He noted that first came the date of birth He referred to the dates on the tombstone I asked each of them to fill in their name and date of birth at the top of their tombstone and then I began reading the Live Your Dash poem, ending with verse 3: At first, it was obvious that I had shocked these amazing young people, at least a little bit, but the shock was soon replaced with curiosity as they waited to hear where this was going. I held up a filled in tombstone with my name written in above the dash line, and the date of my birth to the left of the dash. The first thing I did was give them each a piece of paper with a blank tombstone on it and a dash in the middle. The dash represents our life, and more importantly, what we do with our life.Īt the youth group that evening, we were surrounded by about 15 young people between the ages of 13 and 18. But the most important part of the inscription is the dash. I have included a link to the entire poem at the end of this blog, but essentially the premise is that on every person’s tombstone, two dates are connected by a dash - the date of our birth and the date of our death. I created a program around this poem that turned out to be one of the most engaging conversations we had ever had with that group of amazing young people. At the time, my husband was the youth director at our church and I used to help him with the devotional programs at the youth group meetings on Sunday evenings. After all, memories as well as thoughtful words become treasures to cherish when trying to come to terms with someone who has died.Many years ago, I came across a poem called “ Live Your Dash” by Linda Ellis. There are so many poems and readings to choose from its good to spend time considering which one reflects the person's personality, or if the words resonate with the family. ![]() Would you be proud of the things they sayīy Linda Ellis, Inspire Kindness, Final Comments Might only last a little while So, when your eulogy is being read Know what that little line is worth For it matters not, how much we own,Īnd how we spend our dash. Was the dash between those years For that dash represents all the time He referred to the dates on the tombstoneįrom the beginning…to the end He noted that first came the date of birth I read of a man who stood to speak At the funeral of a friend For those who wish to use the poem, its suggested to acknowledge as shown below:. The poem was originally written by Linda Ellis and now the ownership of its rights is with Inspire Kindness I understand. While some people dont like the poem as they feel its dictating how to conduct our lives, it does bring comfort to others when thinking of a person who has lived their life the way they wanted to - after all, isnt that a positive thing? Change of Ownership of the Poem : The Dash For those still living, it’s a reminder how we wish to spend our life. It resonates when reflecting on life as that dash looks quite small doesn’t it, but when reflecting on that person’s life, that dash can represent so much. ![]() It’s a poem about the little dash symbol, often seen on funeral order of service pamphlets or on gravestones, between the date of the person’s date of birth and date of their death. ![]() When searching for suitable grief words for a funeral or memorial service, many turn to a reading entitled ‘The Dash’. Remembrance Poem to Bring Comfort of Grief at Funeral
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