When Cancer is a Gift…

“And there’s this other, funny thing… I love, more!  L O V E . That’s all I feel.” These are the words of a dying man. “Nothing but love.” he says. These words have haunted me since I first read them two Autumn’s ago… I read them, sadly, days after hearing of my friend’s passing. (Those who follow me at all, surely,  know how these words could deeply affect me.)

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When cancer is the diagnosis, you love more. It is cancer’s gift. My husband knows this, he experienced it. My mother knows this, she lived it. My dying friend knew this, he reveled in it! When the things of this world no longer press in, what matters most is the love you carry.

In the midst of dying, my friend was fully alive. Maybe, for the first time in his whole life!? Not many are afforded the chance to look back on their lives and ponder. With cancer, the earth spins slower. And the chance to fully recognize one’s humanity and experience the love in us pressed in, finally, pouring out, is a gift more precious than gold.

A chosen few will receive the opportunity. The rest of us must seek it… 

Lord, help us recognize the depth and breadth of your love. Teach us

to share your love with a hurting world. Teach us to love one another.

Most importantly, teach us to LOVE like You love.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Rom. 5:5

My mother is cancer free, thirteen years, this year! My father-in-law lost his battle with cancer but He found Jesus in the journey. My hope (and prayer) is my friend came to know the peace that can only be found in the arms of a loving, heavenly Father. 

“To be so FULL of God’s love, I could not fathom speaking an unkind word or doing an unkind deed.” Join me in my quest… !?  #theLoveChallenge