I was sitting in the lobby of the clinic one day before my session and was struck by an observation. As I looked around the room - I saw an ethnic mosaic of cultural and socio-economic diversity. Black, Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, young and old, men and women - and now Nuns.
I'm not going to get into a spiel about religion - that's not the intention. Rather, I was struck by the egalitarian nature of the disease. For all I know, there could have been pastors and rabbis and priests and imams and ministers amongst the patient population in the waiting room that day (though I didn't notice any that stood out in this particular visit), but to see a Nun and the person accompanying her, both in their habits, just stood out. Things that make sense or don't make sense to me don't always resonate in the same way with normal people, but something about this sight just sparked a thought in my mind. It seems that God wants everyone.
No, I don't think that God punishes anyone by giving them cancer. Nor do I believe that God pardons anyone by not giving them cancer. But nuns? With cancer?? Don't they at least deserve a break??? Haven't they given enough of their life and their self to be exempt from the Club? From what little I know, they are the embodiment of altruism. So it wouldn't surprise me that these humble servants of humanity and their lord may see this disease as their way of better relating to other cancer victims and what those folks need in the way of medical and spiritual support.
I don't know what it all means (and I'm not necessarily motivated to try and figure it out), but it was oddly comforting for me to share that moment with them. I haven't seen them since, which doesn't necessarily portend any negative diagnosis or outcome, but clearly cancer touches everyone - regardless of their lifestyle or life choices. No one is spared.
