Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mixt; sweet recreation
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.
Thus let me live, unseen, unknown,
Thus unlamented let me die,
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.
The first stanza is excellent. It serves to balance work with pleasure quite well. This is great. It is quite a feat to succeed in these tasks (yes, even pleasure is a task at times). In fact, the man that succeeds at these is, I suppose, successful. That is not meant to be redundant. It is just that that could be one of the, if not the, key to success. But don't quote me on that. I'm not sure. After all, I am not too familiar with success. Especially in those two realms. I often get crazy and confuse the two so that I produce nothing but chaos. Either I am too driven and ambitious that I become borderline workaholic. Other times, much more frequent, I am just plain lazy. But now on to the second stanza.
The second stanza is not excellent. It serves to paint a picture of morbid humility. No, not even that. That is not humility. It is a sham. Pure hypocrisy. To leave the world and remain unseen, unkwown, and unlamented is pitiable. If no one sees you or knows you or grieves your absence than there is something very dreadful to be said about your presence. Someone once asked if our absence was more appreciated than our presence. That is awful. But even worse is to remain unacknowledged. Ignored. What kind of a legacy is that?
You know what? I was wrong. Yes, success can begin to be measured by a well lived life. But it is, I belive, measured out in full once that well lived life ends but still lives on. Although my life may end, in fact, it certainly will end, I hope I will be able to live on. No, not spiritually. That's already been granted me because of the secure eternity I have with Christ. Not even do I necessarily mean to live on vicariously through my children or others. No, it's not that. It's just that I want to leave a legacy. That is, I think, the true sign (or one of the true signs) of success. I life that is lived successfully and then dies or ends without having left any value is a life wasted. It is only failure. But true success comes when your presence is not only missed but lingers on even after you are gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment