Anna Nicole
It’s about all that’s been on the news for the past few days: the sudden, mysterious death of Anna Nicole Smith. How many times do we have to hear all the details of this woman whom Leonard Pitts described as “blindingly voluptuous”?
Her sudden rise to fame from early jobs with her eighth-grade education (Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken, Wal-Mart, Red Lobster, Houston stripper), her popularity with Playboy, her gold-digging marriage with an octogenarian (she married twice: once to a 16-year-old and once to an 89-year-old), her lawsuit to keep his money after he died, her show making fun of her weight and drinking — all is by now well known.
Why does this story play so well? Are we really drawn to human trainwrecks? In what ways did our values push her toward more and more tragic decisions?
And is it still possible to see the humanity of the woman? Is it possible to see the person whom God pursued relentlessly?
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Just two years ago, it was the Beach Boys that got the car pool guys to open their eyes a bit. But that was sixth grade. They were just boys. Now they’re iPod carrying eighth graders. It’s Jack Johnson. Great music. (A friend just told me about “My Own Two Hands” from the Curious George soundtrack. Very nice duet with Ben Harper.)
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Sunday evening we had our annual lament service — a time to grieve and to remember those we’ve lost. While it was not a big crowd, it was a powerful experience. After hearing scripture and praying, we listened to an ACU freshman play the dulcimer. As he moved into “When Peace Like a River,” you could hear people weeping. Then as we went forward to light candles to remember those we love, a time of prayer and ministry — unplanned! — broke out. I was in the role of minister. But later . . . when everyone had left . . . I had my own few moments in front of the candles with the music playing and the images still rolling to remember.
Is your lament service advertised to the public or is it just for the members of your congregation? I am glad to hear that more Christians are recognizing the place of lament among our worship and expressions of faith. BTW, has anyone ever noticed how difficult it is to find songs that are true expressions of lament?
Just the description of your assembly ministers and inspires.
Blessings for all you do for so many of us!
I give hope there is always a possibility to see humanity in her as well as all others who exist in this world. Sometimes we just have to dig a little deeper and work a little harder.
Is Highland doing anything for Amazing Grace Sunday (this coming Sunday), Mike?
Mike, in an attempt at fairness, Anna Nichol’s first marriage wasn’t as dire as portrayed – she was 17 and he 16 – now the second one? That’s another story all together. How did we miss sharing our Good News with her and so many like her?
Pesky asthma has kept me inside during evening hours for the past several weeks, so was unable to attend the Lament Service. Last year, the service was so soothing of spirit – I’d looked forward to this year’s as well, but it wasn’t to be. Thankfully, you and others had those needed moments to lament the absence of loved ones. I pray it was calming to the spirits and hearts of all participants.
I don’t think we’re drawn to human trainwrecks as much as we’re drawn to mystery and reality … at the same time.
Here’s my theory:
- She was a voluptuous blonde who posed nude and that drew a crowd. Not much mystery left in that department.
- She balooned up with her weight and did a reality show where she was half drunk all of the time … feeding off of the success of Ozzy’s reality show – and she drew a crowd. Supposedly reality…
- She lost weight and became physically voluptuous again and drew another weghtloss crowd… constantly in the news.
- She is characterized by her rediculous stoned behavior in public… everywhere she goes. Her character flaws drew another crowd.
- Her marriage controversies, financial law suits, and the mysterious death of her son taps our couriosity. We like mystery and we like to solve it with the media. America has been invited into the mystery of how her story would unfold in major controversies.
- She died – and there’s alot of mystery to this person who portrayed “reality”.
It’s nothing more than solving a mystery in my opinion.
page turning reality for some.
In regards to reaching her? Give me a break – what are we doing to reach the billions caught up in the porn/celeb/media crazed world now?
She’s no different than the lost people accross the street.
What you do with a little – you’ll do with alot. What you do with the unknown – you’ll do with the celebrity.
I’m really glad I go to a church where the preacher can admit to liking a duet Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. Nothing says kick back and relax like Jack Johnson. I like Ben Harper too, but I’d keep an eye on my middle/high schooler listening to him. He’s really and advocate for ‘personal rights’. Especially the kind of personal rights you inhale. But the music is really good too.
You can try it without inhaling you know.
DU
Yes, we are drawn to human trainwrecks.
Thankfully, so is God…
Ha, David U, only a man from Arkansas would say that.
Mike, the description almost moved me to tears… I can hear the music and the sobs. So glad you let God use you!
http://www.touchalifekids.blogspot.com
The Lament Service came at a perfect time for us. We are so thankful for the ministry that was shown to us (and others) that evening. It is very powerful to be a part of a family who knows the importance of sharing joys and grief with one another.
awaiting moderation… oops
what I meant to say before my frustration and arrogance took over is I wish I could do more to impact the world and I don’t really know why we’re so caught up in Anna Nicole and wish we were more effecitve with reaching lost people too.
… thanks for setting a great example with the lament service.
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Her life was a trainwreck the media and people to watch trainwrecks. When we pass by wreck we slow down to make sure there’s not a head in the road. The great news is that Jesus takes the trainwrecks of our lives and cleans them us and makes them new even at the end if we come to him. Who knows what happened at the end of her Anna Nicole’s life. She might have had that chance to give her life over to God.
Then there is Grace.
Is God’s grace big enough for her life?
Isn’t he the ultimate judge?
I think God that for his love and grace.
I thank GOd that he is the one who makes those choices, not me.
Today Praise God for taking peoples lives who looks like trainswrecks and accepting them into his kingddom even in the end if they come to him. Thank God for his wonderful love and grace.
To a certain extent, it is adaptive to be drawn to those “human train wrecks.” If we seek guidance to navigate this maze of life observing “wrong turns” can provide a lot of information, moral lessons, and signposts. In the end, the brain is a social device; we crave and are attracted to people and social information. This is why we traffic so much in gossip and rumor. It’s the brain’s sweet tooth.
In the end, I think the spiritual issue isn’t one of interest in the “train wrecks,” as they are intrinsically interesting. It is with issues of harm (i.e., spreading harmful information) and Schadenfreude.
Thank you so much for doing a service of lament.
My kids had some Jack Johnson music at their beach wedding, & it was lovely.
Regarding Ben Harper advocating “personal rights”—-so did/does just about everybody we listened to in the ’60′s, ’70′s, ’80′s, ’90′s, & the first seven years of the 2000′s. And, my parents said that alot of stuff from their growing up was clean lyrics, but sung by some stinkers.
I’ve been listening to John Mayer’s “Continuum” CD alot lately, &(some of) the lyrics to this song have tugged at me:
“Pain throws your heart to the ground,
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won’t all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good
You know, it’s nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
But then, the circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining
Pain throws your heart to the ground
But love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good
I just know it’s good
Substitute the word “trainwreck” with “scandal” and it might help to explain why the Gospel spread so quickly throughout Asia Minor. We are all lured to a scandal, and maybe that is why Jesus had to come just exactly the way he came and to die exactly the way he died. How can we practice embracing God’s scandal?
And at the same time, I feel just a tremendous amount of sadness for Anna Nicole Smith. Humans were made to be so much more than what the world tells us we are.
I also feel a tremendous sadness for Anna Nicole. It struck me yesterday as I watched the news from the treadmill I was running on (that’s about the only tv I ever catch!) that this woman had been dead for days and the chaos still abounded. Who would get to decide where to lay her to rest (finally)? Which of the half dozen men are the father of her baby, and so on.
I thought about a verse from one of our hymns that says “and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of Thy peace.” The contrast of Anna Nicole’s choices compared with the peace God offers is striking.
Thanks for taking a moment to try and put a human face back on Anna Nicole, even if you never knew her. It seems like most people who did and didn’t know her were willing to let her be a caricature for their own entertainment. I know she participated in it too, but that only makes it sadder. Unfortunately, we live in a society where infamy is just as good as fame, and wallow in the mud is as good as a reach for the stars, so long as it brings a bit of attention. Just one more reason for us to show God’s unconditional love to everyone we meet, to refuse to play favorites any more than He does, and to stop rubbernecking and start triage whenever we come across a trainwreck.
Mike,
Regarding Anna Nicole you asked, “Is it possible to see the person whom God pursued relentlessly?” I cannot get that question out of my head. (This is my first time to post a comment, by the way…it was that compelling!) I keep thinking, would Anna Nicole have said she felt “pursued relentlessly” by God? I imagine not, but rather she felt pursued relentlessly by tabloids, media, etc…and in the same turn, she pursued those as well. Not to mention money and fame.
I do not doubt for one second God’s love and now sadness for Anna Nicole. But I can’t seem to get passed the thought, did she know He was pursuing her, could she feel His presence?
I’m studying Romans right now and am in the “thick of it” so to speak. Chapters 9 – 11. I’m hearing Paul say “election”, “God foreknew”, “God chooses”, “God hardens”, etc… I know there are many interpretations of these verses. I also know that we are NOT to judge others, even if it would be easy. I got early on in the book of Romans that no one is worthy or deserves God’s grace, even if we like to think we are good enough. By Anna Nicole’s life, many of our lives look very “normal” and “pure”. But Jesus doesn’t allow us to get by on comparisons, does he? (thank goodness!)
I just need help understanding how people can know God is pursuing them? Is it my job to tell them? What if they don’t believe me? Will God hold me accountable? Can I just accept the interpretation of “election” and wipe my brow with a “whew, glad I’m in”? I know that in my inability to understand God’s hard truths I need to just trust His character. And I do. I just keep wrestling with, “therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:18)
Any wisdom or encouragement for me?
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a trainwreck like me….. I once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see… something like that. Right?
How amazing is God’s grace?
sad sad sad..I am so sad for Anna Nichole
on another note Jack Johnson and Ben Harper are two of my favorites!!
My six year old goes to sleep each night to Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson. Finally music in kids’ movies that we all can enjoy. How about “Where did all the good people go?” from another of his CDs.
Was the dulcimer player David Degge?
(Note to self: add “blindingly voluptuous” to resume…)
YEAAAAA! Mike like Jack Johnson! You’re truly hip!
As for Anna Nicole…I felt so sorry for her this year. She really went through so much. I wonder what she felt like when she was alone with her thoughts. For some reason that’s plagued me this week.
SHAMELESS PLUG: For all you Jack Johnson lovers…I produced a CD for Parable Bookstores last year that was (and still is) a best seller for them. The idea was birthed from Jack Johnson’s Curious George soundtrack. We took the idea and asked TJ McCloud (who many of you know from ACU and Stephen Speaks days) to put his artistic stamp on the project. TJ is sort of Jack Johnson meets Derek Webb. TJ wrote most of the songs (he and I co-wrote a couple). This is a children’s record–it’s called Playground. It’s available online and in all Parable Bookstores. FYI–the Bible Bookstore in Abilene is a Parable Bookstore. There’s also a link to purchase them on my blog.
Thanks for letting me sneak that in there. It’s a great recording and our kids love it! Their favorite songs are “I Wanna Be Your Friend” and “All God’s Animals”
In at least one picture I have seen on television of Anna Nicole, she is wearing a necklace with a cross on it. I wonder what that meant.
I admit to being drawn to the Anna Nicole story because I think it is a reminder of what happens when we give up on our children. It appears to me that is what her mother did. It seems to me Anna’s mom turned her back on her daughter fairly early in the game. We don’t get to do that. I keep wondering how things might have been different if her mother had just stayed the course and fought tooth and nail to save her daughter from the life that was drawing her in. When that didn’t happen, the rest of the world saw Anna’s outer beauty and ignored her inner pain. Everyone she came in contact with used her until the day she died.
Do I think Anna Nicole contributed anything to society? Other than her children, no. But the society in which she lived contributed nothing to her either. They turned her into that trainwreck that so fascinates us.
I am very sad for the life she lived and the way the people in her life treated her.
There are plenty of other things to be concerned about besides ANS. But, her life does have lessons for us that you have pointed out. Everybody’s does. Am fascinated by your lament service. When our church moves from school gym to our own building, then perhaps we could do something like that.
Do I see the humanity in Anna Nicole Smith? You bet I do. What mother could not share the sadness she must have felt when she lost her son? That, added to what might have been postpartum depression after the recent birth of her baby (which I can also identify with) would have been very difficult to recover from. Whatever she died of, ultimately it must have been a broken heart.
just couldn’t do the lament service this year Mike…..
“Is it possible to see the person whom God pursued relentlessly?”
Don’t really see God pursuing anyone nowadays. I see other people stepping in from time to time helping others, but none of the other.
Guess God got tired of running. So am I.
“Is it possible to see the person whom God pursued relentlessly?”
If you can’t run down Anna Nicole you are out of shape.
Country Fred, may I suggest, as gently as the written word permits, that if we take the time to go out in the streets, cafes, offices, under bridges, etc., making ourselves available to God, He will put someone under our very noses that He is pursuing. God will show you the person He wants you to minister and witness to – the person He is hounding from Heaven. It’s a thrilling, but very humbling experience. If we wait for one to show up on the church’s doorstep, it will become discouraging. We are told to “GO” rather than “Wait.”
Please read this hearing a gentle voice and feeling an encouraging arm around the shoulder.
Kathy,
NO KIDDIN
I said ” see other people stepping in from time to time” I guess that means taking the time to go out in the streets….
I guess the pesrson who was supossed to run down Anna didn’t get the message or maybe wasn’t equipped by God to run her down.
The post about God relentlessly pursuing Anna, seemed a tad Polyannish. If God pursued relentlessly and didn’t get her, then that doesn’t say much about God.
Kathy,
read your comment on my blog. Thank you for your concern. Sorry about anger of above comment.
The Lord put Anna Nicole on my heart several years ago, to pray for her. This happened once before to me for my ex-husband to whom I had not been married in several years. For a year, there would be times when an intense movement to pray for him would come over me and I was obedient. I later found out that during that year, a Christian man came into his life at work and began to share Christ with him. One week before his death in a car wreck, he went forward and gave his life to the Lord. I know that, in some mysterious way, the Lord allowed me to be a part of his salvation through prayer.
I believe that, because He moved me to pray for Anna Nicole, He was also working in her life, as well, in ways that I will not know until I go home to be with Him. I am sure that prayers said for her were indeed honored, although in what ways I do not know. I have felt such sadness for her. I now believe that prayers should revolve around her baby girl, that someone will come into her life who will share the Lord with her and prevent her life from becoming the train wreck that her mother’s life was.
AslansLady