Heath musings
Ok so there's part of me that finds the response to Heath Ledger's death slightly ridiculous, like I found the reaction to Diana ten years ago. People don't know them yet they are deeply affected by their passing. But then, I'm still a little in shock about the news that Heath Ledger had been found dead. It doesn't seem right. He was relatively young, had amazing talent, and a beautiful daughter. It's not right that he should be taken from the world now. And it's going to be one of those moments where I'm going to know where I was when I heard the news.
It's also made me aware of my own human mortality once again. Maybe because I'm in my twenties so I can identify with Heath Ledger on an age basis too. And it is a bit like losing a friend you've fallen out of touch with but still mean to call sometime. I've grown up watching Heath grow up. It's not like I was particularly fangirl about him either, he was just a quite cute, really good actor who I'd enjoy watching in a film because he often portrayed his characters well. And 10 Things I Hate About You will always be one of my favourite films, but more because I find it a great feel good film rather than because I'm crushing on the lead male.
But the other thing that Heath's death has done has increased my urgency to share the message of Jesus and salvation to the world. I don't know if Heath would have called himself a Christian, or if he had a living, active relationship with God, or anything about his personal or spiritual life. But I'm deeply saddened that he might be in Hell because no one ever shared with him the amazing love of God. And I hope that that would never be the case for my friends and acquaintances, I hope that they would go through life with the opportunity to know the greatness of God's salvation and love and grace and mercy. And that they would see God reflected in me through my life - I may not have a great time of things all the time, I may make mistakes, I may go through times in my life when my head and heart don't match up when it comes to knowing God and his love for me but somewhere deep within there is still a conviction that God is my lord and father and saviour.
I don't want any of my friends to spend their eternity in Hell. It may sound slightly, I don't, irrational (?) that I willingly believe in something so, um, untanglible? But I really believe in this element of spiritual need and desire in all our lives and the subsequent spiritual eternity. In our postmodern society we've disembodied the true evil and horror of Hell, we live in a de-sensified world. We've declawed Jesus and made Him meek and mild, irrelevent to the world when He couldn't be more relevent and fierce. And if you'd seen the struggles and stumbles and near breaking points I've experienced over the last year, you would know that I'm serious about this, but also a little surprised at the strength of my own convictions. Ask me three months ago and I would have been less certain of my convictions. Heck ask me a month ago and I would have told you I didn't know what was going on, my relationship with God was almost non-existant.
But the last few weeks, culminating with the death of Heath which got me thinking and roused my true feelings on this that had been so cleverly numbed by my depression, has made me realise that I still believe in God, I still love Jesus. I might not be where I was 8 months ago but I'm getting back on track I think, slowly and surely. And what's more, there are people in the world who need to hear about God's amazing grace and salvation and plan for their lives and they need to hear it before it's too late.
It's also made me aware of my own human mortality once again. Maybe because I'm in my twenties so I can identify with Heath Ledger on an age basis too. And it is a bit like losing a friend you've fallen out of touch with but still mean to call sometime. I've grown up watching Heath grow up. It's not like I was particularly fangirl about him either, he was just a quite cute, really good actor who I'd enjoy watching in a film because he often portrayed his characters well. And 10 Things I Hate About You will always be one of my favourite films, but more because I find it a great feel good film rather than because I'm crushing on the lead male.
But the other thing that Heath's death has done has increased my urgency to share the message of Jesus and salvation to the world. I don't know if Heath would have called himself a Christian, or if he had a living, active relationship with God, or anything about his personal or spiritual life. But I'm deeply saddened that he might be in Hell because no one ever shared with him the amazing love of God. And I hope that that would never be the case for my friends and acquaintances, I hope that they would go through life with the opportunity to know the greatness of God's salvation and love and grace and mercy. And that they would see God reflected in me through my life - I may not have a great time of things all the time, I may make mistakes, I may go through times in my life when my head and heart don't match up when it comes to knowing God and his love for me but somewhere deep within there is still a conviction that God is my lord and father and saviour.
I don't want any of my friends to spend their eternity in Hell. It may sound slightly, I don't, irrational (?) that I willingly believe in something so, um, untanglible? But I really believe in this element of spiritual need and desire in all our lives and the subsequent spiritual eternity. In our postmodern society we've disembodied the true evil and horror of Hell, we live in a de-sensified world. We've declawed Jesus and made Him meek and mild, irrelevent to the world when He couldn't be more relevent and fierce. And if you'd seen the struggles and stumbles and near breaking points I've experienced over the last year, you would know that I'm serious about this, but also a little surprised at the strength of my own convictions. Ask me three months ago and I would have been less certain of my convictions. Heck ask me a month ago and I would have told you I didn't know what was going on, my relationship with God was almost non-existant.
But the last few weeks, culminating with the death of Heath which got me thinking and roused my true feelings on this that had been so cleverly numbed by my depression, has made me realise that I still believe in God, I still love Jesus. I might not be where I was 8 months ago but I'm getting back on track I think, slowly and surely. And what's more, there are people in the world who need to hear about God's amazing grace and salvation and plan for their lives and they need to hear it before it's too late.