A Sad, Tragic Life

Now that I have your attention.

I am reflecting on the media firestorm of the last 24 hours concerning the tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. One commentator summed it up well observing that her life was a reflection of the culture, especially many of the negative aspects of our culture. Everything about her life has intentionally been public from her early career with playboy magazine, her marriage to an 89 year old billionaire (for love, not for money), her exploitive TV show, her weight gain and loss, the birth of her daughter and death of her son within a few days of each other in the Bahamas and now her death.

The coverage of her death rivaled that of President Gerald Ford in December. Perhaps that is saying something about President Ford, but that is for another blog.

What has struck me is the sad tragedy of this woman’s life both at the exploitive hands of others and through her own foolish choices. She needed to be needed and wanted and she used what she had to get what she wanted. She traded herself for security, fame and fortune. She was famous for being famous. Her outrageous behavior was not only tolerated but also encouraged because it entertained people and made for good television.

I am reminded of the words of Jesus, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:35-37) It is the middle phrase that arrests my attention.

As enticing as these pursuits may be there is something more to life than just momentarily pleasing our bodies or puffing our egos. What we were reminded of this week is that all of these pursuits may abruptly come to an end and the emptiness of it all is revealed. Often we don’t get an opportunity to see the end so abruptly as we did this week. Perhaps that is some of the fascination with this story. Many people living a hedonistic lifestyle don’t so publicly self-destruct.

The consequences of this are truly sad. Her 20-year-old son died mysteriously the same week her daughter was born and in the very hospital room they were in. Now several men have come forward saying they could potentially be the father including the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor. Her daughter is without a mother and the courts will have to determine which of the many men coming forward is the donor.

I don’t know what the ultimate determination will be about how she died. What strikes me with compassion is that she tried so desperately to gain her life and ended up losing everything she tired to gain. What escaped her was the joy and contentment that could have been found had she sought first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. There was a hole in her heart that could only be filled by living relationship with God through Christ.

Life is all about choices. You can’t have it all. Every time you choose one thing you have intentionally or unknowingly said no to every other option. We put the pursuit of pleasure above all other pursuits. If you have conflicting desires we always assume that the desire for pleasure is the more base desire therefore the most pure. There are things in life more important the fame, fortune or fun.