A Reminder From Ezra

   I still feel a little yucky.  I am tired.  I am queasy.  Chemotherapy, as my friend likes to say, is the pumping of poisons into your system to see what shakes loose.  During the last couple of days I was reading the book of Ezra (yes, I know there are more inspiring books in the Bible, but hear me out).  The people of Israel had been allowed to matriculate back to Jerusalem after seventy years of captivity in Babylon only to find the city and all its buildings in ruins.  The first goal was to begin rebuilding the temple of the Lord.  The squatters living there started a letter-writing campaign with the king against the effort.  The single-minded effort of the Jews that returned was put on hold a couple of times as the naysayers waged verbal assaults and taunts.  Even once it was being built, the older generation of the remnant cried because the new temple could never match the glory of the former temple.  It all seemed liked nobody wanted this temple rebuilt except the few true followers of God.  Along the way, these people celebrated the meager completed phases of the project. "And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid" (Ezra 3:11).  
   Why mention this trivial bit of history?  What is my takeaway value from this?  Without twisting the Bible to say what I want it to say, I think I need to celebrate during this process, not to just endure it.  Unlike the experience of those builders, I have a lot of people cheering me on and praying for me.  But it is a process and I need to recognize the "He is good" (Ezra 3:11) part of that verse too.  So today I choose to celebrate.  I celebrate life, sunshine, love, marginal energy, progress, hope.  I celebrate family, friends, expectations, dreams, good scan reports, and joy.  I celebrate Tom, Dave, Gary, Myra, Jan, Tom, Tim, Tom, (wow - three Toms on this list!) Jim, Scott, Julie, Marijo, Eric, Nancy, Connie, and my other personal cheerleaders.  I have so much to celebrate.  Life is good.  And when this is all done, when the stem cells are back in and doing their job, when the chemo leaves my carcass and stops bothering me, when health and appetite and energy and exuberance return, there will be much rejoicing.  "Then the people of Israel -- the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles -- celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy" (Ezra 6:16).  Oh, and that celebration lasted seven days.
   Maybe sometime this summer we should get together for an open house that will last for a while to just celebrate.  It might not last for seven days, but maybe for seven hours.  I will run the idea by Connie and keep you posted on the details.  I look forward to seeing you then.  Who knows?  Maybe I will even like the taste of beer again by then.