Our cat kept us up last night. Of course, he's not the only thing. The near hurricane east wind shares much of the blame. If there had been no east wind, the cat would have gladly strolled around the house in the middle of the night. This picture shows how the wind carved up the newly-fallen snow.
However, with a howling wind, that darn cat just didn't want to go outside. So he would hiss and carry on and not allow us to sleep. Eventually, the wind died down and the cat went out. But as I sat up around 3 a.m., I had a couple thoughts creep into my mind.
I started thinking about cancer. I read a Facebook post about a friend of many of my friends passed away yesterday from cancer. Cancer's been in the news a lot this year; it's taken many from us, both famous and the everyday. Personally I've lost good friends and friends of friends recently. When I was eight it took my father, and almost nine years ago (I can't believe it's been that long...) it claimed my mom.
Maybe it was that Facebook post, maybe it was because it was the middle of the night and I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, but cancer was on my mind. Cancer doesn't work well in today's culture, a culture of fairness and equity and feeling good and having nothing bad happen. No, there's no room for diseases that attack both the innocent and the guilty in our modern world, for those who've taken care of themselves and done everything right or those who didn't care at all.
The thing about cancer is, cancer is 100% honest. It doesn't lie. It just is. It doesn't follow any fairness doctrine. It doesn't care what you think about it. Sometimes it goes away but most times it completes its mission. It's as natural as a tree or a squirrel or a weather system. I'm no doctor or scientist, so I have no scientific claims to back up my statements--I'm sure those who are will say that cancer is not natural. Maybe they're right...maybe.
I wished I could control the wind last night. It would meant getting more sleep. I wish I could take away these cancers that are killing us. I have as much power to do one ask I do the other. I don't know if we'll ever cure cancer. I know many have dedicated their lives to finding out. Personally, I don't think it will ever happen. Cancer exists to prove to mankind that life not only isn't fair, but that it's never really been, no matter how often we tell ourselves it should be...
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