I have been following the posts of my very distant cousin James as he has been going through cancer. James is a remarkably beautiful writer, actor, and father who has the talent of being able to express himself from the heart in such a clear, eloquent way that it goes straight into others' hearts. Now he is facing another surgery, and his latest post really touched me. He is following the Buddhist maxim, "That which you cannot avoid, welcome." He has somehow - amazingly - come to terms with his cancer, faced it, and accepted that this is going to be his path whether he likes it or not. That acceptance makes all the difference, because then he can focus his energy on living and healing instead of wasting it protesting and wailing and getting angry, like so many of us do.
He is epitomizing exactly what I wrote about in my last blog post, about how you can take something bad that's out of your control and sanctify it. Your attitude can change the actual nature of the thing so that it brings you blessings instead of burdens. And he is staying close to the one who "descended below them all," the only one who can really understand what he is going through and carry him through it.
Cheering you on from across the continent, James. I'll keep you in my prayers.
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