September 10
 
Love is kind.
     I Corinthians 13:4b
 
We need to remember to be kind to ourselves when we are living with cancer. We need to make the time to care for ourselves, to rest enough, to laugh enough, to resist overdoing it enough, and to find ways to renew ourselves enough every day. To love ourselves means to understand our own needs and not to neglect them. Now, especially, is the time to love ourselves enough to say no to demands that drain and drag us down. Now is the time to say yes to the opportunities we have to refresh ourselves and create a peace and contentment that revives our spirits and lives.
 
More than ever, I need to be reminded of my responsibility to myself. I need to be open to the essential components that will help me find your healing. O God, I look to you and know that you want only the best for me. I need to want the best for myself too. Amen.

 
September 11
 
He said: The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.
     II Samuel 22:2
 
Our own power alone is never enough to gain all that we need. Each of us requires a power beyond our own, a power that is perfect, infinite and pure. God’s power is just that. God’s power takes over where we alone cannot. It fills in the gaps, carries us through when we are weak and provides a way when we are lost. God’s power enables us to find our way out of trouble and through the darkness in our lives. God’s power gives us grace in spite of ourselves.
 
O God, I look to you this day because you I know that you give me everything I cannot give myself. I know your understandings are infinitely beyond mine. I ask for your understandings to empower me with hope and wholeness. Amen.

 
September 12
 
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant.
     I Corinthians 13:4c
 
One gift that cancer can give is the opportunity for us to reframe our attitudes and approaches to life. The realization that life on earth is finite and fragile can serve to propel us toward healthier ways of reacting and relating to the world around us. If we love the life we have been given and love the people who share life with us, we have the blessed prospect of living more humbly, less contentiously, more gratefully and less angrily. What a gift it is to live a life where peace prevails and grace abounds. Life is tremendously richer when we understand, appreciate and accept these gifts.
 
Dear God, sometimes it’s hard to realize that cancer can present any gifts. But the gift of reframing our lives is a blessed one. Help me to accept this gift. Help me to use this gift in life-renewing and life-affirming ways. Amen.

 
September 13
 
My shield and the horn of my salvation.
     II Samuel 23:3b
 
The love of God arms us with resources we can scarcely imagine. It empowers us to face challenges we think we cannot overcome. It enables us to overcome despair in triumphant ways. It encourages us to seek life-affirming directions we have never sought before. The love of God protects us and propels us through the most difficult times in our lives. On this love we need to place our very existence. And on this love we can find the strength and resolve we need to meet every obstacle we encounter along our way.
 
Through every danger, toil and snare I have already come … because of you, O God, because of your everlasting love for me and my well-being. I am grateful for you – and your love – today. Amen.

 
September 14
 
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;…
     Psalm 8:5
 
God gives us the ability to control many things about the direction of our lives. We are deeply blessed with the gift of having choices and options. God gives us reason, free will, thought and the power to learn and grow. We have the ability to alter the course of our lives though the attitudes we possess, the support we gather around us, the kind of medical care we seek, the foods we eat, the physical activity we engage in, and the spiritual understandings we develop. All these gifts have a strong influence on our health and well-being. It is up to us to use this gift of choice and the power God gives us – to create an atmosphere of wellness in which to live.
 
Generous God, you have blessed me richly with gifts that can change my life for the better. Help me to use these gifts and the choices you offer on this day you have made, so that I may live in health and peace. Amen.

 
September 15
 
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
     Luke 1:46-47
 
When Mary learned of the daunting changes that were happening in her life, instead of running away in fear, she embraced the challenges head on. Instead of falling apart or descending into paralysis, she embraced her circumstances and looked to God to help her face them. In fact, she praised God and placed her absolute trust in God’s ability to see her through every moment along the coming way. Mary’s praise, confidence and trust were essential to her success in the challenges that lay ahead of her. An attitude of praise, confidence and trust are essential to meeting successfully our challenges, too.
 
I thank you for always helping me through every challenge I have. I know you will always be with me no matter what comes my way. I believe you will give me every good thing I need, O God. Amen.

 
September 16
 
They came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay.
     II Samuel 22:19
 
When we feel knocked down, burdened, besieged, we need to remember most that we are never alone. Even when it seems as if no one understands, as if no one cares or as if no one can help, we are still enveloped in the love and grace of God. No matter how disastrous the day or how dark and lonely the night, God’s steadfast presence never falters or forsakes us. This assurance can always sustain and revive us when we are on the verge of giving up. God’s faithfulness never ends, even when we can’t see it or understand how God works.
 
Ever-present God, I need reassurance that you are right here with me in my fear and in my distress. Today, I pray to see you and know you in very real and evident ways. In that I am calmed and find confidence. Amen.