“In life and in death we belong to God. And life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage.”
I quote these declarations from A Brief Statement of Faith and the Confession of 1967 multiple times a day. Sometimes as a pep talk. Sometimes as affirmation. Sometimes as an exhausted last resort. Sometimes as the only hope-filled truths.
As a pediatric oncology chaplain, I meet kids and their families when they are first diagnosed with cancer. I’m there when the scans show no changes. I’m there when tumors shrink after radiation. I’m there when scans show tumors are growing even with chemotherapy. I’m there when remission is declared. I’m there when relapses occur. I’m there to bless stem cells before transplant.
Families are appropriately in shock at the time of diagnosis. Partly because the day before, life as they knew it was some version of normal and their child didn’t have cancer. And partly because their child has cancer. Cancer is enough of a beast for adults, but for it to invade infants, kids and teens is an added layer of cruel and unusual rudeness.
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