…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. … And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4: 8 -9
What is my only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
~Heidelberg Catechism
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
~Mary Oliver
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.
~ T.S. Eliot
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To live is so startling, it leaves little room for other occupations.
~Emily Dickinson
I believe in God as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
~ C. S. Lewis
Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.
~ Augustine
Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.
~ Mary Oliver
The seed is in the ground. Now may we rest in hope while darkness does its work.
~ Wendell Berry
Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine the true poetry of life.~ Sir William Osler
But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
~George Eliot’s final sentence in Middlemarch
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
~ E.B. White
Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear, in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear. What we need is here.~~ “The Wild Geese” Wendell Berry
Let it come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.
~ Jane Kenyon from “Let Evening Come”
You can only come to the morning through the shadows.~ J.R.R. Tolkien
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for. ~ Thomas Merton
This life therefore is not righteousness,
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet
what we shall be,
but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished
but it is going on.
This is not the end
but it is the road.
~Martin Luther
Ten times a day something happens to me like this – some strengthening throb of amazement – some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.
~ Mary Oliver
It is not your love that sustains the marriage —
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
She has done what she could…
~Mark 14:8
What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?~ J. R. R. Tolkien from The Hobbit
Barnstorming 
I’m feelling like giving up. I’m having a bad day. After finally having an inroom compassionate caregiver visit in my 98 year old father’s personal care facility, I am just plain sad. Good to see him. Better yet to clean up the disarray I found. It’s a good facility, but no institution takes care of family like family. I’m on a quilt trip again.
Switched cancer doctors for convenience sake after my move last yesr. I was on a path of treatment prescribed at the cancer center where I was diagnosed and first treated. I had accepted the cancer and was feeling okay with the decisions made. Got to the new doc and she wanted me to change meds…I won’t bore you with all the details. It has to do with pharmaceuticals and side effects. I had a visit in July and we had this lengthy conversation. I expressed my reasons for not wanting to follow her plan. I had another appointment in October and we had the same conversation. Then she asked if I’d like to talk with a nurse navigator. Finally had that conversation this week. She gave me the same script. Felt like she was saying the same thing shared with many patients. I didn’t feel like I was being heard. She just talked on and on with her narrative. Where is human compassion and looking at me as an individual and taking into consideration where I am coming from? I felt no compassion. No empathy. Just a sermon telling me what pharmaceuticals I should be taking. My previous doctor was not on this band wagon. So now I am confused and stressed and feel like I’m doomed if I don’t do as they say. I’ve had three lectures.
Be prudent. Be prudent. That’s what the President of our continuing care facility keeps telling the residents here, when talking about COVID-19.
Definition of prudent…acting with or showing care and thought for the future.
So, I wonder what is the prudent thing to do, when thinking about my cancer?
At this point I have no peace of mind.
This morning and most of the day I’ve been having a pity party with lots of tears.
Sure wish there was a morsal of empathy in the medical field. More and more I see it as a money racket.
Can you tell I am having a bad day?
Seize the day gently was your previous post.
I need to work on that.
Linda Ziegler
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Linda, I can almost feel the anguish of your angst and frustration as you deal with your Cancer. It must seem to you that, no matter wherever your turn or to whomever you go for consideration and help to ease your feeling of emptiness and lack of understanding and empathy to ease your suffering, you feel hurt and perhaps alone and even alienated from the overworked and overwhelmed medical and other helping professions (especially in this time of a mushrooming pandemic). Consider this, Linda:
‘Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…For the joy set before Him He endured the Cross…and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider Him who endured…so that you will not grow weary and lost heart.”
(Hebrews 12: 1-3)
(And remember, that He is with you always. He will walk beside you during your time of trial and suffering. That was one of His most enduring promises to us.
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I was doing fine until I went to a new cancer center, because of my move.
Why must doctors be so focused on pharmaceuticals? What about exercise, nutrition, relaxation?
What about listening to the patient and allowing the patient to feel comfortable and at peace with the treatment they were given from the get go?
Let it go, Linda.
Let it go.
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Dear Linda, I am so sorry you are having this experience with your new medical providers. Most cancer centers have patient advocates to help you negotiate the difficult process of deciding forms of treatment. I hope that is an option for you. Doctors are trained to recommend treatments with the best evidence in studies, but they don’t always agree. It is very tough to be caught in the middle.
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