Michael Jackson

I did not grow up as a huge fan of Michael Jackson, there were some songs I liked and some I did not. I never purchased any of his music, and as he and I grew older I thought of him more and more as a man who had lost control. He seemed to me to be an extremely talented and gifted man that had fallen apart. I have learned more about Michael and listen to more of his music in the past few weeks than I had in my entire life time.

I now see Michael Jackson as a man who built bridges and broke down walls. His audience was not limited to one culture group or even one country. He was truly an international superstar. I also see how he was considered royalty. For many African American's Michael was the representation of royalty. He traveled like royalty, he was guarded like royalty, his houses were palaces.

I think the one thing I learn from looking at Michael Jackson life is that fame was not meant for any one individual. I don't even believe fame was intended for man kind. As you follow Michael Jackson life story you see how his fame tore him apart. No doubt there were other contributing factors, but he lived in a reality where he was never left alone. The media was constantly chasing him, people wanted constant access to the man. How did he handle that kind of pressure? by a variety of odd behavior. I once read a study on how famous people in the US have a much shorter life span than the average American. I think that Michael Jackson is another example of that. At the age of 50 he died fairly young. His fame no doubt took some of the life out of him. I don't think that being famous is wrong in and of it self. I do however believe that fame was not intended for Man, but man was intended to continually make God known around the world. God almighty, Yaweh, is the famous one.

Psalm 105:1 says, Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.