A little perspective: looking outside my living room


As I've written in other recent entries, a couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed with a tumor, likely cancer, likely easily treatable, but the biopsy pathologies just aren't giving the results we need. I lost my composure a few days ago and began to weep about my situation. Then, starting last night, the news began to pour in. I needed to start thinking of others. ...

First, there was the story of an Auburn freshman coed, member of Delta Gamma sorority, who was found in the road a few miles north of campus. Police tried to revive her, but she was lost. Her car was found later, on campus, on fire.

Then came the next news story, of a woman in Columbus Georgia whose three children were kidnapped by some guy with an Indiana License plate (Chevy Impala, I forgot the license number). She wept, saying that she just wanted her babies back.

Then this morning I learned that my oncologist's husband passed away from a heart attack overnight. This poor woman's family has suffered two deaths in less than two years: her oldest daughter Sarah, and now her husband. Having had back-to-back deaths in my own family, about 8 months apart, I can understand some of their pain and grief.

So much suffering: how can we bear it?

I am not saying that my own situation is not important, but my thoughts and prayers this morning were not primarily toward my own situation. As I wrote a few days ago, the Christian approach to life is not about rights and justice, but about compassion and service. The focus on life is not merely "God is still on the throne," a particularly useless statement in most situations, but on our connection with both Christ and community: "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me."

Will I recover? Maybe, maybe not. Right now that doesn't matter. What does matter is that, sitting in my recliner chair, I have some ability to touch the people mentioned above, and many others like them. I may be a Calvinist, but I still think God answers prayer. That's the Christian paradox, and it's a wonderful place to be in.

Posted: Thu - March 6, 2008 at 11:22 AM           | |

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