"I'm too thin, and my ears stick out, and my teeth are crooked and my neck is much too long." - Ariane Chavasse (aka Audrey Hepburn in Love in the afternoon)
I suppose my favourite movie of Audrey Hepburn would be Roman Holiday although she appeared many successful movies including Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and My Fair lady. An Anglo-Dutch actress who grew up in Holland during the Second World War she remarked,
"I was exactly the same age as Anne Frank. We were both 10 when war broke out and 15 when the war finished. I was given the book in Dutch, in galley form, in 1946 by a friend. I read it - and it destroyed me. It does this to many people when they first read it but I was not reading it as a book, as printed pages. This was my life. I didn't know what I was going to read. I've never been the same again, it affected me so deeply."Growing up in war and hunger, she never ran from it in later life. From 1988 she was appointed special ambassador to UNICEF and ended up in Ethiopia, Sudan, Bangladesh and Somalia. "Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics." Sadly in our world this has still to happen, yet she worked tirelessly up to her death to bring attention to the needs of children.
Surprisingly the third greatest female star of all time said, "you can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive."
Yesterday I found myself again bringing God into a situation, where I knew I could not solve the problem. To anyone in pain, quick fixes are meaningless. Deep disappointments and personal struggles with self cannot be patched up. Time is an important healer, but loneliness can be a dangerous infection. Each of us has to carry our own load in life and it requires great will or forceful, concentrated drive to recognize both strengths and weaknesses. But we ought not to linger too long on either rather exercise reasonable assessment. We can help, share, and encourage each other but we cannot take another's load from them.
Bear one other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own load. Gal 6:2-4
