When the death of Calvin Coolidge was made public, someone quipped, “But how can they tell?”

George Bernard Shaw once said that the epitaph for many people should read, “Died at 30; buried at 60.”

These barbs suggest a question worth our pondering.  How do you tell when a person is alive?  If we can die at 30 and not be buried until we are 60, what are the signs of life and death?

You’re dead when the suffering of another causes you no pain.

You’re dead when your blood does not run hot in the face of blatant injustice.

You’re dead when you evade truth that hurts and accept an easy life.

You’re dead when you are not willing to put forth the energy necessary to save a dying relationship.

You add to the list.  If you can’t, you may not yet be dead, but you are sick unto death and you had better see a doctor.