Cancers

Just as I was about to turn sixty years old, I was diagnosed with cancer. My subsequent surgery and treatment allowed me to live a healthy life since then. For that, I'm grateful to the Father above for his grace and mercy.

I was going to say I'm now cancer free. But I got to thinking, cancer has many forms and faces besides the normal things we think of like lung cancer, breast cancer, etc.

Sometimes, we suffer from cancer of the mind. Negative thoughts fill our head; self-doubt is around every corner; we talk to ourselves in unmerciful ways; we’re critical of everything we do. This is the kind of cancer that leads to depression and sucks the life out of you, leaving you feeling like an empty shell.

There’s also cancer of the soul in which a person has nothing to anchor themselves to when storms come. Either they've never known God, or they've drifted so far away from Him the light in their soul has nearly been extinguished. Life has no purpose or meaning; days are long and nights are longer.

I wish I had simple cures for those kinds of cancers. It would be easy to say, “Empty your mind of negativity,” and “Give your life to God,” but it involves so much more than that. It takes work—weeks, months, years of it to be completely cured (if “completely” is even possible).

It usually takes an experienced guide to help us on the journey out of those cancers. Do I mean a therapist? Sure, that might be your choice, but it doesn't have to be. It can be a good, honest friend who will walk with us, shoulder-to-shoulder, listening and reflecting back to us words of wisdom. It can be someone you met at a 12-step meeting who has been where you've been and found their way out. A member of a church, whether they're the preacher or not, can be a source of light to help us find our way out of the darkness.

Here's the thing: cancer doesn't just go away by ignoring it, not any kind of cancer. But ALL cancers can be treated.

Are the treatments always successful? That depends on how you define success. The night before my cancer surgery, my wife and I had a conversation in which I said, "The worst thing that could happen (death) would be the best thing that could happen (because I would be free from this land of sorrow)."

The only way she and I could have that kind of conversation was because both our souls were cancer free. We know where we're going when this life ends.

If you have cancer, find someone to help you. No matter how you may feel, it's not hopeless. Your life can be full and rewarding.

* Taken from The Wit and Wisdom of David Johnson, Volume I1: The Hairy Catfish Caper.