In the movie Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the title character, anticipating her demise (at the stake), tearfully tells her friends: "When I'm gone, I want to be remembered with two simple words…(pause)…any two words, as long as they're simple."

I too, once I'm gone, would like to be remembered with a few simple words, only–unlike Elvira–I'd like to name them in advance. (Please take note, anyone interested in helping out at my funeral.)

These are my defining words, my etch-them-on-my-tombstone words, the words I'd use if asked to describe my longing, my core, my being, my sense of who/what God is and wants us all to be. Here they are, thus far:

1) stillness
2) innocence
3) expansion
4) mystery
5) paradox
6) wonder
7) awareness
8) compassion
9) humility

I'll explore each of these in future blogs, but for now, what are your core words?

Text and image © 2010 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.