TOUGHING IT OUT
SUFFERING NEEDS NO APOLOGY

THE FLEETING OF TIME

 

"Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind" (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

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Most of us wonder each day of how our time slips by so quickly. There seems  be enough hours in the day to allow us to complete all the things that we want to complete on a given day. If only we had more time during the day is the proverbial maxim we continuously long for each day. Whatever way we look at time...as a cancer patient since November 2013, I find comfort that time for me is fleeting quickly, especially amid the medical treatment.

With no shame, I admit the cancer treatment has been a rough go for me. While I've endured the continued chemo injections, followed by the ensuing negative side effects (i.e., temporary memory loss, weight loss, fatigue, etc.), I cannot help but think that I've lost almost a year of my life to treatment. My primary care doctor described it as a "temporary forced retirement".

However, regardless of how I think or feel, I'm certain there is meaning in all this. In fact, the first lesson I had to learn when the doctor informed me that I have cancer was the realization that my time on earth may be possibly shorter than expected.

The half-brother of Jesus writes, "What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while. Then it disappears." (James 4:14b). And a poet once wrote, "Dust we are, and a shadow."

Before cancer my mind was consumed with the cares and contrivances of myself - life goals, pleasures, wants and desires, my family and friends - and most important my relationship with my beautiful wife. But now, providence dictates that I must learn more lessons and grow in character.

Whatever lessons I must learn, however, I pray that God's time will be gracious with me.


ajh

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