Have you ever thought about your own eulogy? What do you hope people will say about you when you are gone? Back in college, in a psychology class, our professor had us each write what we would like said about us at our own funeral. It’s very thought provoking, and a really good exercise.  If you have a few minutes, give it a go.

 

If you are brave enough to be really  honest, do this twice. Write the eulogy that you would like spoken about you, then in your heart of hearts, with no one reading over your shoulder – write the one you think might actually be spoken, by someone being completely honest. Go ahead, feel free to be completely truthful, it’s just between you and God.

 

If there’s a big difference between the hoped-for eulogy and the truthful one,  well maybe there’s some work to be done. Another version of this is…imagine your 90th birthday party;  imagine people are asked to get up and say the three words that best describe you.  What would your boss say?  What would your spouse say?  Your kids…?  What would your friends, co-workers, neighbors, say?

Kind of a scary thought, right?

 

Back in college,  writing my hoped-for eulogy, I focused mostly on  accomplishments. I mentioned things like…she was well-known in her field…she was good at her profession, respected by her colleagues…she was a trustworthy friend, someone you could count on…

 

Not surprisingly, if I were to do that today it would come out  differently.  I think my ‘goal’ eulogy would include many of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. These are character traits identified in the Bible as: Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Patience, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Goodness and Self Control.  My mom gave me a beautiful quilt recently with the Fruits of the Spirit written on it, along with related scripture verses.  I have it in my bedroom and I even had a picture of it made and hung it in my dining room. So I see it often, and I’m more conscious of trying to measure up to it.

 

When I taught 1st grade catechism, the kids would make a tree with apples on it and each apple had one of the Fruits of the Spirit listed. I always thought it would be cool to have each spiritual fruit on a different type of literal fruit.  Kind of like a fruit salad.  

So, I guess if I were to write my eulogy these days, I would hope it would look more like fruit salad.

But…nine characteristics is daunting, right?  I guess I should focus on one at a time. So I’m going with patience. Because that’s probably the one I have the most trouble with. The next few months I’m going to really be aware of when and why I lose my patience.  

 And interestingly, Christian theology teaches us it’s not really a matter of purely trying to be more patient.  I need to ask the Holy Spirit to produce patience in me. I want to be conscious and aware of it, but we need to pray for, and be open to the work of the Spirit in us.  Changing us.

I saw a fantastic series on a Christian TV station that explores the nuances and benefits of the Holy Spirit. It’s called The Wild Goose. It  focuses on different facets and concepts of the  Spirit and is extremely well done – I highly recommend it. You can find it at https://thewildgooseisloose.com/

If you’d like to play along with me, please feel free to comment below which Fruit of the Spirit you’d like to focus on.

Dear Lord, Thank You for the Holy Spirit and His work in us. Thank You for helping us  recognize His power and His presence so that the Fruits of the Spirit can come alive and be expressed in us. Help us to see that just trying, and trying, and trying is not enough to develop these traits. But, rather, communing with You through prayer, Scripture study and  practicing Your presence, along with our willingness to trust and surrender, are all things that will make these goals easier to reach. Amen