Reasons to be cheerful, part three

I said to Fiona (my first wife) that if people hadn’t heard from me, no news was good news. She reminded me that it could also mean that I was either dead or close to death. Yup ok. So due to overwhelming popular public demand, here is some news.

The cancer treatment is working very well, thank you. It’s not chemotherapy, which is good, because chemotherapy really means poisoning everything and hoping that the poison hits cancer harder than it hits teeth, hair, fingernails and parts of you that actually matter. The treatment is targeted therapy (BRAFTOVI) and as a result and after initial severe nausea, I’m stronger and healthier. I’m walking with a limp, because I tried to jump while playing with some kids at church. They are safe, their parents are safe, my leg hurts.

Despondency

When the likely possibility of death advances by 10-20 years, the initial response is ‘oh well’. Then, in my case, you start to think of what is and what might have been.

At the age of 20 and if you have worked out that you are good at things, you have the world open in front of you and even the parts that you’ve chosen not to explore will wait. You are great (you actually are), your achievements lie ahead of you, you can choose and whatever path you choose will reveal greatness. You will not win Wimbledon but hey, you chose not to at age 8 and your regret is long past.

At age 60 you think hm, I now have a lot of regrets that are long past, and some of them were quite important, and now due to a diagnosis I could be gone in six months. The ‘so what’ response at age 20 has vanished into the concrete of ‘uh oh. This could be it’.

Christ

My answer to my own despondency has been, so far, to feel despondent. But also to look to Christ. He is our great king. Every failure of ours is a victory for him (and therefore, for us), because as we trust in him and in his kindness, mercy, and grace, he wipes out our failure for eternity. And he reminds us that we, his little children, are doing exactly the things that he would want us to be doing, and that we are created for.

I am also reminded daily of the grace and kindness of friends. In your grace I see and experience the work of Christ himself. You did not need to ask after our family and our wellbeing. You did not need to pray or offer kindness in so many ways. And yet you have.

Other matters.

More to say, but let me immediately say that at this time: no news is actually good news. Treatment progresses. I am stronger and here is some proof, just a bit of Q and A after yesterday's sermon. Sorry about the collar malfunction, the rest of it I stand by.

And here is a song. Reasons to be cheerful, part three.