Don't Lose Your Head Over it! La Vie en Rose, Part 13

Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris, sits next to the Seine River, nestled between the Jardin des Tuileries and les Champs Elysées. Who would have thought that this place was one of the bloodiest of all during the French Revolution?

La Place de la Concorde was built between 1754 and 1763, and was originally named La Place Louis XV, after the King of France. A statue of the King riding a horse was proudly erected in its midst. Just 26 years later, the revolutionaries tore the statue of the king down and erected a guillotine in its place, and the square was renamed La Place de la Révolution. More than 1300 people were executed here, among them Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Robespierre.

Imagine being dragged out in front of a tumultuous crowd, wondering where your few supporters are. Aren't there at least one or two left? But no one is cheering for you. Instead, they are all chanting for your certain, upcoming death.

They all want you dead! Oh no!

Once at the guillotine, three people surround you. One with an axe, one with a basket to catch your prized possession-your head-once it has been removed from your torso, and one to stand next to the basket with the sole purpose of lifting your prized possession from the basket and showing it to everyone for a last cheer.

And not a cheer of adoration, only a cheer of good riddance.

Suddenly you realize that the days when you woke up on the wrong side of the bed were good days after all, compared to what you are now facing! You have been completely and utterly defeated with no hope in sight, and all because your job was to serve your king!

However, it doesn't have to be a defeat! People around you may hate you for who you represent. They may even be planning your demise. But if you are serving the King of Kings, you have nothing to be afraid of!

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:35-39 NIV)

We may loose our head during this life time, but we know where our souls are heading! Once there we will not be surrounded by hostility. We will be welcomed with open arms, because "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us"! Jesus made this possible. Our king paid the price for our salvation when He willingly died on a cross and rose up from the dead 3 days later! We are serving a caring and loving King!

Thanks to Him, we have nothing to be afraid of. If we die, we will be with the Lover of our soul in an instant, knowing full well that nothing can separate us from the One who dearly loves us!

So no matter what our circumstances, we do not have to be afraid any longer. Instead we can rejoice because our King loves us and will always stand by us! Nothing can separate us from His love!

"But what about my head?"

This too will be fixed by the One who created you!

P. S. The guillotine was replaced with an obelisk in 1829, donated by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. This masterpiece used to stand at the entrance of the Amon temple at Luxor, more than 3,300 years ago. So, your head should be safe when visiting this lovely city!

Rob Chaffart