Some Musings on the Passing of Elizabeth Taylor

"It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:2

I turned on my computer this morning only to learn that Elizabeth Taylor had died at the age of 79.

I’m not a huge Elizabeth Taylor fan. (Indeed, I'm not a huge fan of any movie star.) I only own two of her movies, Ivanhoe & Cleopatra. And I only own them because they’re good movies, not because she was in them. (In fact, Cleopatra really belongs to Mrs Squirrel, and my copy of Ivanhoe is on VHS, and I've not had a working VCR in years...)

So, why am I writing about Elizabeth Taylor’s death? While I was reading her obituary this morning, it reminded me of something I’ve thought of often – what people say they want out of life.

It seems that we, humans in general & Americans in particular, admire & desire several things: beauty, wealth, & fame. These are the things that we think will make us happy in life. The entire advertising industry’s goal is to play off of these desires to make us buy things (and they’re quite good at it.) Health clubs, gymnasiums, and spas provide us with places where we can work hard to try to prolong our youthful physiques as long as possible. (I am not knocking good health. I know that I need to exercise more myself, and could probably improve my food choices.)

The sad thing is that it is clear that beauty, wealth, & fame are not able to make anyone happy or fulfilled. Indeed, a cursory examination of the headlines displayed on the magazines by the checkout stand at your local grocery store would indicate that the people who possess the beauty, wealth, and fame that everyone else desires are among the most miserable and messed up people around. (Exhibit A: Charlie Sheen. Exhibit B: Lindsay Lohan.)

There’s no doubt that Elizabeth Taylor possessed wealth & fame and, in her youth, beauty. There is also no doubt that Elizabeth Taylor lived a fairly messed up life. She had several affairs with married men, some while she was married herself. She was married and divorced multiple times. She spent time in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. In later life, she struggled with obesity. In short, Elizabeth Taylor exhibited all the hallmarks of a sinful human being.

Sadly, there’s absolutely no indication that she had repented of her sin and trusted in Christ alone for salvation. Her obituary in the New York Times makes absolutely no mention of any religious faith whatsoever.

In her life, Elizabeth Taylor possessed all the things that people think will make them happy and fulfilled, yet an examination of her life does not paint the picture of a happy and fulfilled woman. Instead, it is a portrait of an unhappy woman, struggling to find fulfillment in romance, sex, and a lifestyle of lavish self-indulgence.

Elizabeth Taylor’s passing from this life into the next is a good time to remind ourselves that true happiness and fulfillment can only be found in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12

Shepherd's Conference - The Trip Down

Well, I made it! I'm typing this in my hotel room in Los Angeles, and the Shepherd's Conference begins tomorrow.

The trip down was fairly uneventful, with two exceptions. One good and one not so good.

The good part was getting to enjoy my first Chick-fil-A sandwich in over 25 years!

I've always loved Chick-fil-A. Unfortunately, we moved from Atlanta, GA, to Missoula, MT, when I was eleven years old. Back then, there were no Chick-fil-A restaurants outside of the south-eastern states. But, every time I'd travel to Atlanta, I'd always make sure I got to eat at Chick-fil-A at least once. But, the last time I was in Atlanta was 1985. 26 years is a long time to go without Chick-fil-A, let me tell you!



Well, yesterday that dry spell ended, as I enjoyed 2 original Chick-fil-A sandwiches, with Waffle Fries and a sweet tea. It was Wonderful!


The second event was less enjoyable. After leaving the Chick-fil-A in Ogden, it started raining. The rain soon turned to snow as I made my way through Salt Lake City during the 5 o'clock rush hour. South of the city, things seemed to clear up, and I made good time until just south of the I-15/I-70 junction, when it began to snow again. Hard. So hard, in fact, that I-15 was closed for two hours (approximately 10 pm to midnight). There I sat, part of a long line of cars and trucks, motionless on the freeway. By the time they got us moving again, all I wanted to do was find a place to nap. I spent the night in a rest area north of Cedar City.


But, morning dawned sunny and clear! I drove to Los Vegas, fueled up, grabbed some breakfast, and headed on into LA.

And now it's bedtime again. Conference starts in the morning! Looking forward to it!

Shepherd's Conference - On My Way!

The bags are packed, the car is loaded, the coffee thermos is full. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but, that's just the way traveling is! By the time you read this, I should be on the road, heading for the Shepherd's Conference. The route I'm taking is 1,279 miles and will take approximatively 20 hours to drive (not counting naps and stops at Chick-fil-A, of which there are eight along the way!)

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Not only am I going to get to hear some great preaching from men I respect and admire, but I'm going to get to finally meet in person some friends I've made these last few years over the internet.

Then again, I get to stop a multiple Chick-fil-A's on route...



Here's a map of my route, if you want to come out and wave as I go by!


View Larger Map

Thank you again to all who have made this trip possible! It wouldn't have happened without your generosity. I am humbled and so very very grateful.

The Squirrel's Nut Cache - 3/4/2011

A Note to SquirrelFans: I know my blogging has been a bit... sporadic (or erratic or even spastic) lately. No apologies. That's life. You get what you pay for.

Anyway, I'm on the road this week (I'm typing this at 6am in a hotel room in Great Falls, MT, where I'm attending the Montana Southern Baptist Convention's annual Evangelism Conference) and next. I plan on blogging from the Shepherds' Conference next week, and I may have something tomorrow about today's activities in Great Falls. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, here's the Nut Cache, a day late, and a few nuts short...

The Nut Cache - a collection of recent things I found interesting, or amusing, or nutworthy.

In November of 1978, 918 people died in the largest mass murder/suicide of modern times. Sometime in the fall of 2010, somebody at Hacienda Mexican Restaurants in South Bend, Indiana, decided that the Jonestown massacre would be a great thing to base the restaurant's new advertising campaign on. Billboards bearing the slogans "We're like a cult with better Kool-Aid" and "To die for" went up around South Bend in early February, 2011. After a public outcry, the billboards were removed after being up less than two weeks. There is no word yet about how this will effect the restaurant's "Nazi Holocaust" ad campaign, scheduled for early summer...

Are you planning a wedding this spring? Are you having a hard time finding a church that isn't already booked? Running out of options? Well, turns out that your community has another whole tier of chapels that you've probably never thought of: Funeral Homes! Yup, that's right, funeral homes. Well, why not? They've got nice chapels and they already have a close working relationship with most local florests... & many may see a fitting symbolism in getting married in a funeral home... (Note: I do NOT share that sentiment!)

Hey, Villa Rica, Georgia, Police Department! Really? Aw, come on, man...

And the Nuttiness goes on and on...