Dash

What's in our dash?
This question was asked by a woman who gave a eulogy for my great-uncle (or something like that) John Ging at his funeral this past spring. At first I thought, "What the heck? You're asking me??" Then she explained it.
On everyone's gravemarker is a dash. Born this date - died this date. So much time is in that "-", from birth until death, but yet it's just a small line on the stone.
She (her name has since left me) went on to explain how we should live life to the fullest and fill our dash with great memories, lots of good stuff to say about that.
I went home and thought, maybe it's not so much about putting so much into that little dash on stone, but rather, putting a little dash on stone into so much. I don't know if it makes sense to anyone but me, this reasoning, but Christ is like our dash. He's there, and not many would notice, but He's always been there, from birth to death, in any and every thing we have done in our life. All of our accomplishments, failures, memories, birthdays, anniversaries, years, moments, it's all in that short mark. God was with us through every moment encompassed in that dash. And yet, we believe our dashes really matter. We think to ourselves, "Live each day as if it is my last! I need to accomplish so much so I'll be thought of as a great person when I'm gone. There's so much left for me to do in my short life!" But... it's just a dash. One little mark. An inch or so carved in stone by someone who is paid to do so. This person, carving the tombstone, could probably care less what happened in all the dashes he makes every day. Truth is, yes, our dashes matter, but they don't really. Think about it. All we do in life is summed up in a small mark. WHY? Because nothing compares to what happens after our death. That's why. It can't be placed on a tombstone because it hasn't happened yet! Eternal Life in Heaven cannot be described or contained in a mark on stone. So really, the dash on our gravestone is just a dash, a mark, a line of our full lives, representing just what we've done on Earth. The dash on a grave is a couple inches, but the dash is the sky expands horizon to horizon. So maybe, we shouldn't think so much "Live each day as if it's your last!" but rather, "Yes, this could be my last, but you know what? I'm grateful to have this long of a life, and I look forward to the everlasting Life with my God."