Mission Year Legacy - part 1

(This is the first step in putting some words into what Post- Mission Year life looks like. To be
continued...)

Coming back home to Oslo and Norway, I've been thinking, talking and praying a lot about how life will look like in the future. A couple of days ago my mind and heart spent some time in the bigger picture. And I've read, listened to and remembered some words I want to share.

Tilbake i Oslo og Norge har jeg tenkt, snakket om og bedt over hvordan livet vil kunne se ut i fremtiden. For noen dager siden dvelte tankene og hjertet mitt en del over det større bildet. Og jeg har lest, lyttet til og blitt minnet på noen ord jeg vil dele.

Great God, I ask thee for not meaner pelf(…)

That my weak hand may equal my firm faith,

And my life practice more than my tongue saith;

That my low conduct may not show,

Nor my relenting lines,

That I thy purpose did not know,

Or overrated thy designs

(Henry Thoreau - My prayer)

Some of us choose to live gracefully

Some can get caught in the maze

And lose their way home

Memories will fade

Time races on

What will they say

After you're gone

This is the life we belong to

Our gift divine

(Dream Theater - This is the Life)

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

(Martin Luther King Jr. - The Drum Major)

A wall in Asheville, NC where people wrote what they wanted to do before they died.

How do you want to be remembered? Hvordan vil du bli husket?

Peace,
Fredrik