Tragedy... it knows no boundaries. It doesn't care how old you are, how happy, how sad, how wealthy or poor you are. Tragedy isn't prejudice. Sometimes it is unrelenting. Right now I'm waiting for the next bomb to go off. Surely somebody is just about to call with another story of despair.
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians don't have a home. Their searching for their loved ones among rubble and the stench of rotting human flesh. They have nowhere to lay their head. I can't begin to relate to the horror that they are experiencing. Though my problems may seem minute compared to those wanderers of a wasteland called Haiti, I do suffer.
My heart crushes to pieces every time I consider the loss my wife's aunt and uncle have had to endure. To witness your own child wither away under the clutches of cancer can be nothing short of suffocating. I can't restrain the tears when I read my friend Zombie's blog about his best friend. I can't imagine losing a friend (one that's closer than a brother) the way that he did. My heart goes out to the children that have been left fatherless from this disaster.
Now my own mother is fighting cancer. Thankfully, all visible cancer was removed during her first surgery. Only, she still spent an entire month in the hospital because of a surgical complication and a second trip to the operating room. Now it is on to chemotherapy for her. I feel horrible for her. She is looking forward to chemo as much as one would look forward to the tenth round of a heavyweight title match. Through it all she has had some inglorious days, but she has nonetheless pressed on like a warrior. I am so proud of her.
It has become clearer to me with each passing year that my number may be called at any given time. I don't say this to be morbid, but because I believe it to be beneficial to have that realization at the forefront of your mind. Let it be a reminder to live a life of sacrifice that blesses others and is fruitful. A life that has no regrets and will be welcomed into the Kingdom with a "well done my good and faithful servant."
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5 comments:
I hear you. this year has started off with a bang when it comes to difficult things. Just keep praying, and I'll keep praying for you.
You make me think of what Jesus said...
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Ah, now that is why I miss your words. Spoken like a wise man. I'm fortunate to walk beside you through every tragedy and to have someone to pray with while we're walking.
So true. I don't know how to even take it all in - the suffering over whelms me.
Praise God for your mom's recovery so far. Your comment about realizing your mortality is very telling - a nonbeliever would say, "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Yet you say, "pray, be sacrificial while you still can."
There is some wisdom that comes with age, isn't there? With the devotion to Christ and unwillingness to give it up?
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