“Cancer Isn’t the only Killer”
Life Story #1
An ICU nurse paged me to provide pastoral support for a family grieving their mother’s death. Her son asked me to pray but asked me if I could wait until he found his two sisters. After he left, another family member explained to me that one of the sisters, ‘Kathy,’ is an alcoholic. She was drunk and was making herself presentable before I prayed.
As I read Scripture, ‘Kathy’ interrupted me several times until her sister barked, “This isn’t about you right now. It’s about Mom!” After I prayed, Kathy frenetically paced the room, asking me how to cope with her guilt, but then talked over me. I called her name several times until I had her attention. Standing over her mother’s body, (can you see the symbolism?) I took her hands in mine, and said, “Kathy, you are loveable. You are worthy of getting help for your addiction. Make the choice to allow others to help you face your pain and confront your fears. Your family loves you.” I walked around the bed and she sobbed like a little girl into my arms.
Do our choices matter?
“The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice”-George Eliot (1819-1890)
Life Story #2
A staff member paged me, crying hysterically. Her college-age niece was partying and had fallen off a roof. Now she lay motionless in the ICU, her once unruly mane shaved to the scalp, black eye, tubes coming out of her head, machines surround her, limbs twitch mocking hope. These ‘movements’ are actually seizures, which are caused by the hemorrhaging in the brain, as a result of her fall.
Her Dad told me, “We talked to her about her partying and asked her how she managed a 4.0 grade average despite the inebriated weeknights and weekends.” I led her family and friends in prayer, pleading for God’s mercy and comfort and then watched as her Dad kissed his daughter’s forehead, her mother’s tears fell on her daughter’s cheeks, and her older sister bore her eyes into her sister; willing her to wake up.
The neurologist was unable to give indication of future cognitive capacity but said, “She’ll never be the same daughter, sister, and friend you knew. She’ll be moved to a skilled rehab facility to relearn basic functions of eating, drinking, talking, and walking.” Staff members comment, “Well, I made pretty stupid choices in my day. All college students make bad choices.”
Do our choices really impact life?
“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die or when but you can decide how you’re going to live now” – Joan Baez
Life Story #3
Text Page: Female, Patient’s daughter here…feels recent 11 month sobriety at risk, wants support… Could you counsel her?
The tears rolled off the hot cheeks of this fifty-something woman sitting next to me as she told me her story. ‘Jane’ had flown to
I turned my body to face Jane. “Jane, I am so proud of you! A year ago you self-medicated. Today, you faced your pain. You are a courageous woman who chose to rewrite her story today.” Bewilderment of another kind overcame her as she reached for a tissue and said, “Thank you for responding to my cry for help.”
Do we live as if our choices matter?
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Now, choose life, so that you may live” –Moses
Bless and be a blessing!
