With the reports that divers had located the bodies of JFK Jr., his wife and his sister in law, the agony ended for the Nation and especially for the Kennedy and Bessette families. Now the media coverage can go away and there is time for us to grieve and explore the meaning of this senseless loss. Unfortunately, our culture is not well suited for dealing with mystery or for coming to terms with problems which cannot be solved. We tend to avoid things that do not have simple answers, perhaps, because we don't know what to do with them. Nonetheless, I believe that every tragedy is also an opportunity for the soul to grow and mature and since we have to go through the pain of it all anyway, we may as well make the most of it.

It is rare when one witnesses events which touch the soul. So much so that we don't even recognize the things that are the stuff of myth and legend any more. But that is what the Kennedy family epic has been. While some complain that the "wall to wall" television coverage has been an example of the "liberal media bias", or worse an instance of "dollar driven media's manipulation," my sense is that we are drawn to the Kennedy saga for far more profound and soulful reasons.

Some have said that the Kennedys are the closest thing that America has to royalty and that JFK Jr. was our equivalent to Diana. I think that is fair. However, in saying that, it needs to be made clear that what we are experiencing is not simply star power or personal charisma. Certain people come along, albeit very rarely, who express the greatest hopes and deepest pain of the culture. We are fascinated by them and their stories. It is as though through these people we experience a transcendent level of being. These tales are larger than life and thus are mythic and a nexus to deeper realms of existence.

It is ironic that, in spite of all our technology, even as we prepare to enter the 21st century, we echo the longings of our ancestors who created the legends of the past. The only difference between them and us is that we spread them via satellite and cable rather than sitting around campfires and video tape has replaced parchment.

Despite all our sophistication, we continue to need characters who give shape and form to the mysteries of life and death and who, by their actions, help us to access the soulful dimensions of our own lives.

The incredible amount of death and suffering which the Kennedys have endured jars us. Such knowledge shakes us from our patterned and daily routines and causes us to ask profound questions about the ultimate meaning of life.

My point is simply this: Instead of complaining about how the media is covering the Kennedy death, embrace it.

But what does that mean "to embrace it?" It is not simply going to church. It is much more than looking for spiritual comfort. It is exposing oneself to the full spectrum of mystery; the positive and the negative; both the light and the dark. It is also more than organized ritual. It can be mundane. It can be something as simple as just taking time to ponder this loss in whatever form works for you. For some, it was watching television all week end. For others, it was talking with friends and co workers. On Sunday morning, my own wife bought both the Daily News and New York Post (newspapers we don't usually read) as well as the New York Times. I don't think that was morbid tabloid voyeurism. I think it was soul work.

Rev. Michael Heath , Fayetteville, NY 7/21/99

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