Do Trials Have to Make Us Bitter? Cancer and Kindness

A family member is undergoing 45 consecutive days of radiation treatment for cancer. I had the privilege of accompanying him to one of his treatments. 

When we arrived, the receptionist greeted him with a big smile and called him by name. The assistant who took him back for treatment did the same, as did the nurse practitioner who dialogued with him about how he was feeling, and whether he was experiencing any side effects.

I was touched and impressed with their personal, kind care for my family member, and I said so as I left that day.

"Oh, we love him," one nurse explained. 

"Many patients are resentful that they have to be here every day. Sometimes the treatment is uncomfortable or makes them sick. We know they're not happy, and sometimes they take it out on us--but not this one," she said as she patted him on the shoulder. "This one brings us flowers and doughnuts."

He looked a little sheepish, as if he were a little boy caught doing something wrong, but his kind actions reminded me of a saying I'd heard recently:

"Little things go a long way to make a day brighter."

John Burroughs, a contemporary of Benjamin Franklin, put it this way:

"The smallest deed is better than your greatest intention."

I wonder, as we walk through our day today, what small deed can we do to make someone's day brighter? Will you join me in asking the Lord to give us eyes to see who needs an encouraging word or a kind gesture? And then let's DO IT!

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