I recently visited the famous Osu Cemetery in Accra to bury a loved one.
At the entrance stood a bold inscription that stopped me in my tracks: “We were once like you.”
Those five words cut through the noise of grief and forced me to confront the brevity of human life.
It felt as though the dead were whispering to the living: Be mindful.
We walked your path once.
No matter how far you journey, you will end here too.
Whether one lives the legendary 969 years of biblical Methuselah or the brief 33 years of Jesus, we are all headed to the same destination.
Mortality is the one appointment no one misses.
Throughout the burial, that haunting inscription echoed through my mind.
When it was all over and we made our way out, I passed graves of some of Ghana’s most renowned sons and daughters – sports heroes, respected clergy, decorated generals, politicians who once commanded influence. Now, they all lie quietly side by side.
And then, at the exit, another inscription: “You will be back.”
It was chillingly honest. We will be back someday – whether to Osu Cemetery, a royal burial ground in a home village, or a marble tomb in a mansion courtyard. The grave awaits all, regardless of class or fame.
These two statements held a stark truth: the dead remind us that they once lived as we do, and the living are reminded that they will one day lie as the dead do.
For Christians, unless Christ returns in our lifetime, the cemetery remains our earthly final stop.
Lessons From the Signages
Since that day, a single question keeps repeating itself in my mind: If we will all become history, how should we live today?
Life is fleeting – too fleeting to spend in bitterness, selfishness or vanity. It is our acts of goodness that give meaning to existence. Doing good brings a sense of fulfilment that material things can never match.
The more I reflected, the more life resembled a grand theatre. We walk onto the stage, play our roles – hero, villain, wanderer, dreamer – and then the curtain falls.
Let me ask you this: Do you even remember the full name of your great-great-grandfather?
Most of us don’t. And someday, someone will say the same of us.
That is why the small good we do now matters. It is how we leave footprints in the shifting sands of time.
Lend a Helping Hand
Years ago, I read that Mark Zuckerberg pledged to donate 99 percent of his Facebook shares – worth about $45 billion at the time – to charity through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
Their mission is bold: to advance human potential and promote equality.
The Giving Pledge, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, takes this further – encouraging billionaires to give away at least half of their wealth.
So far, over 250 ultra-wealthy individuals from more than 30 countries have signed on, including Elon Musk, George Lucas, and Mackenzie Scott.
But philanthropy didn’t start today.
Long before them stood John D. Rockefeller, whose foundation, established in 1913, has supported global health initiatives that still benefit countries like Ghana, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and more.
What unites these philanthropists? A clear understanding that wealth is not for hoarding. Money is a tool – one that can build futures, heal nations, and uplift generations they may never meet.
They know that death is inevitable. But what they leave behind, that can live forever.
Ultimate Goal
The ultimate intention of these philanthropists is simple yet profound: To improve lives and make the world better for those who come after them.
They are not consuming the future today.
They are planting trees under whose shade they know they may never sit.
They understand that it is not the wealth itself that will be remembered, but the lives touched by that wealth – the hungry fed, the homeless sheltered, the sick cared for, and the hopeless restored.
Even for those who do not believe in life after death, there is a desire to leave the earth better than they found it.
Conclusion
So I ask you: Whose life are you touching today?
What good can you do – in your home, workplace, church, community or nation – that will outlive you? Immortality is not in marble tombstones.
It is in the impact you make on others.
Step out today and do some good while it is still day.
Let those who cross your path feel the warmth of your humanity.
Let your life become a testimony of kindness.
In the end, that is what the future expects of us.
And that is how you, too, will be remembered long after your curtain falls.
Author’s email: maximus.attah@gmail.com
