A Tale Of Two Elliot(t)s

I've been thinking about two deaths lately. I don't know how I started thinking about them this week - perhaps it's the funeral I went to last week. Perhaps it was from talking to a lady in a store recently who had heard 15 minutes before Debby, Noelle and I walked in that her pastor had died that morning, and that the week before she had lost a cousin to death. (Beverly, I am still praying for you.)

Anyway, these two deaths are really only connected by one thing - both of their names contain the name "Elliot(t)".

The first death I've been thinking about is the death of Elliott Smith. If you don't know who he is (was), he was an independent artist who is probably most known for writing and performing all the songs on the "Good Will Hunting" movie soundtrack. He was nominated for an Oscar for one of the songs from that movie.

I listen to his music quite a bit; it's mostly acoustic, haunting, honest and powerful. Two of his albums - Either/Or and his posthumous release From A Basement On A Hill have been staples of my listening enjoyment(?) for awhile now.

Elliott Smith was a man who had many demons, unfortunately. He became more and more moody and brooding with each release. He had a run-in with the law at a Flaming Lips/Beck concert and was in and out of rehab for drug use.

On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith took his own life. There are some suicides by famous people that cause people to wonder if they really meant to kill themselves; perhaps it was an accident (overdoses being some of the main gossip fodder for these thoughts). There is no question that Smith meant to kill himself; he stabbed himself in the chest with a knife. Unfortunately, he never could come to terms with the demons and his past.


The other death I've been thinking about is the death of Jim Elliot. I'm reading his Journals right now - a book I haven't read since college. If you've ever wanted to be a missionary (I flirted with the idea in college), you know the story of Jim Elliot. He attended Wheaton College in Illinois, and married a woman named Elisabeth Howard in Quito, Equador. He knew that God was calling him to reach a certain violent Indian tribe - so he and four other missionaries began to fly in to the area, delivering packages and food and trying to communicate with this tribe.

On January 8, 1956, Elliot's body, as well as the bodies of his fellow missionaries were found floating in the river.

If you've heard this story, you also have heard the amazing story that the wives of these missionaries went in and ended up converting most of this violent tribe. An amazing story, most definitely.


When I think about these two deaths, I guess I do see other similarities. Both men died as young men, in the prime of their lives. Both lives were taken tragically, one taken by himself, the other by murderous tribesmen. Both leave legacies, however one legacy shines greater - through the death of Jim Elliot, thousands of Christians have been inspired to become missionaries, battling disease, persecution, jungle heat and more. Elliott Smith's music is great and all, but hopefully his death will not inspire anyone to live their lives like his.