Psalm 23:4

I received word today that the mother of some friends of mine has a far more serious cancer than was initially thought. The doctors are not speaking in terms of cure, but control, and hopes that they can give her a year.

The news came in the midst of some other things, already breaking my heart, and I've set aside what I'd planned to do this afternoon in favor of tears, lighting candles, writing and praying.

When the email came this morning, I thought immediately of some lines from a book called "The Word on the Street". The author, Rob Lacey, rewrote much of the Bible during a battle with cancer. He was eventually healed, lived a number of years before the cancer recurred, this time claiming his life.

The lines that came to my mind this morning were his rendition of Psalm 23:4... I can hear them as he wrote them, because there is also an audio version of the book (I recommend it). There is a rhythm to them, and today they are playing through my head as a prayer.

I crawl through the alley of the shadow of cancer
I know you know the answer
And the battle won't rattle me.
You're around, and I've found
There's something about your empathy
Your symphony of sympathy
That comforts me.
You're with me
You comfort me.

I find myself praying this today, for this woman as she fights cancer, for my friends, and their siblings, and their dad. For all those their family has loved and made their own (they do that, you see.) I pray they will know the empathy, the symphony, the comfort of Christ in the midst of all of this.