How Do You Live Your Dash?
Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor of the Church of the Wayfarer
August 6, 2006 and January 1, 2012
Philippians 4:4-9
The question that I want you to think about today is “How do you live your dash?” I’m not talking about the dash of your car or running a 50 yard dash.
I’m talking about your dash. We all have a dash.
Our dash is that little line on our tomb stone that will be between the date of our birth and date of our death sometime in the future. One little line will represent all our time on earth.
Isn’t that a happy thought? Our whole life will some day be summed up with a little dash. We are all living our dash right now.
How are you living your dash?
A poet, Linda Ellis, said it this way:
“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 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,
That can still be rearranged.
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?”
The book of Philippians gives some good advice as to how to live our dash. It says:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Do not worry about anything.
Be prayerful.
Have the peace of God in your hearts and minds.
Think about what is true.
Think about what is honorable.
Think about what is just.
Think about what is pure.
Think about what is
lovely, excellent, and praiseworthy.
There are some other things that I hope will be a part of your dash.
1. I hope that dreams are a part of your dash.
“If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win—but you think you can’t
It’s almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost
For out of this world we find
Success begins with a person’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you’re out-classed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve gotta be sure of yourself,
Before you can win the prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or fastest ones.
But sooner or later the one who wins,
Is the one who thinks they can.”
A woman, named Maude, had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. As Maude was getting her things “in order” for the end of her life, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.
She told him which songs she wanted sung at the funeral service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in.
Then Maude remembered something very important. “There’s one more thing,” she said. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at Maude, not knowing quite what to say.
Maude explained. “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.”
It was my favorite part because I knew that if they said that some better dessert than jello or custard was coming…like chocolate cake or apple pie.
I want people to see me there in the casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, “What’s with the fork?”
Then, pastor, I want you to tell them: “The best is yet to come.”
Maude had a dream that something better was coming for her. I hope that great dreams are a part of your dash.
2. I also hope that basic principles for living will be a part of your dash.
Some years ago when I was serving on the School Board I attended a Model Schools conference in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the speakers, Dr. Willard Daggett, emphasized the importance of public schools teaching guiding principles for living like:
Responsibility Respect
Compassion Initiative
Adaptability Honesty
Optimism Trustworthiness
Courage Loyalty
When I left that lecture I said, “That is what I’ve been preaching for over thirty years.” Are these principles part of your dash?
I was raised at Dry Run, Pennsylvania. Dry Run is two miles north of Spring Run, Pennsylvania. I’m sure you all know where that is. One of my teachers at Dry Run taught me an important principle for living when I was in high school.
At that time we had “Newsweek” standardized current events tests. One week a student broke into the teacher’s closet and stole the answer sheet. He shared the answers with all the class—except me. He knew that I would not cheat.
My nick name in High School was ‘Deacon’ because I was quite religious. I think I’m still religious!
Anyway we all took the test. Everyone else got an ‘A’ but I failed the test!
The teacher, Mr. Miller, knew that everyone else had cheated and he was very angry. He lectured the class about cheating. By this time I was feeling rather self-righteous because I hadn’t cheated like all the others.
But, then, Mr. Miller came to my desk, looked me in the eye and said, “Deacon, you’re just as bad as everyone else because you knew they were all cheating and did nothing to stop it.”
That day I learned a basic principle for living. It is not enough to simply do what is right. We also need to stand against that which is wrong.
One time there was a very fine carpenter who took great pride in his craftsmanship. He worked for many years doing quality work but the day came when he felt that it was time to retire. His boss asked the carpenter if he wouldn’t please build him one last house.
The carpenter agreed to do so but his heart wasn’t in his work. His previous quality work became shoddy on this last house. The corners did not match and the house was not plumb. Finally the day came when he went to his boss to report that the house was finished.
With that the boss gave the keys to the house to the carpenter and said, “Here, this is your house. I want you to have it as a gift from me.”
What is the quality of the house we are building with our lives? What are your basic principles for living?
Mohandas Gandhi once warned against the “seven deadly social sins” that could destroy a nation from within.
· Politics without principle,
· Wealth without work,
· Commerce without morality,
· Pleasure without conscience,
· Education without character,
· Science without humanity, and
· Worship without sacrifice.
3. Finally, I hope that you will have service as a part of your dash.
As any good Rotarian would say, “Put service above self.”
In the 1960s, Bishop Muzorewa became the first African leader of a major denomination in Rhodesia. In 1979, he became Zimbabwe’s first black Prime Minister. His philosophy was:
“People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.”
The story is told that a young reporter went through the hill country of Texas interviewing people as he was writing a book about Lyndon Baines Johnson. Over and over the reporter heard the response, “He brought the light.”
“He brought the light?”
After a time the reporter discovered that what the people were saying was that when Johnson was a first term congressman he brought electricity to the hill country of Texas.
I hope that it can be said of each of us that we brought the light to this world.
A few years ago my wife, Linda, and I took a little vacation to New Orleans. We had a great time drinking chicory coffee and eating Cajun food but the thing that I enjoyed the most was learning a new word.
It’s lagniappe.
L-a-g-n-i-a-p-p-e means to “give beyond full measure.” If you sell a bag of flour give an extra cup. If you sell a dozen apples, give a couple extra.
Laginappe means to go beyond that which is expected—to give a little more. Why don’t you put the word lagniappe on your desk to remind you to give more than what is expected.
I hope that dreams, guiding principles, and service will all be a part of your dash—that little line between your birth and death.
Independence, Missouri, was the staging area during the 1800s for covered wagons as they were about to set out for the Pacific Northwest on the Lewis and Clark Trail. I’m told that at the beginning of the trail there was a sign that said, “Choose your rut carefully. You’ll be in it the next 2000 miles!”
Choose a rut in life that includes great dreams, basic principles for living and acts of service.
How do you live your dash?
