Last week, Elizabeth Taylor, a Hollywood icon passed away. As I watched the morning shows memorializing her life, Matt Lauer, from the Today Show, termed her life as "remarkable." Elizabeth Taylor married eight times throughout her life which in itself is outrageous. However, in the latter part of her life, she became a great advocate for AIDS/HIV and other organizations. She truly cared for people and wanted to help them in any way she could have a better life. She was known for being one of Hollywood's sex goddesses in the 50s and 60s alongside Marilyn Monroe. Many felt great sorrow for her when she lost the love of her life, Mike Todd, in a tragic plane crash. Later their attitude turned to scorn and ridicule when she took up with Eddie Fisher, fellow actor and friend. They both later said it was to comfort one another from their loss and grief of Todd and how they kept him alive. Reynolds, who was married to Fisher at the time, was devastated by the affair and humiliated publicly. Their marriage was destroyed and ended in divorce. Although Reynolds later forgave Taylor, she recently stated on the Oprah Winfrey show that she still has painful memories from the whole wrenching experience. A remarkable life?
As I looked further into Taylor's life I wondered if she knew God. Was Elizabeth a Christian? How did she view God? What did she come to believe? Did she come to know God at some point in her life? I learned that her parents in her early childhood were members of the Christian Science religion out of England. However, when she moved to Hollywood, she no longer practiced her faith within this religion. In the 1950s, she decided to convert to Judaiasm but rarely went to the Synagogue after her conversion. After some of her near to death experiences and sicknesses, Taylor often seemed to grow closer to God. After her trip to rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic in the mid 1980s, she left a changed person who sincerely wanted to make a positive difference in others lives. After a near death experience with a bout of pneumonia in the early 1990s, the actress came out of the experience desiring to help people who were really sick. She began a crusader/ advocate for AIDS Research and desired to help anyone who struggled with drugs and alcohol. She gave to numerous foundations and organziations of all kinds. She discussed on occasionas that she believed that there is a higher power, one true God. She spoke of having conversations with him continuously and grew to have a desire to pray often in efforts to help others and her endeavors with causese like AIDS research. She had great a journey throughout her life determining what was or was not important. I would like to think she knew God, that at some point in all of her searching for answers that even if it were in her final moments that she came to know Jesus as her Christ, her Savior and Messaiah. A remarkable life? What is a remarkable life? Jesus Christ lived a remarkable life here on earth. He came to earth as a humble bondservant and died for sinners that they might have an abundant life in Christ while here on earth; but more importantly so that they have eternal life with him and the Father in Heaven forever and forever. So I leave you with this passage to reflect upon from Philippians 2:6-11:
"6 Who being the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
