The Cost of Bravery

Me and my friend, Dave Lackey, who died of terminal brain cancer.

Just this last weekend Brittany Maynard ended her own life through voluntary euthanasia. What she did was not "dying with dignity" she committed suicide. For those of you who do not know to whom I am referring, here is a link to clue you in, http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/08/this-woman-will-die-november-1-but-is-her-choice-to-end-her-life-a-suicide/. As a pro-life Christian I cannot be okay with this because her life is precious and she is not God, therefore, she is not the judge of who can live and who can die, including herself. From a human stand point who is also afraid of suffering, to a certain extent, I can somewhat sympathize; however, like I said, she is not God and she cannot play God. Now, as someone who has seen close friends and family members die of cancer, and one of them dying from brain cancer, I find it VERY offensive to hear people calling this a "brave choice."

My dear friend, Dave Lackey for example, he had brain cancer. I'm not sure of what type, but I know dying for him was a slow and not painless process. He lived with his cancer for over 10 years, and like Brittany, the doctors only gave him months to live when it all started as well. Unfortunately, I do not think Brittany realized that doctors can in fact be very wrong sometimes. For my friend, it never got severe until the last three years of his life, even then he still traveled and did ministry in telling people about Jesus! Now that, my friends, is brave! He lived everyday like it was his last, he did not go around feeling sorry for his situation, he went out and actually lived! He loved people who were not very easy to love, he told everyone and anyone he came into contact with about the love of Jesus. Why is his story not shouted from the roof tops?! He fought, yes it was hard, but he held onto the fact that God was going to keep him here as long as He wanted him to be here. When he died, he did die with dignity, he died as a fighter, he died and went on into glory to be with his Jesus. Now, THAT is courageous.

Of course I pray that God will keep me well and not ever be diagnosed with cancer; unfortunately after watching my own grandmother be diagnosed with cancer and go through chemo, I know how unexpected life really can be. However, I pray God will give me the strength to endure whatever He puts before me to face with real courage and bravery.

Okay, so I know that speaking your mind can get you lots of ignorant backlash from lots of ignorant people. I am in no way saying that Brittany's decision to commit suicide was an easy choice. All that I am asking is for people to stop calling her brave and strong, because honestly she was not. She looked into what she thought would be her future and said "I give up." That was her decision to make, I'm not saying I agree with it, but I am recognizing that it was her irreversible decision.

The dictionary's definition of the words brave and courage.
Brave: Ready to face and endure danger or pain
Courage: Ready to face and endure danger or pain
The dictionary's example of the word "courage" in a sentence literally says "He fought his illness with great courage."

So before you go off calling Brittany brave, or telling me I'm a bigot, or some other inaccurate insult, think of all the loved ones you have that are either fighting for their lives or fought valiantly until the end.