Rest in Peace

I am deeply saddened at the death of Patrick Swayze. My beloved Pastor George died of pancreatic cancer shorty before Swayze was diagnosed. It is a horrible form of the disease, and one of the deadliest. I can still hear an oncologist telling me "you know there is no cure for that" when I mentioned my pastor's illness.

No cure. Those are harsh words. As I write this a dear co-worker is going through a similar situation with her father. A fairly young man in good health he felt a bit under the weather one day and went to the doctor. He was given 2-3 weeks to live. He is now in the hospital on morphine and unresponsive. Two short weeks.

Cancer. It is a scary word. Probably the most frightening one anyone can hear. There are so many types, many of which are curable, but a few that are not. I am thinking of all the loved ones I have lost to that word. Too many.

God bless us all.

Priorities

This past week has been a crazy one here; major wildfires in the hills surrounding my area. the media seemed to ignore it for the first few days - whatever happened to "breaking news?" Oh, well, I thought, maybe there are more important things to cover. After all, news to one person is just everyday life to another. After a few days the coverage was everywhere. Of course, it was about as fresh as a three-day-old sandwich. Well, I had friends who lived at the edge of the fires; they were keeping me updated, what did I need the 'net or TV for? Radio was doing a decent job. Sort of.

Then Thursday came. trying to watch TV was difficult as helicopters buzzed around outside. Had the fire surged again? Was the freeway jammed? Had there been a wreck? No. Michael Jackson was finally being buried. Isn't it sad what things people find important? Isn't it sadder what things the media chooses to tell us in the first place?

Or is it just plain scary? The fire was - and is - a life-threatening matter. Michael Jackson's life is over. The only thing depending on his funeral was, well, nothing.

Think about it.