On this Father’s Day, how do we remember our fathers, whether they are still with us or not? What is it that lasts the longest about who they are? What is it that we will never forget about them, as long as we live? Is it the power, or authority they commanded? Is it their accomplishments? Is it the material legacy they leave behind? Or is it something else that stays with us forever about who they are?
“Everyone,” says Abdu’l-Baha, “wishes to be remembered.” This is the essence of our nature as human beings. We have a built in tendency and desire to not only review the life we have lived, to make sense of it and see it for what it truly is, but to want others to know this and remember it, too.
We owe it to our fathers to remember them how they would truly wish to be remembered. And, we owe it to ourselves to be remembered how we truly wish to be remembered. Power, accomplishments, even material legacies, will pass, fade, and be forgotten. If we “hear with attentive ear the call of the spiritual world,” if we “seek first” its “perfections,” this will be what is not forgotten about us. This is how we will have “everlasting remembrance.” The eternal qualities and virtues that we cultivate and bring in to being through our daily actions make us who we are as spiritual beings; these are what will last the longest in the memories of those who really do know us.
A 33rd way to review your life story – How do you truly wish to be remembered? If earthly accomplishments will hardly be remembered, what is it most from having heard the call of the spiritual world that will contribute to your everlasting remembrance? What spiritual virtues and qualities that you have nurtured throughout your life make you most who you really are? Reflect on these spiritual qualities that you would like others to remember about you, select just one, and tell a story illustrating how you have lived this virtue in your life. If you would like to share that story here for others to learn from, that would be wonderful.
Remembering Who We Are - 