How Do You See The World?

I’m a recent breast cancer survivor and a chaplain at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) I recently had a patient say to me, “You know, I was all scared about coming here to the SCCA because I was afraid of what I’d see.”
   
“What did you expect to see?” I asked.
   
“I thought it would be all sad and depressing to see bald people and people in wheel chairs. I didn’t want to see all the sad families.”
   
“So what did you see?”
   
“I saw folks laughing and smiling! I saw families and friends caring for one another. I saw cheerful nurses and doctors. I saw—love!”
   
He now loves coming to the clinic with his wife as she gets her chemotherapy. It’s not that are no sad or sick people there, it’s that what he sees overrides everything else. Love tops it all. Isn’t that the truth?
   
It isn’t that there isn’t horror and pain everywhere, but that everywhere, there is also Love. And this man chooses to focus on Love.  I find myself capitalizing “love” because I don’t mean kissing couples and Valentines.
   
I mean Love with a capital “L.” That which when you are in the presence of, opens your eyes, and strengthens your heart and somehow gives you hope that no matter what, all shall be well. Even into death.
   
Oh, yeah, I had to mention death because it’s what everyone thinks about when they first get a cancer diagnosis. I’ve found both professionally and personally that what helps the most is to sort out your feelings and beliefs about death.
   
Find someone who is willing to talk with you about it. Don’t bring it up at a dinner party. It's a total conversation stopper. I used to do that and now I don’t get invited anywhere!
   
This is important to do because once you can give your fear a voice, it doesn’t have the same power over you. You don’t spend your precious energy squelching your fear. You say, “Let’s bring into the light and take a look at it. Mmm-hmm. Well, there it is.”
   
Then you can go back to focusing on all the Love that surrounds you.
   
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