World Cancer day 2023
Finding sun amongst the rain
BLOGS
Mike Gibson
2/4/20231 min read
In a world where selfishness and amorality abound, it is not surprising that awful diseases like cancer exist.
In a world where greedy people who earn three times the national average wage think it is morally acceptable to go on strike for even more money, thereby bringing misery and hardship to millions of people who are paid a small fraction of their bloated salaries;
In a world where hatred and bigotry on a global scale are rife in every community, in every section of society, in every demography and where such hatred is cynically encouraged and actively promoted by far left and far right;
In a world where political bigotry blinds people to reality and denies the fresh air of healthy, respectful debate; and such things as cancel culture allows peoples' views to be shouted down, berated and belittled thus ensuring minority views become ever more entrenched, divisive and dangerous;
In a world where selfishness is publicly frowned upon but privately pursued;
In a world where ignorance and opinion triumphs over facts and reality;
Perhaps it is not surprising that the curse of cancer is visited upon us. Because, extraordinarily, diseases such as cancer bring out the best in humanity. For a brief second, we see human frailty equally opposed by human strength; We see human selfishness matched by human kindness; We see indifference to suffering equalled by compassion and love.
These manifestations of human warmth are brief before the worst excesses of mankind reassert themselves, but organisations like Macmillan - and others - rally those brief moments into longer interludes. Their work is filled exclusively with compassion and love.
That's why they deserve remembrance on World Cancer Day.