(This post is Part Two of The Cancer Journal. You can view Part One here.) Did I mention that Sarah broke her toe? It was late Christmas night. I was lying on the couch fighting a fever, and had finally convinced Sarah to go to bed. She assured me that she would get back up if she heard me coughing, …
The Cancer Journal
I don’t know exactly when the itching began. I do know, however, that it started inconspicuously as some mild irritation on my calves. My wife, Sarah, thought it was an allergic reaction to body wash, so we started cycling through all sorts of different soaps to get rid of it. Strangely, nothing seemed to work. The problem seemed pretty tame …
Wonder’s Whisper
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and thought that there had to be more? More than our tiny little lives? More than our tiny little world? More than our tiny little universe? You’re climbing a mountain trail. You reach the top of the hill and there’s a break in the trees. You look to your left, and …
Our Healer
I stood in the shower, tears melting into the spray from the shower head on my cheeks. There was a huge lump under my arm that I had named Nebraska; my skin was on fire; I couldn’t keep food down because of my incessant coughing. And the fevers weren’t giving me any confidence in my health’s outlook, either. Or the …
A Special Announcement
In the winter of 2013 I found my health in a steep, desperate decline. The longer and more rapidly it spiraled out of control the more obvious it became that something was very wrong. Finally, in early January, I was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We began chemo therapy and were told there was roughly a 50% chance that …
There is Peace
The little boat flailed as thunder cracked the skies and lightning electrified the raindrops. The waves thrashed and writhed like children on a temper tantrum as panic crawled down the throats of the boat’s crew and gripped their guts. Turning to their master, the bedraggled crew cried out, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Why did they have to yell at …
Coauthoring Our Destinies
How much input do we have over our own destinies? Or, rather, how integral a part do we play in determining our little segment of the cosmic story? One man feels like he is called by God to change a nation. So he goes and, with God’s help, he does it. Did he have a choice in following the call? …
“Noah” and the Entertainment Renaissance
We are in the middle of a renaissance. And none of us realizes it. What is a renaissance? According to Dictionary.com, it’s a “revival in the world of art and learning.” It is this definition that I am riffing on, particularly that word “revival”. I believe that God is infiltrating our art, our thought, and our entertainment. A bold statement, …
Why did Jesus Die at the Passover?
They came with swords and clubs and torches, led by a traitor. They called themselves holy men, and they had come to stain their hands with the blood of a teacher. A shadow the color of death was drifting over the land. It was the same day, but 1,500 years prior. A vicious, tyrannical ruler held a foreign people in …
Beauty in the Rain
Oftentimes when it begins to rain I will decide it is time to go for a walk. I will put on my coat and my hat, and as everyone else flees indoors I will step out into the downpour and tumult to begin the trek down our long gravel driveway. I smell the freshly cleaned air, I hear the rain …