How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

He had chosen to end his life this way and to be remembered like this: "This is it. This is where it all ends. End of the road. What a life it was. Some life." together with 32 innocent victims.

He even compared himself to Jesus Christ, who die for us this way, quite different from his way, Jesus die with a purpose.

Heart-broken? indeed, it is...

So, How do you want to be remembered then?

Never before in history have people had the opportunity to have a second adulthood. Life expectancy was fifty years, now people live an average of 24 years past that (UNICEF data, here), and we are more affluent that our previous generations.

While statistically we may live longer, we still don't know exactly when we will die. The question is, how would you want your epitaphs look like? Cho's way of ending his life reflect someone who haven't find the purpose of life and one with no passion towards life.

You and I still have a chance to select our own epitaphs. It is fairly scary to think about your gravestone while you are alive. But when you select an epitaph as an expression of gratitude, you identify yourself as someone with purpose and a passion. I am a teacher, and I'm proud to be one. and I want to be remembered as being good soil where the seed (students) that are entrusted to me multiplied a hundredfold. It is how I wish and attempt to live; it express my passions and my core commitments; and it is how I envision my legacy. I want to be a symbol of higher yield, in both life and death.

Take the opportunity from this incident to write your epitaphs.

Where is God calling you to serve? What passion has he instilled in your heart? Each of us have been given something to work with--time, money, and/or ideas. Using all of who you are in service to God and to people around you: your family, your church and your community will lead to a deeper, more fulfilling sense of accomplishment. NOT ending your life and other life like him.

So, how do you want to be remembered?

meanwhile, lets observe a moment of silence to mourn the victims.