Dave McIntyre 1951-2011
Elizabeth Taylor 1931-2011
Today I leave the little village on the Rhine where I've been staying for four days.
When I arrived the nine year old who lives here asked me two questions straight away. Did I know who Abbott and Costello were, and was I familiar with Gilligan's Island?
Strong affirmation on both counts.
"Wow," he gasped, "Ronnie knows everything."
It raised a good laugh at least.
I felt strangely drawn to his conclusion, but I fear it was based on insufficient data.
I guess it depends on the standard.
It took me 48 hours to learn of the death of my seminary friend Dave McIntyre.
Dave was a rarity among our classmates in that he served only one church for 34 years.
In the same hour I learned that Elizabeth Taylor had died, but that news reached me in about 48 minutes
The contrast between the two as far as relational perseverance goes is too obvious to elaborate.
More than once in the pulpit I've confessed that I'm able to name all Elizabeth Taylor's husbands in order. I confess it as an indefensible use of brain band width. Indefensible especially as I cannot name the Kings of Judah.
We absorb so many cultural artifacts unwittingly and even unwillingly. Few of us will have memorized the Beatitudes. But if I say,
"There she goes just a walkin' down the street."
most of a certain age will reply--
"Singing Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo."
What do those words mean?
They don't mean anything, but nearly everyone in my generation memorized them.
To forgive a beautiful woman is the easiest thing in the world.
Homer knew that and he was blind.
In "The Illiad" King Menelaus meant to slay his faithless wife when he retrieved her from Troy. But when the moment came Helen's beauty overwhelmed him, and he took her back as his wife.
Debbie Reynolds, whose first husband left to become Elizabeth's fourth, later voted for her rival to receive an Academy Award. She even co-starred with her in a film.
I remember once hearing Richard Burton defend his wife on the grounds that, though she had married many times, there were only those particular men in her life. It was a dubious line of reasoning, but I suppose there were but few lines of defense open to him. She certainly made it hard for him to be loyal to his own wife and the same can be said for Michael Wilding and Eddie Fisher.
I suppose good manners require that we say nice things when a goddess dies.
Her son Michael Wilding was ready with an admirable tribute to his mother.
He said that the world had been a better place for her presence.
I guess it depends on the standard.
When I arrived the nine year old who lives here asked me two questions straight away. Did I know who Abbott and Costello were, and was I familiar with Gilligan's Island?
Strong affirmation on both counts.
"Wow," he gasped, "Ronnie knows everything."
It raised a good laugh at least.
I felt strangely drawn to his conclusion, but I fear it was based on insufficient data.
I guess it depends on the standard.
It took me 48 hours to learn of the death of my seminary friend Dave McIntyre.
Dave was a rarity among our classmates in that he served only one church for 34 years.
In the same hour I learned that Elizabeth Taylor had died, but that news reached me in about 48 minutes
The contrast between the two as far as relational perseverance goes is too obvious to elaborate.
More than once in the pulpit I've confessed that I'm able to name all Elizabeth Taylor's husbands in order. I confess it as an indefensible use of brain band width. Indefensible especially as I cannot name the Kings of Judah.
We absorb so many cultural artifacts unwittingly and even unwillingly. Few of us will have memorized the Beatitudes. But if I say,
"There she goes just a walkin' down the street."
most of a certain age will reply--
"Singing Doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo."
What do those words mean?
They don't mean anything, but nearly everyone in my generation memorized them.
To forgive a beautiful woman is the easiest thing in the world.
Homer knew that and he was blind.
In "The Illiad" King Menelaus meant to slay his faithless wife when he retrieved her from Troy. But when the moment came Helen's beauty overwhelmed him, and he took her back as his wife.
Debbie Reynolds, whose first husband left to become Elizabeth's fourth, later voted for her rival to receive an Academy Award. She even co-starred with her in a film.
I remember once hearing Richard Burton defend his wife on the grounds that, though she had married many times, there were only those particular men in her life. It was a dubious line of reasoning, but I suppose there were but few lines of defense open to him. She certainly made it hard for him to be loyal to his own wife and the same can be said for Michael Wilding and Eddie Fisher.
I suppose good manners require that we say nice things when a goddess dies.
Her son Michael Wilding was ready with an admirable tribute to his mother.
He said that the world had been a better place for her presence.
I guess it depends on the standard.
1 comment:
Amen
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