Common Humanity

Author Kate Bowler was 35 and assumed she had tons of important decisions still ahead of her when she was diagnosed with cancer. This is the story of her journey with cancer, but also it’s the story of how each of us who believes we are invincible copes with the reality of being human.

No two people handle the journey through life in the same way, but I found some peace in the  reminder that  humanity is what we have in common, no matter how many prejudices we bring to it or all the ways we try to compare ourselves. Remembering and considering this common thread connecting us all started a shift in the way I think about my existence.  It’s a reminder that what happens is not really in my hands.

I was nervous to read this book, because I had just finished a line of sad books, and I was worried that this would be just one more to add to the list. I wasn’t sure I could handle another sad story, and a true one at that, not now. But while reading the cancer journey of a woman who is basically my age was hard and heartbreaking, the book was convicting and true in ways that made me reconsider my own life and the approach I bring to it, what I think I deserve, and how I see the world. We’re all just doing our best, and I need to look at others with a little more compassion, grace, and love. I need to see others like the sisters and brothers we are and assume generously about their hearts.

This was a book I definitely needed to read, and it has lingered in my thoughts over the following weeks. I’m glad Kate Bowler was willing to work through what she learned and was learning publicly, and it may be your next right read too.