So what are we going to do tonight, Brain?
It’s Tuesday - time for my weekly TV fix. (Actually, I think it is time to cut back. A lot. Since I now I also watch Medium on Monday, Monk on Friday, Laugh Out Loud on Sunday....and too much other junk in between.) But I’ll make room for a new House episode and maybe some Judging Amy. I still see a lot of my self in Dr. House...perhaps I control my tongue more, but our thoughts have a certain similarity.

In the first episode, Dr. House shoots down a patient’s request to go home and die with ‘dignity’ by telling her that no one dies with dignity. I think I would phrase it a little differently, but essentially he was right. If you are looking for aesthetic perfection, control and no possibility of looking absurd, death may be difficult. Life may be difficult. Having birthed six children, I know firsthand (and will spare you the details) that birth puts you in some ludicrous positions and situations. And it isn’t so dignified for the baby, either. A new human winds up as the slippery, disheveled, indignant guest at a surprise party that interrupts a very cozy living arrangement. So we start life with little ‘dignity’ and between birth and death there are plenty of opportunities to be caught in undignified positions. Our real dignity comes from being children of God and none of the pitfalls of physical existence can take that from us.