And then some! You know, life is a struggle; the pursuit of happiness can, at times, feel completely futile; the stuff that happens outside of our control can take us on a rollercoaster ride that makes us want to shout: STOP now! You know this, I know this, and yet when we find ourselves on that rollercoaster we’re somehow surprised. We’re surprised because of what I like to call ‘The Great Con’ this being the notion that living life is all about being ‘happy’ and living uncomplicated lives in which everything goes to plan, all is within our control and there’s ALWAYS a happy ending. In each and every family there are stories which tell us this is not the case; that reality is very different.
I believe that as a Christian I inhabit both a physical and a spiritual realm. The struggles that we come up against are both physical and spiritual and the way we deal with them impacts in both arenas. This is an area of deep theological discussion and disagreement between Christians and non-Christians alike, and I don’t pretend to have answers to it, just a viewpoint which helps me make sense of the things happening around us.
This past week my Mum has been waiting for results from a biopsy taken at the breast cancer screening clinic. Yes, on top of the aftermath of my own bowel cancer discovered 6 months ago; we were faced with the possibility of a second cancer diagnosis in much less than a year. At this point I should apologise to those in the family who didn’t know, we really didn’t tell many people at all. Mum was keen that we should not panic or involve too many until we knew the results, and the results are all clear. No cancer!
What a week then! What a year. I feel pulled and pushed about, I feel knocked down, I feel like it would be easier just to curl up in a corner and allow the world to carry on around me without trying to make an impact. But this is not really the person I am. I will continue to tell people how good God is; I will continue to battle with my enemy in the name of God; I will continue to pray for people to be healed and to be drawn closer to God. And hear this, those spiritual powers who will continue to plague me and make my life a struggle, I will not stop. And do you know what? With the God of the universe on my side, we will always win.
