When I was told that I had cancer and that I had to be operated on as a matter of urgency to remove a large tumour from my digestive system, I passed very rapidly, after a few minutes of fear, to a mood of grateful reliance on my faith.
I then, over a much longer period, had to think what this meant for me, as well as for my wife and family, in the long term, if such an expression is not an oxymoron and thus not entirely appropriate in such circumstances!
Discussions over several months with the members of the medical team looking after my body made it clear that I would have to have treatment by chemotherapy for some time, and the original estimate of the period concerned has now been substantially extended. In fact, I have recently been told that I am likely to have to continue, happily with periodic pauses to recover my general strength, for the rest of my life, and that this could mean for many years to come. This is because the secondary cancer in my lungs stubbornly refuses to go away, despite the heavy doses of noxious substances induced by chemotherapy.
What they also confirmed was that I was right to think that I should live as normal a life as possible, and that it is good to take an interest in other things than my own health. This is perhaps a polite way of saying that self-pity is harmful and is a particularly daangerous form of narcissism.
Since I am as stubborn as the cancer, my reaction has been, and remains, to continue my almost life-long battle for justice for the oppressed and to combat all forms of injustice. Having taken up the law as a profession starting as an undergraduate in 1952, my resolve has not lessened, and the obvious reminder of mortality represented by my illness has brought with it a sense of urgency. Whilst I cannot expect my efforts necessarily to bear fruit while I am still on this earth, I am sure that it is still worthwhile to fight for what is right, and against what is evil.
This explains what some may consider my excessively strongly expressed impatience with the political and other leaders in the world who trample on human rights and commit serious crimes under international law. I admit to being impatient, but, as just stated, I do not expect a miracle whereby these wicked people suddenly see the light and decide to behave decently and honestly. Also, I am not (and in this I am unlike some of my friends) a pacifist, and I therefore do not condemn those who resist force with force in cases of unjust oppression.
One thing which I have learned from this curious experience is that life should be lived from day to day, but that we should not be so self-centred as to think that the whole world revolves around us to the exclusion of others, particularly those who suffer far worse than we do. We must not allow ill-health or any other misfortune to prevent us from thinking of those in a worse situation than ourselves.
This means that I do not intend to plead that I am too sick to continue my endless battle against the worst villains in our world, or to let it be known what I think. The disease which has gained a foothold in my body must not be allowed to affect my spirit and my soul - I am a man of principle and I will continue to be a constant critic of those who commit serious and violent crimes.
Put simply, such criminals as Mr George W. Bush, Mr Ariel Sharon, Mr Oussama bin Laden and Mr Anthony Blair cannot expect my health problems to stop me from advocating their arrest and prosecution. Also, my strong pro-semitism will not allow me to stop my steady hostility to Zionism as an ideology promulgated to ensure the ethnic cleansing of Arab semites from Palestine by incomers from all around the world inspired by a deviant form of Judaism, just as Mr Bush wishes to impose on the world a deviant form of Christianity and Mr bin Laden a deviant form of Islam.
Neither evil nor ill-health must be allowed to win, we must all decide in the cold light of day to overcome their side-effects on our lives and efforts to combat injustice in so far as we possibly can.
© Copyright 2005 by AxisofLogic.com
*Robert Thompson is a columnist on Axis of Logic. His writings can be found in Letters from France. He is a French citizen, is a retired Avocat (Trial Lawyer) at the Boulogne-sur-Mer Bar, living with his wife in a small village in Northern France. He was born at Leek (North Staffordshire, England) in 1931, and, after reading Jurisprudence at Oxford University, he became an English Solicitor. He later went to work at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. There he was Director in charge of the Legal Department and also Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration, the most important international commercial arbitration centre on the world. While there, he became the I.C.C. Director in charge of relations with the Arab states, where he travelled for professional reasons, and he worked towards legal cooperation with the countries then within the Comecon.
