Living the Dash

I know it may seem weird, but I really like walking through cemeteries and looking at headstones.  In doing that, I often wonder, what did this person live for?  What defined them?  What made them famous?  What were they passionate about?  What were they afraid of?  What mistakes did they make?  Did a mistake lead to their being here?!  What regrets did they have?  What lives did they touch?  What kind of legacy did they leave?  Who attended their funeral?  Whose tears have fallen on this grave?

All of the answers to those questions are summarized in a tiny mark between their date of birth and their expiration date; a hyphen - a dash.

You get to choose how to spend your dash.  Your time is limited.  Pope Paul VI once said, "Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying.  Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day.  Do it, I say!  Whatever you want to do, do it now!  There are only so many tomorrows."  What are you doing with your dash?  Are you living the dash, or dashing to live?

What would you do differently in your life today, if you suddenly found out you had One Month to Live?  Would you take the opportunity to say, feel and do what you really want?  What big things would you want to do?  What small changes would you want to make in your daily schedule?  Is there anyone you'd want to "make things right with"?  What risks would you take?  What keeps you from living that way now?  Why can't we all live like we are dying?

Psalm 90:12 (TLB) says it best: "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."