(Jerusalem, Israel) — I’ve known Rush for more than 25 years. It was an honor to serve as his Research Director back in the early ‘90s. We’ve stayed in touch ever since. And he’s been a big fan — and wonderfully vocal supporter — of my novels over the years, for which I’ll be forever grateful.
So I was shocked and deeply saddened when I heard the news of his lung cancer. Regardless of your politics, would you join me in praying daily for Rush, his family, and his tight knit staff — especially for healing and for comfort and for him to stick close to the Lord during the hard months ahead? I’d be so grateful. I love this guy and have learned so much from him over the years.
Excerpts from Monday’s broadcast — worth taking a few minutes to read:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this… This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory for me because I’ve known this moment was coming in the program today. Now, I’m sure that you all know by now, I really don’t like talking about myself, and I don’t like making things about me other than in the usual satirical, parodic, joking way….
“It’s a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today. I can’t escape… Even though people are telling me it’s not the way to look at it, I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down with this. But the upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, diagnosis confirmed by two medical institutions back on January 20th. I first realized something was wrong on my birthday weekend, January 12th.
“I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, and I thought about not telling anybody. I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing, ’cause I don’t like making things about me. But there are going to be days that I’m not gonna be able to be here because I’m undergoing treatment or I’m reacting to treatment, and I know that that would inspire all kinds of curiosity with people wondering what’s going on…..
“I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about. But I do, and I have been working that relationship (chuckles) tremendously, which I do regularly anyway, but I’ve been focused on it intensely for the past couple of weeks….”