Live Strong

Me and Jamie

     Jamie was kind enough to pose for a picture with me and my new streamlined look.

     I am sure this is not news to anyone, but cancer sucks, and my hat's off to anyone who struggles with it.  I lost my mother, my father, my only uncle, and Sue, the mother of Katie and Julia and my first wife, all to cancer.

     But this is supposed to be a blog of spiritual reflections, so where is God in all this?

      Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his classic, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People", argues that we will never know WHY bad things happen, at least not in this life, so what we need to do is focus on the what, on what to do when bad things happen.     

     My experience of parting with my hair in honor of Jamie's upcoming last scheduled chemo treatment has brought home to me a parallel lesson, causing me to think about what we might be about when bad things are not happening to us or those close to us.  

     Things like living in gratitude for this day, and the opportunities and challenges it brings -- because some day it will be otherwise.  

     Things like opening our eyes to see that others, not so far from us, are dealing with those "bad things". 

     Things like trying to find ways to do something to help, if only (and I don't mean to minimize the importance of this), holding them up in prayer, or, if prayer is not your thing, in your thoughts.

     My hair will grow back; for Jamie, it will be a much longer process, and growing his hair back is just a small part of his road back to full health.  But in taking on this really rather insignificant act, I have somehow drawn spiritually closer not only to Jamie, but to all my loved ones who had their own struggles with this disease.  And I have also, in the shadow of that which too often leads to death, discovered new life.

     For all of that, I am thankful.