Have you ever walked around a cemetery and read the inscriptions on the headstones?  Have you ever visited a gravesite of a known family member, special friend, associate, or even a complete stranger…. and stopped long enough to really ponder in your heart just who this person was, what they stood for, what their accomplishments were, and what real impact they had on the lives of other people? 

Have you ever taken enough time out of your own all-too-busy life’s schedule to consider those same above four questions and how they would be answered as relates to your own life?

What have You really done with the use of your life?  What have you accomplished with the Gift God gave you to use?

Thirty-five years ago I read a book entitled Life Is Tremendous.  The book was authored by Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.  On one of the pages there was a sketch of a gravesite with a completely blank gravestone.  The author made a statement that really arrested my attention,… clear to the bone.  It made me stop and seriously consider the topic of his discussion as it applies to my own life.  He said “You are not really ready to live your life until you know what you want written about you on your own tombstone.”

Please, stop right now and give that statement some quality “think” time as it applies to your own life.

As I am writing this discussion, I am just returning back across the United States from the funeral service and burial of my very dear friend, Bill.  What an incredible human being he was.  For the 81 years he walked on this earth, his accomplishments were staggering.

He was bold in everything he did in life.  He was the oldest of eight children and was a great assist to his parents in raising that many children on limited means.  He was a committed husband to his only wife, Peggy.  He was a U.S. Army Korean War veteran.  He loved his country.  He loved his friends.  He even forgave and loved his enemies.  He was not perfect, but what mortal person do you know who is?  He loved, served and greatly blessed people all over this globe.  He spoke very boldly and always with total authority.  He never spoke louder than he lived.  He was an unprecedented business builder and leader.  His list of “achievements” just goes on and on and on.

Bill was without question a man’s man.  He was a good Coach.  He was a good Mentor.  As a Leader of People, he taught men how to do what they ordinarily would not do…..so that they would become what they were originally designed to be.

Bill was way ahead of his time.  He was a great visionary.  He saw life and things in life that are invisible to the average man.  His strength of character was very powerful.  As a mentor he stretched men way beyond their abilities to perform and they became better men for being stretched. 

Bill demanded excellence from himself first and then from all others whom he coached, and with whom he associated.  “Top Shelf,” “First Cabin,” “Your Very Best” were the things that Bill’s teaching would draw out of those he coached.

The Power of the Spoken Word, The Power of Unity, and The Power of Submission were the Three Pillars of his teaching platform .  These Pillars formed the foundation he used to hold together a global business of hundreds of thousands of people.

But the single most important of all his accomplishments was his Christian Walk.  His Faith and Belief in God was solid and unyielding.  He lived and conducted himself in the manner and way that he believed God wanted him to live.  His constant desire was to please his Heavenly Father through generously and joyously giving to, loving, and serving other people….He was always his own secure self.  Bill always talked about Jesus and the Spiritual Power provided by The Lord God.  He was a living testimony to the Love of Christ.  He preached the Good News of The Gospel Of Jesus Christ to any and all who would listen. He was extremely transparent.  He feared no man.  He trusted his Lord.  He was greatly blessed because he used his life to bless and benefit so many other people. 

Those who were closest to him, estimated that he personally lead over One Million souls to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord, Master, and Savior!  

As I walked from my car to the burial site, I could not help but be overtaken by the size of all of the various headstones marking so many of the graves throughout the entire cemetery. 

The funeral was held in a very small out-in-the-country town in northern North Carolina.  It was real Americana,…. the likes of which produces most of the world’s greatest achievers and leaders. 

As I walked to the gravesite,…I thought to myself… “Must be some really big achievers buried around here.”  Headstones are one of the primary ways that the family of the deceased can and does pay the last and lasting great tribute to and for the person occupying the grave. 

The headstone set in place for Bill was, as I suspected, huge.  The family name had been engraved across the top of the stone, but the details, personal names, dates of birth, and dates of death were not yet inscribed.  That was all that appeared on the grave marker.  

I thought again to myself…..“Just like Bill,…his actions spoke so loudly in life that there was no need to write them down”  He and his wife lived first class, but they were simple people and lived accordingly.  He didn’t live for recognition and the limelight.  He just loved and served and empowered his fellow man.  Very much like Jesus did while and when He walked on this earth.

As is almost always the truth behind every great Christian man or woman of great financial means in America today, there is a yet to be discovered, overwhelmingly significant, charitable foot print legacy as yet unknown.  It will materialize sometime in the future.  Such men or women are usually very humble and anonymous in providing resources that they leave to other people much less fortunate than themselves.  

The fact is that honest wealth, properly and legally created in the United States today, comes from serving other people’s needs.  The old adage remains true…You can have everything in life that you want…IF…you are first willing to help enough other people get what they want.

That I believe was the essence of Bill’s life and it would most assuredly be a fitting epitaph for his head stone.

May we all learn from the lessons Bill and Peggy taught us, showed us, and exemplified to us daily through all of their actions, energies and efforts.  The basis of those life lessons is simply to love and serve your God and to love and serve your fellow man….all for the glory of God!!

Thank you so very much, Bill,….for helping make my life, and a whole lot of other people’s lives better!!!!  We truly do love you.

Bill will continue to be loved by all who knew him well.  He will be sorely missed for sure.  But the undisputed fact remains that Bill is without question, as we all someday will be,….gone from this earth.

YOU MAY BE GONE BILL,….BUT MOST ASSUREDLY YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.  

Your lasting legacy will continue to live on in the lives of those you so positively blessed and impacted.

One last question remains to be asked and answered to you and by you.

Here it is……When it comes to the end of your time here on this earth,  on that great day when you personally cross over to the other side… and on into eternity….What will be written on your tombstone as relates to what you did with your gift of life while you were alive on this earth?

THE BEST USE OF YOUR LIFE…IS TO SO LIVE YOUR LIFE….THAT THE USE OF YOUR LIFE….WILL OUTLIVE YOUR LIFE.

Peace and Love to all of you………Poppa Bear