tough questions

This one posed by the elder lad caught us (more than) a little off guard: "What's cancer?"

My first internal reaction was Where did that come from?  Mercifully, this is not something with which we are contending presently such that we would even be discussing the topic.  When we asked him where he'd heard about it, he didn't answer.  I hope our simple explanation that cancer is a disease that sometimes can and sometimes can't be cured was satisfactory to him.

On the heels of that initial response, my thoughts turned to those families -- including very young children -- for whom cancer and other life-threatening and altering diseases are a defining reality of their daily lives.  Our health is such an precious gift. 

So for these families, I pray God's mercy be upon them.  If it be his will, may those afflicted with such maladies be healed.  And whatever his will, may his grace infuse every aspect of suffering experienced by those touched by disease of any kind -- those going through it themselves and the people who love and care for them.