The accounts of the various leaders of Israel in 1 Kings and 2 Kings tend to wrap up the same way: “As for the other events of the reign of That-Guy-Whose-Name-I-Can’t-Pronounce, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?” History has a way of keeping tabs on us. We can read about heroes of generations past, see their personal correspondence and other household artifacts in museums, and in more recent years, we even have audio and video clips that allow us to see and hear what they were really like.

Imagine, if you will, that 100 years from now, a local student is assigned to write a biography report about you. They might find a photo from your high school yearbook, search public records or interview children and grandchildren of your old neighbors and friends to find out more about you. As for the other events of the life of [insert your name here], all he did and his achievements, are they not typed in the Timeline of Facebook, the Stream of Twitter and the Gallery of Instagram? What are those entries saying in the history book about your life?

After my brother died, it felt like pages from the story of my life had been ripped out by the fistful. The whole world came to a stand-still. It seemed surreal to me that other people kept going about their day-to-day lives as if the Earth was still orbiting the Sun, while I felt like I was spinning off into outer space with no oxygen. Then, one day I realized that most of the world would continue functioning like it always had. His birth, life and death were significant to those of us who knew him, but not to society at large. There would be no day of mourning with flags at half-mast. There would be no mention of him in the history books. He was just a regular guy who lived a regular life. And yet, his life story is part of my life story. It’s part of our kids’ life stories. It’ll be part of their kids’ life stories.

Like my brother, most of us will not fit the bill for the type of hero or historic figure whose life will be documented in a museum, but our lives do make an impact on the people around us. What are we adding to that history each and every day through our actions, attitudes – and yes, even our wall posts, tweets and snapshots? Does what we say and do really communicate to future generations the things we wish they knew about us?