When I got to work the other day I was greeted with a smile and an excited, “Did you see Julia? She’s back!” As I rounded the corner, there she was in the middle of a group of people beaming with joy. She was beaming with joy and the people surrounding her were like rays of her joy. She was dressed in her favorite bright pastel colors, including a sunshine yellow newsboy cap to hide her bald head.
The sunshine yellow cap was a perfect choice since Julia has always had a sunny disposition. Including the day she went to the doctor last winter because she thought maybe she had an internal bruise or torn muscle from shoveling snow after the storm. That was either a Monday or Tuesday, I think. The doctor sent her for a biopsy immediately. By Thursday or Friday she was on an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy. We were told they were not sure when Julia would return back to work.
Julia and I had not talked in depth about our faith before. But we both knew the other had deep faith. We had shared moments of intimate tears… when I told her how my boss supported & encouraged me through my divorce (while she interviewed me for an article about his 35 years with the hospital), we cried together. When my dad died, she shared how she got through her dad’s death, and we cried. As we had impromptu chats in the hallway, we’d get teary and need to move along before the tears consumed our day.
But seeing her at work for the first time in five months reminded me, in full color, how resilient the human spirit can be, especially when united by faith with the Holy Spirit. I have seen news reports about how a person diagnosed with cancer will have a better chance of surviving if they have a positive attitude. Some have even been more specific that a person’s faith affects their survival chances. That is probably true and a nice thought to think. However, what I see in Julia is surrender! She lives in surrender to the peace and comfort given by the Holy Spirit within her. She has surrendered to letting God use her and this experience of enduring cancer however He sees fit. Julia chooses to be grateful for her life, friends and family - even (maybe especially) on the days she is weak with pain and physical discomfort. She has a hope that surpasses her hope of surviving cancer. Her hope is that she can continue to be a servant of God, regardless of her health.
“I know God is using prayer warriors like you to help me on this journey and my job is just to be His servant in all of this.” -Julia
That quote by Julia is from an email reply to me a couple of days ago. The words, “I know,” demonstrate her faith in the power of one. She has faith that God will never leave nor forsake her, that He always surrounds her with His love, and that His love prevails. His love prevails in the union of prayers prayed, guided by the Holy Spirit, with the collective faith of her friends and family. In those moments of prayer for Julia, we are mystically united as one with God and Julia by a common denominator: God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within each of us.
Therein lays a tale of God’s love, truth and grace.
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