Today I am heartbroken to learn about Michael Jackson's death. I'm not a rabid celebrity tracker, but I remember the boy with the earth-stomping voice who made me giggle and squeal as a girl. (And often as a grown woman too!)
The man Michael Jackson confounded me at times, but his musical artistry was always there, a potent, unmistakable gift. But Michael's unexpected death sends a sober message: What God gives as a gift, release it and work it for the kingdom.
I feel like there was more for Michael to give to the world, despite the disturbing allegations of child abuse and the reports of his unorthodox behavior. But he's gone now, and his life, which will be examined for years to come, will continue to remind me of the explosive and influential nature of God's gifts.
"You Are Not Alone," "Got To Be There" and "Man In The Mirror" may have hit the pop charts and made my dancing toes curl, but these songs reflect bits of the expansive love God has for us. It may not fit a religious paradigm to say that, but yes, God's love song can be discerned in the lyrics and melodies of Billboard hits. God just has it like that!
But like any public figure with an exceptional gift, we, too, can be thwarted from fulfilling our life purpose. Our personal issues can block us. We can be unforgiving, we can live for years estranged from family and friends, we can clothe ourselves with grudges, we can choose victimization instead of recovery from setbacks, we can be more at ease with our past accomplishments than in the courageous pursuit of new ones, we can wither away in the spirit of complaint, and we can look for God in all of the wrong places.
Ah, but if we would live life with the end in view! Death's touch is sudden and irreversible. Didn't you feel the pain of that today? The King of Pop's voice is silent and we will not hear him deliver that "Michael-whoop" or watch him dreamily moonwalk again.
As people around Texas and the country gather to memorialize Michael's trail-blazing music, may we remember that God's passion for us is not that we finish a life and earn a public postscript. The One who made us for himself and not for ourselves wants us to finish well -- and that means doing all he created us to be.
Judy Howard Ellis
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