Conversation Point

Til Death

Anna Nicole Smith was finally buried in Nassau, The Bahamas, today, three weeks after her sudden death at age thirty-nine. News reports indicate that her mother's last minute push to be allowed to bring her daughter back to her native Texas for burial were denied. The only certainty at this, the end of Ms. Smith's tumultuous life, is that her final resting place will be next to her twenty-year-old son, Daniel, who died only six months ago while visiting his mother after the birth of his sister, Danielynn. The rest, the cause of her death, the paternity of her daughter and the management of her massive estate, are left for science and the courts to decide. A bystander to today's media frenzy, an American tourist waiting for shops to open for business across the street from where Ms. Smith's funeral was held, was surprised at the furor surrounding her death. The woman pondered aloud that Ms. Smith wasn't a president or a queen, and in fact, she was a nobody. I'm sure Anna Nicole Smith's family, friends and fans would disagree. I am none of the above, but it is clear to me that she mattered to a lot of people who will miss her. It is also sad that her daughter will never know her mother. That said, I am sincerely hoping the media will let Anna Nicole Smith rest in peace and give us a new focal point for our attention.

What draws our collective attention in this country is fascinating to me. Celebrities and outrageous behavior represent far too much air space on news broadcasts and entertainment programs. Brittany Spears' personal and professional life has not defined the importance of quality education in our schools. No Hollywood couples' relational status determines the price of bread at my local market. Details of Paris Hilton's most recent birthday party does not contribute to peace in the Middle East. This is to say, as numerous other people have said before, that while we are allowing ourselves to be distracted by so much foolishness, there is a whole bunch of other stuff going on in the world to which we should be paying attention. In a way we should be grateful Jesus lived, died when he did because I'm not so sure he would have made the evening news, let alone the Bible, if he had lived in today's drama-hungry, paparazzi-infested media climate.

Considering Jesus' life, his work and the culture in which he found himself, it is even more amazing we in the twenty-first century know anything about him, especially as much as we do. Jesus' locally-focused world centered on contained communities and the oral tradition. People didn't often leave their hometowns in search of fame, fortune or adventure. Limited resources, limited choices and assumptions about how life was and was supposed to be were the invisible fences that held people in check. There was also that little thing called the Roman army, which was pretty effective at keeping people in their place.

But somehow, against heavy odds, we know about Jesus' life and his death, and we know how the surrounding community responded. Luke's gospel gives a stark account of betrayal, torture and brutality. Many of those closest to Jesus deserted him. Those who did stay to the end were left feeling helpless and hopeless. "And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, 'He saved others; let him save himself. If he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!' The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering vinegar, and saying, 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself (Luke 23: 35-37)!"

Jesus wasn't the only person crucified that day or that year. Effective as a deterrent against political uprisings, Rome used this particular form of execution as often as necessary to prove the point of its own power. But Because Jesus was a public figure, a celebrity in his own way, we do know more. It was to Rome's advantage and the advantage of the Temple authorities, to use that horrible day's events for all they were worth to keep all those people who had hoped on Jesus as their Messiah under their control. Hopeless people are easier to manage. What is truly remarkable, indeed, miraculous, is that the rest of the story got through. Jesus did rise from the dead. Despite all the Roman power and coersion to the contrary, that one piece of information made it into the best-selling book of all time. Someone was paying attention.

So, despite the barrage of intimate information about Anna Nicole Smith, Brittany spears and various Hollywood types, there are other, extremely important things going on to which we must pay attention and on which we must act while we can. We have more choices, more opportunity, than most people can ever dream of. Our faith is calling us to remember how Jesus lived, died and rose to new life. Our faith is calling us to remember, pay attention and act.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 8:30 PM