Tomorrow is my fourth anniversary of open-heart surgery. OK, recovery was a little harder and longer that I was given to expect, but today I feel great, and I feel like the anniversary is something to mark. Thanks to some great doctors and lots of prayer, I’m alive. Hallelujah!
Here’s how I’m going to celebrate: I’m going to run to work. It’s almost nine miles from our place in upper Manhattan to our Guideposts offices. That’s doable. I assure you, I won’t go fast. My gym’s a block away from the office, so I can shower there (don’t want to work in sweaty, smelly running clothes all day!).
In the pre-dawn darkness I’ll jog down under the George Washington Bridge; past the Little Red Lighthouse; past Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, where I had my surgery; past Grant’s Tomb; past the Intrepid, moored at 42nd Street. The sun should be up by then, even if behind some clouds. Then I’ll turn on 34th and head for the Empire State Building, half a block away from Guideposts.
Open-heart surgery is no picnic, and one thing I feel called to do is talk, write or pray for anyone who’s facing it or done it. Know someone who’s going through surgery or recovering from it, any surgery? Tell me about it. I would love to pray for them. You can post a prayer request right here at the bottom of this column.
Praying for others is part of the fuel that keeps me going. On a run when I start thinking, “I can’t go one more block!” I put my mind to a list of people I pray for and the challenges I’m facing start diminishing. I don’t mean that the big hill disappears—or that my worries or anxieties vanish. But they shrink into perspective. The less I think about myself and the more I think about others … well, you know how good that feels.
I look forward to celebrating your good health, your recovery. Four years ago I didn’t think I’d be running eight or nine miles on a December day. Truth to tell, I’m a little worried about doing it. But I’m sure I can. As long as I think about and pray for the people on that list.
And you!
