Legacy 2

             When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too, is vanity and a great evil. (Ecclesiastes 2:21)

This verse brings to mind a term we don’t hear as much as we used to: Trust Fund Baby. At one point, it referred to someone whose parents or grandparents set up a fund so that the child would never have to work. Generally speaking, these trust fund babies were depicted as shallow, entitled, narcissistic, and nihilistic. Unfortunately, I don’t think the trust fund babies disappeared. I think the malady spread to a larger chunk of the population, even among those whose parents and grandparents couldn’t afford to set up such a fund. And if the parents or grandparents can’t afford it, they expect the government to step in. And the man in the verse above refers to the parents or grandparents who labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill. The government cannot claim to have labored with any of those.

And if that legacy is handed off to someone who has not labored with those characteristics, or even just labored, the outcome will not be good. The work done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill will ultimately be done in vain (which means without wisdom) and be a great evil. Part of leaving a legacy, therefore, is to make sure that those to whom the legacy is left are trained to labor with wisdom, knowledge, and skill.

The closest I can think of for my legacy as an  example is that I like to think that my writing makes people think. I hope my litter collection is noticed and emulated (though I must say that yesterday I scavenged a nice pillar candle). And what I learn about gardening, I pass on to others either as wisdom, knowledge and skill, or as generosity that might be emulated. It might help, however, if I learned to see the legacies that I’m leaving, while small, are valuable and worthwhile.