Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and when I think about the lives on this campus that have been touched by breast cancer, the numbers are hard to bear. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer; even more have a scare with a lump or a follow up mammogram. Think of how many children and families, how many friends are touched. Take a moment to consider the women in your life who have died, who have battled, and those who have survived.
Get educated. Help those who are in treatment. Love those who are surviving.
Here are some prayers that I have on hand that I wanted to share.
Freedom from Suffering
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may people think of befriending one another.
—The Buddha
Blessing When Receiving Chemotherapy
Blessed are You,
Compassionate One,
For giving me
these droplets of
(name of chemotherapy drug),
Like refreshing dew
and healing rain,
may they save my life.
For Cancer Sufferers
O God, mighty giver of life
You are able to sustain what you have created:
we ask you to heal the ills of those who suffer from the threat of cancer.
we ask you to restore the physical body
and also to cleanse the minds of the ill of worry, fear and despair,
that both health of body and joy of soul may unite
to undergird and uplift those who suffer,
and so place them within the range of your healing power;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Please get your mammograms and encourage the women in your life to get their mammograms. AMEN
Blessings, Stephanie