Looking Back at What We Leave Behind

Xuefeng

October 3, 2024

The International Lifechanyuan Family’s vacation retreat includes, along with its main building, seven wooden guest cabins. This morning, I went to tidy Cabin 1 by the lake. Upon entering, I was first met with a pile of half-burned firewood scattered by the stove, wood shavings strewn all over. Near the sink lay a stack of unwashed pots and dishes, and in the two bedrooms, the beds were in complete disarray. One pillow had a large, unsightly stain; removing the pillowcase revealed that the pillow itself was similarly soiled. A once-white tablecloth was nowhere to be found—until I later discovered it crumpled and filthy, stuffed into a folding cot behind the door.

In seven years of managing these cabins, this experience left one of the deepest impressions on me. I could almost sense the level of civility and quality of life of the guests who had stayed here.

Just as Sherlock Holmes deduced the crime scene and profile of the criminal from subtle clues, we too can discern a person’s character—especially their civility, refinement, and depth of spirit—from the traces they leave behind.

With this in mind, each of us should take a moment to look back and examine what we’ve left on our journey through life.

Are we leaving behind flowers, or thorns? Are we remembered with praise, or with curses? Are we inspiring longing, or rejection? Are we leaving fond memories, or causing people to shy away? Is our path marked by light, or by darkness? Are we leaving behind hope, or despair? Are we creating beautiful memories, or a trail of nightmares? Are we shaping a heavenly path, or one that resembles a path to hell?

It’s essential to reflect: if our path is filled with beauty, then we are walking toward heaven. But if it’s filled with disdain and curses, marked by ugliness, then hell is not far off.

Christianity speaks of a Final Judgment. But how will we be judged, and on what basis?

Judgment will rest upon the traces each of us leaves behind, day by day, step by step.