Marilyn

Molly had wanted to see the movie, "My Week with Marilyn" for most of the holiday but something seemed to always upstage her plans. Finally yesterday, we skirted the topic early afternoon and around two I asked, "what time is the matinee feature?" She replied 2:15, somewhat disappointed, we can't make it. I said yes we can, there are previews and advertisements and if we get going we can do it. So with delight we scampered out and did make it with time to spare.

The Marilyn Monroe enigma was quite complicated but Michele Williams played the part beautifully tapping into the sexy pouts and poses, displaying the unquenchable need that she had for accolades and reassurance partly manifested, I would guess, from the saddened childhood she was seeded with. I liked the movie, but I loved being with Molly. I don't mean this to be a movie review but there were some bottom line issues that she faced that we all deal with that came to mind after thinking the movie through a bit.

She had an insecurity issue that was the breeding ground for so many of her defaults. The drugs, the fears, the inability to ward off criticism, the need for safety and security etc. Most of those things are things that each of us deal with to one degree or another. Maybe not the drugs so much but we substitute that for food, or habits or drink that will give us temporary relief from a distressed situation. She just wanted to be loved, for who she was, not the persona that had been created around her. It gets down to basics. We all want to be loved. And within each of us is an emotional level manager that tells us when we are balanced or unbalanced, and we know just where that level tilts according to our ability to maintain confidence, and feel secure in the person that we are.

It is so easy to get blown into directions of frustration and disappointment when we depend on others to love us according to our own needs. They might be able to pull it off sometimes and even many times but we can be guaranteed that they will drop the ball at some point, say something that we take wrong, do something that we don't understand, or just flat be complacent when we need a little more. We then are left to wallow in our own self stuff and that is hard to get out of.

Now here is where Christ rolls in. He stands with us always, he knows our every thought and desire, he created us with the longings and personalities that each of us have and furthermore he loves us with an insurmountable love that has no bounds. But because we can not see him, and we cannot touch him and we cannot audibly hear him, it stands to reason that he is not always the "go to" answer who we "go to". In my case, that is my greatest mistake. For he is my overshadowing guardian who wants only the best for me and he is working through my weaknesses and insecurities to help me build a confidence that is entirely grounded on who HE is and who I am in Him.

When I am floundering and feeling a needed sense of security, there is no way that I can produce that on my own, it has to come from within, that place where Christ abides and holds court. He handily will identify the lies that I have bought into, and if I allow him the grace and mercy to rule over the substandard preoccupation that I have manifested within me to try to do things on my own without including him, he will help me to stand on his grounded principle of Love. (Sorry that was a long sentence but I don't quite know how to fix it, and where did those big words come from?) For I am loved, just as I am, (no convoluted persona), by God himself. I, with all my flaws and mistakes and mishandled situations are a creation that he has made for his own glory. So are each one of you who are reading this. And that is the solid, unchanging ground we are to stand on. God's love. The rest will just ride itself out.

I love my family, my children, my grandchildren, my friends etc, but my love is not enough to carry them through tough times. Neither is their love for me enough to carry me though. Deep hurts, deep insecurities, deep scars, deep adversities call for a deep love that has no bounds, that has no conditions, that is given freely without obligatory repose, and that love can only be distributed by God who is perfectly entitled, perfectly positioned, and perfectly prepared to do so. Love is the very essence of His being. And we are the benefactors of that awesome love. Everyone of us. But we have to embrace it, and buy into it and regard it as the grounded security on which we stand. For if we allow God to love us with all his heart, that love will level us out. And that is the same love that we can pass on freely to others who are struggling, and they too will be able to pass it on to others who they meet.

Ephesians 6:14
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Peter 5:9
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Marilyn Monroe has been a postured name for many years, and though she gained great notoriety and significance based on her persona, she struggled with just the same insecurities that any of us do. We all have unmet needs and unsecured dreams, but if we abandon the control of our emotional level manager and allow God to keep us balanced through the truth of his promises and the faith in his love, then we will be able to maintain a secured confidence that will keep us balanced no matter what direction the winds of adversity are blowing from.

Dear Lord, We all struggle with the need to be loved and accepted and included. Please help us to remember and recognize that that is just what you have done for us already. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!