Inner Melancholy

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."
---Henry David Thoreau

I like this quote. I first heard it when I was in high school, in my most pensive and introspective time of life. I remembered it again today. Another quote I chanced upon today that is sooooo very true:

"Cancer ends more lives than it ever kills."
--anonymous

More than death, I fear the disruption of life, the pain and suffering and the end of normalcy that comes with cancer news. Two of my mom's friends were found to have cancer this past year. I became very despondent for a while. Cancer, I fear it more than human terrorists. If you think about it, cancer IS terrorism, terrorism of our body and livelihood of the most insidious kind. There should be a mass "war on cancer," except it's a war that's hard to win, not unlike the actual "war on terrorism." No other disease brings on so much fear in me. I'd much rather die of or see my loved ones die of heart disease or stroke or something with a bit of predictability and control. Cancer attacks when you are least expecting it and it attacks with a fierce and silent vengence that no human technology or medicine can combat. That's the definition of terrorism, isn't it? I remember reading and learning about the mechanisms of cancer in medical school and actually feeling really angy about it, real anger like I'd have for someone who violated others. Cancer's very lethality lies in its stealth. Cancer doesn't just hurt the body, it disjoints the whole family, and the family suffers right along with the patient not any worse than the patient. My only solace is that God delievers His promises of peace and love during such horrific times.