April 3, 2007
I have dreams about my brother, Jeff, a couple of times a week. The one I had the other night was very short. In it, Jeff was at my parents house and he had found an old oil lamp. None of us could remember how to light it, but he picked it up and knew how to light it right away. We all could not believe that he not forgotten and we had.
I don't know that there is always a meaning behind what we dream. It is interesting, though, to try to analyze why we think the way we do. The image of him sitting down and lighting that old lamp has stayed with me for the last couple of days.
I sat down to do my devotion tonight and I want to share what I read. Luke 11:33-36 says this: No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is also full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.
Jeff was someone that had this Light in him until he took his last breath on September 30. His witness and the Light he stood for shines on to this day. This made me look more closely at myself. Am I someone who emulates the Light? There are days when I struggle with losing my brother, and even my own battle with cancer. But, I the one thing I do not struggle with is the hope I have in Christ. I do not ever want to forget how to light the lamp I have had for so long.
I recently attended a training session called "Our Journey of Hope" which is put on by the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Its purpose is to educate people on how to use a faith based support system to help individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer and are being treated. This is a passion for me. I want so badly for people to see God's Light and to know that He is their hope. No matter what the doctors say, I will always pray for miracles and I know that it is totally possible to end what Satan is trying to do through cancer. God can do something bigger through cancer, and no one should give Satan the credit to believe anything different.