Cancer is the King of Illnesses. It carries the crown of suffering and death, and it has unlimited power. This week Catherine, Princess of Wales, told us, in her own unvarnished words, that she has cancer. In January a much beloved family member died of pancreatic cancer after a 6-year battle.
For Christians, pausing here at Easter about the life and death of Jesus, it is an appropriate moment to think about cancer and the long shadow it throws over the lives of so many – high or low, young and old.
In my own family I had to find a way to say my last goodbye without insulting the life still present in my sister-in-law’s life; someone I met when she was 11 and now 41 years later, she was in her last days. She had showed so much dignity, so much strength and so much gratefulness for the life that she was able to lead, that I had to admire her for the way in which she stared down the finishing line and remained thankful for the opportunity to live a full and happy life.
I wrote her a ‘poem’ and sent it to her. I am sharing only a few lines here:
I think about you…
I think about you; when we meet – youth is on your side
I think about you when your sun shines – brightly
I think about our bond
I think about the years that rolled by
I think about the short distance between us
I think about the distant journey
I will still think about you
and the value of it all – love; a smile; a tear
In this way I could say my farewell when she could still appreciate it and it allowed me some peace. And, yes, I still think of her.
At this time I think about a Princess who has small children and who are in the middle of her own life. Catherine, Princess of Wales, is strong and she has grace. She also has the best medical team one could wish for. Her father-in-law, the King of the United Kingdom also has cancer but the KING OF ILLNESSES does not take your status in life into account nor does it gives any credits for meritorious lives. It just pursues you relentlessly until it strikes that last, fatal blow.
You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. –Unknown – That is my message for the Princess in the grip of the King of Illnesses, and all other persons suffering from cancer.
Around us there are so many millions of people suffering and dying under the rule of the most uncompromising mass killer of them all, CANCER – the King of Illnesses. We only have our resilience, our compassion and our love to give to those who suffer from cancer. May Easter inspire us anew to value life and embrace living, even if time is limited for some.
Let’s hold on to this anonymous quote:
“Cancer cannot cripple love, it cannot shatter hope, it cannot conquer the spirit.”