What is it about a train wreck that captures our attention? It is the sight of something that was once sleek and beautiful, now a twisted pile of debris, that holds our gaze? Or, perhaps it’s the memory itself, that we see among the carnage.

Ever since the days of Fatty Arbuckle, our nation has held a fascination with the spectacle of a rising star being brought back down to Earth by their own reckless behavior.

Another example, before some of you were born, is the late, great Judy Garland. This wonderful entertainer could sing, dance, and act. She was remarkable, and an American Favorite from the moment she put on those ruby red slippers and followed the yellow brick road, until she left us much too soon, passing away in 1969, of a drug overdose, a victim of her own demons.

It is rather ironic, the Ms. Garland starred as the young ingenue, Esther Blodgett, in the 1954 classic movie, “A Star is Born”, with the great James Mason.

The movie is about a movie star who helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Judy Garland was an amazing performer.

I can see and hear her now, in a black dress, on a nightclub stage, with her short black hair, and those huge, expressive eyes, singing

Forget your troubles, c’mon get happy. Get ready for the Judgement day.

Sadly, there have been too many talented women, who have fallen victim to their demons.

I’m afraid, dear friends, that we are watching another talented young woman begin her own downward spiral right before our eyes: Miley Cyrus.

America first became aware of Ms. Cyrus, as a fresh-face teeny-bopper in the Disney Channel program, Hannah Montana.

Boys and girls all over the world tuned in to watch the adventures of a normal American Girl, who led a double-life as the teenage singing sensation, Hannah Montana.

Her real-life Dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, of “Achy Breaky Heart” fame, played her Dad in the series, and also wrote the songs she sang.

Her fresh-faced innocence  shown through the glitz and glamour of her weekly TV series, to the extent that the entire country fell in love with her. Soon, Walmarts from coast to coast were carrying Hannah Montana lunch boxes, t-shirts,  school supplies, and everything else you could think of.

Once  the series was over, as she tried to grow into young adulthood, things looked strained, at best.

Even though she was growing into a beautiful young woman, Miley was still, in the eyes of America, Hannah Montana.

In the meantime, Miley Cyrus was **ahem** exploring her own sexuality **ahem**…and decided that the public needed to explore it, too.

Beginning with a pole dance at the Nickelodeon Awards, Miley let the whole world know that she did not embarrass easily, even if we were all embarrassed for her.

During this past year,Miley, with her barely-dressed appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards with Robin Thicke, during which she “twerked”, (which is a pleasant way of saying that she had “clothed sex” on stage) and then, in a music video, where she appeared, riding naked on top of a wrecking ball, and licking a sledge hammer, continued her descent into the all – consuming darkness.

Annie Lennox, of the 1980s MTV Sensation, the Eurythmics, recently wrote the following on her Facebook page;

I have to say that I’m disturbed and dismayed by the recent spate of overtly sexualised performances and videos. You know the ones I’m talking about. It seems obvious that certain record companies are peddling highly styled pornography with musical accompaniment. As if the tidal wave of sexualised imagery wasn’t already bombarding impressionable young girls enough..I believe in freedom of speech and expression, but the market forces don’t give a toss about the notion of boundaries. As long as there’s booty to make money out of, it will be bought and sold. It’s depressing to see how these performers are so eager to push this new level of low.Their assumption seems to be that misogyny- utilised and displayed through oneself is totally fine, as long as you are the one creating it. As if it’s all justified by how many millions of dollars and U tube hits you get from behaving like pimp and prostitute at the same time. It’s a glorified and monetized form of self harm.

Ms. Lennox is right. However, she did not take it far enough.

The young American girls, who idolized Hanna Montana, are now young adults,  watching Miley Cyrus’ musical hootchie-coochie show, believing that it is perfectly acceptable to act like a dog in heat in public.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Ephesians 6:12. which warns us

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Young folks have a lot to deal with, growing up nowadays. I realize that. And, Ms. Cyrus has had more pressure on her than most.

However, as the Bible also tells us 

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6 ESV)

 By his own admission, Billy Ray Cyrus, as Miley was growing up, and even now, as a young adult, pictures himself as a “bud”, instead of a father.

Perhaps, her hedonistic behavior is simply a cry for attention, combined with an attempt to be “MTV-Cool” and relevant, in a desperate attempt to re-live the celebrity status she held as Hannah Montana.

Hopefully, the same forces who, in the past, have caused the lives of other talented entertainers, like Ms. Cyrus, to end in a “train wreck”, will not succeed in hers.

She has the Power, living within her, to avoid this. All she has to do…is ask.

Until He Comes,

KJ