The Possibility of Certain Death

Hurricane Ike is hurtling toward Texas and the TV reporter said just two hours ago, "People in Ike's path face the possibility of certain death."

Lily picked right up on that one because she wasn't waiting for the coffee pot to do its stuff. "Mom, what is wrong with them? You can't have the possibility of certain death."

In TV land you can.

As Americans, we believe in the possibility of certain death. Sure, everyone dies. But it's just so -- un-American. Secretly, deep down in our hearts, don't we keep death as a remote possibility, for other people but surely not for us? We live not with the knowledge of certain death, but with its possibility. If I really believed I was going to die one day, would I spend so much time on the things that don't matter? Would I stand in line in Wal-Mart, hoping to save a couple of bucks?

And if I got rid of the things that don't matter, what would I have left? I think I'd be standing in a group hug with my friends and (certain) family members.

I believe the newscaster was unable to form the words "certain death." She had to pad it, to keep it at arm's length and safe. So even though the authorities (pick one) have announced that anyone who remains behind in Ike's path faces certain death, for the newscaster, and the rest of us mortals, we have to reframe that into the possibility of certain death.

You can go a long time and through a lot of things without having it register that death is a reality for everyone. I don't believe my father believes he's going to die. He's lived for 96 years. Why should he die now? In fact, I once read a piece on the probability of death and it said something like that the longer you lived, the less likely you were to die. (It made sense in the way they made their case.)

I hope the people in Texas take the possibility of certain death seriously and flee. And what has happened in Haiti is beyond understanding. Our prayers are with them.

Death is certain. It becomes less likely on any given day if you move out of the way of a hurricane. That is, if you have anywhere to go.

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Comments

[Cheryl]

My prayers too are for those having to flee the storm...wisdom...wisdom...

[Anwyn]

That is one of those phrases. It shouldn't be grammatically possible but it decidedly is.