The season of Advent is about joyfully awaiting the arrival of the good news of Christmas. Hopefully, Advent this year will also be a time of positive news about my PET scan. My doctor's secretary informed me yesterday that the results will be delayed for a few more days. I am coming to the realization that my entire cancer experience has been about waiting and trusting in God's providence.
Two other people in waiting this December are our former neighbour Jack and my renewed friend John who lost his wife about a month ago.
Jack remains locked on the Alzheimer’s floor of his nursing home. Frequent visitors over the past four months, Terry and I have now been banned from seeing him by his family. Even our phone calls are blocked. We didn’t realize that we were such nasty people. Jack will occasionally call us and our hearts break to hear the sadness in his voice. We continue to pray for him and his misguided family, especially in this Christmas season.
I'm also attempting to merit the good friend status that John has accorded me by weekly visits to the St. John’s Rehab Hospital. He is still struggling with his wife's passing and finds it hard to look at her picture by his bedside without a tear coming to his eye. John is a double amputee as a result of the challenge of diabetes. He awaits his second prosthetic device and is satisfied that his extended stay in hospital will keep him away from the emptiness of his home at Christmas.
I am painfully aware that for some, Christmas can be a time of profound sadness and loneliness, especially for those without a deep faith. I can only wish and pray that God’s abundant blessings may find their way to Jack and John over the next few weeks.
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