Living in the Dash Rather Than Focusing on the Dates

During our recent trip to Vermont, one of the stops on our YMCA bus tour was the headquarters for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in South Burlington. With Covid restrictions still lingering, they hadn’t reopened the plant to show visitors how ice cream is made. However, they did provide free ice cream samples for tour groups – and we got to see their “Flavor Graveyard,” where unsuccessful flavors are memorialized.

You might not recall their murky-sounding Tennessee Mud flavor, or their forgettable concoctions like Dastardly Mash, Urban Jumble, Rainforest Crunch, Oh Pear, and This Is Nuts. Each “tombstone” lists the years the flavor existed – the year of its inception and the year it was discontinued. They include one other important item on the inscription, the dash that represents the span of time between the flavor’s beginning and end.

 

That’s a feature human gravestones share. The inscription might indicate whether the deceased lived in “good taste,” but between the date of birth and date of death is the universal dash. That tiny punctuation represents the totality of one’s life.

 

Years ago, I helped my friend Richard write his testimony and publish it in booklet form, and he chose the intriguing title, “Living in the Dash.” He reflected on how the simple dash, easily overlooked, stands for so much that can’t be stated on a slab of granite. His desire, Richard said, was that when his life came to its ultimate end, that dash between the dates of birth and death would represent a life that glorified God and enhanced the lives of others.

 

Perhaps it was mere coincidence, but on the tour we also visited the Rock of Ages granite quarry in Barre, Vermont. We saw where and how the granite is mined, then went to the plant where the huge blocks of stone are moved, cut, polished and engraved for gravestones. An adjacent visitors center presented famous examples of tombstones – each inscription including the requisite dash.

It’s humbling but true: That tiny dash stands for all the triumphs and defeats, joys and sorrows, accomplishments and failures accumulated during a lifetime. Wouldn’t it be interesting if those dashes could be greatly enlarged, perhaps offering a video overview of the individual’s life?

 

When I helped my friend Richard publish his testimony, he was still busily “living in the dash,” actively engaged in activities and relationships that will one day represent his life’s work. I’ve reflected on that many times since, pondering how my own dash is shaping up.

 

Most of us tend to go about our lives as if we’ll live forever, knowing full well that’s not true. Lest we forget, James 4:14 gives a sober reminder: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Other translations state, “you are just a vapor…” Either way, it gives us a vivid image of the transitory nature of life – here today, gone tomorrow.

 

Maybe we don’t like to contemplate life’s brevity because if we look back, we might determine up to that point, our “dash” hasn’t amounted to much. If that’s the case, there’s no better time for start making changes than right now. As someone has said, “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.”

 

In His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus Christ talked about “[storing] up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20). He later said, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

 

I sometimes think about people who were accorded only fleeting mention in the Bible, and yet made significant enough contributions that they were cited – and perhaps those actions changed the content of their “dash” forever. 

 

Consider one of the two thieves on crosses adjacent to that of Christ. While one thief mocked Jesus, the other countered, “Don’t you fear God…since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” To which Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:40-42). We know absolutely nothing else about this criminal, but his dash would have spoken of literal dying grace.

 

How about Simon of Cyrene, who was “volunteered” to carry the cross of Christ to Golgotha because Jesus had been tortured so viciously that He could not bear it Himself. Again, we have no other information about this Simon than this singular event. But his “dash” certainly would have included this unique act of service to the Lord.

We could list hundreds more, but the point is simple. We all are currently “living in the dash.” If one day someone were able to examine its contents in full detail, what would we like it to contain?