ASHLEY EVANS OP/ED EDITOR
“How do you thank a man for saving your love’s life twice?”
These words came to me from my godfather’s wife. He had just had his second surgery in 10 years to remove a brain tumor—fortunately, again successful.
The power of her words was staggering in a couple of respects.
Every one of us is given a chance to live; yet some of us don’t truly try to live until it is too late.
This revelation, that my godfather was alive, gave me a new understanding of the word love. It also led me to think about words themselves.
Thanks, life, love—these are words used so frequently in our language that they’ve started to lose their real meaning.
It’s like the question, “How are you?” So many of us, upon greeting, utter this phrase. And so many of us, in response, just say, “fine” or “good”.
But are we really “fine” and “good”? Do we really care how the person is?
If they answered, “Oh, I’m bloated and my shorts are riding up real bad”, would we be ready for the true answer?
Try that. The next time someone asks, “How are you?”, really tell them—and watch how they react.
Sure, they’re just words. But all words have meaning.
As for life, how many of us actually realize the chance we’ve been given and the value of our bodies?
Occasionally after a death or crisis, people do two things: find God or find a passion for life. Once the moment has passed, however, and the person has had time to heal, they go back to their same routine. Carpe diem, in this case, becomes an overused and misunderstood philosophy; just a collection of meaningless words.
Love is sometimes the hardest word to use, yet is applied liberally to take the place of feelings like appreciation, enjoyment, affection and devotion. Yes, these words make up the idea of love, but can you apply every aspect of that love to every person you have ever told, “I love you”?
The same can be said for love’s counterpart—hate. “I hate the Mensa”… “I hate the Yankees”… “I hate her”.
Really? That’s a pretty strong emotion to be using haphazardly.
Then again, so is love.
So many words—like “promise” and “try”—are so overused they have lost their real meaning. The same goes for “love” and “hate”.
I’m an English major who also writes for a newspaper; words are essentially my life. Yet I struggled to find words to answer the question my godfather’s wife asked.
That’s because sometimes, there are no words. But there are feelings. And if the words we use convey real feeling and emotion behind them, then the message gets through.
If we use our words carefully and honestly, that means I can thank God for giving my godfather life, and for giving me the chance to tell him I love him—and everyone would know how much I meant it.
Time is racing by us. You should use your words carefully because you have them. And you should live your life fully because you have one.