Positive Perspective
Dear Friends in Christ,
“We’ve lost a lot of coin flips in the Snow family.” So said Kelsie Snow in a recent article in The New York Times. One of her husband’s uncles died in 2004 at age 48. Another in 2013 at age 52. The second uncle’s son died in 2016 at age 28. Finally, Kelsie’s father-in-law died at age 68 in 2018. Each of them died from a genetic strain of A.L.S., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, most popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Almost three years ago, Kelsie’s husband, Chris, an assistant general manager for the NHL’s Calgary Flames, was also diagnosed with A.L.S. Today, at age 40, Snow cannot make funny faces when playing with his children and he cannot eat without a feeding tube.
Yet, he considers himself a lucky man. Indeed, he sees his life as a miracle. In June 2019 after going through a series of medical tests, Chris and Kelsie “went to lunch on a dreary day. We need a miracle, they told each other. The miracle arrived in the form of a ‘but.’ Yes, you appear to have A.L.S. But you may be eligible for a promising gene-therapy trial.” (John Branch, The New York Times)
Yes, he was eligible for the trial, and yes, it worked. He is not cured — there is no cure; his diagnosis is still terminal — but the atrophy slowed significantly. He is still alive. He can still play with his children. He still goes to work. His life is defined not by his limits but by his blessings.
Obviously, the Snows are a privileged family in many ways. Chris has an employer willing to accommodate his disability. He has access to good healthcare and state-of-the-art therapies. There are many, many people with his diagnosis who would not be so fortunate.
And yet, for me, the Snow family is an example of the difference a positive perspective can make on how we live each day. I have no idea if Chris and Kelsie Snow are religious people or if faith plays a part in their lives. Whatever sustains them, they are able both to acknowledge the reality of living with a terminal illness while they also appreciate the miracle of living each day. A life that could be seen as cursed is experienced instead as blessing.
“The miracle arrived in the form of a ‘but.’” I suspect that is the way miracles usually arrive. Life slams us down, seems to defeat us, we give up hope. But then, even though the odds are not in our favor, God gives us a miracle, some ray of light in the darkness to give us hope, to sustain us through another day.
As it was for the Snows, I suspect the miracle God provides is often not the one for which we prayed. After all, Chris Snow has not been cured. The progression of his disease may have been slowed but the atrophy will continue. He is still a young man with a terminal disease that killed several other men in his family. But, three years after his diagnosis, he still awakens each day to go to work, to play with his children, to gather with friends, to share time with his wife.
“May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us,” the psalmist writes (Psalm 67:1). Always God blesses us. Always God shines divine light upon us. It’s only a question of whether we open our eyes to see it and our hearts to receive it. Life is a miracle. Thanks be to God.
Your friend in Christ,
Rector