I visited a patient in the hospital today. Not as a cardiologist, but as a friend. On the average, he had 30 years left of living, but pancreatic cancer is nasty to the bone and is a notorious thief, robbing one’s strength, hording one’s breath, and usurping one’s life. My friend appeared cachectic, with atrophied muscles and glazed eyes. The merciless chemotherapy slowly swerved its way down into his frail veins where it would reside as an agent of healing, and yet of harm.
Can one look so different in six months? Can you live life laughing and face death just six months later? Are we really like the grass of the field and the flowers that bloom and then disappear?
It is two weeks before his death. I don’t think he has any more time. I asked if he needed anything. I tried to have him drink some chicken broth, but he spit it out. Asked the nurse for some Demerol so he can rest without pain. Two weeks will come and go and my friend will be no more. I prayed with him and his wife, asking for God’s mercy and strength upon him and his beautiful family.
Don’t’ be fooled by time. You say you have all the time in the world. You don’t. You say that you can control it. You can’t. You say you will use it as you ally. Impossible. Our uncertain future will soon meet us face to face. In the mean time, I’d like to encourage you to move fast. If it is to love, love today. If it is to forgive, forgive today. If it is to excel, excel today. If it is to give, then give today. Tomorrow is not in our hands. Though time may be uncertain, you can still be confident. Confident that you love, played, worked, and walked the journey of life — today — with all your heart, might and soul.
If you are blessed with life today, then be well, don’t fear, pray hard, give your unknown future into the hands of a forgiving and omniscient God, and get out there and shake the pillars of your community with a servant’s heart. And a servant’s heart leads to a healthy heart!
For further information on your cardiovascular health, contact Dr. Kojoglanian, the Mender of Hearts, at 661-259-1711 or visit www.drrap.com .