A touch of perspective

A lot has changed in the last seven months. Last August, I moved from Arlington, Virginia to Tokyo, Japan. I started a new position in a new office, with all that entails. I began to develop new friendships and to explore my new city. In addition to these positive but significant changes, I had to add back in the medication for migraines that I previously took in Brasilia and a few more asthma/allergy meds. I spent much of December trying to fight off a cold. In January, I began having issues that turned out to be a type of hormonal imbalance. (It’s amazing what hormones regulate in your body. It’s not just PMS!) About the time that was diagnosed and treatment began, the air quality in Tokyo became the worst in seven years and I ended up with asthma issues and a lung infection. And that’s when I started feeling sorry for myself, when the whining started, when I got tired of feeling generally cruddy.

Over the next few days, I was made aware that two people who I know, people who are close to people I’m close to, have spent these same seven months struggling with cancer. One is starting his fourth round of radiation. One has been literally torn apart by cancer in this short time, and the doctors have now declared that there is nothing more that can be medically done for him. And I got perspective. My medical issues can be fairly easily treated and don’t leave me in any sort of debilitating pain. I have been blessed with wonderful friends around the world and a good job that takes me to interesting places. I can walk to work without worry of being caught in crossfire or assaulted. I do not live in slavery. I have heat and running water and the ability to put food on the table. I am greatly blessed.

I do not diminish my struggles or the struggles of anybody else. My struggles are my burden to bear at this point in time, and they are real to me. But it is important for me to remember my blessings and to be reminded to lift up in prayer so many other people who are dealing with their own struggles. And this brings me around to the fact that today is Good Friday and yet another reminder that I serve a God who has known suffering - physical, emotional, spiritual. Part of what makes Good Friday good is the fact that Easter is coming. There was purpose in His suffering, even though His disciples couldn’t see it, and there was hope and life on the other side. Whenever I go through trials, I am helped by remembering that there is purpose. I may not see what that purpose is now. I may not see what that purpose is in my lifetime. I cannot see the whole tapestry that is being weaved out of my life and the lives of those around me. I only see my little piece of it, and that through a filter of my own moods, intellect, experiences. The struggle those two men are having with cancer has had a positive impact on the life of somebody half a world away, reminding me to be thankful for my blessings and to use my time on this earth to the fullest. And I rejoice that even in the darkest of valleys, there is hope and life at the other end. Today may have death, but soon there will be life. Today may be Good Friday, but Easter is coming.