Recently, because my son Noah has been diagnosed with Hodgkins’ lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system, I’ve been thinking a lot about what cancer is and what it means to live in a world where cancer abounds. Put simply, cancer can be described as rebellion at the cellular level. Typically, as a body need more cells, older ones die off and new ones are produced. However, in some situations with certain combinations of genetic and environmental factors, cells can start to rebel and divide, making new cells when they are not needed; this condition is what we know as cancer. In many ways, cancer is a physiological manifestation of the rebellion of a fallen world. From the Garden of Eden to Western individualism, we the church use the term “sin” to describe this rebellion against Creator and creation. As Noah has started his chemotherapy treatments this week, I’ve been surprised by the intensity of it all – a combination of oral and IV drugs, which over the course of four months aim to kill off the cancer, but also will likely bring along a host of side effects: hair loss, moodiness, vulnerability to infections, etc.

And so, I wonder why we in the church do not taken rebellion/sin more seriously – and seek to “treat” it so intensely, as we treat the cellular rebellion that we call cancer? Certainly, there are personal forms of rebellion that require confession and restoration. However, there are many fruits of rebellion whose origins are much more complex – illness, death, injustice, strife (The story of Jesus healing the blind man, found in John 9, comes to mind here. The disciples asked “Who sinned? This man or his parents?” To which, Jesus replies “Neither.”). To these, our first response should be grief. Scot McKnight notes, in his new book Fasting (click here for my review), that fasting is a body’s natural response to grief. We should not fast, he says, to achieve a specific end, but rather to pour out our grief over our rebellion and that of a fallen world.

Beginning today, we enter the church’s season of Lent, a time when God’s people have historically grieved the rebellion of humanity. I hope and pray that during Lent this year, we will begin to learn anew how to grieve our sin and rebellion and that of the world. Getting my head shaved for Noah last Sunday night was a fun thing to do, but it is also a bodily reminder of our need to address rebellion in radical ways (just as the intense regiment of chemotherapy addresses the rebellion of cancer). During Lent, and throughout Noah’s treatments, I will be praying, fasting (at least on the occasions of Noah’s treatments) and reflecting on what it means to be God’s people who are called to embody wholeness in the midst of a cancerous world that is rooted in rebellion and division. I invite you to join me on this journey.

Chris Smith

Ash Wednesday

25 February 2009

Filed under: (New) Monasticism, Faith in Christ, News