When I was asked to consider writing a blog from my own experience of living in this ‘in-between time’ I searched the dictionary for the definition of time and discovered words that reflected some of my lived experience during these past months.
TIME: the right moment; duration in which all things happen; precise instant that something happens.
Of course, the daily challenge has been to stop, in the moment, to see what I am learning about the ‘in-between time’ and living that moment as best as I can.
Moments come each day in our lives such as taking time to greet the cashier at the drug store rather than silently waiting to be checked out, or going over to the Community Centre on Thursdays when day-old bread is available for the residents to pick up and chatting about the weather or how their day is going, or standing on the front porch and chatting with Muriel as she walks her dog Murphy and we chat about all the plants that are coming to life. It seems that time is about presence and being present!
We often hear and use phrases about time: time off; time to work; time for holidays; time to go; time for ourselves and there are many more that can be added to this short list. This time of COVID, we have often heard that “we will never return to the way things were – there is something new happening – personally, and collectively – and this in-between time is re-shaping us, our neighborhoods, and the planet.
I was struck recently when I re-read lines from the Poem – The Dash (by Linda Ellis, 1996), and I have selected a few lines to share.
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 that first came the date of birth.
Then he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years.
For that dash represents all the time that was spent alive on earth…
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what is true and real
And always try to understand the way other people feel.
And love the people in our lives like we have 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.
Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?
What has been your journey living the Dash during these months of COVID?
-Sister Ann MacDonald, csj
