Promise (prom-ise)–noun: a declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc….

In August of 2009 my doctor declared that I had a rare, terminal and incurable form of cancer.  It was a declaration - a promise - that I, at 40 years old and with 2 young children, had a short time to live.  No cure, no chance, no hope.

Several months later a doctor in Houston declared that he could possibly help with my cancer, the 1st and only doctor to declare this. As he had cured hundreds and hundreds of people before me. And this was not some fly-by-night voodo man selling a "special elixer". This was a Doctor of world renown with a 1st class medical facility and one of the finest teams of cancer physicians ever assembled.

But within weeks I received yet another important promise. My insurance company declared that they would not pay a penny for this doctor’s treatment - my cure.  So, while more and more money is pouring into cancer research, cancer rates are actually rising and now insurance companies are refusing to pay for real, effective treatment.

I was in the midst of trying to make sense of this ridiculous situation.  I began hearing more stories from people in similar situations.  I read about a mom who made the seemingly logical conclusion that her family would be better off without the hopeless, money depleting, cancer-stricken life she had become.  And, I was trying to counsel myself and my own family on how life would be without their wife and mother and care-giver and lover and partner and best friend.

Sometimes in the midst of chaos we find clarity.  Sometimes in the depths of sorrow and anguish we find hope.  Sometimes we have to die to be reborn. 16th century Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross experienced this and called it “The Dark Night of the Soul”.

My dark night was upon me. And it was during that long night that the promise, came to me.  It literally came to me in a dream. I had been given an opportunity - a gift – and I was obligated, by God or by the universe or by creation or by all of the cancer survivors and non-survivors before me to accept this gift.  I had to take my breath, weak and quiet at first, and grow it to a whisper and then to a sound that would eventually become a noise that would grow until it moved the wind and blew the trees and created currents in the rivers and oceans and spread to the clouds and the mountains and the desserts and the islands and to every corner of the world.  That night, in my dream, I made my promise: I promised God that I would try my best and that I would do what I could.  And as insignificant as my singular effort was, if I could get others to try - and if they did what they could - then the insignificant might become significant.

There is so much to do. So much good change to make.  And it is happening.  In the time it took you to read this, the promise has already grown.  It has grown by the efforts of all of the insignificant promises of others that have turned significant. Change has come from one man’s promise to start reading to his kids every night.  Change has come from the promise of time and money that have sustained families while they’ve waited for a cure.  Change has come from the promise to stop eating pesticide-laden foods. But most importantly it has come because you took time to read this – the promise has met you.

I, Rene Louis, promise to bring HOPE to cancer patients around the world when HOPE is all they have:  To be part of the solution to cancer, and to INSPIRE the world to make a PROMISE, a promise to make a difference.

I hope I’ve inspired you.  Now it’s your turn. What’s your promise?