250 - For Support and Strength

A report I heard recently on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” told of a cancer cluster in Fallon, Nevada where 15 children have contracted leukemia and how the town has rallied around the families. Last week, my friend Carol wrote to tell me of a “cancer cluster” at her own beloved Vassar Temple: three women with breast cancer, two men with colon cancer, one with lung cancer, and the most recent, a child with leukemia. Carol, who struggled through her husband, Sandor’s untimely death from cancer, (see also 162 - Sitting Shiva and 179 - Unveiling) asked for a psalm to help heal her community.

Two Hundred Fifty

For Support and Strength

Like a Haman who casts our lots,
The sentence of illness imprisons us;
Without prediction, the selections are made,
And we recoil from such randomness.

Divine Healer, You answer the decree,
You hold it up to a scrutiny of caring;
Free us by inspiring concern,
Attune us to nurture kindness.

As You lovingly support the sufferers,
So will we offer aid and comfort;
In community, we find wholeness,
Strength to make peace with adversity.

Let there be healing, relief of pain,
Let miracles of survival visit us;
Turn our strength to those in need,
Succor them, sustain us all.