Today's sad news from our nation's capital is a sobering reminder for those of us who remain under treatment for our cancers.
Tony Show, former Bush press secretary and conservative politico, lost his second battle against cancer. He left his job last year at the White House to earn more money for his family -- knowing privately that his prognosis was not one that boded for long-term survival.
With cancer, one learns to live in the moment, knowing that the loss of remission means a certain and probably quick death. Actually, all of us -- no matter the status of our health -- should live in the moment. Cancer is not the only immediate threat to our survival. Traffic deaths and tornadoes seem too frequent these days. As one writer said, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. And as Christ preached, "consider the lillies of the field ... ."
This approach doesn't mean we don't save for our retirement or put money into college funds for our children. The law of averages point to their survival and ours. But we must live in the moment in making sure we tell everyone important in our lives about how much we love them, then treating them accordingly each day.
Father Ed Alberts, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Brentwood, had a brilliant sermon last weekend on taking time to celebrate the fireworks in life, including the literal ones on the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve. These moments are gifts from God, too.
Longevity of life is simply another blessing. As this nation's greatest American said on the eve of his death, longevity has its place, its attraction is real. But the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., told a Memphis crowd that he was fearing no man or any threat, because he had been to the mountaintop and seen the promised land. And in reiterating the national hymn, he closed his Memphis speech with its words, my "eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Our real focus should remain on heaven as the promised land. Efforts to create one on earth through material possessions will only leave us wanting for more.
No matter our health backgroud, Snow's passing at the too young of an age of 53 is a loss. He approached his convservatism in a happy manner that was contrary to the threatening nature of others who share his political beliefs. He was to the Right what the late great Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey was to his followers on the Left. HHH was the "happy warrior", and we loved him for it.
Below is the news from Washington about Tony Snow. May our prayers be for his family for their consolation and strength and for him and his soul, that he may now rest in peace and joy.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Tony Snow, a conservative writer and commentator who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush's press secretary, has died of colon cancer, Fox News reported Saturday. Snow was 53 years old.
Snow, who served as the first host of the television news program "Fox News Sunday" from 1996 to 2003, would later say that in the Bush administration he was enjoying "the most exciting, intellectually aerobic job I'm ever going to have."
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