We crave for love. By the time, we are born and held by our parents for the first time, there is that instant connection and bond. As we grow up, we look for that sense of belonging from our immediate family. Without this affirmation, this leads to emotional scars that impact the way we view ourselves and how we relate with other people. With a poor sense of personal value and worth, this results to finding love in the wrong places.
Recently, I watched documentaries of two amazing women – Princess Diana and Audrey Hepburn. Both beautiful, accomplished, and well-loved celebrities. However, their personal stories were bittersweet with the continuous quest of finding happiness. The irony was that here were renowned women, cherished by many across the globe but finding their own contentment have been elusive. They were also constantly hounded by the media and invaded their privacy, leaving their vulnerabilities open for everyone to see.
Princess Diana had a difficult childhood. When she was only six years old, her mother left them for another man. This resulted to a bitter divorce that also drove Princess Diana’s father to become distant and disengaged. Princess Diana was engaged to Prince Charles when she was only 19 years old. They had a memorable grand wedding and seemingly a fairy tale like love story until we uncover the unfaithfulness of Prince Charles. Throughout their marriage, there was another woman Camilla who Prince Charles has always been in love with but did not marry. It was deemed to better his public image marrying a young and innocent lady. It is heartbreaking to see interviews of Princess Diana detailing how she confronted her husband and even Camilla on numerous occasions. She also shared behind the scenes vicious quarrels that eventually surfaced during their public appearances and tours. She suffered bulimia, an eating disorder and she also had some affairs herself. All these stemmed from loving someone deeply who unfortunately cannot reciprocate the same love. Eventually, they divorced after 15 years of marriage. Amidst this, she was able to raise her children well and shielded them from the pressures of being constantly on the spotlight. She wanted them to experience a strong and united family that she did not have while growing up. She also put her popularity to good use. She was a great ambassador of various good causes and became even more famous and adored than any other royal family member. As she considered herself an outcast in the royal family, she was able to effectively connect with people that needed the most help. One can see how genuine she was in caring for people and how she broke royal protocols to inspire and better their lives. We have seen how she matured from the timid lady to a confident woman. After her divorce, she had a string of relationships. Sadly, her life ended in a tragic accident in Paris at a young age of 36.
We come to Audrey Hepburn’s story whose beauty, fashion sense and intelligence I deeply admire. She spoke six languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. In her interviews, one can see how articulate and profound her answers were, be it in any language she knew. I watched her movies “Roman Holiday”, “Sabrina” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Her beauty was one of a kind and there was a sense of elegance, purity, and gentleness around her. The documentary talks about her hard childhood. Her father abandoned the family when she was only six years old. She described it as the most traumatic event of her life. Years later when they reconnected as an adult, her father was still cold and distant. Audrey Hepburn has been married twice and had a partner from 1980 to 1993, the year of her death. Her second husband brought deep wounds to her and this can be witnessed as the glint and spark of her eyes diminished through the years. Her second husband had multiple affairs. This was broadcasted and amplified by the media. Later, she found solace in immersing herself as a UNICEF ambassador. She had tremendous accomplishments and helped a lot of people. She died at 63 from abdominal cancer.
From famous to ordinary people, each one has the same quest for finding love and happiness. Unless we don’t find that, we will keep on searching on how to fill that void. I believe that God created it that way for us to find our way back to him, wholeheartedly and on our own free will, acknowledging Him as our Creator. As the French mathematician/physicist/philosopher Blaise Pascal would put it, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
This Easter season is a perfect opportunity to reflect on this truth. First reflection to note, we are extremely valuable in God’s eyes. King David’s Psalm 139 is one of my favorite chapters demonstrating our worth in God’s eyes. I encourage you to read it. In Psalm 139:13 it says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.” Other people can always disregard us but our Heavenly Father who created us cell by cell knows our true worth. Second, God did not withhold anything to save us. In John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus suffered each beating, each piercing and finally a painful death with you and me in mind. He was the only way to restore our relationship with God and to stand as a sacrifice once and for all to cover our sins. Third, Jesus is alive and can live in our hearts if we let Him. If we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, He can surely fill that void in our hearts because He offers a love that is pure, unchanging and constantly at work. Romans 8:38-39 says, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I found a love that will never fail through Jesus Christ. No one and nothing can ever compare to Him. I will search no more for He alone completes me.
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