Life and Death

I talked with my brother-in-law Bill McCune last night. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few days back, and he's now pondering the no-win choices between which kind of surgery he prefers, and which kind of aggressive cancer treatment he prefers.

I know that when you reach a certain age (and I seem to have reached it) this kind of news becomes more and more common. You probably reach a certain point in life when you say goodbye to more friends that you say hello to. But this now makes four close family members who have either died or are dealing with life-threatening illnesses in the past year. My brother-in-law Jim died last April, my father-in-law Carroll died last month, and my niece Kristina and my brother-in-law Bill are both battling cancer. And I'm saddened and sick to my soul.

Bill is probably my closest friend. Certainly I've spent more time with him, and have shared more openly and transparently with him, than I have with anyone else in my life other than Kate. We connect at some pretty important and deep levels. Please pray for him, his wife Jan, and his daughters Heather and Jessica. Please pray for the Whitman family, too. I am able to praise and worship God in the midst of this. I firmly believe that He is in control, and in many ways I believe my spiritual life is on a better footing than it has been in a long time. But that doesn't negate the ache in the soul that I feel. God is good, and I hurt. Both are true. I can't fully fathom what Kate must be feeling, although I'm trying my best. This is her family, not mine. And they are a dear family, and they're going through hell.