Issue 38.12
There is a beautiful poem called: “The Dash” written by Linda Ellis that is often used at funerals and memorial services. The essence of the poem is about how we use that time between the date of our birth and that of our death. The DASH represents the time between the two dates. The brief time here on earth we call life rushes by so quickly; we hardly notice how fast our Dash of time goes by.
The poem asks: How are we going to use that Dash? What are we going to fill it with? What is important to us? And how are we going to treat people in our life?
The lesson of this poem was brought home to me very powerfully a few weeks ago. I was attending a memorial service for one of the dear folks I have had the honor of serving. The service had a profound impact on me and made me reflect on how I was using my “Dash.”
During the service there was the usual time given for family and friends to say a few words about the deceased. Normally, a few people will step up and share a short remembrance. What impressed me and left me in awe during this service was the number of family and friends who took time to recall the loving kindness of this person. For the next hour or so, one person after another got up to speak of her as a loving mother, grandmother, friend, neighbor, or an acquaintance who had made a lasting difference in their lives.
Whether the relationship had been long or just a casual interaction with her, the speaker felt loved, cared for and respected by the deceased. Her loving kindness overflowed to all whom she met in life. Her heart was always open to everyone. Her Dash was filled to the brim with human kindness and love. I can personally attest to that.
A few days before she died, I visited her and we talked about her concerns. She stated she wasn’t sure she could die yet, “because my family still needs me.” Her selflessness and love for others continued to shine through even in the last moments of her life. She indeed lived her DASH full of loving kindness for others.
It makes you stop and think: How am I using my own Dash? Here are a few verses to ponder from “The Dash”:
“For it matters not how much we own, the car, 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 that can still be re-arranged.
And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before…..”
Rev. Luigi Persichetti is the chaplain for Southern Utah Home Care and Hospice and retired Unity minister from Unity Center of Positive Living in St. George.