Prayer for a friend



waiting

deeper than spoken
word, prayer rises from the
well of silent hope...


What is more difficult than dealing with illness? Waiting... those interminable days or hours between test and result. The slivers of time that no matter how thin are sharply painful, as we hover between the not knowing and the finding out.

I have a friend who is waiting right now, to find out exactly what is in that tiny lump. She has hovered longer than her share of time between hope and sanity. You probably know a handful of co-workers, acquaintances, friends and family members that are enduring those elongated moments, in similar situations.

The hardest 'waiting' I ever did was in the late '90s. I had a great deal of trouble getting, rather, staying pregnant. After two losses, the third time was charm. Weeks went by until finally, the third trimester. Then a routine blood test indicated that the fetus had an 80% chance of being a Downs' Syndrome baby. I was 38 years old after all, though I passed for a decade younger and still lived in that bullet-proof zone... life before any real bad stuff. It was also the beginning of my faith journey, which didn't erase the pain, or make me forget, it was just there.Not that we wouldn't have loved and cherished a child with Downs, it was the not knowing, the waiting. Fortunately the specialist, kind enough to appreciate the suffering, called on Saturday morning to tell us our baby would be fine, genetically perfect.

If we've reached our 40s and 50s relatively unscathed, we begin to experience the loss and/or illness of family and friends, our own burdens, those life changing events that nudge us into paying a bit more attention to our priorities, how we spend our time, communicate to those we care about and open our circles and hearts a bit wider. I've traveled quite a distance on my own path to spiritual fulfillment, gaining wisdom with every test of strength and endurance.


So once again, I say a prayer for a friend who waits. Hoping not only that the news is good, but timely, not delayed by human or technical error. That in the murky depth beneath our conscious thought, the prayers will be answered.


I took the photo last Sunday at church - Maxwell Street Presbyterian - where the light always shines bright.

Comments

soulbrush said…
i am very very touched by your post. and have just visited renee's blog (circling your head) see it on my sidebar, she has breast cancer and struggles valiantly every day..sigh..my prayers for your friend start now.
Jasmine said…
I know that feeling. The waiting. I had a stillbirth (T18) in March and a missed miscarraige in August. I don't know why I lost the second baby, but I have been told it was not Edwards Syndrome again.

I hope your friend is ok. And also, I'm so pleased you got good news...

(PS, posted my gift on Monday and have finally found my six for the chain. Theres a postal strike here in England so there may be delays.)
Debrina said…
Hi Patti - my thoughts are with you and your friend. I hope the outcome is in her favour. Thanks also for sharing with us your own waiting game.
Poetic Artist said…
I do hope and pray for your friend.
My thoughts are with you to..
Katelen
Caterina Giglio said…
gosh, do we have parallel lives or something? I am waiting to hear the results from my sweet neighbors second breast cancer surgery. I know the angst of waiting well. my thoughts and prayers are with you too! xo
Karin Bartimole said…
am sending prayers for your friend, that she is granted the best outcome, and the finest care. have been through that waiting, testing, waiting, lumpectomy... you've shared movingly how the process touches us in many ways, and how compassionate doctors can make it an easier path to bear.
Jodi Ohl said…
Patti, thank you for writing such a touching post. It is the fear of the unknown that is almost more unbearable then the outcome itself. Either way, all of us in our own way, at one time or another have traveled this road for ourselves or a friend and family member. It is with faith that we wait and hope for the best outcome. Thank you for sharing your own experience.
Ragamuffin Gal said…
I am so moved by your words ~ what a wonderful post Patti! Blessings!
I do hope all turns out well. I have a blogging friend who just had a cancerous lump removed and is now undergoing chemotherapy.
It is the rare person who makes it to middle age untested. The challenges help define our lives and deepen our faith. Very difficult, that's for sure.
Waiting is the hardest thing ever. Not knowing is horrible. There are good endings and I am hoping for one here. I am sending up prayers for your friend.
winnsangels said…
ah yes, the waiting. some 20-30 years ago I was a nurse. I always remember sensing the waiting, the unknowing. so difficult. The knowledge of what one has to fight with, cope with, deal with, adjust to, is, I believe, so much simpler than the waiting, the unknown.
May angels be with you and your friends, all of our friends, who are waiting.
melyn said…
Glad to read your post. Wanted to take this opportunity to pray for a good friend of mine, Michelle.She just died, early this morning. And everybody was shocked upon knowing that unexpected sad news. She was a great mom and so young to have passed. Just right after her death he was diagnosed to have a leukemia. A terrible disease. She had left two siblings, a 5 year old boy and a 3 months baby. I salute her.. and my prayer is for her..

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