Week of April 14 - 20

April 14

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.
     1 Corinthians 12:14

So often with cancer we have a razor sharp focus on the site of the disease and the fight to eradicate the disease from our bodies. But when we focus only on that, we neglect the rest of our selves. It takes the whole person to find healing from cancer. It takes a comprehensive approach to find all we need on this journey. We cannot, must not, neglect every other aspect of our selves. For one part of our selves to work best, all the other parts need to be at their best too. We have been created that way. We are at our healthiest that way. Pay attention not only to the physical and medical aspects of your treatment. But also pay just as close attention to the health and strength of the rest of your body. Just as importantly, give great care to keeping a positive attitude and a hopeful outlook. Faithfully and constantly, nurture the needs of your spirit and soul. Each part of you matters just as much as the other.

When you made me, dear God, you made me carefully and completely. Inspire me to care for myself completely, to nurture every part of this precious life you have given. Amen.


April 15

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
     1 Corinthians 12:26

We don’t walk this path alone. When we hurt, those who love us hurt with us. When we are weak, the hearts of those close to us have something diminished in them too. When we feel strong, those who care about us feel better as well. When we hear wonderful news, the spirits of those around us are lifted in connection and in celebration. There is nothing that makes us feel more forlorn than the feeling of being all alone when the hardest of life’s challenges hit us. There is nothing emptier than having something good to share and feeling as if no one cares or appreciates our joy. But we need to remember that we are loved, that there are those who truly and deeply care about our circumstances. How good it is to know there are those who will cry with us and exult with us just because we are part of their lives.

Understanding God, you care about me in my good moments and in my bad moments too. You know just how I feel and just what I need. You are with me completely and unendingly. And you give me others in my life, to share with me, too. I am so grateful for you and for them. Amen.


April 16

But strive for the greater gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way.
I Corinthians 12:31

Cancer can drag us down a path that is full of fear, negativity and pain. It pushes us hard and it’s often difficult for us to resist its destructive power and persuasion. But the way of fear, of negativity and of pain is not the way that God wants any of us to go. God’s desire for us is to experience much more instead. God’s desire for us is to know courage and peace. God’s way for us is to know promise and possibility. God’s plan for us is to know comfort and release. We do not have to be resigned to days that demoralize and defeat us. There is something better. There is something more. Don’t ever believe that there is no hope, no achievable plan for healing of your body, mind or soul. God has a way and when we put our trust in God’s hands we can find it.

I’m looking for your more excellent way, O God. I’m looking past my anxiousness and my doubts to find the healing you offer, the hope you promise and the help you reveal. Amen.


April 17

… for God is a God not of disorder but of peace.
     I Corinthians 14:33

There is certainly incredible turmoil around each of us in this life. And with cancer there is surely much turmoil within. Cancer turns our lives and hopes upside down. But God has not created us to live in turmoil. God has not made us to be torn apart or to exist in pain. That is why when anguish and suffering come into our lives we need to look to God for our help and our hope. God does not want turmoil to define us. Instead God wants peace and tranquility to preside over our days. When struggles come and we find ourselves burdened and weary, we need to turn from the sources of chaos and disarray and turn toward the Source that provides serenity and grace instead.

Thank you, dear God, for always holding out to me the way to find healing from everything that torments and troubles me. I pray to recognize the help you offer and to allow it to transform my life. Amen.



April 18

Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.
     I Corinthians 16:13

When we are threatened in any way, we sometimes quickly lose our perspective and our confidence. Undoubtedly, cancer is right at the top of the list when it comes to the biggest threats in each of our lives. Cancer can coerce us into questioning if God really cares or will help us in our distress. It can tempt us to give in to fear, to persistent doubt, to worry and to chronic negativity. But God keeps promising that none of that needs to last. God keeps promising that we are not alone, that we are being helped, that we can find healing, that God indeed does understand. The scriptures are full of the witnesses of countless saints of the faith who also suffered and were deeply scared. And the scriptures are full of their ultimate claims to faith, to God’s very real and evident role in healing their troubled lives. We can be witnesses to the same faith too.

Ever-present God, I certainly waver a lot. You know that, just as I do too. But I am so grateful that you don’t cast me aside when I do. You still keep offering to me your comfort and your strength. Amen.



April 19

Let all that you do be done in love.
     I Corinthians 16:14

It is so important to keep our focus on what this life is meant to be about. It’s essential to remember why we were created. We were created by God in love, to be loved and to share love. Love is what binds us together. Love is what causes us to reach out to care. Love is what propels us to resolve anger. Love helps to soothe pain. Love enables us to overcome bitterness. Love gives us reason to go on. God’s love is boundless, unconditional and eternal. It is because God loves us so much that God does not want us to suffer. Love relieves our distress. When we accept God’s love and live with the knowledge that in God’s eyes we are cherished, we can live with greater confidence in our healing and have greater hope for the journey we are on.

Loving God, gracious God, I know you are devoted to me. I know you treasure me beyond compare and only want what is best for me. Today I ask for your devotion to carry me through and remind me of how precious I am in your sight. Amen.


April 20

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
    2 Peter 1:3

We have been created to live abundantly in God’s image, to reflect the nature of God in everything we do. And that nature is one of healing, of joy and of peace. Anytime any one of us is not experiencing fully the nature of God, God actively works to provide it for us. God works to give us the help we need to reclaim what is our birthright as those created in God’s image. We have at our disposal, already, the means to be well and whole again wherever we need it, the way to experience delight every day and the ability to live in serenity. God wants nothing but goodness for us. When we are not healthy God wants nothing more for us than to find wholeness and well-being again. We need to claim this desire of God’s and hold tightly onto it. This knowledge and belief gives us hope and strength to meet each new day and everything each day brings.

Dear God of life and goodness, when the circumstances of my life wear me down I need to refocus my understandings and perspectives on you and your plans for me. I know they are plans for healing and joy, and when I forget, I need you to remind me again. Amen.