CONTROL

I overheard an older man on the phone with someone whom he needed to reassure just how fine everything was. From what I could tell his mother was being treated for cancer and he had just learned that the cancer had spread to other parts of her body. I think most people enjoy being in control and cancer is the #1 joy-kill in that area. We can treat the cancer and hope for remission. This requires relinquishing control of your time, diet, energy, money and trust to a team of doctors, nurses, technicians, medical assistants, nutritionists and pharmacists.

Reassurances come and go and help us to build trust with anyone we deem worthy of controlling any aspect of our life. With cancer, a surgery (large or small) leaves us with some recovery time and a scar, but it also leaves us with a feeling that we did what we could. If the cancer requires more then surgery, chemo therapy or a transplant is performed. If not for ourselves, then at the hard request of our family and friends we do all we can to treat the disease. This should seem so obvious to everyone.

Getting back to the man on the phone, his attempt to reassure whomever he was talking to was failing.  “I get through this easier knowing that God is in control. I remind myself of this every day and you should to.” Continuing with “…oh please don’t …lets not …if she passes then it is part of God’s ultimate plan and we just gotta understand that. He’s in control now.” After listening for a minute he relinquished with “No, it doesn’t seem fair and it doesn’t make sense and yes I sometimes wonder what God is waiting for, if he is going to take her then he should just take her.”

Control is easier to give up when you also give up responsibility.