There is a song called “Only Jesus” by Casting Crowns that has been playing on the radio these days. It declares, “I don’t want to leave a legacy. I don’t care if they remember me. Only Jesus.”

My father, a brilliant surgeon for 40 years, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He has been slowly getting lost in his mind, and his body has been showing the effects of his shriveled brain. As I was mourning the wasting of his mind and intelligence, and what he got reduced to, my husband brought up a point that stayed with me: “Think about the legacy he has left behind. Children, grandchildren, patients who would have died if he had not been their surgeon.” This new perspective made me feel better by changing the lenses I was viewing my father eaten by the disease. Not all is lost: he has lived a long life and made valuable contributions to the society which will carry the effects of the ripples he started.

Reflecting on the legacy that Jesus left us cannot be compared to what human beings can ever come close to leaving behind. He has opened the way for us to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. All other legacies, no matter how great, cannot compare to the sacrifice He had to make on the cross dying for our sins and the promise of a new life by His resurrection.

God bless you and your loved ones!

Meryem Kennedy