We are in the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. As usual, people are thinking of these two holidays. Even though being asked not to travel, people made plans to see their loved ones. But many people attempted to cook turkeys for the first time for their in-house family members. In this unusual year of 2020, we have new added dimensions to these holidays.
“I wake up every morning, take a shower and get dressed. But I can’t go anywhere,” said Rev. Enoch Fuzz, pastor of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church. He spent time in the hospital last week. He said he feels like he may be able to go out, yet he doesn’t have enough breath to walk to the mailbox. Rev. Fuzz does continue to go from his bed to the chair, exercising as he was encouraged to do under doctor’s order.
“Wanda, you can look good and feel go on the outside and be really sick on the outside,” Fuzz said. “I sound like I’m okay, don’t I?” I replied, “Yes, you do.” Reactions like this cause him to insist on thinking that he can do what he always did. However, this season his church did not participate in what they call ‘Thanksgiving Village’ in which meals would be passed out to people who work on Thanksgiving Day.He said: “I won’t have Thanksgiving, so that I can be here next year.”
Rev. Fuzz is dealing with stage 4 lung cancer in addition to a pandemic, rising social injustices, an unstable government, global warming and what seems to be an overwhelming year with everything hanging in the balance of what we know as ‘normal.’ Yet he dealt with the thoughts of the ‘usual’ Thanksgiving. While all of these things matter, the gift of life and the continued ability to wake up, shower, and get dressed is truly something to be thankful for. All things considered, life is about more than just feeling good and looking good.
It is what’s happening on the inside that really matters. Rev. Fuzz recognizes what is happening on the inside regarding his health, breathing and cancer. In addition to that, the thoughts in his heart also matter. The thoughts of care and concern for everyone else while he struggles with [only] taking care of himself are the focus of his desire to keep working and keep moving as he is accustomed. He can’t seem to just focus on himself. His care for other individuals and family keeps him able to ‘carry on as usual’ in the best way he knows how. While he’s in this space, we will continue to pray for strength in understanding how he works through and past this current health crisis—just as we all work through and past this crisis of life’s unchartered territory.
Because we are in an unfamiliar time and feeling ‘pandemic fatigue,’ it can also serve as a time of reflecting and giving thanks to what is important. Check what is on your ‘inside’ as opposed to what’s on the ‘outside’ or what is familiar. While reflecting and searching for answers, pray.
Continue to pray for Rev. Enoch Fuzz and check his Facebook posts. We also encourage you to keep reading his weekly chronicle, ‘Cancer: My Journey in Time.’
