The Big Shiny Bell

When you enter the Walker Cancer Center, one of the first things you notice is a big shiny bell. This big shiny bell with a braided rope attached to the clapper is not a high-end decoration; it is a symbol of victory and hope. Patients who have completed their treatments are encouraged to ring the bell as a way of announcing to the world, “I have overcome; this illness did not get the best of me.” When I finished my radiation treatments, the nurses asked me if I wanted to ring the bell? I was shocked because I had only started my course of treatments; radiation was just a tiny part of the overall treatment plan I was going to go through. I politely told the ladies that I would prefer to wait until I was finished before ringing the bell. I want the bell to be the last thing I hear in my ear when I leave the cancer center for the last time after the final treatment. I don’t want to grow complacent by celebrating the journey’s beginning like it is the journey’s end. Sometimes, we celebrate the beginning of our walk with Christ as though it was the end. We must stay focused on the end. Entering the covenant relationship with Christ is not the end of the journey; it is the beginning. Repenting is not the final phase; it is the first. When I started my cancer walk, I had, and still have, a very specific prayer “God help me be faithful to the end.” I want the sound of the great shiny bell to be ringing in my ears as I walk into the arms of Christ. My journey looks like it will be longer now than it did when we began this journey, but my prayer is still the same. There will be victories and celebrations along the way, but they are never a stopping point; they are not the end; they are just encouragements that keep me going. I will ring the big bell at the Walker Cancer Center someday, and it will be a good day, but the best day is still ahead of me. And when people ask why all of these things happened, I hope they will be able to give an answer that points people to Christ. John 9:3 "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” NIV In Him J. Tom Washburn