INHERITING MY OWN STORY

February 2024 Edition

Reading material

1. The life story of Santa who became my baptismal name
2. Stories of Biblical figures mentioned in this reflection
3. Scripture verses mentioned in this reflection

Ash Wednesday always reminds us that we come from the earth and will return to the earth. When we die, apart from leaving behind our belongings and possessions, we also leave behind our own graves, our bodies which are buried in the ground and which will become one with the ground.

A generous elderly husband and wife who often provide yellow rice for people who have finished attending Christmas and Easter Mass. The two of them brought in a yellow rice seller with his cart. And they themselves helped the seller distribute the yellow rice to the people. The people all enjoyed the yellow rice while chatting and laughing, they looked happy. The husband and wife also looked satisfied and happy. They not only share food (treasures) but also serve themselves with full sincerity and joy. When asked what prompted them to do this good deed, they answered jokingly: “so that there will be stories about our lives, when we leave this life.”

There is a proverb that says: “an elephant dies leaving behind ivory, a tiger dies leaving stripes, a human dies leaving behind a name.” When we die we not only leave our burial ground, but also leave a name that is remembered by those who know us. The name is usually accompanied by good or bad attributes such as, Judas the traitor, Thomas the doubter, Abraham the believer, Mary the obedient, the good Samaritan, Solomon the wise and Pilate as found in the Creed of the Apostles, whose name is remembered throughout the ages by the story is not good. These names, with their respective characteristics, are the title of the life story of the person who has that name, and then become history that is remembered.

Everyone certainly wants to leave a good name with meaningful stories of their life. So while we live we can create our own stories, stories that are meaningful to us and others. Just as our baptismal names are taken from the names of saints, they have their own meaningful stories, which inspire us. Saint Therese the Patron of Missions, Francis of Assisi the Bringer of Peace, Saint John Sari of the Mystic Cross, Saint Hildegard the Poet of the Church, and so on.

To leave a good name, we can determine our own story, what kind of story we want to build. Of course, in accordance with our call to holiness, we want to create a story that spreads a positive impact on our own development, for our fellow humans and for the universe, even for people we hate or hate us. A story that provides positive inspiration for the next generation. A story filled with the desire to share rather than demand and ask. A story filled with the rhythm of gratitude rather than complaining. A story rich in appreciation of others rather than condemnation.

Our mortal life on this earth is only once, and this life will end leading to eternal life either eternal in heaven or in hell, depending on the story we make. We can create stories that are in accordance with the purpose of our creation, namely to glorify God (Isa.43:7, 1 Cor.10:31) through our righteous actions towards others, through our responsibility in working with motivation for the glory of God. We can create stories about our loyalty and struggle in carrying out God’s will written in the Bible (John 14:21, Why 2:26) by diligently reading the Bible, praying, discernment, reflection, dialogue, communication. And there are many other meaningful stories that we can determine for ourselves, meaning that we can determine our positive reaction to the actions of other people who are not good to us, into a story that is meaningful and can provide inspiration about maturity in reacting, about true joy in dealing with people who likes to make our work difficult, about self-control in communication or relationships, etc.

When we are alive, we collect stories or stories of my life that are good and true, so that when we die we leave behind a monument to the history of our life. Historical Monument of my life; in the form of stories that are meaningful and provide inspiration for the next generation. In this way, when we are no longer on this earth, we can still share stories that inspire and contain meaningful lessons with people who are still alive.

Reflection Questions:

1. “Elephants die leaving behind tusks, tigers die leaving behind stripes, humans die leaving behind names,” What good names and stories do I want to leave behind when I am moved from the community or work environment?
2. What are my methods and efforts in making my life story meaningful and inspiring for myself, my fellow humans and creation?