Praying for me…
First off, today I think the weekend caught up with me. After dropping Mom off at the airport, the family and I spent 3+ hours at church, for our monthly potluck lunch and our annual congregational meeting (by the end of which, I wondered which would be worse, continuing in the meeting or starting my chemo/radiation a day early)! 
By the time we got home, though, I was exhausted and came upstairs and have been in bed for the rest of the day, feeling generally weak, somewhat nauseas, and itchy from an unknown rash I will point out to the oncologist tomorrow.
My mother-in-law (Elaine) left a comment today to let me know that I am on the prayer lists of several churches in Cincinnati. In addition, there are apparently several churches here in Atlanta that have my name on their prayer lists. Upon hearing about my illness, countless people have told me that I was in their prayers. Indeed, the folks at Luxomni Baptist Church, led by Karen Myers (a leader from my former cub scout pack), even made me a beautiful prayer quilt.
On the quilt, Karen and others attached threads that were tied by a bunch of cub scouts from my old pack. Each thread represents a prayer for me. Interesting sidenote: when Karen asked if she could make me a prayer quilt, she asked what my favorite Bible verse was. Being raised in the Jewish faith, I was not terribly familiar with many of the Bible versus, so I turned to MaryBeth for guidance; she picked Jerimiah 29:11 -
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
As I have mentioned, I am not terribly spiritual and so I am left with an unclear means by which to interpret people ‘praying’ for me. While some contend that intercessory (or distance) prayer works, the results of such confirmatory studies may be attributable to subject expectancy: the effects found are attributable to changes that occur as a result of the expectations of the participants (e.g., people who know they are being prayed for, perhaps, got better because they knew that folks were praying for them). Though there is some research in support of the efficacy of distance prayer, other work does not support it. In the end, the results are inconclusive.
My (some people would say, overly) scientific / analytical personality makes it difficult for me to embrace the power of prayer. So how shall I react when people tell me they are praying for me? One approach might be similar to what one mother of a cancer patient in Lori Hope’s book (“Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want you to Know”
I choose, instead, take a different tact: I start by first engaging my “Religious to English” dictionary and understand that when someone tells me they are ‘praying’ for me, they are saying “I care about you and want to try and help in a way that is meaningful (to them).” In Unitarian language, they are saying, “I am thinking about you” or “I am sending you positive energy and/or love.” I don’t have to believe in the power of prayer to really appreciate that people are willing to try and help with prayer or thoughts. Heck, I’ll take all the help I can get; if prayer is effective, I don’t want to discount it because of my pessimism / skepticism. So “Thank you!” for those of you who have told me they are praying for me…or keeping me in their thoughts…or sending my positive energy; I feel well and truly loved and that, above all, helps me get by day to day!
Next up — Treatment week 2!
Merle