Legacy?

Will it be the conflict in Iraq or peace in Northern Ireland? How will Tony Blair be remembered? What will his 'legacy' be? It would seem that for some this question is becoming all-consuming - it's all about legacy!

Which I guess is a human enough concern - how will any of us be 'remembered'? What will we 'leave behind'? I would certainly admit to wondering from time to time what my 'legacy' might be as a parent, a husband, a friend or even as an Officer?

Which is why I was encouraged when I came across Oscar Romero's poem 'Prophets Of A Future Not Our Own' (after all Archbishop Romero's legacy was fairly weighty!)...


This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

I wonder if Tony has ever come across Mr Romero?