FRIDAYS WITH FRED: 3 PILLS, BIG JOB
Approximately 160 men with metastatic prostate cancer are counting on three (3) daily pills to give them a few more good days on this earth, celebrating each new day. I have been chosen to be one of them. And, yes, we hope they are magic pills!
I am in a clinical trial to discover what the most effective dosage is without bad side effects. Are the three pills powerful? How much can the body take? Will they do their job of killing cancer? With hope, my job is to take the medicine regardless of the difficulty or the hardship.
My greatest presupposition discovery is I am living the answer to a simple question. That question is, How much do I really want to live? For me, this does not become a discomfort because, yes, I really do want to live and will seemingly do anything to see another glorious day.
My greatest joy is telling you I have been given a gift by God’s grace. It is called contentment, a deep satisfaction with humility but without envy. I am ready to die, but I am also fully committed to living life to its fullest until my last breath.
Even the great St. Paul spoke of two desires in his letter to the people at Philippi. The desire to “break camp” here and be with Christ face to face was powerful. Some days Paul could think of nothing better. But most days he felt it was best to stay here and encourage others in the great companionship with them. Therefore, his conclusion was he could not lose! Living for Christ here was life, but dying was even more life.
What are you doing to make today your very best? Our daily “pill-taking” has 3 pills as well. Jesus encouraged us to: 1) loveGod, 2) love people, and 3) love yourself… meaning we will then love life here.
