One big advantage of having this blog is that, unlike on FB, I don’t have to worry about trolls and cranks leaving untoward comments. Not that there aren’t trolls and cranks among my readers – far from it. In fact, some of them are among my nearest and dearest. But since I get to moderate the comments… well, you know.
Another big advantage of blogging is that, when the spirit so moves, I can, with total impunity, post something a little off the beaten track of cartoons and puppy memes. Well, today is such a day. Allah be praised.
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Rachel Held Evans was a young mother, blogger, and progressive firebrand. She died unexpectedly following an allergic reaction to antibiotics. For many of us, her passing raises uncomfortable questions about life and faith. Most notably, for me at least, is this: Why do the good so often seem to die so young? And why must we all be subject to death in the first place?
Original Sin
Like me, Rachel Held Evans started out Evangelical but ended up Episcopalian. One of the hallmarks of the Episcopal faith is its penchant for encouraging hard questions without resorting to ready-made answers. The easy Evangelical answer to “Why death” is, of course, Original Sin. The basis of this doctrine is outlined by the Apostle Paul in the 5th chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. You can read it for yourself here if you’re so inclined. There are much better apologists than me for whatever brand of faith (or non-faith) you prefer. So, rather than a defense or an attack, let’s move on, shall we?
Natural Selection
The Darwinian answer to “Why death” is that this is how room is made for speciation and change. An organism that lives forever in a closed biome eventually chokes off adaptation, ultimately leaving no place for offspring. Each new generational roll of the genetic dice presupposes that previous generations eventually pass away. Evolution takes the long view: Not the “selfish gene” so much as adaptation to the environment over the long haul.
Of course, this does nothing to answer the question about the good seeming to die so young. That I blame on our perception of what’s news and what’s not. When Rachel Held Evans dies at age 37 with two young kids in tow, we sit up and take notice: Not because it happens all the time, but precisely because it doesn’t. It’s the exception rather than the rule. That’s what makes it newsworthy.
I guess the other thing I’d say on this subject is that the needs and wants of an individual are often at odds with the longer view of the species or the society. And just the thought of uttering those words out loud is enough to bring out the worst of the anti-social trolls from under the bridge. Well, better get used to it, folks. Because none of us lives forever. And “no man is an island entire of itself.”
A word of encouragement
The moment I start quoting John Donne, you know it’s time to wrap up. So, RIP Rachel Held Evans. And to anyone grieving a personal loss this day, I say, take heart. Not because of any promise of so-called “eternal life.” But rather because, whatever the long-term outcome may be, in the here-and-now, you are not alone. In the long run and in the short, that’s what makes all the difference.
Oh wrong dog breath, Hunter Thompson said it best.
We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and — in spite of True Romance magazines — we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely — at least, not all the time — but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.
Hunter S. Thompson