by a lawyer or whispered with a dying breath. It is an inheritance that cannot be determined in one’s final days and is more valuable than mansions, cars, and hundreds of acres of land.

At the very beginning of his famous ‘Meditations’, Marcus Aurelius writes:

From my grandfather Verus, I learned good morals and the government of my temper.
From the reputation and remembrance of my father, I learned modesty and a manly character.
From my mother, I learned piety and to give selflessly, and to guard not only against evil actions but even from evil thoughts, and further, to content myself with simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

Marcus Aurelius goes on to recognize his adoptive father and Emperor of the Roman Empire, Antoninus Pius, saying he learned from him humility and perseverance. He continues, stating that it is from him that he learned to be unwavering in things once a decision has been made after much deliberation and examination, as well as listening to any man who offers anything pertaining to the common good.

The list goes on. Marcus spares no word in praising those who have touched his life. He mentions not only family but friends, Romans, and countrymen. Nearly 3000 words (in the English translation) are dedicated to those who molded him into the man he was the day he jotted down these very thoughts.

He recognizes that there is no such thing as a self-made man and that he received tremendous gifts from his forefathers.

But there is one thing Marcus Aurelius never mentions receiving: material wealth.

There is no doubt that he did receive an abundance of material riches. In fact, one could argue that his greatest inheritance was the Roman Empire itself, which was passed on to him by Antoninus Pius. Yet, no gold, no riches, no power or wealth even made this list.

Marcus Aurelius recognized that his true inheritance was that which shaped his character.

One day, I may inherit a house or a car; maybe I will receive a plot of land or money - but the value of that inheritance pales in comparison to the one I have already received, the one that forms the foundation of who I am today.

It is the inheritance that I am given, not when my parents pass away, but while they are still alive.

It lies in how they raised me, the values they instilled in me, and the example they set by the manner in which they conducted their lives.

And so it is that I - as my parents did before me – carry my true inheritance with me.

I store it in my heart, softened by them, so I would grow to love my God.

I see it in my character and my desire to be upright and honorable.

And it is evident to me in how I wish to imitate them as they imitate Jesus.

I would not trade these gifts for all the riches of the world.

This realization leaves me asking myself: What inheritance do I wish to pass on to the next generation…

One consisting of worldly riches, mansions, and land that is deeded to someone else when I die?

Or one that I share while I still draw breath?