Church Is Good

I've been a little down and frustrated lately. The cancer thing can wear on you. I hadn't been to church in weeks, which is not good. But I was scheduled to read last night, so we all went, including Dori. It was her first time in church since early summer.

Mass was wonderful. For me, it was the readings, especially Wisdom 9:13-18b and Luke 14:25-33; for Dori, it was being there and two favorite communion songs, You Are Mine and On Eagle's Wings.

I needed comfort and instruction, and found some at Mass. In his homily, Deacon Jim explained the Luke reading so well, breaking down the hyperbole Jesus used in telling followers they must "hate" their families and shun their possessions so as not let them come between them and God. We'd never grasped that before. My reading from the Book of Wisdom is self-explanatory: Who can conceive what the Lord intends? Not here, not now. We must trust, hard as it can be.

The bike continues to be my friend. I rode 27 Saturday morning, eight with Will and three with Kathryn yesterday, and 22 this morning. Sixty miles of our hilly, beautiful town in perfect weather. My friend Al and I tailgated Saturday with my boss and his wife and then watched Vanderbilt lose a squeaker 23-21 to Northwestern. Our entire family loves college football, and here's just one reason why. As big and hyped as the sport has become, there is joy in watching teams play and laugh like this SEC group. Hilarious!



Dori reenters Vanderbilt tomorrow afternoon. She will receive her PICC line, and then it's back to 11 North. We are praying for a no-frills stay, with two days of consolidation chemo and shortly thereafter a return home for more recovery.