Last week Mayra, a beautiful young woman whom I work with as her spiritual companion, was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Mayra is a brilliant woman, a professor with a Ph.D., and is the mother of a precious little boy. Often such frightening and devastating news can easily throw us into a state of shock and into a questioning of our faith. ‘So where is God in all of this?’

One of the people who heard about Mayra’s situation said to me, ‘I just don’t understand: why would God give her cancer? She seems like such a wonderful and good person. Is God punishing her?’

I hear Mayra responding to these questions: ‘I’m a child of God, and God is truly my parent. So God loves me just as much as I love my own son. But even though I deeply love my son – as much as anyone can love a child, I know that there will be things that can go wrong in his life. He will fall, he will get hurt, he could be in an accident. At some point he could get a life-threatening disease. Even though I love my son as much as I can love, that does not prevent tough things from happening to him. When my son is hurting or sick, I can hug him, be with him in his difficulties, reassure him constantly, and give him my support and love and strength. That’s what God does and that’s what God is doing for me during this illness. Getting cancer is part of the human condition, but God has his arm around me all the time. He will give me love, strength, and the courage to walk on this journey – even with the cancer.”

With Mayra’s understanding and courage, we too can be open to God’s love and not be fearful of something going wrong. What a wonderful gift of grace and freedom Mayra offers us.

Friends, we need to realize how important it is to pause and rest, to be present, and to relish life. We need to stop engaging in negative and stressful activities and focus on ‘healing’ activities like taking long walks, eating healthy food, imaging positive outcomes in our lives. Is it possible for us to take time to talk with our family and friends, listen to peaceful music, watch sunsets, smell the flowers? Mayra would tell us to do so.

Dear God, you love us, your children. Your love is strong and enduring. You do not harm us or bring us grief. You are our loving parent who offers us strength and support. The path we walk on is filled with challenges and struggles, but your love will sustain us. Thank you for holding Mayra – and us – close to your heart. Amen.

Joy Carol
www.joycarol.com