Princess Diana and Ponette

Last weekend, I went to see the movie, "Ponette", a French film about a four year old girl coping with the death of her mother by car accident. The performance of the little actress, Victoire Thivisol, was vivid and profound. When she prayed to God that her mother could come back, tears spilled as if we were viewing the scene in reality. I wonder how they got this little actress to pull up such deep and real emotion without manipulating her in the tradition of 1940's Hollywood movie making. A famous example of that is the scene from "Meet Me in St. Louis" in which the child actress Margaret O'Brien ran outside in tears, and smashed the snowmen in her yard. Interviews with fellow cast members later revealed that the producers or director had lied to her about the death of her dog, (or something similar,) to evoke the desired intensity for the scene.

Whatever techniques were used to guide the performance of Victoire Thivisol, I was deeply moved. It is pitiful to see a little child crying for the mother that she will never see again in this life, and to know there is nothing you can do to help her. That night I thought and prayed about the situation of children all over the world, who have had their parents taken from them suddenly.

When I came home from seeing "Ponette", I gathered my children around me and kissed and hugged them and reassured them of my love for them. It made me pledge anew to try to be a better parent.

I opened my newspaper the very next morning to read the tragic headline that Diana, Princess of Wales, had died in a car accident. The irony of the fact that I had just been thinking of that topic the night before, and had prayed for children thrown into such a situation, made it all the more eerie. In the case of Ponette, her father didn't believe in God, and accused her of being crazy when she prayed for answers about her mother. With Prince William and Prince Harry, I hope that their father will be able to do more for them. In his own way, I think Prince Charles truly cares, and I am sure that the whole sad event is causing him to go through deep soul searching.

Princess Diana once said that she knew she could give love to people in need; for a minute, for a half hour, for a day. I think that she believed that giving love to others was the most valuable work she could do. So many others in her position have not risen to such dedication, when they were blessed with the same benefits of money, status and good looks. It was the best legacy she could give to Prince William and Prince Harry.

My prayer for Prince William and Prince Harry is that they will pray and cling to God during this terrible time in their young lives. As they grow to adulthood, I'm sure they will think of her every day and will miss her love profoundly. The testimony to her life is a world that grieves her death and would not do so unless the love she expressed was genuine. Because the world will not forget her, those boys will always have her with them until they are reunited one day in eternity. Hopefully, they will pick up the torch and carry on her work. I'm sure that if they do, it will make her smile down on them all the more.

Many people are thinking that it is more than a coincidence that Princess Diana and Mother Teresa died in the same week. As a friend of mine said, Mother Teresa was a mother figure representing the religious world, and the princess was a mother figure representing the secular world. The world is grieving for both of them. Another friend said that she imagined them holding hands in the next life, and thought that their deaths underscored the fact that God is still in charge of things.

I have been deeply saddened to hear some people say that Princess Diana brought the disaster upon herself with her adulterous lifestyle. They have stated that she was divorced, that she should have been a better role model, and that she wasn't setting the right example.

I think that she had flaws like all of us who are imperfect, and that those flaws influenced her to make decisions that she may have regretted later in life. Still, I think that those mistakes are just details, things that could have been repented for and gotten beyond. There are many people who have never committed adultery but have never served or loved anyone outside their immediate circle.

In spite of the fact that prior to her wedding, she discovered that her husband was involved with another woman, she went ahead with the wedding. In spite of the fact that she suffered from insecurity, eating disorders, depression, and had attempted suicide, she maintained her public life. She never felt truly accepted by the royal family. The fact that she dealt with these things from the age of 19 is doubly hard. Few among us could have weathered what she went through without becoming resentful, cynical or completely self-centered. Her brother Charles, the Earl of Spencer, said that because of her suffering she could understand the suffering of others. She chose to rise above her trials and devote herself to a public life of charity. That decision is to her credit.

Wasn't it an adulterous woman who recognized Jesus' value and poured expensive oil on his head, while the disciples whispered their criticisms? Mother Teresa said of Diana, "She was very concerned for the poor. She was very anxious to do something for them. That is why she was close to me."

If she was good enough for Mother Teresa, she was good enough for me.