Senator Edward Kennedy died in August, aged 77. He was one of the most respected politicians in the world. Time Magazine charted the predominantly sad history of the Kennedy family: a family which moved from reality to legend because of the early deaths of three iconic brothers; but the legend has been reconnected to reality, because of the long, chequered life of the survivor.
It seems that one insight from Teddy Kennedy’s life, with its powerful political legacy, is that the best of us are vulnerable to ups and downs of our own making; whether escapism through drunkenness, sexual temptation, self-protection by dishonesty in degrees small or large.
Relying on our own integrity or depending on short-lived pleasures, gives nobody any peace from the need for lasting happiness. Only Jesus, and knowing him personally, is the resting point for that deep quest of life... “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23, TNIV)