Like most of us, Kevin Cross’s life has been full of unexpected twists and turns–many of them wonderful, at least one terrifying. And as soon as I heard his “full-circle” story, I knew I wanted to share it.
The Cross home on the Tred Avon River
His life dream started very young.
“When I was little, I used to play at being a priest,” Kevin, 72, recalls. “I gave my sisters Necco (candy) wafers for communion!”
In college Kevin continued his dream of becoming a Jesuit priest…until he attended a Catholic retreat and met a young blonde named Barbara.
The two quickly fell in love and “that kind of ended that career choice!” Kevin says with a laugh.
They married in 1974 and after earning a Master’s in psychiatric social work, he worked in counseling and human resources for the next three decades.
Then came another unexpected turn when he and Barbara attended a retreat in 2003.
“When we got there, I found out it was a 3-day silent retreat, which didn’t sound that great,” Kevin recalls. “But afterwards as soon as I got back in the car, I started hearing in my head ‘I want you to be a priest’.”
He wrestled with such a momentous change, but finally decided to go to seminary and become an Episcopal priest.
“Father Cross” has been his calling ever since.
Volunteer chaplain at the National Cathedral
For the past 14 years he’s been rector at Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford, MD, on the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. (Known as “The Village Vicar” in this community of only 600.)
The most difficult path Kevin’s been forced to take began in 2019 when he insisted his family doctor do some cardiac screening because he was 67 and “so many of my parishioners were having strokes and heart attacks.”
The coronary calcium scan which looks for plaque in the arteries scored him a perfect zero. But the x-ray images of his heart showed something else.
“You’ve got a spot on your right lung that looks suspicious,” the doctor reported and prescribed an antibiotic in hopes it was merely an infection.
But a few months later the answer came: “It’s grown and you need to have it out.”
Kevin’s right lower lobe lung was removed and the pathology identified melanoma, which meant it was stage 4. (The primary skin site never was found.)
“This whole thing was just a shocker,” Kevin acknowledges. “There were times when I was really frightened and petrified, but my faith is what really got me through–my faith, my family and my friends.”
He began a bi-weekly infusion of immunotherapy to boost his immune system, stopping six months shy of the recommended two years because of adverse kidney effects.
Especially comforting to Kevin have been the words of 14th century mystic Julian of Norwich, who withdrew into solitude for most of her life and wrote Revelations of Divine Love (the oldest surviving book in English by a woman). Her village was filled with poverty, famine and the bubonic plague, prompting suffering folks to come to her cell for spiritual counsel.
It was a vision in May 1373 when Julian said she heard Jesus speak the words for which she is most well-known:
“‘All shall be well’ became my mantra,” Kevin remembers. “I obviously wanted to be healed, but I knew if I wasn’t, all will be well.”
Scans every three months continue to show No Evidence of Disease for Kevin.
“It’s always on your mind that it could recur,” he explains. “I can forget about it for a while, but it helps me remember the finiteness of life and appreciate it more.”
Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.
—John 16:33
Yes, in Him, all shall be well.
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For more on the life of Julian of Norwich https://julianofnorwich.org/pages/who-is-julian-of-norwich For more of her quotes https://quotefancy.com/julian-of-norwich-quotes
Open in your browser to hear this short, beautiful arrangement of “All Shall Be Well” by an unnamed guitarist (originally composed by folk-singer Sydney Bertram Carter, best known for “Lord of the Dance”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8c3-GMOs10 )
I’m a newspaper reporter-turned-author. And I’m a passionate encourager, but always a truth-teller. I worked for nearly two decades in a unique position as a patient advocate in my oncologist’s office and the Cancer Prayer Support Group I founded in 1991 is the country’s oldest such faith-based group.
2 comments
I love this mantra. I will be using it. My husband died three weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Then I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Months later they did surgery and took 85 percent of the kidney but got clean margins. Eleven months later I was told I had lung cancer. Radiation, chemo, followed by a year of immunotherapy, I was told the cancer is still there but “asleep”. It will come back but don’t know when. In Decrmber of last year I was diagnosed with Squamish cell skin cancer, then a month later, also diagnosed with melanoma. Surgery in March for the Squamish cell cancer got clear margins but surgery site did not heal and I am still working on healing. In April had surgery for the melanoma and got clear margins. I live my life happy and to the fullest showing God’s love. Life is worth living no matter what is thrown at you. When people ask me how I can be so happy, I will now say “all will be well”. Thank you for my new mantra.
Author
Dear Tacy,
Thanks so much for taking time to write. You and your family have definitely had more than your share of trials and tribulations 🙁 I’m so thankful that you know the Lord and are allowing His strength and power to sustain you. He WILL be faithful despite the unfairness of life. You are right, that all WILL be well with you.
Blessings of HOPE,
Lynn