On Good Friday, I the shared the following story. An art therapist presented a seminar on art therapy helping veterans coping with PTSD. She concluded her presentation by sharing the following poem and asked the participants to reflect on the poem and think how they wanted to be remembered at the end of their life.
The Dash Poem by Linda Ellis
I
read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end.
He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears. But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years.
For
that dash represents all the time that they spent life on Earth.
And now only those who loved them 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.
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 is being read with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?
I then shared stories about how I have spent my dash in my 49 years of ministry.
I shared some of my dashes on Good Friday and one I want to share with you this Easter is the following story,,,
Retirement for a priest is a myth, this Easter I travelled to Las Vegas to help Fr. Erick at Divine Mercy Parish for Holy Week services. I am meeting old friends, make new friends and spending time talking and listening to God. I serve as the “unofficial” vocation director to Bishop Mack mentoring men who are discerning a vocation seeking to be deacons or priests. A memorable and joyful dash last year was celebrating the ordination of Fr. Erick, Divine Mercy’s pastor, with whom I am grateful to be his brother priest and good friend.
On this Easter day, I want to share another story and it begins with the following online message:
"Used tombstone for sale." That's what the advertisement said on the Facebook page. "Used tombstone for sale." A real bargain for someone named Diego. For information, call. It seems obvious to me that Diego must have been a Christian because who else wouldn't need a tombstone? Tombstones indicate the end. You've invested yourself in life and now it's over. But the church simply isn't tombstone territory. We are Easter people, and Easter people believe death is not the end. Now the gospels were created by four different writers and different places, but they all agree on the same basic things. There's no dispute. When? Early in the morning on a Sunday. Who? Women go to the tomb. What? The stone is gone. How? Angels or there's some kind of Supernatural encounter. They discover the tomb is empty. The result? Fear and confusion. Fact? Jesus isn't there. All four gospels share these same basic seven things. It's pretty remarkable, don't you think? Four documents, nearly 2,000 years old, all with the same basic eyewitness testimony. That's strong. And that right there is the bedrock foundation of the Christian faith. We are Easter people. That means our lives are filled with holy moments. Easter people know that faith conquers fear.
Easter people know where they're going. We know where we're going. I remember, as one man told me, "God's not in the business of granting wishes. He's in the business of raising the dead, not all of whom are willing." Easter means we know where we're going, as that man says. Suppose an unborn infant in the womb is able to speak and think. Suppose someone says to her, soon you must leave this place to be born. You're going to enter a different realm." The infant might protest and say, "Nah, I like it here. I'm fed. It's warm. I feel loved. I don't want to leave this place to be born." But nature takes its course and the baby is born. After she endures a slap on the bottom and good cry, she looks up into a loving face, and she's cuddled into loving arms. And soon she discovers that she can get anything she wants if she just coos or cries.
So the infant says to herself, "This is nicer than I thought it would be." Childhood passes. She becomes a teenager, then an adult, and then she grows old. Her bodily parts begin to ache and to wear out. And one day, the thought of death begins to worry her and she says to herself, "I like this place. I don't want to leave. Death scares me."
Nature, again, takes its course and she dies. What happens then? Jesus promises that his children will be purified and born once more. She will look into a face more beautiful than her mother's. Loving eyes look down on her and beneath her are everlasting arms. She will be born again into a Heavenly realm where there is no pain. There is no death. There is no sin. She will be home at last. In other words, we don't need tombstones. We are Easter people.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that listening to God they hear deep in their hearts that everything is fine, no worries. We are children of God who don’t need tombstones, for we are Easter people.
