How I cope…

Tonight I had an inspiration as I reflected on our recent past. Out of that reflection came the following piece, which I will submit to our local paper next week, when it's my turn to publish a column. I have entitled it "Five Years."

"The past five years have brought a veritable deluge of medical crises on my family. Between my spouse and myself, we have endured cancer, a stroke, and a variety of serious internal surgeries, capped off with a triple bypass and valve replacement! Fortunately, most of this is behind us and we are on the road to complete recovery.

Through all of this, however, we – like others in the same situation – had to get up in the morning, set about our work and other responsibilities, most of the time among people who were not fully aware of our distress and loneliness. I’m quite sure that this situation is not unique in any community. As you read this, there are likely people in town who are struggling with the same burden of illness and stress.

When one is living through such a time, two questions emerge. The first is “Why is this happening to me?” The second is, “What spiritual resources do I have to face these issues?”

With regard to the first question: I am not the sort of person who believes that life’s personal problems are visited upon us by God as a punishment for past sins. Nor do I believe that these burdens are sent to us by God to teach us something. It’s certainly true that some of our ailments grow out of our past behaviour, and that, inevitably, we learn things from our struggle with illness. A myriad of causes for physical ailments confront us, including the fact that some things just hit us randomly, in the course of life.

The second question – what resources do I have to deal with this situation? – Is much more immediate and demanding. You would assume that a Christian believer would be untroubled by catastrophe, since Christ has promised to be with us. But, in my experience, it’s never quite that simple.

How do we find comfort and certainty when our lives are threatened and we feel alone? Certainly, we can turn to the words of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to read of the experiences of others facing similar situations. I’d like to share with two such records from the Bible that have been supportive to me in times of deep trouble, and may be for you as well.

In 587 B.C. the Babylonian empire crashed down on Israel and literally wiped out the nation, sending hundreds of Israelites into exile in Babylon, where they sat for over seventy years. For a time, they were a people without hope. Into that despairing situation, Isaiah the prophet spoke and wrote. He brought his people powerful words of hope. In Isaiah 40: 28-31, Isaiah lifts his crushed countrymen with these stirring words:

“Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. …Those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
 They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they they walk and don’t lag behind.”

As a person who spent twenty years of life engaged in daily long distance running, those words were – and are – a powerful encouragement to me, especially when I feel like life itself is on the line.

Paul of Tarsus was on his way to Jerusalem with an offering for the embattled assembly of Christians in Israel’s capital city, when he sat down to write an informative and encouraging letter to his friends in Rome. It is not coincidental that soon after this, he was captured by Roman soldiers, and shipped to Rome in chains, where he died a martyr’s death because of his refusal to worship the emperor.

In the eighth chapter of that famous letter, Paul gives voice to words that have stiffened the faith of many a beleaguered soul before my time in the face of desperate situations.

“With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?…None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”

Many times during the past five years, I have read or called to mind these words, along with the words of Isaiah, to restore my faith and encourage my spirit on difficult days. I share this very personal reflection with you, so that when your life feels overwhelmed and crushed, you might also reflect on them and feel lifted up."

It's a bit personal, but it's the real me. I hope you find it to be so.