A year ago, Forrest Church, eldest son of Bethine and the late Sen. Frank Church, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Given six months to live, he entered treatment and not only survived but completed his 22nd book, "So Help Me God — The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle Over Church and State," while convalescing.
When we talked at a book-signing party at Skip and Esther Oppenheimer's home last month, he was ebullient, humble and grateful.
Last week, Bethine e-mailed me Forrest's Oct. 28 sermon to his parishioners at All Souls Church, Manhattan. It contains much wisdom, including these words to live by: "Want what you have; do what you can; be who you are."
"Being who we are means embracing our God-given nature and talents. I, for instance, loved my father. I still love my father. I honor and admire him. Once, however, I wanted, more than anything, to borrow his ladder to the stars. I had more confidence in him than I did in myself. I wanted to be like him, not like me…. To envy another's skills, looks or gifts rather than embracing your own nature and call is to fail in two respects. In failing to be who we aren't, we fail to become who we are. …
"No less important than being who you are is doing what you can…. How much wasted energy we spend trying to do what we can't. And how often we fail to optimize our efforts and thereby achieve the significant goals that do lie within our power. When we quit trying because we fail to achieve our pipe dreams, we overlook all we actually could accomplish by putting our shoulder squarely to the right wheel. To do what you can is to do all you can, not less, not more.
"Finally, and most pointedly for me last year when I was diagnosed with cancer, want what you have. Did I want cancer? Of course not, but to obsess on the bad things that befall us squeezes out a just appreciation for the good. The time we waste on wishful thinking or regret detracts from the time we might devote to being grateful for all that is ours, here and now, to savor and embrace. For instance, if you are healthy today, don't take your health for granted. Want what you have. By the same token, when I was sick I remembered to want nothing more than the caring affection of those who loved me. Wanting what I had, my prayers were answered….
"By wanting what we have, doing what we can, and being who we are, our cup will forever be half full, not half empty. Do these same things with reverence, humbled by awe, and our cup runneth over."
Critical connectionYet another use for the Internet: welcome updates on a hospitalized friend, Jeff Fromm, delivered to my inbox via CaringBridge.
This interactive Web site, sponsored by Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, allowed his wife, Carla, to report to family and friends from the ICU, and we could respond.
Check it out at www.caringbridge.org.This afternoon…• At 2 p.m., Idaho Dance Theatre presents "Under Construction," contemporary dance choreographed by Marla Hansen and Carl Rowe, at the BSU Special Events Center.
• At 4 p.m., Boise Philharmonic musicians play chamber music by Morley Calvert (Suite from the "Monteregian Hills"), Paul Hindemith ("Kleine Kammermusik for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 24 Nr.2") and Franz Schubert ("Quartet in A Minor, Rosamunde").
Tickets will be sold at the door for both performances.
Freelance writer Diane Ronayne: dianeronayne@gmail.com
