Having Cancer Doesn't Make You A Saint

I have a dear friend who is going through an emergency medical situation right now, but doesn't know what's actually going on. This morning she asked me to pray for her, but qualified her request by saying that there are so many more people who need prayers. I asked if she felt less deserving of prayers because I'm usually requesting that people pray for friends with cancer. She said yes, because hers was "petty and nothing I can't handle."

We all need prayers. Especially when we are scared and hurting. Having cancer did not turn me into some papal creature, smooth and unblemished and completely perfect, and I'm about 99.999% that didn't happen to any of my other friends who have cancer either. We're still just people. We have a potentially terminal illness, some are sicker than others, some are going through treatments that are more physically and emotionally taxing than others, but we're HUMAN. We are no more deserving of care and compassion than anyone else in the world.

There are a lot of shitty things in this world, and there will ALWAYS be a lot of shitty things in this world, a world filled with perfectly imperfect human beings who screw up all the time in all kinds of ways. There is evil and death and depravity. But the beauty of this life that we have is that there is a flip side to that as well. This world is also full of perfectly imperfect humans who try their hardest to make things better. There is beauty and light and kindness.

I will pray for my friend today, that she receives answers, and that the problem is simple and can be resolved easily. And if the answers are more complicated, I will keep on praying until she heals.