A few days ago a man who happens to live in another country wrote me
with the sad news that his sister-is-law is dying of cancer. The doctor
says she does not have a long time to live. Although she has received
the news with grace and faith and seems to be doing well, he writes in
part because he is concerned for her. She has chosen, at least for the
moment, not to follow an aggressive program of treatment because the
doctor says they cannot cure the cancer. And he is concerned for her
husband, his brother, who came back to the faith a few years ago,
mostly because of her vibrant Christian witness.
What should he
say? How can he help his sister-in-law? That was the burden of his note
to me. Here is an edited version of my answer to him.
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