Asleep in Christ

It is a sad, sad day in the Shaffer house.

My husband's co-worker and close friend passed away this morning. On February 29, he went to the doctor because he couldn't shake a 3-week headache. In spite of a "clean-bill-of-health" that he had been given in October, the doctors found that his melanoma from a year earlier had metastasized. His brain and lungs were full of small tumors.

3 weeks of treatment, consisting of both radiation and chemo, began on March 1. On March 17, St. Patty's Day, Steve and some buddies traveled to Buffalo to see him. He was weakened, but they all left there hopeful.

One week later he was in a wheelchair because he couldn't walk. They discovered another tumor on his spine. That was one week ago today.

Shaun, a fun-loving, exuberant, New York-Irish-Catholic - and the best storyteller around - would have turned 51 on Sunday. He leaves behind a wife and daughter.

Many of you from church have prayed for Shaun over the last few weeks. Thank you. Please continue prayers for his family.

Death, Be Not Proud

By: John Donne

DEATH, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For, those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,

And better then thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.