Blogocentric Formulations

Phoebe

Most of us have already heard the news. The StoryMaster's notebook post "Note: Leukemia (ALL) confirmed. Numb. No words. " ( original post here

"Note: We are at the hospital with Phoebe. The prelimina..."

) verified earlier fears that their daughter Phoebe has been diagnosed with leukemia.

There's been an outpouring of support across Writing.Com, including the "We Got This" campaign and what I'm sure are countless emails and other correspondence expressing our concern and well wishes for their family during this difficult time. And all that's really, truly great. But if you're anything like me and have been a part of this community for a long time, you might be wondering what else you can do. The StoryFamily feels like real family to me. Even though we've never met in person, I've been interacting with them on WdC for over a decade, which is longer than friendships in the real world seem to last sometimes. I care deeply for them, and I feel for them in both the good times and the bad.

I've been asking myself what I can do. When a crisis arises, I often wish I could more directly help. Being a writer seems so inconsequential. Why can't I be some kind of amazing oncologist who's able to fly out and offer free, world-class treatment that will get rid of this awful thing for them? Why can't I be some billionaire who's all like, "Say sayonara to those medical bills, friends! I'm picking up the tab no matter how expensive the treatment!" But as much as I'd like to be, I'm not a fancy doctor (believe me, you do not want me using a scalpel! ), and I'm certainly not rich. I'm a writer, and I have to use the toolbox God gave me: my words.

Tonight I'd like to encourage anyone who has the a way with words to take a moment and use your language gifts to pray for Phoebe and her brother and her parents. I know that not all of us here are particularly religious, and even for some of those that are, the idea of prayer weirds you out. It weirded me out for a really long time, until I realized that a prayer isn't anything more than an earnest request or wish. It's taking the time, in thought or writing or speech, to intentionally contemplate something and make an appeal for an outcome. Maybe your appeal is to God, or maybe it's not. Perhaps it's to another god, or the universe in general, or fate, karma, or our unseen alien overlords/puppet masters. Whatever it is you believe in, take the time tonight to share your concerns and wishes for Phoebe's speedy recovery with her/him/them. And if you don't believe in anything supernatural, maybe tonight is a good night to still take the time to reflect. Perhaps you can take the opportunity, if you don't believe in all this faith stuff, to ask yourself if you were a person of faith, what you would want whoever's listening to do for the StoryFamily.

One of the things I'm often guilty of is saying the familiar line, "I'll keep you in my thoughts/prayers" ... and then going about my business and never really taking the time to actually think over or pray about the thing I said I would. It's not intentional or anything; it's just that I sometimes get busy and forget. Life is hectic. Oversights happen. But not tonight. Tonight, I'm going to set aside at least a few minutes and pray that she'll recover quickly and fully.

I'd like to invite all of you to join me.

I'm sure there are some that think this is silly or pointless, but the way I see it is this: What do we have to lose? It's a few minutes of our lives that we're intentionally setting aside for someone else, as a sign of honor and respect for what they're going through. We don't have to do anything fancy; just set aside that time and truly have some meaningful thoughts and/or prayers about what we'd wish for them if anything were possible. If there truly isn't anything out there, we haven't lost anything other than a few minutes of our time. But if there is something or someone out there, imagine the possibilities that could come from a bunch of us all focused on the same little girl and her family.

I mean it when I say, "I'm going to keep the StoryFamily in my thoughts/prayers tonight." I hope that you'll mean it with me and dedicate at least some of your time tonight to thinking and praying for The StoryMaster, The StoryMistress, Jack, and especially Phoebe.