He sits there...giving the impression of a package that is slowly wrapping up inside itself. His stature is diminished, even in a seated position. Shoulders are hunched forward and shrunken with his head held precariously, as if the heaviness of it will soon be too much to bear.
This weight, this cancer that is slowly blossoming from his left lung and seeping at will into other areas of his body, is gradually compressing and sucking life from within.
But the spirit is still alive! As he focuses on the game, a small corner smile suddenly appears and crinkles of laughter still play at the edges of his tired eyes. Soon a determined expression spreads softly across the mouth as the next move is decided…and I know that, at least for now, he is involved in something other than dying.
He was one of several people, lost to my life, who showed others how to live before dying. My mother was another one...
You wonder sometimes where the courage came from. Sure, she did show those fleeting bouts of anger and irritability. And she never did stop asking why. But most of the time she would simply say, “Who would have thought this could happen?”
You see, at 87, and after raising ten children and being married to the same man for sixty-one years, my mother seemed to have forgotten about dying. There was still too much to do: too many grandchildren and great grandchildren to watch grow, too many early springs to see blossom, and too many grown children left to worry about and care for: just too many needs left to fill…
How many times have you wondered why suddenly someone is lost to the world, and why those twists and turns in life catch you without any traffic warning signs?
Why does the God we think we trust take really good people away from us in an apparent impulsive act? Is it purely a whim on his part or the spinning of some heavenly wheel that results in a random choice? Of course, not.
But how do these good people manage to adjust to the sudden challenges that turn their lives in still another direction? What do they have that keeps them from being thrown off base like so many others?
As a former counselor and therapist, I can’t help but think it might be a sense of perspective that is based on their personal value system.
For example, if we really trust in God’s goodness, then all that comes into our lives can be seen as challenges rather than problems, as opportunities for growth rather than confrontations, etc.
The ability to put things into perspective based on genuine faith makes all the difference. This doesn’t mean that the struggles are less serious, but the ability to respond to them is easier if they can be put into a life perspective, if they can be seen in relation to a major life goal such as learning to love.
I wonder sometimes if courage comes from simply losing ourselves in the genuineness of God’s love. Is there a better way to conquer fear?
This weight, this cancer that is slowly blossoming from his left lung and seeping at will into other areas of his body, is gradually compressing and sucking life from within.
But the spirit is still alive! As he focuses on the game, a small corner smile suddenly appears and crinkles of laughter still play at the edges of his tired eyes. Soon a determined expression spreads softly across the mouth as the next move is decided…and I know that, at least for now, he is involved in something other than dying.
He was one of several people, lost to my life, who showed others how to live before dying. My mother was another one...
You wonder sometimes where the courage came from. Sure, she did show those fleeting bouts of anger and irritability. And she never did stop asking why. But most of the time she would simply say, “Who would have thought this could happen?”
You see, at 87, and after raising ten children and being married to the same man for sixty-one years, my mother seemed to have forgotten about dying. There was still too much to do: too many grandchildren and great grandchildren to watch grow, too many early springs to see blossom, and too many grown children left to worry about and care for: just too many needs left to fill…
How many times have you wondered why suddenly someone is lost to the world, and why those twists and turns in life catch you without any traffic warning signs?
Why does the God we think we trust take really good people away from us in an apparent impulsive act? Is it purely a whim on his part or the spinning of some heavenly wheel that results in a random choice? Of course, not.
But how do these good people manage to adjust to the sudden challenges that turn their lives in still another direction? What do they have that keeps them from being thrown off base like so many others?
As a former counselor and therapist, I can’t help but think it might be a sense of perspective that is based on their personal value system.
For example, if we really trust in God’s goodness, then all that comes into our lives can be seen as challenges rather than problems, as opportunities for growth rather than confrontations, etc.
The ability to put things into perspective based on genuine faith makes all the difference. This doesn’t mean that the struggles are less serious, but the ability to respond to them is easier if they can be put into a life perspective, if they can be seen in relation to a major life goal such as learning to love.
I wonder sometimes if courage comes from simply losing ourselves in the genuineness of God’s love. Is there a better way to conquer fear?
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