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Spiritual Beliefs
Those two words evoke such strong emotions in our hearts and minds these days that the world has almost forgotten about any of the other issues in the world. She died less than two weeks ago, but the speculation about her death, her will, her child's father and even where her body will be buried are all the buzz. We have seen her bedazzled, often too exposed images flashed across the television from dozens of venues. We have heard people talk about her rise to "stardom", her Playboy days and the lavish lifestyle that meant a heavy party schedule. There is hardly a pose that doesn't accentuate her bodily features in such a way that would have you either drooling with delight or shaking your head. Names like "bimbo" and "gold brick" have described her without batting an eye. Funny thing, this is not the first time a blonde has gotten our attention. How about these names from the past - Jane Mansfield, Lana Turner and Marilyn Monroe. In their day each of them was known as a "sex kitten" or "sex symbol" and yet each of them suffered from perhaps the same disease as did Anna Nicole. Loneliness. Anna Nicole suffered from low self-esteem, until she realized that her body could get her where she wanted to go: loved. Loved in the sense that everyone around her would say, "baby, you got it!". The "it" she had was not really "it". She had an incredible physical frame and a gorgeous smile, but I'll bet that no one really looked inside of her to see the scared kid that made her tick. The same might be said for Jane Mansfield, Lana Turner and Marilyn Monroe. All of them had relationship disasters that left them so vulnerable that the next relationship was probably a desperate attempt to say to themselves, "I KNOW what love can do for me---and now, this is it!". Not a one of them had a happy existence. At least one, other than Anna Nicole, suffered a similar fate. I wonder what the Christian church of the first century would have said. In Sunday School at St. Peter's we addressed that question recently. We have been examining the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians. In that letter of encouragement, Paul tells the Thessalonicans that they are to be "imitators of Christ". Yes, you as a church are doing good things, but remember that being a Christian is a lifelong process. You are ever striving to go further in your journey. I wonder what they would have said to Anna Nicole. First, I believe that the leaders of that church, following Paul's example, would have sought to have shown her a better way than chasing after selfish goals. Anna Nicole thought that power and money could make her better or more whole. I doubt seriously if she is the only person who has ever thought such for herself (himself). Bob Dylan, in a recent recording makes the comment in his song "Thunder On The Mountain", "Gonna stop thinking about me and see about someone else". I believe that a loving community could have shown Anna Nicole that "beautiful" meant acceptance for who you are, not what you look like or how much $$$ you have at present. Secondly, it is important for me to realize that I let Anna Nicole down. I cannot point a finger elsewhere even though I would like to do so. It is easy to point fingers. It is hard to accept that my opinions and thoughts do matter. Individuals make a difference. One way to let any future Anna Nicole know how I feel about the abuse of sex appeal is to begin with how I handle sex appeal. I try to teach my children that a person should be known for the total package, not just the wrapping on the outside. I once wrote a young man and told him this: "when you can learn to respect women for something other than a toy for your desire, then you are on the right path to finding friends that will be lifelong. You will know "her" when she appears because you will have learned to love her thoughts, hopes and dreams more than your own. That my friend is the love for a mate." Paul told the Thessalonicans to be as they had been taught that Christ himself was while he walked among us. Jesus will, I believe, welcome Anna Nicole with a smile and open arms. We are called upon to let her go from us in a similar way. We cannot forget the wild side of this wild child, but I hope we can see a struggling woman who never really got it all straightened out. Her story is a sad story of neglect. Her sunken ego was never brought back to a surface area correctly, but it wallowed in a world of glitz that is so far from most of us that we can hardly imagine the pressures that made up her life.
She is free of that now. I hope that we will free her memory, too. I hope that we look deeper than the images on screen. I hope that as Paul would have said to us, we can imitate Christ and maybe begin to see that Christ will reject her not. Released from this life, she died. She ceased to exist. It is my belief that she will live again in that place where there is no suffering or doubt, but life eternal.
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