Always A Battle

I often think about the way we word certain very common things. One of the last things I find very interesting about a daily newspaper is the obituaries, and how they chose to say the central thing: that the person has died. There are a lot of creative ways that they go with, virtually none of which are terribly direct or honest. It's all "passed on" and "went to be with the Lord". I certainly respect those beliefs, at least in as much as I personally hope to enjoy life after death, but I also value directness.

When death comes by means of some long, lingering illness, how is it that we put that? Almost without fail, we say that a person who has died in that manner was in some way "battling" whatever it was. Let's say it's cancer. I don't mean to dishonor the dead or infirm, but is it always a battle? How do you battle an unchecked sub-division of cells? You get treatment, I suppose. All right, I'll grant that it's always a battle. We have a battling spirit, we humans.

Even so, can we not find some other way of putting it? Even if we always feel that the person fought tooth and nail to defeat the ailment, can we not think of another term or phrase? Can we not go to the bookshelf and take out the thesaurus, or just sit and think for a minute until something else comes to mind that conveys a similar idea but provides a little variety? We have a lot of people struggling with illness and then dying, so I think it behooves us to employ some creativity here.

I suppose that sounds callous or flippant. All I'm trying to do is help. We have suffering, and the perpetually drumbeat of loss is only made worse if we ignore the constant value of aesthetically well-executed language. Words can ease anguish if we use them well, but old, tired words that have been heard so many times that they lack meaning, let alone effect are no help at all. If I'm in the position of the bereaved, they only make things worse.