Over the weekend, my wife and I rented the documentary, “This Is It”, starring Michael Jackson. The theme of the film was the rehearsals surrounding the much-publicized return of Michael Jackson to the music world and eventually a world tour.
The film starts out recording the auditions for dancers and singers, all whom seemed very emotional about the opportunity to work with Michael Jackson. The remainder of the documentary shows the intense practices, including the spectacular stage settings and mind-blowing props. In my mind, they were way further along in production and overall readiness than I had imagined.
I am moving quickly through this to get to the reason I am writing this article. Worth noting, even though I am not a Michael Jackson fan, the DVD is worth the rental.
I realize that the documentary was edited to place Michael Jackson in the best possible light, given the many challenges he was facing in his attempted comeback. But I can tell you for sure, not one person in that production was considering the option that they would be soon unemployed because Michael Jackson would die before the show even made its debut.
Watching the video and seeing him dancing and singing, I would not have predicted that the so-called “King of Pop” would be gone from this world in short notice. As his story was later revealed, he had been addicted to an assortment of prescription drugs that eventually lead to his earthly demise.
Michael Jackson, just a couple of years older than I am today, is dead. His music lives on, they say, but given the choice, Michael Jackson might be willing to trade his music legacy for another shot at “living”. That is the point. Many of us are carrying in us our death, even before dying. I am referring to a spiritual death, the part of us that will not forgive, will not forget, will not love, will not think of others first.
Some are carrying the weight of guilt from past failures and disappointments. Some of us have major moral failures in our past that seemingly live themselves out before us everyday. This is the work of our Adversary, working hard to blind us all from the Light of the Creator; lest we see firsthand God’s desire and plan for our lives.
Here is a prayer for us all:
God, in Your infinite Power, reach into my soul, and in cooperation with the effort I give You, remove the death before dying.
Give me the opportunities to right the places I have made wrong, and to accept what is mine and fiercely reject what is not.
May the accomplishments that I achieve through this process bring You the Glory.
Dear Lord, Help this be the prayer for us all.
I know for many of you reading this article, you believe that Michael Jackson got exactly what he deserved. For those of you that think like that, I pray you get exactly what you have coming as well.
For those of us that draw daily from the sweet waters of forgiveness, may God sweeten His judgments against us all, and reward us based on our obedience and not our accusatory actions.
God’s grace is extended to all, regardless of how we feel towards each other. Today, regardless of how others feel towards you, God’s grace and forgiveness are available right now, so that none of us live a death before dying.
Think deeply on these things…