It was supposed to be a quick in and out appointment at the cancer center; I was simply going in to have my chemotherapy port flushed. When I walked in, there was a line for registration. So, I waited, at a distance from the person ahead of me. Then the young man and woman at the front of the line were directed to the lab for a blood draw. As he turned toward me, we saw one another. He couldn’t have been more than 25. I recognized the look in his eyes. I’d seen it many times at the cancer center; I’d seen it in the mirror. I smiled at him as he passed by me. He smiled back, and simultaneously, we said, “Hi.”
He disappeared soon after that into the lab. And I, after check-in, headed to the chemotherapy center. It was a quick flush, thankfully; everything is still working like it should. As I grabbed my things and headed out, the young man stepped into the chemotherapy center. He stood, unsure of what to do, where to go. I smiled at him and said, “I got them warmed up for you. You’ll get the hang of it.” He smiled at me and said, “Thank you, ma’am.”
I don’t know his name. I wish I had asked. I do know that I will pray for him. While all of our journeys are unique, when we encounter someone who is traveling a part of the way we’ve been on before, while we have to acknowledge that their journey won’t be a carbon copy of ours, we also need to embrace the human empathy that the moment calls us to. I pray that he will experience healing. I pray that he will be able to endure the changes to his body as the medical field tries to fight the invading cancer. And I pray that he knows every step of the way that he does not go alone.
I hope that we meet again. I would like to know how he is doing. The medical profession and processes, however, are very protective of a patient’s privacy; I will just have to hope that our paths cross again.
This day, I pray as we go about our “business” we recognize that our “business” includes being present to one another, recognizing in the other the difficulties they face, the crosses they bear. I pray that following in the footsteps of our LORD we are able to follow His lead and see the other, really see the other. And I pray that we seek a way to accompany the other as we walk along. The way can be intimidating, difficult, even frightening. Our discipleship not only calls us to make the journey, it calls us to be there for one another along the way, to exercise compassion, to open our hearts to the suffering of another and share the load.
Until tomorrow, let us all love well.
Amen, Amen, Amen