Judgment

If I am at all good it is because my father preceded me, and if I am in any way bad it is because I've ignored the lessons layed out be him.

At the judgment I will be his advocate for all the lessons I have learned by his example, all the hazards I've been able to avoid, and for all the pain he suffered before me that helped me avoid the same.

My father is no saint, but he has suffered as one for my sake. He's also no example of good living or moral fortitude. He is in fact a man with demons & desires that rule him, just as many are. Had he had no children there would be no virtue in his sin; no lessons learned by his example, no paths blazed through turmoil, followed or avoided. He would have no advocate of this life.

When a man dies he leaves behind his memory and deeds. He is purified by time and distilled into one legacy. That memory falls mostly on his children to maintain or abandon; his foolishness, his savagery, his kindness;failures; successes; whims & fits all are at the mercy of those he leaves behind.

With what emotion should we remember the dead? (And don't say honest- for that is an impossibility when remembering.) Should we be kind & forgiving, even not understanding? Should we be cold and practical, tallying them up like a scoreboard? Should we forgive & forget, moving on and not remembering at all? Do we have a duty to those who've gone before us? If so what when remembering, and what will be our testimony of them on our judgement day?

I don't have children. For that I may be judged. But whatever judgment made against me for having not, I imagine it is little compared to the lack of witnesses I will leave behind when I die. There will be no souls saved by my example; no lessons learned by the next generation. 

Memory of my life will not live on much beyond my final breath; and I will stand before my maker then, and He will ask, what witnesses have you of your works? I will say none. When all my enemies will line up to testify, there will be none to rebut.