Yesterday I stumbled across the blog of a young woman (aged 27) who is sharing her journey with breast cancer with courage and humour. "Annie" was diagnosed after me but her cancer is so aggressive it makes my story a mere stroll in the park. She has just posted a poem that is stunning in its simplicity and truth:
Courage by J. Ruth Gendler
"Courage looks you straight in the eye.
She is not impressed with power trippers.
Courage is not afraid to weep,
and she is not afraid to pray,
even when she is not sure who she is praying to.
When she walks she makes the journey from loneliness to solitude.
The people who told me she was stern were not lying,
they just forgot to mention
she was kind."
She is not impressed with power trippers.
Courage is not afraid to weep,
and she is not afraid to pray,
even when she is not sure who she is praying to.
When she walks she makes the journey from loneliness to solitude.
The people who told me she was stern were not lying,
they just forgot to mention
she was kind."
Annie I weep for you, with you, and I pray for you, even though I don't quite know what to pray...
Comments
I've just spent the last half hour reading Annie's blog.
Not much else I can say!
Hi,
Thanks for your visit to (and kind comments on) my blog today. I hope you'll continue to read it, as I will yours if that's ok? As you say, everybody's experience of cancer is so different, but I genuinely believe they are all as hard as each others.... And we all 'just' do everything we can to make sure cancer doesn't win the war...
I think we all just pray that God will stay close to us, and we will, one day, see and (begin to) understand His for our lives.
Annie xx
Hi Annie, you are very welcome to visit my blog any time.
Yes we do all 'just' do what it takes don't we. And yes, we trust in God's accompaniment even through the dark valleys and the bits that prompt the sort of words minister-types aren't meant to know! As a friend of mine sometimes says when times are tough, 'make like the psalmist'.
Take care... and have a hug!