[a devotional article from a Malaysian pastor-friend].

A divorced member of the royal family of a medium-sized European nation dies in a banal car accident, and for a week the sun, moon and stars are knocked off their appointed tracks. Within days, Europe suffers a shortage of cut flowers as tens of thousands of bouquets are laid before the house of the victim. Demand for newsprint soars; the funeral, wathched live on television throughout the world, attracts an audience of 1 billion. Today, what remains are the lessons that can be learned from a phenomenon that few can entirely forget - the death of Diana.

Michael Elliot in his article Why Diana Moved Us So (Newsweek September 7 1998), gives three lessons that we can learn from this phenomenon.

First, the public display of grief seen throughout the world. This was not feigned or whipped up emotions - people not only felt but showed what they felt, without shame. Having such feelings and sharing them, comfort came to many.

What a lesson there is here for the church - for so long emotions have been suspect and discouraged in many churches. But it is only when people are allowed to feel and show what they feel, without shame, can comfort come. As the Lord call us to comfort His people, a permission to feel and share what is felt publicly and without shame is in order.

Second, Diana's champions were overwhelmingly women. This was so because many saw themselves in her. Like many of them, she had a heartless husband, in-laws from hell, fickle boyfriends. She worried about and loved her kids, she wondered what life on her own would be like. Her death was a time where women could celebrate and mourn one who had come through the vicissitudes suffered by millions and found, for a short summer, real happiness.

How many of us champion Jesus because we see ourselves in him; we identify ourselves with him? I believe only when we do so, can we truly celebrate the death of Jesus - one who had suffered for millions (billions by now) so that we may have a long summer of happiness. Is Jesus far removed from us or is He close to our hearts, like Diana is to many women in today's world?

Third, it was a global phenomenon: technology has made this a planet of shared experiences. We are bound together more than we have ever been. Diana's death showed the world how small it had become, and how much in common are our intimate senses and emotions.

So much of our experiences with Jesus are global - this is a planet of shared experiences. Are you ashamed of your experiences or are you eager for them to be shared globally? When we do share our intimate emotions (especially when they are linked to Jesus) I believe we will find that it is indeed a small world after all. We share common intimate senses and emotions - let us share to the world how Jesus has not only rescued but also enhanced them. Only then will the introduction Jesus move our audience and make them remember.

Why Jesus moved us so? Let's tell the world, today.

- Pastor Peter de Run