I stand at the edge of the ocean, water massaging my toes and and my mind is heavy with the semi-hypnotizing rolling of the waves. My son is nearby, screaming with innocent laughter as he plays in the knee-deep water. Waves crash towards him as he shrieks with excitement and he turns to run away. The waves lose momentum and he chases them back into the body of water from which they stretched. I can watch him repeat this for an eternity but as the sun sets, it serves as a reminder to the limited nature of the time we have. I take in the moment as deep and as deliberate as I can to memorize everything; the way the beach looks, the feeling of the warm sun, the sound of the waves, the smell of sun-drenched skin and the taste of the salt in the air.
Somewhere in that time- in between the recognition of how memorable the moment was and my act of becoming aware of exactly what my senses were witnessing, a revelation in the form of a metaphor came to me that emphatically sealed the memory within me forever.
You see, this was the extended weekend that I spent with my son and my parents on a perfect beach in Florida. Three generations of us spent some of our finite amount of time on Earth together, on a beach that has been in existence for what would seem like an eternity to the level of comprehension of time that we possess.
The metaphor that surfaced to me on the beach that day now completes me; The steps we took on that beach, much like the steps we take in life, will disappear back into the Earth just like the dust from our bodies once we are gone. Our legacy, however, does not diminish. The impact that we have on those around us and the ability we have to put good into the world, all suddenly left a realization at my feet that day- What will I put in this world before I am gone?
By default, our parents serve as the models we choose our actions by. A child is the combination of two people's DNA and representative of those two people's love for one another. Science teaches us that stronger genes survive to be passed on as weaker ones die off and disappear. In other words, our parents gave birth to us in a fashion better than themselves- literally. They also help us innovate our own outcome which should, by their design and efforts, better than what theirs was. Now, when your first child comes along, that is when obligation is born to you. Plainly put; our children obligate us to do what our parents taught us to innovate. How well we did in that duty, empowers them to better set their own bar.
Not once did the idea of sin, atonement, an afterlife, scriptures or the beginning of our existence come to me. I simply understood the potential of my impact on everyone around me- my son, my family and the ones I love- and allow that to motivate my actions. I will live this life more deliberately and love more passionately than the ones that came before me, therefore inspiring the ones that will come after me.
This is my belief. That is my purpose. I have found all of the faith I will ever need. This is the mantra that defines me.
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