By Bishop Ann Svennungsen
The signs were weight loss, shortness of breath, a cough. Given the symptoms, my husband, Bill, met with his doctor. She prescribed a battery of tests – looking for causes. Through a chest x-ray, a cat scan, and a biopsy, new signs were found: a 12- by 13-centimeter mass, malignant cells, a cancer called seminoma.
Then a whole new set of signs began to appear: getting in to see a Mayo oncologist whose research specialty is seminomas; being referred to a local oncologist who studied at Indiana where the standard seminoma chemotherapy was developed; receiving meals from the congregation we’d just joined – from loving people we’d never met.
Signs of cancer are interwoven with signs of hope; signs of weakness interwoven with signs of strength (in Bill’s own body, in the power of medicines, in the wisdom of healthcare providers).
WHAT AMAZES ME is how consistently we yearned for visible, touchable, even embodied conveyers of the news we received. We looked for tangible signs. Yes, there’s “MyChart,” Mayo.org, NIH, and thousands of unhelpful websites. Yet, even with access to all that information, you wait to hear the real story from a real person – someone who looks you in the eye, stands by your side, and gives you a sign.
Bishop Ann and Bill stand on each side of Archbishop Musa Filibus
These feelings remind me of the life of faith. The Sacrament of Holy Communion is a bodily, physical, and corporal experience. It engages every one of our five senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, smell.
“I find it amazing that the Sacrament of Holy Communion engages every one of our five senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing, smell.”
This is God at work – in the incarnation of Jesus; in the bread, wine, and water; in the community gathered, in the sharing of the peace; and in the hotdish.
This is God showing up. And in the journey our family faces now (two hospitalizations so far and chemotherapy through at least June 30), we feel gratitude beyond measure for all the creative ways we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the signs of God’s love.
Thank you for being the Body of Christ to one another – and to us.