I heard an interesting thought on TV last night. Isn’t it amazing how a person can hear or read an idea, just a simple phrase, and it is an “Aha” moment? Anyway, it was about what appears on tombstones. (Don’t worry; this isn’t going to be mournful.) Usually, a person’s birth day is on the stone, then a dash, then the date of death. The emphasis was not on those two dates but on the dash which represents the life of that person. What happens in between birth and death? How did he/she live those years?
What a sobering thought! That’s what’s important–that dash in the middle. We’ve all been born. We will all die but how about that pesky dash? Does it represent a kind person, a thoughtful person, one who helped others and made life a more pleasant place? Does that dash represent a person who loved life and faced trouble head-on? Or a person who was shy and quiet but who was a reliable friend? Between the dates, was that life filled with hardship and personal tragedy or triumphs or a mixture of both?
Did that person live life with faith? Faith in God is a strong support and I’d sure hate to go through life without it. Was faith evident in that dash between the dates?
We all have troubles. I don’t think it’s possible to get from the beginning date to the ending date without them. Trouble comes in all shapes and sizes, and none of it is fun. The important thing is, how did we deal with it? Did trouble triumph or did we?
Anyway, just a simple question got my thoughts spinning. What does the dash represent in my life? In your life? It’s that time in between the two dates that matters. Let’s make the most of it!
Darcy, Flora, Ned and their friends are at Pen-l.com. Darcy and Flora are also on Amazon and soon Ned will join them there. By the way, if you haven’t gone to Pen-L’s website, take a look. Lots of marvelous reading there. And you can order directly from them or pre-order Moonlight Can Be Murder.
Excellent blog! That dash is short and doesn’t last long. Let’s NOT have the attitude, “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow, we may die!”
You have said it all in a nutshell, Sharon. Thanks for writing.
It amazes me how alike we are Blanche. I think God brought us together for a reason. I say that because back in July 2009 I wrote a blog about that dash too and at the end added some bookmark.quotes I made. Here is the link
http://debforb-fromwhereisit.blogspot.com/2009/07/dash-between-years.html?m=1
Could be we are alike because we are sisters in Christ, Deb. You wrote a beautiful blog. I hope others will go to your link too. I especially like the part about “What is a legacy?”
Deb Forbes, I really enjoyed your blog as well as Blanche’s. You are both such an encouragement in Christ. Love you both.
Love you too, Peg. Thanks for writing.