Mockingbird
New member
Life with CF is difficult. Whether our CF is classified as mild, moderate, or severe, it is difficult; dealing with pain, struggling to breathe, going to the bathroom and finding out the low-flush toilet we just used is never going to swallow up those floaters no matter how many times we flush...
There is a story I really like in the Bible (sorry, some of you, but please bear with me just a little and I will include everyone in the end) about a man named Elijah. Elijah was a prophet from God, which meant he was often despised and persecuted for saying things people did not want to hear (I think this fits the phrase "kill the messenger" to a T). The story finds Elijah in just such a situation, having just recieved a death threat from a corrupt king. "And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, 'It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.' he lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, 'Arise, eat.' Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lie down again. The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, 'Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.' So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God." 1 Kings 19:3-8
What I like so much about that story is what the angel says the second time: "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great fo you." Every time I wake in the morning faced with another long day at work, or every night when I am utterly exhausted and in pain I am reminded of that phrase, "The journey is too great for you." Living with cystic fibrosis is difficult. Indeed, I would say the journey of CF is too great, too painful, too difficult for us.
And, yet, we are living! In spite of everything, we continue through the pain, through the exhaustion, the coughing, the bleeding.... yes, even the pooping. We might attribute it to God (as I do), or we might attribute it to family or friends, or perhaps the little things in life which brighten each day. It doesn't matter to what we give credit, the fact is we continue to press forward even as our body falls to peices behind us.
The point is, if we were given a crystal ball before we were born, we might have seen all the difficulties and pain which laid ahead for us, and we certainly would have said, "The journey is too great for me. Take my life." On the other hand, we might also have seen the angel giving us the food and water; all the things in our lives which would be there to support us and help keep us going. The glory of God and sacrifice of Christ, perhaps, or the people with whom we would encounter and share our laughter, or the beauty of a flower, or the warmth in a ray of sunshine, or any number of things. I think then we might say, "The journey is too difficult for me, but it will be darn well worth it."
The purpose of this thread is not to undermine nor to refute, it is not even to inspire. My intent is merely to say something positive, and perhaps to give a chance for others to say something positive as well. You might tell about what you would have seen in you own crystal ball, or have a good story to share, or anything else you might like. I know these types of threads usually don't get many responses, so i am not so dissillusioned as to think this thread will last very long before falling into the sea of lost messages. It doesn't really matter to me; I did what I came for, and that is enough for me.
There is a story I really like in the Bible (sorry, some of you, but please bear with me just a little and I will include everyone in the end) about a man named Elijah. Elijah was a prophet from God, which meant he was often despised and persecuted for saying things people did not want to hear (I think this fits the phrase "kill the messenger" to a T). The story finds Elijah in just such a situation, having just recieved a death threat from a corrupt king. "And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, 'It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.' he lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, 'Arise, eat.' Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lie down again. The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, 'Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.' So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God." 1 Kings 19:3-8
What I like so much about that story is what the angel says the second time: "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great fo you." Every time I wake in the morning faced with another long day at work, or every night when I am utterly exhausted and in pain I am reminded of that phrase, "The journey is too great for you." Living with cystic fibrosis is difficult. Indeed, I would say the journey of CF is too great, too painful, too difficult for us.
And, yet, we are living! In spite of everything, we continue through the pain, through the exhaustion, the coughing, the bleeding.... yes, even the pooping. We might attribute it to God (as I do), or we might attribute it to family or friends, or perhaps the little things in life which brighten each day. It doesn't matter to what we give credit, the fact is we continue to press forward even as our body falls to peices behind us.
The point is, if we were given a crystal ball before we were born, we might have seen all the difficulties and pain which laid ahead for us, and we certainly would have said, "The journey is too great for me. Take my life." On the other hand, we might also have seen the angel giving us the food and water; all the things in our lives which would be there to support us and help keep us going. The glory of God and sacrifice of Christ, perhaps, or the people with whom we would encounter and share our laughter, or the beauty of a flower, or the warmth in a ray of sunshine, or any number of things. I think then we might say, "The journey is too difficult for me, but it will be darn well worth it."
The purpose of this thread is not to undermine nor to refute, it is not even to inspire. My intent is merely to say something positive, and perhaps to give a chance for others to say something positive as well. You might tell about what you would have seen in you own crystal ball, or have a good story to share, or anything else you might like. I know these types of threads usually don't get many responses, so i am not so dissillusioned as to think this thread will last very long before falling into the sea of lost messages. It doesn't really matter to me; I did what I came for, and that is enough for me.