I felt both moved and convicted by this video of Haitians singing their praises to Jesus just two days following the earthquake. They are singing:
“Everything is already fine (x2)
Since Jesus is seated on the throne,
Everything is already fine (x3)”
[I asked Cleo Smith to share some reflections about his journey following his diagnosis with cancer in April of 2007. He did so during our worship service this past Sunday. He and his wife, Eileen, are living Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. I provided the title to this post, but the words below are Cleo's own. (Used with permission)]
JOURNEY OVER THE PAST YEAR
In April of last year I had a routine colonoscopy. That showed a suspicious lesion. The pathology report was inconclusive because the samples taken were too small for a definite diagnosis but cancer was suspected. I wasn’t too concerned because colon cancer is curable if caught soon enough and I’m not one to dwell on the what if’s. I had a colonoscopy 7 years earlier so I thought I was being somewhat proactive in getting one now. Eileen, on the other hand was apprehensive, or looking back, it was probably more perception than apprehension.
When the pathology report came back the doctor called me and said, “it’s got to come out.” That didn’t surprise me but I was scheduled for back surgery in about a week and told him I would like to go ahead with that first. He didn’t comment on that but he asked who my back surgeon was. Within 30 minutes the back surgeon called and told me that I needed to hold off on the back surgery because my colon situation could be life threatening.
A couple weeks later in May, I had a colon resection. My greatest concern going in to that was hoping I wouldn’t end up with a colostomy. The surgeon assured me that it was not likely and that if I did have one, it would be temporary. What a relief – I was happy. Be careful what you wish for.
When I woke up from the operation I didn’t have a colostomy – great! That feeling of relief was short lived when Eileen, Tracy, and Tonya gently broke the news to me that it was cancer and that it had spread into the abdomen and lymph nodes. Then the surgeon came in to go over what he found. What an awful part of his job that must be. His eyes were red when he left. Continue reading
