The pope died this morning. Rest In Peace Pope Francis. May the Cardinals choose wisely in the conclave.

If anyone would have a legacy, it would be a pope. What exactly was Pope Francis’ legacy? Like most famous figures’ legacies it’s a summation of the little things. We won’t really grasp its significance or magnitude for quite a while. I’m no expert on papal legacies, despite being a cradle Catholic. But his passing did get me thinking about legacies.

We have to wait for a legacy. Whether it’s a bequest or the judgement upon a 1000 year-long civilization, it’s the final tally, the parting gift, or the historical equivalent of the Oscars, it requires an ending. It requires an ending because as long as someone is living, there’s the chance that they will either mess up the good thing they have going, or that they will somehow find rehabilitation and remorse for their lack of character.

If a person spent a lifetime helping the poor, feeding the hungry, and caring for the sick, but at the very last moment of their life, lost in dementia, stole candy from a baby, that sugary crime might negate all the positive public opinion that the former actions engendered. Likewise, the humble, upstanding, grandfather’s deathbed confession of serial homicide establishes a legacy vastly different than if he had said nothing. The unrepentant criminal who with their dying breath ask for forgiveness and confesses the location of their victim’s remains, bringing the family peace is another one that leaves a different legacy than expected. We just don’t know our fellow humans well enough to understand their legacy while they still can act.

Legacies also require time so we can sort out all the unintended consequences of a person’s life. We don’t exist in a space and time all alone. We affect the universe around us even when we do nothing. Every interaction of our lives leaves a ripple. When we were kind to a stranger, did we follow them for their lifetime to view the outcome? Was our moment of kindness the impetus for a future action or belief? How would we know, unless they told us. Do we leave a million legacies in our wake? Or do we leave what is only remembered on the larger scale of history?

There was an entire movement in the last few decades that was focused on “what do you want written on your tombstone?” as if we can sum up our lives in a few chiseled, or gilded, characters. The focus was very lofty in ideals. It suggested that one should work everyday towards the goal of those words on stone. We don’t have that kind of control in the world. Our legacies won’t be written by us. They’ll be written in the memories of the people we encountered. But what the people remember from the encounter is not in our control. What people take away from what we do in the world is up to them and it’s unique to them. We are not the only point of contact for their world.

So what is a legacy anyway? It’s not in our control. It’s how we’re remembered. Most of us don’t have such a large responsibility as Pope Francis, so our names, and the legacies tied to them, will fade as the people who knew us also pass on. But the changes, that we brought to the world will remain just as a single leaf caught on a streambank changes the stream, the shore, and all those who come into contact with those places. Should we spend so much time worrying about what will be said when we’re gone? Maybe. But maybe if we spend our time now doing the best we can, and being the best people we can be, those that come along after us will be nourished by the remnants of our time spent here without knowing our name.