This last weekend I celebrated Memorial day as I do every year with a trek around Salem decorating the graves of the family members who have passed away. I really do enjoy this time. It's neat in a way to see the graves of family members who died more then a hundred years before I was born. Though I never knew these people they are a part of me. As I decorated each grave I noticed the same thing on each head stone, the dash between birth date and date of death. That dash is the life they lived. The dash is the time they spent alive, living their life. So I got to thinking, what was the dash? What did they do, what did they enjoy, who were their friends? So many questions came to mind. I would love to be able to spend time with each of these people and get to know them. I then realized why I enjoy Memorial day: it's not that I am mourning the death, it's that I am celebrating the life. I celebrate the dash!
This did get me thinking about myself. What is my dash? Am I living my life to the fullest? Am I bringing honor to my God and trying my best to be a fully devoted believer? So many questions to answer and such a small brain to work with. I know this for sure, I want my dash to have benefited others. I want my dash to have been about a love for my family and a devotion to my God. I know for certain my dash is imperfect it's a broken work in progress and only with God's help will it get better.
Celebrate the dash...it's a gift from God!
Rick
