The Stranger and The Word

A man writes
in a book I got
from a stranger--
 
A stranger who is
praying for the cancer in me
to go away

and thus who sends books.
Anyway, as
I was saying,

this man writes,
"Your words are
building blocks
 
of which you construct
your life
and future."

He goes on to instruct
the Reader on how
to cooperate
 
with God's word
and thus, His
healing power--The promises
 
of health for His children;
the assertion that life
is in the power

of the tongue.  I agree
with him--Life is
constructed from the words
 
I tell myself.  The Word
of God is
breathed into me and gives me

Life.  For now.
 
And I disagree also
with this man (brother yet
stranger).  For people of

the Word die every
day.  They die beloved
and hopeful.  Or they die

scared and weary.  According
to their stories.  The Word
rooted into them is not

a magic potion or
a wand to wave away
every disease.  No.  The Word

instructs me that all my days
were numbered
before one came to be.

My days are
numbered.  This
is true.  And it's also true

That only God
knows the count of them.
Selah.