Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 6, 7 A few weeks after I was diagnosed with cancer, a music CD arrived in the mail from a friend. Several years earlier this friend had been … [Read more...] about Practice Surrender
Pray
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8 When we are faced with difficulties in life, we need support from friends and family. We also need God’s help. Perhaps the most direct way to open ourselves to God is through prayer. Prayer can be many things. Prayer does not need to be long or complicated. When we are afraid or distressed we need … [Read more...] about Pray
Take in Support
Two are better than one, because they have good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10 On the evening of September 11, 2001 my husband and I watched Gwen Ifill of PBS interview Mr. Rogers. Gwen was asking Mr. Rogers to give people advice about how to talk with their children about what had just happened. That day we had watched images of … [Read more...] about Take in Support
Feel What You Feel
Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4 After I was diagnosed with cancer I felt everything. I felt fear. I felt shock. I felt grief. I felt shame. I felt numbness. I felt resentment. I felt jealousy. I felt anger. I felt gratitude. I felt peace. These feelings seemed to come and go of their own volition. Sometimes the feelings were … [Read more...] about Feel What You Feel
Gather Information
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Proverbs 19:20 Knowledge is power. That is what I was taught as a twenty year old nursing student. We learned to empower our patients wherever we worked by sharing information with them. Whether we were preparing people for a procedure, or for a surgery, or for having a baby, or for living with a chronic illness, one of … [Read more...] about Gather Information
Keep Breathing
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Genesis 2:7 Keep Breathing. These words stood in bold lettering on a card I gave a close friend. She had just received some painful news and was very distressed. She told me several days later that she carried that card with her everywhere she went so she would be reminded to take a few … [Read more...] about Keep Breathing
Stay Grounded
The truth will set you free. John 8: 23 Four days before Christmas in 2006 I had a phone appointment with my doctor. I was expecting to get the results of a breast biopsy that had been done a week earlier. At the time of the biopsy, I had been assured by the radiologist that everything looked normal, but as I sat down at the desk in my office and picked up the phone to call the doctor, adrenaline … [Read more...] about Stay Grounded
Soaring
We soared through grand canyons of clouds, thirty thousand feet above tobacco fields profiteering in death, above the capitol’s hostile divides, above wall street’s gambling greed. We soared between billowing boulders of cloud cliffs, forming rocky mountains in the sky, weaving deep chasms of dazzling white, through which to tilt great wings and fly. A group practice run of our someday final … [Read more...] about Soaring
Small
I love being small tucked into your vastness, a speck on a larger spinning speck, one of billions upon billions of your dancing diamonds, all held in the largeness of your heart. I love being hidden, safe, under the wing of your great love aware how infinitesimal is my knowing, resting in the thought that you, the One who knows all, knows me. I love being creature of your making, Creator of … [Read more...] about Small
Brilliant Dying
Lord, they say the leaves are dying. But how can this be what dying looks like? Glorious brilliance pixelating the deep green forests with shimmering sunshine? Is it dying that causes them to sing out such beauty? Or is it a life time, however brief, of bathing in light? Can our dying be this blessed? Our living such pure gift? —— The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on … [Read more...] about Brilliant Dying