Over the first couple of days last week I visited by son in Virginia in the area I lived until last fall. During the visit I took the opportunity to say hello to others that have been important to me.
I had timed the visit to coincide with a meeting of the ostomy support group in which I was involved prior to the move. After the meeting, a several of us went to a local restaurant to talk and have fellowship. One of the people there (who went the restaurant) is someone I had talked to previously about God and the things of faith. Apparently, he had had some test results earlier in the year that made him think that his cancer was returning. Fortunately, it was more of a scare than a true warning (the readings may have crept toward concern, but actually stayed within normal range. But he was mad at God all evening. At one point He talked about the ‘obscenity of death’ and wanted to confront God and call God to account for his (my friends) trials. There was not one there who had not had a very personal time of uncertainty, either in their own self, or since some were care-givers, the possible death of a loved one. My friend himself had his wife accompanying him. We all knew the what he was feeling.
I commented that for believers, however traumatic the transition may be, death is a beginning. It may be quite correct to fear the process of dyeing, but actual death is not to be feared. To look forward with joy and anticipation is quite appropriate, as long as one does not then try to hasten the process. It is also a beginning for the unbelievers, but a beginning of a very different existence. I have, and continue to pray for this individual specifically, as well as every one of my friends in the group.
While we were in the area, my wife and I also went to her sister’s house and while they were off doing their thing, I talked with my sister-in-law’s husband.
He is also going through his own cancer related trials. He said that several times when he was undergoing chemo therapy, he felt that he had one foot on the ‘other side’ but recovered. He is a believer, and his response to what felt like imminent death was to be at peace. In all likelihood he will never be free of his cancer, but his response is not to blame God, but to be at peace.
I had timed the visit to coincide with a meeting of the ostomy support group in which I was involved prior to the move. After the meeting, a several of us went to a local restaurant to talk and have fellowship. One of the people there (who went the restaurant) is someone I had talked to previously about God and the things of faith. Apparently, he had had some test results earlier in the year that made him think that his cancer was returning. Fortunately, it was more of a scare than a true warning (the readings may have crept toward concern, but actually stayed within normal range. But he was mad at God all evening. At one point He talked about the ‘obscenity of death’ and wanted to confront God and call God to account for his (my friends) trials. There was not one there who had not had a very personal time of uncertainty, either in their own self, or since some were care-givers, the possible death of a loved one. My friend himself had his wife accompanying him. We all knew the what he was feeling.
I commented that for believers, however traumatic the transition may be, death is a beginning. It may be quite correct to fear the process of dyeing, but actual death is not to be feared. To look forward with joy and anticipation is quite appropriate, as long as one does not then try to hasten the process. It is also a beginning for the unbelievers, but a beginning of a very different existence. I have, and continue to pray for this individual specifically, as well as every one of my friends in the group.
While we were in the area, my wife and I also went to her sister’s house and while they were off doing their thing, I talked with my sister-in-law’s husband.
He is also going through his own cancer related trials. He said that several times when he was undergoing chemo therapy, he felt that he had one foot on the ‘other side’ but recovered. He is a believer, and his response to what felt like imminent death was to be at peace. In all likelihood he will never be free of his cancer, but his response is not to blame God, but to be at peace.
