Whenever I hear about someone passing away due to cancer, it really hits home with me, and I often take some moments of silence for those individuals, to breathe a sigh of relief that they are no longer struggling with this horrid disease. My heart aches for them no longer being here, but my soul joys in the fact that they are free from pain and sickness.
The only thing that bothers me is when people say they "lost the battle with cancer". To me it makes it sound as if there is no more hope. Scenes flash through my mind of all the countless movies I have seen, or books I have read, that describe a battlefield that is strewn with the remnants of a vicious fight, only to see the hero collapsed in the middle and everyone else left with a face full of fear. When someone says that someone has died after losing their battle with cancer it makes it seem as if evil has won, that good did not prevail, and that their struggles were in vain.
I know why they say it, though, and I wish there was a better way of putting it. Perhaps they could say "he fought bravely and valiantly, but in the end it was just too much." I know this man fought bravely and valiantly. I know he put forth his best efforts to rid his body of the cancer, and I know that sometimes it is an uphill fight, and that takes a lot of effort. If the cancer ends up taking over my body and becomes the ultimate reason for my death, I don't want it said that I lost the battle with cancer. I want it said that I fought so well and so hard to overcome it, but my physical body just could not handle it...or something maybe a little bit better worded.
My colleague will be remembered for the life he lived and the things he taught. I thought of this scripture when I heard the news and thought I would share it.
2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"
And now he's home.
1 comment:
I was very sad when I heard about this, too. I didn't know him very well but I always loved his smile and the mischievous glint in his eye.
Cancer killed my mom, too, and I remember my brother using that phrase to describe her passing. It's hard, because there isn't really another way to say it.
Post a Comment