"Do you know what happens after your funeral?"
That's the chilling line of an internet parable that's been widely shared in recent years. Increasingly, people are attaching this to AI-generated voiceovers by public figures like Denzel Washington or Jordan Peterson, bringing new life to the clip.
Here's an example:
Because these kinds of parables come around like bad pennies, I wanted to take a moment to address it, so you have something to chew on the next time someone shares it, or similar videos, in your feed.
The reason that video is so viral is simple. It's sobering to realize that even the most accomplished people in history are now footnotes. Their inventions still serve us, their ideas still shape us, but their names and actual lives are largely forgotten. We routinely use the refrigerator, but few of us know the name of Carl von Linde. As harsh as it sounds, the world moves on, indifferent and unbothered.
That demands some kind of response from us. Whether it's depression, frustration, or desperation, we can't encounter those observations and remain indifferent. Unfortunately, the conclusion offered in this viral message - So live your life for yourself…make your own happiness a priority - is tragically hollow.
It's a complete logical collapse. If our lives truly vanish that quickly, if we are erased that easily, then living for ourselves is just another form of despair. It's no solution at all.
If nothing lasts, why bother with anything? Why love sacrificially? Why raise children? Why tell the truth when lying is almost always easier? Why strive for some vague, morally undefined goodness if "yourself" is all you truly need to please?
This AI-generated message, though misattributed, actually exposes something far deeper than its creators realize: our soul's desperate hunger for meaning. We ache to matter beyond the fleeting timeline of our own existence. The haunting description of our mortal frailty resonates with us precisely because it awakens the part of us that knows instinctively that there must be more than this.
And the good news is, there is more. Christianity doesn't deny the brevity of life; it answers it. And the answer is the precise opposite of the advice in that video: don't cling tighter to yourself, give yourself away.
Jesus said Himself, "Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Modern man says to live for yourself ... Jesus says to lose yourself.
Take note of the last three words of the Savior's statement and understand this is not some bizarre masochism. It's the recognition that joy, purpose, and endurance are only found when we attach ourselves to what death cannot touch.
The viral clip urges people to "embrace your true self." But apart from the One who created you, you can't even know your true self. Without God, "self" becomes little more than a confused and conflicting bundle of instincts, emotions, impulses, and desires dressed up as identity.
It's only in a relationship with our Creator that we discover who we really are, why we exist, and what we were made for.
What we find is that we weren't created to simply be remembered. We were created to reflect the image of God. We were created to know Him, to love Him, and to find meaning in serving Him - something that doesn't disappear when the mourners go home.
The truth is, we will all be forgotten by history, but not one of us is forgotten by the God who numbered every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7).
The smallest acts of faithfulness, seen or unseen, echo into eternity.
Every moment lived for ourselves evaporates, but every moment lived for Christ carries an eternal weight. Every kindness offered in His name, every injustice confronted in His authority, every tear shed in His love will one day be redeemed. The resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee that what's done for Him is never lost.
So yes, remember the wise warning in that viral clip about how quickly the world forgets you. But ignore its counterfeit conclusion to live for yourself. Doing so brings no resolution, no peace, no comfort, no contentment.
But living for the One who conquered death, who remembers your name, and who will one day raise you to eternal life?
That is where fleeting gives way to forever.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
