Too many disconnected thoughts for a single coherent post, so ...
- The guy who I thought would quit in the first week ... quit in the first week.
- I've cleaned and decorated the public areas of my dwelling, but I have yet to have anyone over. For shame.
- Yesterday I struggled to build the nerve to make a phone call to some friends with whom I'd lost contact, but after several minutes of hemming and hawing (I'm not sure what either of those actions really involve) I just said "one-two-three go!" and dialed, and an hour and a half later it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Two and half years hadn't changed these friends a bit. They were as super-cool as I remembered them, and a broken link has been restored.
- My ex-roomate and husband designate's mother was recently diagnosed with cancer of the smooth muscle. As cancer goes, it's not too painful, but deadly, and it strikes quick. It was already well advanced by the time it was discovered, and there's little that can be done. She has started to bleed internally, and her blood count is dropping fast, which prohibits chemo. It's questionable whether she will be able to attend Micah's wedding, if she can even hang on for another few weeks. It's tearing her children to pieces. Her daughter Calista was completely exhausted at the meeting tonight. It's hard to imagine the simultatneous blend of joy and heartache that Micah must be churning.
Everytime this system deals another cruel stab, it's another reminder of why it's got to go, soon. I can't fathom how those without the resurrection hope handle something like this.
Posted by dan at February 26, 2004 11:38 PM | TrackBackwow - tears fill my eyes, even knowing that I don't fear eternity without God. I don't understand pain, but I know it hurts, it hurts bad. I hope that you cling to the promises God's given us, in this fallen world... fellow person in pain. b.
Posted by: brian at February 27, 2004 07:30 AM>Connecting with old friends is great.
>My ex-roomate and husband designate's
Who does that represent. Your ex-roomate, soon to be married?
>As far as cancer goes, or any death, I cam empathize. Last summer my cousin, my pioneer partner and good friend, passed away from a cancer battle she fought for 7 years. She was 21 years old. And a few days before she passed, in the hospital bed, she asked to be taken off morphine for Sunday morning, so that she could comment, via telephone hook-up, during the watchtower study.
Jesus was the visible, and most perfect, reflection of his heavenly father Jehovah. If he cried at Lazarus' death, knowing full well that in a few minutes Lazarus would be alive and well again, how much more so does Jehovah hurt seeing thousands die each day, some to heartbreaking illness.
Job 14:14,15 tells us that relief will come, and Jehovah has a yearning to see those who have passed away again. Faithful men of old are as dead to Jehovah as they are to us, and he misses them. But Jehovah's memory is perfect, allowing for a complete undoing of all the pain this system is causing by death.
How we yearn for that day, and pray for all our brothers and sisters to endure whatever pain and tribulation our adversary is putting against us.
Posted by: M Kenyon at March 1, 2004 06:23 AMThanks, guys. It always helps to hear words of empathy and encouragement. I wish I were better at giving that to my friends.
And you hit the "ex-roomate and husband designate" thing right on, Mark.
Posted by: dan at March 1, 2004 09:22 PM