My next door neighbor is a graveyard. Now some people would be freaked out by this but not me. They remain the quietest, most peaceful neighbors I have ever had. I also get a strange sense of serenity and peace from living so close to one. It gives me a daily reminder that one day my own life will end and that if I want to truly Live then I have to do it Today.

The truth is I have always been intrigued by graveyards. When I was younger I used to explore old, abandoned ones built next to empty churches or long forgotten family ones built on mountaintops. Often the gravestones would be so old that the letters on them would be faded off. I could sometimes even find ones dating all the way back to the 1800's.

There was one gravestone, however, that sticks in my mind. I saw it one day many years ago on one of my explorations. It was new compared to the older stones in the graveyard. On it was printed a woman’s name but with no date of birth or death. Instead below the name were the words: “Beloved daughter, wife, mother, and friend.” I couldn’t help staring at it for a while. It made me think that if I wanted one word to sum up my own life here it would be, “Beloved.” After all, that is how our Heavenly Father sees us all. We are His Beloved children. And that is how we should live all of our days here: with Love.

When we come to the end of our days here the number of years we lived won’t matter. The accomplishments we achieved will soon be forgotten. The money we made and the things we bought will all turn to dust. The only thing that will matter is whether we loved and were loved. Love is the only thing you can truly carry with you when you leave this life for the greater life to come.

Love is the only thing you can leave behind in the hearts and souls of others. Even the writing on gravestones fades with time, but Love lasts forever.