Tammy Faye
Jul 22nd, 2007 by gibsondirect
As I sat watching the news this weekend with my two college daughters, who are home for the summer, we learned of the death of Tammy Faye. When they showed a current photo of her, I couldn’t help but wince. The gaunt look—the always heavy make-up—it all made me lean back in my chair, even look away. She looked more like an actress on the set of a really bad horror movie than a real live person. I remember saying something a bit sarcastic to the girls when I saw the photo.
But the girls, who did not know the name Tammy Faye, only shrugged and did not seem to care much. They hardly noticed.
I well remember the scandal surrounding the Bakers in the 1980’s. As a young man in his early years in publishing, I cringed at the news of the scandal. “Great, that’s all we need,” I remember thinking. And remember the Wittenburg Door? For those of you old enough to remember, do you remember the Door’s interview with Tammy Faye before the scandal broke? What a hoot. I laughed, and later, the laughter brought some relief. But I still felt scorn for the whole matter and kept my distance.
Now, Tammy Faye is gone.
As I sat in front of the TV, listening to the details, I couldn’t help but feel compassion for the lady. I also felt a little guilty for saying something negative in front of the girls. “Bless her heart,” I mumbled, as I turned to look at the girls. “She’s had cancer, you know.” They merely shrugged a second time, ready for the next news story to start.
But I couldn’t ignore it. Funny isn’t it, how a living God dwelling in us can impact our thinking. Most of the world shrugged at the news, just as my daughters had done. Yet, long after the news ended, I sat thinking about Tammy Faye. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus standing in front of the woman caught in adultery, him silently drawing in the dirt. I felt a rock in my hand, one I never realized was there. And then I felt it fall from my hand.
Farewell Tammy Faye. May you rest peacefully in your Father’s loving arms.
Whoa. Steve, what a powerful start! You are such a good writer.
If the point of this was to make me feel guilty about my self-righteous attitude you’ve succeeded.
This is a nice post with an unexpected twist.
Will I ever be able to be the person who doesn’t say anything negative about anyone? I have known a few of those people, and they impress me so much. When will God get me to the point where I am instantaneously filled with compassion for a troubled soul instead of judgment?
I would love to, just once, get a glimpse of what the spirits see when they look into our world. I would imagine that the playing field is a lot more equal than it is with our eyes. I’m sure they don’t see the levels of wealth, power, or influence as they see a more black and white version of cleansed and uncleansed. What would it be like to see everyone I meet in that way and to have as much compassion for the cleansed as the uncleansed?
Yeah, Tammy Faye brings up a hard question. How do we both tell the truth and be kind, when people’s behavior is public and destructive? In the case of Jim and Tammy Faye, I believe that they were basically crooks who took tons of money and did very little with it except line their pockets and keep their tv show going. At one point their annual budget was roughly the same size as the Baptist State Convention of Texas. For that money you got a show, and amusement part, and a home for unwed mothers with one girl living there.
On the other hand, personal attacks or making fun of her appearance seems to slide into an area that we have no business going. So yes, God bless Tammy Faye, and thank God for the grace that will not count her sins against her and not count mine against me.
[...] direct has a graceful word to say about Tammy [...]