My brother gave me permission to publish his address - but please be gentle with him. He's profoundly grateful to everyone for the prayers and care, and wants you to know that he's thankful. But I'm going to stick my nose in and ask for no "heavy proselytizing". He's just not up for that.

Gary Matthies
1330 Richmond Rd, Apt 714
Ottawa, ON, Canada
K2B 8J6

Thanks again everyone for caring!

I just read this post Eagle. I'm so sorry things are not coming out as good as expected. One thing is for sure. God is right beside you all and He will remain by your side.

Still praying,

I'm on the run again today (chemo day and still a housefull of houseguests!). But I just wanted to explain my comment about "heavy proselytizing". My brother has received many emails/notes from one or two well-meaning people who keep badgering him to "repent or else". He just doesn't need that sort of thing right now. We believe in a loving God and we are refusing to go in any other direction than hope and abundance of life, so that "or else" thing just isn't in our spiritual vocabulary right now. These notes cause him some distress and angst. So I just share that to help everyone understand where I'm coming from in asking for gentle compassion when writing to my brother. He loves God with a quiet, gentle faith, and there's no doubt that much of his strength and courage come from the hope that your prayers and care have given him.

Hi Eagle,

I am glad you explained this, because instinctively I would say something like God loves you. I get very irritated when I hear of people saying the "or else". God is the only one that knows the heart of a person, which is why judgement is not ours to make.

My mom got really upset a few months ago because this lady my dad works with approached him. She gave him a mini-Bible and asked him if he was ready to meet The Lord. Ironically, it didn't bother my dad, he just replied, "Yes I am ready to meet my Maker". All I can say is, she should be glad I wasn't there. I know these people mean well, but they are going about it the wrong way. They need to go back and read their Bibles and see how Jesus treated people. With loving kindness. He only condemned those that were the really bad guys so to speak. Someone like your brother and my dad are not the bad guys. I just feel I have gotten to know your brother through you, and he is like a brother to me now as well.

Bless you sis, let us know how it went today.

Cheers and Hugs,
Cathi

When my uncle was dying from cancer, he asked my mom (his sister) if this happened to him because he abused his wife. My mom told him yes. What wonderful words to hear as you're getting ready to pass. People astound me.

Eagle, you and your brother are in my thoughts today and I'll do my very best to get a card out to him.

Thanks Cathi. I feel a strong connection to your Dad too.

My brother's chemo was a little iffy today. His blood tests showed problems with the liver (he's been looking sallow and yellowish the past few days), so the on-call doctor was hesitant, but in the end decided to give him the chemo anyway. But we're definitely anxious to see his own doctor on Wednesday!

I didn't stay for the whole 4-hour chemo today; my other brother is staying with us this week and he stayed for the last 3 hours and then drove Gary home while I went to help my granddaughter celebrate her 6th birthday.

Dianne, I don't know why people say those kinds of things. Cancer is cancer, not divine punishment! I think God has better (more life-giving) ways to teach people any lessons He thinks they ought to know! I wouldn't be surprised if He uses the cancer to teach them about His mercy and about other GOOD things, but I can't believe that He GIVES people cancer or anything death-oriented to punish or teach people lessons. What good is learning a lesson if the person doesn't get the chance to live what he/she has learned?

Cancer doesn't differentiate who it hits. My Mom was one of the last people on earth who "deserved" to have cancer, yet she died from it. My brother has never done anything to warrant "punishment by cancer." It is what it is. Why do people feel the need to twist it (and God's love & mercy by doing so) around to become weapons of divine mass destruction!

These miserably strupid people that blame a diseased person for being ill really gall me. Tell them to take a walk through St. Judes Research Hospital for Children sometime ans see those tiny INNOCENT bodies or brains racked with ravaging cancers and then see if they can still make those same ridiculous remarks...Really, talk about insensitive.

Eagle Heart, I continue to pray for you and your brother and I'm sorry things didn't go well today. People are very narrow minded when they think God punishes us with disease and tragedy. Chatty is right they need to walk through the children's hospital and I guarantee they'll be singing a different tune. Stay strong and take each day one at a time.

Well meaning people would say to my Dad, "You're a good man. You don't deserve this." He would say to me, "Obviously, I do deserve this, because I have it."
It broke my heart.

And I agree with Chatty, in fact, I requested donations to St. Judes in lieu of flowers.

I once thought this was the old generation's way of thinking, but I've learned that even young people have been taught to think this way. My God is a God of love, not punishment.