Tragedy

Joe Paterno died earlier today. By all accounts he was a fantastic football coach, a faithful father and husband and a philanthropist. He served Penn State for 60+ years and, according to many, accomplished everything he wanted to accomplish and more. He was 85 at the time of his death. With that in mind, his death is not a tragedy. The man had the luxury of accomplishing all he wanted to accomplish in his professional life and he was apparently loved deeply by his wife, children and grandchildren. Although his death is sad, as is the death of most, his death is, well, his death is part of life and death.

We are extremely lazy with our use of the English language. We use words easily and loosely without thinking through the gravity of the words we use. I certainly do not want to be cold or uncaring, but the use of the word "tragedy" seems to be a bit of an exaggeration. A tragic death is my friend Eric who died almost a year ago. He died in his early thirties, leaving behind a young wife and 4 month old son. That is a tragedy. A tragedy is an infant dying shortly after birth. A tragedy is a mother burying her son who died of heart complications shortly after his 4th birthday. Those things are tragic. But a man who lived well beyond the average life expectancy, who lived a life he was proud of is very sad, but is not a tragedy.

I am becoming more and more aware of how we use words. Perhaps it is because I have a young son who continually asks, "What does that mean?" Let us be careful with how we use words. Let us measure our words carefully and make them count. Let us concern ourselves with teaching our children to choose and use words carefully.

More to come...