Death with Dignity

They say you can tell a lot about a person by how they live their life--and that's definitely true. But I think you can also tell a lot about a person by how they live into their death, at least for those who see death coming. When I saw online today that Elizabeth Edwards has stage 4 cancer, it reminded me again that bad things really do happen to good people--even truly wonderful people. Politics aside, from what little I heard of Edwards in the last campaign and afterwards, she seems like a genuinely good, caring, savvy person. Someone I'd like to have lunch with.

But cancer is no respecter of persons. Someone close to me had stage 4 cancer not too long ago. Like Edwards's, his cancer was attacking a lung and bones--and he found out because one of his bones unaccountably broke, just like her cracked rib. Like Edwards, he faced his fate bravely, with courage and grace. He also faced it realistically--not hiding from it or pretending it wasn't there, but going about life day to day with his usual sensitivity, generosity, gentle humor, quiet strength, and love. A teacher and healer his whole life, even in death he kept on teaching and healing those around him, the ones who were lucky enough to accompany him down his appointed path.

"Death with dignity" is a phrase sometimes thrown around in reckless ways that have little to do with honoring God's good gift of life and the creatures to whom it is given. To me, death with dignity is summed up in the life of my friend, who courageously confronted the dread truth of human mortality that sooner or later we all must face--the same truth that Elizabeth Edwards and her family now must weather. May God have mercy on their souls.