The Poem - Dash

The following is a poem by Linda Ellis © 1998.


I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth...
And now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own; the cars .... the house... the cash.
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard ... are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left. (You could be at "dash mid-range")
If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real,
And always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more,
And love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile...
Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy's being read with your life's actions to rehash...
Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spend your dash??

So, as you comtemplate this poem and the meaning it has ask yourself- How am I living my dash? Am I being the Christian I teach about, preach about, explain about? Or have I become so confident and comfort with the life that "I" built, I need no improvements or adjustments. Do the leadership I envision is the leadership, I model? The relational evangelism I seek, I am making the choices and the connections to make it happen, or are we just too afraid and insecure to reach to the lost because they do not fit? Living the dash is more than an idle endeavor. It is an intentional steps with grace filled moments with a forgiveness legacy but on an unconditional love proof.

Achieved and receiving

We all have to prepare for things in life, or we should do so. In the bible it talks about no one builds a house without counting the cost. Thus, preparing is part of counting the cost. It allows for you to sustain the place you move into, once you get there. Without preparation, nothing quite work well. Now of the preparation are done for us but see we all have our part to play – leaving our legacy. So, we cannot just enjoy the fruits of others labor without laboring for the next generation. See too many times in modern day, we do not want to work for what we will not reap from before we leave. However, we have no problems living the life of Riley because of someone else work…Someone else tears….Someone else doing without…Someone else mistreatment…See, we too, not just this generation of millennials, feel we are entitled to do so. We have not realize the desired outcome, we seek can only be realized, when we are ready to get out of the boat, and walk on the water. Yet, this cannot be done because we desire the easy route, the familiar ways, and the faith with proof. But you see, no one ever accomplishes, achieves anything staying within our comfort zone. Remaining in the traditional way, do not get me wrong traditions are not bad in and of themselves, but the failure to understand the meaning of them is the problem. We do because they said we should, If we learn the reasond for traditions we are doing, many would soon fade out of existence because the need they is no longer, and it our time to create new. We need to begin to seek the truth and the authentic, and then we can see prosperity in a new way. We must understand there is a process to achieving and receiving, which requires moving into the uncomfortable. Moving outside our comfort zone for many of us is painful, mentally, emotionally, and psychological…Isaiah 66:7-9 - "A woman does not give birth before she feels the pain; she does not give birth to a son before the pain starts. No one has ever heard of that happening; no one has ever seen that happen. In the same way no one ever saw a country begin in one day; no one has ever heard of a new nation beginning in one moment. But Jerusalem will give birth to her children just as soon as she feels the birth pains. In the same way I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born," says the LORD."If I cause you the pain, I will not stop you from giving birth to your new nation," says your God (NCV) Neither will God allow for us to go through without receiving a blessing, the bounty from our pain. Because God math is different than ours, He subtracts to add, and divides to multiply. If you ever have to give up to get something, then this resonates with a clarity that makes you know your life, and His way a little more clearly…Then process of achieving and receiving is no longer a mystery, but a heavenly revelations.