The Shortest Distance Between Two Points

So often we shake our heads or our fists, wondering what’s wrong with God. We’ve asked him for help - to take away some pain or to help us achieve a goal - and yet the opposite has happened.

“Lord,” I prayed “please let this lump be benign.” Then I was told “You have Stage 3 Breast Cancer.”

Wait a minute here, I asked God for help. I had been clear and it was a straight line between me and health. This shouldn't be hard for him. After all, God had cured a lot of people and brought some back from the dead. Even the Cancer Centers of America can’t do that! So what had happened? Was his Prayer Mail Box full? Why didn’t he answer my prayer?

Now as I look back from the perspective of several years, I see the flaws in my thinking . First, prayers were answered. Taking the journey through cancer, I received gifts along the way. I learned new coping skills, deepened some relationships, began new friendships, and had the opportunity to help people.

Second, and maybe most importantly, there was a flaw with my geometry. I believed that I was the first point along the route - that I was at the center of the universe. Now when I pray, I remind myself of three things:

• The shortest distance between two points is a straight line
• There are gifts and answered prayers along that line
• The point in the middle isn’t me

Digging for a Cure

It's officially Spring. For those of you in the Midwest and Northern climates, you know this is a time of miracles. Trees are beginning to bud and bloom, bulbs are emerging and everything smells better.

For those of us who are Cancer Survivors, this time of miracles is all the more poignant. I've talked with many women who tell me that post-Cancer, gardening has become almost an obsession. Everything is better when we're on our knees, face to face with some good black dirt, and welcoming a fragile plant into the world. Why do you think that is?