What are you doing with your dash? Thought provoking song.

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This was taken from a sermon by Pastor Tracy Cook at Tiffany Fellowship back in about 1997 or 1998. When he said the phrase, I knew I had to write the song, so I wrote it as the service continued. The lyrics to this song have been chosen as the overall winner in 2 national lyrics contests - American Songwriter Magazine, and Just Plain Folks. This song has been used in funerals and church services, and has been cut by an independent artist.

The Dash Between The Dates
Copyright Sonny B. Bell
All rights reserved.

As I walked up to the headstone
I noticed first his name
Engraved in fancy letters
It stood out bold and plain
He was born in nineteen-sixty-four
And he died in eighty-nine
I swallowed hard when I realized
He was only twenty-five

I stood there for a moment
Sadly staring at the stone
Imagining some far off year
When my time on earth is gone
Then suddenly it came to me
As I turned to walk away
The only thing that matters
Is the dash between the dates

CHORUS:
The dash between the dates
It's so easy to ignore
It’s hardly ever noticed
But stands for so much more
It's all the time you get
Before you get to heaven's gates
Every minute of your life
Fits in the dash between the dates

On my way home that evening
I thought of all I'd seen
How some die young and some die old
And some die in between
If there's one thing that I learned that day
It's that time don't ever wait
And the only time to live
Is in the dash between the dates

CHORUS (Repeat)

BRIDGE:
Don't wait until you're dyin'
To think about your fate
Don’t waste another minute
Of the dash between the dates