Service of Hope a special event

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. " These words, spoken almost half a century ago by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., eloquently reflect the message of the Weymouth/Digby Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society.

On May 27, 7 p.m., at the Hillgrove Baptist Church, the unit is sponsoring a ‘Service of Hope’.

Cancer is just a word, but it is a word that invariably initiates feelings of terror and evokes visions of incredible pain and heartache. This insidious category of diseases can rob an individual of their strength, their dignity and their future. There is also a helplessness that has its genesis in the belief that once the sentence is pronounced there is no going back – it is over.

Picture in your mind a young female student, full of life, her first time in a large metropolitan centre. Her future has unlimited potential. At 21 that hard, tiny, little lump in her breast must just be some infection. It isn’t and in the whirlwind of events that follow, she realizes that her life will never be the same. Almost 30 years later she is reminded of this event every time she fastens a seat belt over the scar tissue. Yet if that had happened even a few years earlier she would not be here.

Health professionals will insist that attitude has a significant effect. Those who choose to dream and hope have a better chance of remission and recovery from treatment than those who choose to accept defeat. Early proactive diagnostics such as PAP tests and blood screenings are key. Modern technologies have given us multiple and diverse therapies that have provided patients with realistic possibilities of beating the odds and living long after the word was spoken.

Mary Robinson is one such individual. She has agreed to share her odyssey of survival during the service. The Digby Baptist Trio, Brad Hewey and Thomas Frook will be performing musical selections especially chosen to celebrate the concept of hope.

The after service social will give those who attend an opportunity to meet and share. Sonji Hill, of the Digby Superstore, will leave the evening with either a much shorter hairstyle or a clean-shaven head depending on how much she has been able to raise to support her desire to assist with funds for cancer research. Special events Chair Beulah Shears (245-5364) insists that the purpose of this gathering is to provide participants with a genuine feeling of support and encouragement. Let us all hope the service is a success.