Cancer...a gift? -- Gibson

   Life is hard. Loss and pain trip us up. Body cells go rogue. Germs and bugs maim and kill. But when we open ourselves to receive them, we find that God uses our difficulties to bring unique gifts of grace. New spiritual perspectives, new relationships, a new view of life and appreciation for living.

   We’ve already discovered some of those gifts since my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this summer. We recall others that have appeared during his now five-year case of West Nile disease. But I was unprepared for his comment the other day.

      “Cancer is the new gift I’ve been given,” he told a friend, a few days before his several hour surgery.

       I argued. “No. Cancer is NOT a gift.  It’s the platter that God can use to deliver unique gifts.” But a peck of pork chops made me rethink that response.

      “My dad worked in the packaging industry,” one of the ICU nurses told us during a pleasant conversation as he cared for my husband. “When a producer called to say they needed to ship, say, 10,000 pork chops, Dad’s job was to find or make just the right box to ship them in.”

     That conversation brought me late to consider what Rick had already concluded: God knows the best gifts he wants to bring us. In his omniscience (big word meaning all-knowing), we must accept that not only does he allow, he also designs the only carrier possible to deliver them.

    So yes, cancer too, is a gift. A platter awkward to carry, ugly to view, and painful to bear. But a gift from Father’s hand nevertheless. In eternity’s perspective, I trust that one day I too, will view it the way he sees it: as perfect.

    No box, no chops.

 ***

Find Sunny Side Up faith columnist, broadcaster and author Kathleen Gibson on the web at www.kathleengibson.ca, or blogging her husband's cancer journey at www.caringbridge.org/visit/rickgibson  Email sign-in necessary.