On Another's Sorrow, by William Blake

William Blake's poem, "On Another's Sorrow," begins with several stanzas showing how even humans feel pain when we see others suffering, then goes on to show how impossible it is for God to not share our sorrows. Here are the final stanzas:

Think not you can sigh a sigh,
And your Maker is not by;
Think not you can weep a tear,
And your Maker is not near.

Oh, He gives to us His joy,
That our grief He may destroy;
Till our grief is fled and gone
He does sit by us and moan.

When I ache for someone else's trouble, I can pray and I can try to encourage them. God can do more! He feels it with us, for sure, and He also changes us. He gives unbelievable comfort, grace, peace and healing.

My friend with the eye disease is very encouraged. The doctor is treating her to reduce the swelling, and hopes she may then be able to reverse some of the damage from the retinal bleeding. And far from being "inevitable," it appears the likelihood of spread to the other eye is about 10%. Needless to say, we're praying it will be 0% for her. When I talked with her yesterday, she was enjoying the peace of God; she was also deeply concerned for our mutual friend Shirley, whose ovarian cancer blew up again after a very short and sweet remission. She had surgery (again) two weeks ago, and this Wednesday begins chemo (again). Dear caring Maker, please touch Shirley this week.

Following church and lunch yesterday, I needed and enjoyed a deep, long nap. This is such abnormal behavior for me, and I have to keep reminding myself that cancer is not normal. Later I did get a bit of exercise with some yard work and a good walk with Chuck.

God is good!

Carol