Just wondering

I live in a neighborhood that surrounds a lake.  It is just a little more than 2 1/2  miles around the lake , so it is just about the exact right size for walking.  It is also pretty at times, especially early with the sun rising over it, and also when the sun sets.  I walk with my dog at 6AM,  I think, I pray, I talk to people I meet, I say good morning to everyone I cross.  For the last  month I have been running into my parish priest who is walking with a friend of his.  They were new to my walking experience and I commented to my wife that his coloring had changed.  I wondered if he was ill.

He had waged a war with a cancer that invaded his cells a few years back.  It was a hard fought effort and he frankly admitted that it had taken a great toll on him. Physically the chemo was debilitating. Yet he returned and perfomed his work ministering to people in need.  He was and is good at what he does.  He is one of the many sullied in the paint splatter coming out of the sex abuse scandal.  It makes their job all that much more difficult.

He announced that something had shown up in a recent scan and he will go for surgery.  His surgery is tomorrow.  He was walking with his friend this morning at 6,  she is a  good friend, for she walked with him to build his physical strength, he walked to deal with his anxieties , I could tell as we made pleasantries this morning.  I told him good luck, I told him I will be thinking of him.  In reality I will be praying for him.

I hope that they get to make the walk around the lake many more times as the sun rises and that they do it in each others company.