Reverberation of Memories
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“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 NIV
It seemed like a lifetime ago as I looked at the photo albums and recalled some of the memories and events surrounding the pictures. It was another life – a different life and I was a different person as I looked at myself in some of them. That was really me? I have glimpses in my head and sometimes all those memories feel like they are rapidly cycling through all those years. This past week marked seven years since my husband, Dave, went to Heaven. I have the assurance he is living in Heaven without pain and is with Jesus. I read the responses from people who remembered – “He was an inspiration.” “His legacy will always live on.” “He will not be forgotten.” “He was such an influence in my life.” It warmed my heart that he was not forgotten, and his life still reverberated in this world.
Reverberate means that the sound is repeated several times like an echo. It is to reflect, resonate, or resound. In relationship to a life, to reverberate means the echo of your life continues long after you have been released from this world. While Dave’s voice is silent on earth, his legacy continues to reverberate. His love and spirit travels in the silence of other people’s hearts and integrates into the foundation of their lives and decisions.
Today the wind is blowing strong, and I hear the roar of the wind. I see the trees sway in the breeze and watch the leaves blow across the yard. I see the effects of the wind and I hear how it causes the noise of the trees, but I cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. God’s Spirit works in our lives with the same effect. We feel and see the effects but do not know where the Spirit will lead us.
As for the reverberations of our loved one, we do not know how their influence and legacy will continue in our own lives and in the lives they have touched while on earth, but it does continue. What are the sounds of memories? What does life sound like? We know the sounds of laughter and tears. The sounds of joy and sorrow. The sounds of frustration and fun. They are all mixed together in life. But how does the sound of love continue in our lives?
The reverberation of love is a quiet, gentle sound within the heart. It is deep within the foundation of our soul. I recognize it when I sit quietly in God’s presence and wonder how did I get to be who I am? I have heard the love, felt the joy, and experienced the heartache and pain that has come from those I have loved. I may not immediately recognize where it came from, but I have integrated their influence into my life and their legacy continues. I feel the vibration of their influence touching my life and soul. It resonates within me.
I am no longer living in the deep sadness of loss but focused on how my life has been influenced and enhanced because of the love I have experienced. I am grateful for the journey. Life took a different turn than I expected just like we cannot predict the direction of the wind. The wind influences, changes, and redirects what is in its path. Life changes in unpredictable ways. Therefore, because of the changes and losses, we need to focus on the influence and legacy that reverberates from the loss and takes root in our lives. The transfer is silent with barely a sound. We could miss it in the noise of this world and the loudness of the pain. It is in the quietness of our souls we give thanks and experience the reverberation from a life well lived.
The question then becomes is my life reverberating the love of Jesus to others? Am I allowing the wind of the Spirit to blow through me and touch others just as I have been influenced and touched on this journey?
