Thomas Merton once said, "You can tell more about a monk from the way he uses a broom than by anything he says." I think Merton was likely commenting on the human propensity to divide life into sacred and secular. Our default position is to hallow some things and to see others as ordinary, secular, even mundane parts of life. I have had a few weeks here of not feeling very well. My body has protested lately and my mind seems to easily migrate to darker places. In that context Thomas Merton caught my attention by reminding me (again!) that words are the easy part. It is easy to be 'sacred" with words. This blog over the years has accumulated a lot of words. They are often brave, keep-the-faith-words. But I don't always feel like I live up to those words. Merton calls me once again to be honest about how the floor sweeping is going. So I stand here with this damn broom in my hand. What do I do with it? Daily life-- treatments, side effects, needing to nap, wear...
Brian’s diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma was in May 2018. The initial treatment was a stem cell transplant. After 30 months there was a relapse, followed by chemo, another relapse, new chemo and yet another relapse. In January 2024, the 4th treatment began. Brian currently gets weekly injections of an immunotherapy drug. Sometimes we keep the faith and sometimes we need family and friends around us to keep the faith for us. This blog is about enabling us all to be kept in the faith.