The Dash Between the Dates

Few years ago, I used to take a particular route to the office every morning. Along the road was a Cemetery. Every now and then I would see people, old and young, bearing their loved ones to their final resting places. Within the Cemetery were tombstones of varying sizes and shapes, all beautifully decorated with poetic epitaphs and assorted flowers as a final show of love. But one thing jumped out at me-the format of the dates on all the tombstones. All of the dates appeared to be written with the same format; every tombstone had two years separated by a dash. On closer examination, I realized that the first year stood for the year of birth, and the last year indicated the year of death. The dash between the dates signified how long that person lived on earth. Or so I thought. In retrospect, I should have known that that was just camouflage, a ploy to keep you guessing what a beautiful and fulfilling life the deceased enjoyed while on earth, for to simply write out the number of years would raise many questions. The dash, therefore, tells the story of destiny. To some people, the dash means "fill in the blank" because nobody can really fathom the impact they made before their death. For some, the dash means "select from the lot" because these individuals had more to offer their generations than was really needed. History does not have to make excuses for them. The book unravels wonderful lessons about destiny by carefully examining the lives of Joseph and Samson. The story of Joseph is that of perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds. This is a story of destiny fulfilled. The story of Samson is a story of rebellion, self-will, and second chance. It's a story of indiscretion that results in great personal costs and eventual fulfillment of God's will. The Dash Between The Dates therefore tells the story of all of us - some like Joseph, some like Samson, and so many who could not persevere enough in the face of oppositions to bring their destinies to life, and thereby had their destinies "killed." Therefore, what you are about to uncover in this book is about the "Dash Between The Dates."