I think I've lost track of the number of plagues I've been through thanks to my cancer adventure. Let's see, there's lost appetite, nausea, loss of energy, some hearing loss, neuropathy, hair loss, loss of feeling in my neck, shoulder issues and now the latest addition- acne. Acne is the most common side effect of my new weekly chemo treatments.
As far as side effects go acne isn't so bad, just a bit annoying. Like hair loss, its more noticeable to others and so maybe I'm a bit more self-conscious about it. The good news is the medicine I 'm taking to clear it up is working pretty well.
Thinking about all this it struck me that the health issues people can see on me aren't the real problems- just side effects. I mean loss of hair and acne aren't really major health concerns. It's the cancer that no one sees that should be and is the main concern. That's why I'm continuing chemo, to keep the cancer from causing any more problems.
And we can apply this same thinking to our own lives- that the cancer of sin lives in each of us and no one sees it. Yet the side effects of our sin do spill out into the open on occasion- anger, poor choices, bad attitudes, harsh words or worse. And maybe these are the things we are most self-conscious and concerned about, the side effects of sin.
The problem is that while we might be able to mask or minimize some of these public side effects, what we really need to do is treat the underlying issue; the sin-cancer. At a minimum we need to have weekly treatments like I get. We need to be in church, getting full doses of forgiveness and faith and grace and hope through God's richest gifts of sacraments and His Word. Adding daily doses of prayer and God's Word to our treatment plan would be even better!
I think I'm bordering here on writing a simple-minded preachy analogy which is something I try to deliberately stay away from. But I don't want to erase it and start over because at the core I think we are all at some level more concerned about outward appearances than what's going on inside us. My point is not treating cancer is a life-threatening choice and not dealing with sin is an eternal life threatening choice. Insides matter more than outsides.
I'm glad my acne is going away- I was looking a little rough there for awhile. But I'll be way happier in a couple months when scans show my insides are clear. This week I'm encouraging a faith treatment for everyone on Sunday, some confession and absolution, repentance and forgiveness. A visit with the Great Physician is always a good thing!
Blest Regards,
Keith
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