Tuesday, December 27, 2011

True Beauty

We have a dear friend who has cancer. His symptoms have progressed beyond such medical advancements as Chemo, and he is steeling himself for his Last Stand in this battle. He is quite beautiful, in the way of one who knows suffering.
We had occasion to see him for a few moments the other day. Just a few minutes in his presence has the power to alter perspective, and rearrange one's priorities. It was, by far, the most powerful few moments of my Christmas Experience.
His wife is one of my dearest friends in the world.
She stands by her husband's side with a fragile desperation, tightly wrapped with determination and grace. What else can she do, after all? She's being changed by this process as much as he is.
Such an experience is, as my mother always says, "too painful to waste." There is so much to learn about what really matters.
My thinking is very often upside-down.
Take, for instance, those 10 pounds I'd like to lose. Too much meat on my bones means that I eat well. I'm a healthy momma. There is no cancer impeding my digestive system.
I have too much on my plate in other ways, too. I am busy. Yet, the very fact that I can get all wrapped up in tasks, means that I do not have an all consuming tragety that forces me to be still.
I'm thankful for what I have. Thankful for my life, my family, and my health.
I am thankful, too, for the truth offered by harsh circumstance.
Cancer is only one possibility. There are so many other ways that you and I are forced to our knees. That's the point, too. When we are forced to our knees, our whole world has a chance to align with our Creator, and those He has given us to love.
To quote my ever-quotable mother, again, "Suffering can make you bitter, or it can make you beautiful."
My dear friends are beautiful despite.....no...because of the Cancer. May you and I be as blessed.

2 comments:

Yvonne said...

Very well said, Kelly. I have a friend (from high school, also a believer) who has battled stage 4 ovarian cancer for 18 mos. My perspective on life, faith, and God's love continues to change as I pray for both couples. God's work in each life always leaves continuing ripples in the streams of life for others as well.

KJP said...

I sincerely hope your friend is a Christian, else can pray for that as well if you let us know.

God ultimately holds the finality of of our days in His hands. Sometimes it seems easier if we just could be taken home now - other times to long for years to accomplish or see a task through.....

But, in the end, it is how we use those days given us that counts.