Since my teenage years (in other words, a long time ago!), I have had a strong, deep interest in things religious and spiritual. My upbringing was not deeply religious, although when I was a kid, my family did attend church and I did Sunday School every week. But when our pastor changed and the new minister did not have a strong interest in sports, especially football, my father lost interest in having the family go to church weekly as was the custom, it seemed in the 1950’s. So, no church for a while for me, but then in my teens I had a “come to Jesus” moment/experience and had a renewed interest in things spiritual/religious.
So, from that point on I had an inquisitive mind on that realm of things religious. I went on to a Christian college after high school (I knew a few friends that were attending that college). I enjoyed studying religion and after college I went on to seminary for further religious studies. I really enjoyed that whole area of academic study and I continue today on that path of study.
So, I studied and explored the many world religions. I had an open mind, not a narrow perspective when it came to religious study. And I have learned a lot and have come to respect a lot of aspects of all religions. And, of course, there is a lot of what I see as “bad stuff” in religion. But to be honest, I do find good stuff in most religions that I have studied.
Which brings me to one of those good things I have discovered in the Jewish religion. It’s called the “Ethical Will.” Ever heard of it? It is becoming more widely known outside of Judaism nowadays, but it is a Jewish practice going back to the book of Genesis in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament). In recent years even Barack Obama wrote an ethical will of sorts when he wrote a legacy letter to his daughters on January18, 2009.
An Ethical Will is something different than a legal will, an estate will that is common for dispensing one’s estate after one’s death. This will is written to transmit ethical instructions to one’s family and future generations. It’s not about dispensing property and material belongings but one’s philosophy and thoughts about life that one has lived. It may be similar to a memoir or a written biography to transmit one’s thoughts and experiences to one’s loved ones. In a sense, I often think of my blogs as sometimes being a type of “Ethical Will” in my relating my deep thoughts about life and love and relationships and spirituality.
I have actually written my own Ethical Will and have it filed with my “end of life” material such as my living trust and last will and testament. In fact, I am working at getting ready to revise or rewrite my more current Ethical Will since it has been several years since I wrote it. Not that much has changed, but I just think it is time to review and revise it.
I feel I need to have a current one since I am not a “family man” with offspring or much close family around me currently. At this point I don’t know if I will just hold it until I pass or if I will release it to family members before that time. But I do want to have a current one that explains my life as best as I can. My history, my dreams (accomplished), my spiritual values, my blessings and the loves I’ve experienced and the wisdom of my life experiences. I plan to have no regrets and no negative things to convey at the end of this journey. That would be a nice way to conclude this incredible life experience.
As I said, my blogging has basically conveyed most of these things, and I feel good about this. I am all in favor of people writing an Ethical Will. I think the Jews have an excellent tradition/practice in this regard. And like I said, this practice has expanded beyond Judaism in today’s world. Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving us an example of this ancient practice.
Wally