According to Billy Joel, Queen & Iron Maiden (and a host of others), only the good die young. Why?, I wonder.
While reading the Rule of St. Benedict, I came across a passage that illuminated this expression. The passage is from the prologue: “… the Lord waits for us daily to translate into action, as we should, his holy teachings. Therefore our life span has been lengthened by way of a truce, that we may amend our misdeeds. As the Apostle says: Do you not know that the patience of God is leading you to repent? And indeed the Lord assures us in his love: I do not wish the death of the sinner, but that he turn back to me and live .”
There is a reason why the good die young. We are granted the gift of longevity so that we may use this additional time to work toward our own salvation. On this account of salvation, those who die young do not need the extra time because they have already achieved salvation. Additional life is a needless burden. And so the good die young.
Do we really believe this?
As the songwriters say, only the good die young. But why “only”? This seems more like wishful thinking. In a strictly ordered universe, people would die only when they had used up their chance to lead a good life. And our songwriters claim that such a universe exists, since only the good die young.
Could our songwriters be so idealistic? Maybe they are being ironic. Maybe they are making a statement about a fallen world: those who survive to old age are bad and we who are young — but have not yet died — have to suffer their presence in our midst. But that can’t possibly be the interpretation the songwriters intend, is it? Was Mother Teresa a bad woman because she lived until she was old? If the old are bad, then why do we look to the old for words of wisdom?
As I view it, this expression — only the good die young — is bad theology and bad empiricism. The good die young, the bad die young, and most often the stupid die young. But only the good die young? Not in the universe I occupy.
I’ve heard people offer these words as a form of consolation. In order to make sense of what seems an unjust outcome — that one so young should die — people suggest that at least we can be assured that the deceased was good, since only the good die young. But I see no link between death and virtue. We all will die. And many, if not most, will have demonstrated some measure of virtue by the time we die.
I know that the good (and the bad) sometimes die young. It feels wrong. It feels unjust. And yet it happens. And when it happens, it challenges my faith in the god of an ordered universe. Nevertheless, I am not about to blind myself to the challenge by resorting to old saws. If I am to grow, then I must engage what seems to be a contradiction: a benevolent god and premature death.
I would rather grow old being challenged and bewildered, than be one of the good that the songwriters croon about.
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Wed, Feb 16, 2005
Half-filtered