Certificates

Last weekend, as I was scanning our important family documents to make backup digital copies, a thought struck me. These several pieces of documents that we keep in one plain folder actually explain who we are, define our place in this world, show what we’ve done and what we’ve become. Our birth certificates certify our birth like we needed validation for being alive.  The baptismal certificate explains the faith we were born into. Our diplomas showcase our education. Titles and deeds prove our possessions. Passports not just define our nationality, they also control where we can go.

It’s amusing that we hold these certificates and titles and identification documents in very high regard, close to our chest, locked up in our safes. We all go through life accumulating them until one final certificate voids them all. The death certificate nullifies all others and certifies our demise like validation was needed.

I guess life shouldn’t really be about certificates. But society expects and demands them so I went ahead, set this thought aside, and finished making my digital copies.