Koinos Community Church - The Latest v01.27

The Latest v01.27

Last week, Uncle Ron sat in a lazy boy trying unsuccessfully to catch a nap for a few hours while the healing poison of chemotherapy seeped into his puffed vein. Yesterday, many of us forced smiles of normalcy each time we heard him cough or reach out to steady his slight frame when he ventured off the couch during a commercial of the Packers' and Lions' game. Last night, Ron was touched-up with clippers to even the islands of hair with the smoothness on his scalp. Late last night, I wondered how long people can make it after labeled "Stage Four."

Today is Uncle Ron's wedding rehearsal, and tomorrow I will be inviting Stephanie's Uncle to kiss his bride.

For those who have never had the privilege, or the necessity, of cultivating an eye for beauty and the art of life lived well, this weekend may seem depressing. Certainty there will be more tears released and more tissues crinkled than other wedding ceremonies. But for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the focus of the day will not be on, "How much time do they have?" No, it will be, "What a time they have had!"

Ron has been a bachelor for 49 years. A usually tan and trim amateur tennis buff who at one time or another has been on a date with most of the attractive women of his generation, and a few more in the one coming behind it. He's always been polite and kind and easy to get along with, but not always easy to please on the dating scene. A year and a half ago, his nagging Easter cough was given the name of endocarcinoma. If his initial oncologist appointment had been a month or so later, there would have been an empty seat at the 2006 Christmas dinner.

In the sleepless nights Ron prayed for health. Ron prayed for a wife.

Several weeks later in Ocean City, while Ron sat in the sun shirtless and hairless, a cute brunette began a conversation. She could relate to cancer. She had weathered years of physical struggles and complications in her youth. She worked full time with disabled children. She had a rough family background. She seemed complicated to some men, but a God-send to one regularly considering his mortality.

Ron is a new man. Though outwardly he has been wasting away, yet inwardly he is being renewed day by day. His Creator is not simply mentioned as a figure of speech, but a person He has been getting to know. His fiancée has been not a successful role of the dice, a prize who will hold his hand as the final breaths escape his tumored lungs. She has been a gracious gift who has been holding his hand, teaching him how to live. Next week's Hawaii honeymoon will be worth years of what is typically settled for as "life."

Tomorrow, standing or sitting, depending on how Ron feels, the Bride and Groom will be of course, excited and nervous. Their presence, standing or sitting, will remind many that life can come from death.

Their new marriage, standing or sitting, will speak of resurrection from a dark tomb.

May we all be so blessed.

Love you all! Have a great weekend!

Brian

[ Back ]