Helping Better Things Fall Together

Norma Jeane Baker is known primarily for her persona as the sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, but she had more than a pretty head on her shoulders—she was actually an intelligent and thoughtful woman. For example, she said, “People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right … and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

I believe that Jesus’ original disciples would have agreed with this statement. After Jesus died and was resurrected as the Christ, they had to let go of the person he had been. Christ himself said to Mary Magdalene, “Don’t cling to me.” The good life they had with Jesus certainly fell apart when he was arrested, tried, and crucified. However, better things fell together after he ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to open their minds and hearts to the love they were called to share. Why was this better than being with Jesus? Because it extended Christ’s love and kindness beyond a small region in the Middle East to the entire world.

Norma Jeane Baker knew something about kindness and inclusiveness, too. As reported by Sara Kettler on the Biography website, when she learned that her friend, the Black jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, was unable to get hired at the Mocambo, a famous L.A. nightclub, she devised a plan. The club's owner believed that Fitzgerald lacked the glamour to draw crowds, so in her persona as Marilyn Monroe, Baker approached him with a proposition — if he booked Fitzgerald, she promised to sit at the front of the house every night and bring along other celebrities. The club owner agreed to hire Fitzgerald for a couple of weeks, and during Fitzgerald's run, Monroe kept her word. Fitzgerald's shows sold out, and the successful engagement changed Fitzgerald's career trajectory. She later told Ms. magazine, "After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again."

In her own way, Norma Jeane Baker did just what Christ asked—to love her neighbor and expand the Body of Christ by modeling kindness and inclusivity. As we celebrate Pentecost on Sunday, may we be inspired to do the same.