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Until today I'd only watched Starting Over in excerpts, usually on VH1's "Best Week Ever" or E's "The Soup." What I'd seen had not appeared promising.
I happened to watch today's episode, home with my wife, and was sincerely touched and saddened by this young woman's story. As someone who's encountered many newly penitent young people - and almost as many falsely so - I trust my instinct and perception enough to discern Reality from Con, in this respect at the very least.
To those who would condemn and deny absolution to this very, -very- young soul, for the nature of her transgressions, I would respectfully remind you: In the view of the sole religious foundation of all of Western Civilization - regardless of whether you personally believe it - there is no sin (save one) greater or lesser in degree, in the eyes of God, than any other. The lie you told as a child, the spite you held in your heart toward any other soul, any avarice or lust that ever dwelt within your consciousness - any ONE of these left you equally guilty, and alienated from God, as any this child ever committed.
Through Adam and Eve, we are all equally guilty. From God, we are all equally called to repentence. Through Christ, we are all equally worthy of, and freely offered, atonement, absolution, and the unblinking grace of God.
That said, I turn my attention toward Christina herself, and relay here, this message in a bottle:
To whomever it may concern, whomever you may be, wherever you are, and whatever role you may play, in whatever plan may unfold: If I had one chance, one moment, to say one thing, to this young woman, Christina, this is what it would be:
The Gospel tells the story of Christ's visit to an unremarkable home, on an unremarkable journey, in which the love of God was revealed in one most remarkable way. A young woman - tradition holds her to have been a prostitute - silently works her way, perhaps even "cons" her way, into the room where He dined, alone with His disciples and hosts.
In those days, the tradition was that the servants of the house would wash the feet of honored visitors, as a sign of welcome and fondness. There were no such servants in this home, and so the unknown, unnamed, silent young woman essentially snuck herself into this role. No one noticed or remarked as she went about the task, unwinding His sandals, quietly sneaking a bowl of warm water from the kitchens nearby. It was all entirely ordinary, her sponging the dust from His ankles, probably massaging a bit, toweling, starting again. Entirely ordinary, common, not worthy of notice.
Until someone realized that as she went, the young woman was silently crying her eyes out. It even was described that she was literally washing His feet with her tears. She then used her own hair for a towel, and finally, in the deepest plea for mercy and forgiveness she could muster, emptied a vial of her perfume into the footbath before finishing. The detail is crucial: As a prostitute, sacrificing her hair - and especially, in those days, her perfume - was the equivalent of giving up her food, and very probably her place in some shared bed, for at least a week, and probably more.
At this point, someone else realized who and "what" this young woman was, and, in their self-righteousness, snorted their disapproval, complaining that her perfume would have been better off sold, and the proceeds given to the poor.
This was one of exactly two times in the Gospel in which Christ became clearly angry. He is said to have glared up at the critic and snapped, in modern terms:
"Shut your face! You hear me? Shut the F up!"
And then He did something He never had before, and in so doing, began the series of events that would lead to His crucifixion. He told the young woman she could stop what she was doing, and go in peace - because her sins had been forgiven.
Only God could forgive sins. In saying this aloud, Christ asserted he was in fact God. This was blasphemy, and had anyone else said such, they'd have been stoned to death within hours.
The message here is clear: Christ so valued, and so accepted, the repentance of this brokenhearted young woman, that He laid it ALL on the line, DARED His opponents to come and GET Him - JUST so she could go in peace, find healing in her heart, and know the meaning of Grace.
To some, to many, this all will mean nothing, and sound stupid, pathetic and ridiculous. But from the one glimpse I saw of this young woman, on this one episode I'd ever sat through, it is my impression that she would not be among them.
If one has no traditional or familial faith or denomination, the United Methodist Church is a welcoming, compassionate, non-judgemental, non-fanatical, kind, decent and loving place and home. An afternoon spent there, talking with a counselor, would not be an afternoon wasted.
It is my sincere hope, faith and prayer that beyond obtaining for herself her hoped-for Honor - at best a term describing the shared sentiment of fellow mortals and sinners - this young soul, and every other in her place, acquires the best for which any one of us could hope: Grace, Peace and Joy.
Finally: Research, sometime, the life of Betty Page. Learn where her own path led her, beyond her silly and seamy post-adolescence, beyond the sadness and loneliness of life past her "prime." See for yourself, Grace personified, in perhaps the unlikeliest of persons.
CBWY,
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