More black spots

They just keep coming. Now my best friend's sister has an early but aggressive breast cancer at age 37, with twin 8 yr old boys to raise. That's pure wrong.

There is no god, I tell her and H-etc and Peter Ballocks. No white-bearded masculine patriarch we were taught from Christian churches. Neither the punishing god of the early Old Testament nor the benevolent, kindness-rewarding briber of the New. In everyday life, the black spot is too randomly scattered to be a product of judgement. But the absence of god doesn't preclude a hereafter.

So you think about mitzvot and do the best you can for comfort and practical help. Seek and frame breast cancer survival statistics in light of the medical advances of the last 10 years. Undertake to accompany H-etc. when she collects Peter Ballocks from the Borders for more diagnostic tests in Edinburgh.

And mitzvot you receive back. Peter Ballock's friend (bowel and liver cancer) talks about his recent stay at Samye Ling. Walking Reekie-dog by the banks of the Bowmont you can't miss the buzz of natural life. I sat by the banks listening to the church quarterly chimes, hearing the water babble, watching the bumblebees work, picking some marguerites to take home.