I don't remember where I was when I heard that Princess Di had died!

I was listening to the radio on Friday as I drove around shopping for work...not the best thing to be doing on the Friday of a holiday weekend. As I listened I heard bits and pieces of segments on the death of Princess Di. As I listened to CBQ, I heard a call in asking the question, "Where were you when Princess Di died, or when you heard the news?"

...so I thought about it...

And I realized that I don't know...Of course, it was a tragedy; a life cut short in a senseless and frivolous manner is always a tragedy. But it wasn't a significant event in my world. In fact, for me it was eclipsed by the death of two other "celebrities". As I thought about the death of Princess Di, I remembered that she died in the same week as Mother Theresa and near the same time as the Christian singer/songwriter Rich Mullins. Only just now I checked and found out that Mother Theresa died on the 5th of September and Rich Mullins, on the 19th...not as close as my mind had led me to believe.

Even now as I think about it I still have this sense that the death of these other less known benefactors has been more of a blow to the people who they were serving. It would be silly for me to overlook the charitable things that Princess Di did and the publicity that she drew to them, but Mother Theresa lived a life away from the spotlight pouring her life out onto those who could never repay her. And for those of you who don't know Rich Mullins; he was a very successful American Christian Singer/Songwriter, who had all his earnings given to his church and had them dole out a working man's salary for him to live on, while the remainder was put into organizations who work among the poor and disadvantaged, including Kid Brothers of St Frank, which now comes under The Legacy of A Kid Brother of St Frank.

And even in the comments I have heard, the reflections on Princess Di with the exception of the relfections of her sons, are like those of starstruck fans. People who saw her, people who thought she was beautiful, people who thought she was treated badly by her husband, her mother-in-law, the press...but none of these people were loved and cared for by her, their lives were not enriched by having her as a friend or mentor... They just looked at her from afar...they saw her as one who lived that Princess Dream, but never got her 'happily ever after'. And I think we mourn for her because we all long for the 'happily ever after'. Looking to these other two lives of self-sacrifice and willing poverty makes us more uncomfortable, less able to indulge in our desire for wealth with a clear conscience...

Often I have heard the little ditty:
So heavenly minded, no earthly good...
But I've been thinking that the more heavenly-minded you are the more earthly good you can do...

While I hope that Diana's sons can move into adulthood as young men who have matured through their sufferings and continue to recall the love they received from her. I do not look to her as a model for life, but to others who are examples of "picking up their cross and following Him"; who would have never dreamed of saying, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ", although the statement applies to the life they lived.