Books for Living, Part One: Tuesday's Reflection

It seems I have been reading lots of books about cancer and about dying lately. Several other books on the same topic are on my shelf waiting to be read. And, of course, I have read many others over the years. 


Why is that? I don't have cancer, although many years ago I had uterine cancer, but as my gynecologist said, "If you have to have cancer, this one is a good one to have." I do, therefore, have some small insight into what happens when you enter the cancer world, but the surgery did the trick and all has been well since then. 


When we lived in Cleveland, I worked for an amazing organization whose mission was to offer support services for those with cancer and their loved ones. I offered spirituality-themed programming for the center, but that work ended when we moved. 

So why do these books seem relevant or have appeal now? There is more than one reason.

1.     Because I am writing my own spiritual memoir, I often read other memoirs and have discovered how many memoirs about the cancer experience, which for some leads towards death, are deeply reflective and yes, spiritual. I learn about the craft of telling one's story from these writers. 

2.      How many people do you know who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis or recovering from treatment or are moving forward as a cancer survivor? How many people do you know who have died from cancer? By the time one gets to the 3rd Chapter stage of life, that list is apt to be long--and growing. These books help me open my heart to them.

3.       I turn 70 this spring and I am aware of how the bottom half of my hourglass contains more sand than the top half and how quickly the remaining sand seems to be flowing from top to bottom.  These books are teachers for me about life, and I intend to live as wholeheartedly as I can in whatever gift of years I have. So far so good.







Lessons Offered
What have I learned? What has inspired me? Sorry, but you'll have to wait till Part II of this post, which will come Thursday, but here's a teaser from Dying, A Memoir by Cory Taylor


            

            A bucket list implies a lack, a store of unfulfilled desires
            or aspirations, a worry that you haven't done enough
            with your life. It suggests that more experience is better
            whereas the opposite might equally be true. I don't have
            a bucket list because it comforts me to remember the
            things I have done, rather than hanker after the things 
            I haven't done. Whatever they are, I figure they weren't
            for me, and that gives me a sense of contentment, a
            sort of ballad as I set out on my very last trip.

My Response
I don't have a Bucket List either, which is not to say there aren't things I would like to do (a second trip to Paris would be lovely, for example). Instead, I have an Open List:
               Open to the Ongoing Presence of God
               Open to the Beauty Around Me
               Open to Gratefulness
               Open to Enrichment of Relationships--New and Old
               Open to My Own Life Lessons
               Open to What Others Can Teach Me
               Open to Opportunities for Service
               Open to Whatever Is Next

Obviously, I can't check anything off my Open List, for these are ongoing gifts. 

Stay tuned for Part II. 

An Invitation
Have you read anything recently that has opened you to your own life? I would love to know. 

Books in the Photographs
1. Everything Happens for a Reason And Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler
2. Breast Cancer, A Soul Journey by Patricia Greer
3. Hoping for More, Having Cancer, Talking Faith, and Accepting Grace by Deanna A. Thompson
4.  After Your Ring the Bell...10 Challenges for the Cancer Survivor by Anne Katz
5.  Memoir of a Debunked Woman by Susan Gubar
6.  A Goodness I Cannot Explain, A Medical-Spiritual Memoir by Catherine Stewart
7.  Dying, A Memoir by Cory Taylor