In pop culture there’s often trends that come and go. New slang words, dance challenges, popular songs, etc.
In the sea of trends there’s been one that has been standing out to me lately & I think the reasoning behind why I believe it’s an observable pattern is interesting enough to share.
The trend I’ve noticed is people proclaiming others as a, “legend” or individuals self proclaiming themselves a, “legend”.
There’s nothing wrong with this on the surface. The word sounds cool & rolls off the tongue nicely. However, when you think through the meaning behind the word there’s some interesting observations to be made.
To start, how do most people gravitating towards saying the world legend frequently define the word?
The dictionary definition is as follows
a story coming down from the past especially one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable
-Webster online dictionary
So a legend is just someone that is talked about after they die and their memory is passed down, right?
In my opinion no. I think that the working definition of the word legend, especially amount young people is better defined by this famous quote
“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”
– Babe Ruth
So, when people are using the world legend people are talking about a person essentially being immortalized through whatever means they earned the title of legend.
With that pretext established, my theory on why this concept of living forever is so appealing to people is that it’s an innately Satanic goal and because our entire society is inverted general cultural trends are going to be satanic in nature.
People think that nothing happens after death. Therefore, for both themselves and others a word that refers to acquiring eternal life is the best possible goal.
If you’re nihilistic about there being anything after death you’re naturally going to think this way and want this type of eternal life for anyone you care about in order to rationalize that they aren’t gone forever.
I understand and can empathize with that thought process. However, as someone that believes in life after death through the Holy Trinity I see people’s gravitation towards the word legend is evidence of a misguided compass from a lack of religion.
We live in a society in the United States where under 50% of the population has a religion to turn to.
This leads to people mentally spiraling and attempting to find anything to cling on to for meaning. It’s unfortunate and sad that this is where we’re at but the overuse of the word legend is a symptom of the state of things.
If someone dies, what I’m concerned with is if they lived a life that was likely worthy of going to heaven.
I don’t know how God decides who does and doesn’t go to heaven & I never will understand the, “algorithm” behind how that decision is made. But, if someone was clearly a good person I would be at peace when they pass after the initial sadness wore off.
The way I see it, as long as I live a life worthy of heaven, if they did as well then I’ll get to see them again before too long. Therefore, I can rest easy and not wish they were alive in the flesh forever.
One of the biggest proofs of Jesus for me I can put into words is the extent to which he is remembered over 2000 years later.
No matter how great the works of a man are, most of what he has done will fade from memory very quickly. If you have a, “classic” song, the song will live on for a few decades or so after death. Any great painter only has a handful of paintings that are really recognizable to a large swath of the population.
However, Jesus’ memory is immortalized on an epic scale in the minds, hearts, and book (Bible) all around the earth. The Bible is in every hotel room and the Bible isn’t a mere 4 minute song Jesus recorded, it’s a detailed account of his entire life given from multiple perspectives.
I don’t think any mortal man can hold a candle to the extent to which Jesus’ time on earth has been immortalized and if you try to accomplish something that will allow you to live forever on this earth in that manner, you’ll likely make a fool of yourself in the process.
I am not Legend.
Bonus Story
People want proof of God. For many years, I myself desired to see proof that God was real.
It’s understandable why.
For me, I wanted God to be real and while I never would have tried to outright test God, I still desired for some sort of proof to really latch my brain onto as an anchor to hold my beliefs in place.
Other than what I said at the end of the post let me give you a brief story that I believe is the best tangible proof of God I have experienced.
First, let me be clear that when I first really saw God was long before this story, over a year before.
That moment was much less of something that I can package into a few paragraphs but much more general. A feeling. The smile of a child, the blessings of having family, the sun in the sky.
Fast forward from that moment to over a year later.
I’m staying a second year in a rental house and a few of the roommates I had been with for the first year are moving out.
A minor inconvenience is created by the fact that one of the roommates who is leaving owned the kitchen dinner table.
Not a big deal, a new one is somewhere between 10-50$ from a Goodwill and can be acquired in half of an afternoon, but an inconvenience nonetheless.
Around a week before my roommate is scheduled to move out, while delivery driving during work, I see what looks like a dinner table on the route I commute home on. However, I don’t pick it up right away.
I have a rule – when I see a desirable item laying around out in public that I’ll wait a little while before taking it to ensure it’s actually permanently lost or being intentionally thrown out.
While driving home from work a few hours later the table is still there. I stop to get it and see that there are a few other items and the pile is what looks like leftovers from a garage sale.
There’s a small assortment of items, I quickly look through them and take the dinner table & 2 chairs, a picture of a dog that looks extremely similar to the two dogs my new roommate owns.
I also grab a cardboard tube that is labeled, “The Rainbow Bridge” without actually taking it out to see what the poster was.
Here’s pictures of the 3 items as well as the dogs that had just moved into the house.
The timing was perfect, the picture is practically a portrait of the dogs living in the house, and the rainbow bridge poster needs no explanation.
God’s work? – I think so. :]