HEY! DID YOU HAPPEN TO SEE...

Did you know that Beyonce is the most beautiful woman in the world? It's true.  I saw it on the morning news today; People magazine has named her the most beautiful woman in the world.  Did you get that? In the world!  I want to give kuddos to the staff of People magazine for this work.  Can you imagine it?  Sifting through the pictures of every woman in the world!  How long does that take?  Millions and millions of pictures to cull through.  After this arduous process the team must then begin trimming down the list until finally arriving upon what? A top ten?  A final four?  I'm glad that I don't have to figure out who the world's most beautiful or "sexy" woman is for the calendar year 2012; the work must be "all consuming".  If you serve on this team of experts then I suppose you have to be sequestered for some length of time because you only have a few months to complete your assignment.  I remember just recently that another publication picked the most beautiful woman ever!  Like, starting with Eve and working down to Jennifer Anniston!  I would not want this job!


I wonder what criteria they are using here.  Maybe I'll Google it and find out.  Hair color might be a factor along with the number of visible blemishes.  Judging from the list, it would also appear that some level of fame/fortune is necessary as well.  Movie stars, recording artists, and swimsuit models dominate the field so it stands to reason that this makes the culling much easier...just throw out the women who aren't rich, famous, or otherwise worthy of big time notoriety and I guess it eliminates about 3/4 of the women in the world.  You have to start somewhere right?  I've also noticed that your wardrobe helps.  If you typically show up in public places with the kind of outfit that leaves very little to the imagination then you are going to move to the top of the list.  After all, since the judges can see most everything it gives them a much better impression as to how beautiful you really are.  Kate Upton?  Top of the list!  Angelina Joile?  A shoe in after that dress she had on the other night!  Lady Gaga?  Obviously trying to get the votes!


So, I salute the folks at People Magazine for their work.  I must say that if you decide to have a "most beautiful woman in the world" award that you are setting yourself up for quite a task.  I just have to stay this to you though.  Based on the obvious criteria, there will be a few women that get tossed out year after year.  They will not get past the first cut.  Maybe you could consider them please?


Immaculee Ilibagiza
Mother Theresa
Elizabeth Edwards (deceased, yet worthy of consideration)
Susan G. Komen
Ellen Besson (my wife)
Carol Young (my mother)


Start with those.  If you don't know the names then you can look them up.  Call me if you need further info in regards to the last 2 on the list.  You'll need to block out some time if you choose to contact me about them because they're beauty goes far beyond what you'll see on the outside.


From a grateful reader...


Mike Besson

The word is "faith"

Well, this one certainly caught my eye.  "Forget the Church".  I'm not sure what possessed me to read an article whose title I so adamantly disagree with but I figured, what could it hurt?  I mean, the Bible on my desk clearly identifies the "church" as the "Body of Christ" so the separation of the two seems to be a stretch...what could this guy "Andrew" be getting at?  So out of curiosity I read it.  The article began by saying that "if you go to the second floor of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., you'll find a room containing an 18th century Bible whose pages are full of holes.  They are carefully razor-cut empty spaces, so this was not an act of vandalism".  Sullivan is referring to the infamous "Jefferson Bible", a project that the 4th President of the United States began to undertake when he was around 77 years old. He literally took a razor and removed the passages that "he thought reflected the actual teachings of Jesus of Nazareth".  He cut and pasted his way through until he had created a "slimmer, different New Testament".  His criteria for removal, according to Sullivan, was anything that Jefferson believed represented the "very words of Jesus", leaving behind the "misconceptions of Jesus' followers" that were expressed "unintelligibly".  The snippets of the "real Jesus" were described as "diamonds" in a "dunghill" that was fraught full of "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man".  Jefferson apparently determined that the Incarnation, Resurrection, and "various miracles" were "dung" because they hit the chopping block right away.  The "message was the miracle".

So, out of curiosity, I looked at the "Jefferson Bible"; here's a sampling of what Jefferson thought to be "dung":

Luke's description of the angelic visit to Mary.  

Jesus turning water into wine.  

John the Baptist's words to the Pharisees (you brood of vipers).  

Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus.  

John 3:16 (for God so loved the world). 

I could go on.  You can look it all up for yourself.  I'll save you the trouble.  Jefferson took out the hard stuff.  You know, the really challenging stuff, the stuff that makes us uneasy and calls us to have some semblance of faith.  No man could raise the dead, right?  No man could be the Son of God, right?  No man could perform a miracle that defies the laws of nature...right?  Resurrection?  No way.  The Son of God in pain?  Forget it.  If we can't explain it, reason it, or prove it with science and logic and reason then it's "dung" (the excrement of animals).  Cut it out like a cancer before it affects the whole.  Keep the nice, easy to understand stuff that doesn't challenge us on every level.  Keep the stuff that requires little or no faith.  If we can't reason it out then it can't be true.  That's what the Pharisees thought so they killed the messenger in order to kill the message. Funny thing happened, the message remained intact and believed by billions of people for 2012 years by my last count.

I hesitate to say this.  Maybe I shouldn't, lest it trouble the person who took the time to read the words of my blog.  I wouldn't want anyone to decide that I am a fundamentalist, ultra conservative, believer in the inerrant and infallible Bible.  I really am none of those things.  So maybe now that I've got that out of the way I can go ahead and say it.  Christianity is not easy.  Following Jesus isn't all roses, mostly because we don't dictate the terms and we apparently have to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the needs of others (difficult when the ol' portfolio drops a couple of points, no?).  I often ponder what would happen if we (notice I am saying we) were to take it upon ourselves to live into some of the hard teachings (dung) of Christ?  I wonder what the world might look like if we loved neighbor as self?  I wonder what might happen if we made every attempt to live into the precepts of the Gospels?  I wonder how different things might be if we modeled our very lives after the sacrificial life that Jesus led?  Well, for those of you not quite so familiar with the Bible, I can tell you to read through the book of Acts to see what can happen when ordinary, flawed, uncertain human beings decided to do just that.  You will note healing.  You will note transformation.  You will note peace.  You will note a brief time when poverty was nonexistent.  And yes, you will note the miracles.  I must warn you though, don't read it in the "Jefferson Bible" because the above mentioned events were probably cut out.

One other thing.  If we really do believe in a God that created everything from nothing; if we proclaim a belief in this all powerful, all knowing God that holds the balance of the universe in his "hands"; if we believe that the God that we worship has created some sort of order out of the chaos and some level of good in the midst of evil, then is it that big of a stretch to say that the remote possibility exists that he could turn a jug of water into something comparable to a nice, Willamette Valley Pinot?  I hope so, because I'm staking my life on the far greater miracle that apparently leads me to life eternal.

Jefferson should have stuck to the politics.  Just sayin...      

                        

It's Time

I should be happy.  I'm not so sure that I am.  I am.  And then I'm not.  Tonight at 6:00 my wife and I will take our son to the school that he'll begin attending in the fall.  A full fledged kindergartner. The boy is growing up.  This brings me joy.  And it makes me sad. See, this whole situation is exacerbated by the fact that for the past year and a half my son has been attending the pre-k at the church that I serve.  I can eat lunch with him whenever I want.  I take him home every day.  I watch him play on the playground through the kitchen window and I can sneak into chapel and watch him worship. When the weather gets really bad, which it has been doing quite frequently these days, I can keep a close eye on him and I can rest in the knowledge that if the tornado warning turns out to be more than a warning that I can crouch somewhere in the corner of the building with my son held tightly in my arms.  Even though I know that this will show that I have some level of codependency I am going to say it anyway.  It brings me comfort and peace just knowing that he's in my building.  The other day I did something I shouldn't have.  I said, "Lorenzo, would you rather stay another year at our school because if you do then you will be in the classroom right next to my office...or would you rather go off to kindergarten and leave me here all alone? He looked at me and said, "I want to go with my friends dada".  I felt like I had a knife in my heart.  "You sure", I asked?  "Yes dada". "You're going to make dada cry", I said, half joking.  "Sorry".  Sorry??  That's all he's got?  The boy is growing up.


Being a dad has caused me to do something else that I really shouldn't do.  I have tried to "fast forward" time, which I always regret in hindsight.  I used to say things like "I can't wait until this boy is potty trained...I can't wait"!!  When he was potty trained I said, "It wasn't so bad I suppose".  Then this, "I can't wait until he can feed himself".  When he finally could I said, "I wish I could still feed him every once in awhile".  When he stopped coming down to my bedroom at 3:00am every night because he "needed me" I was a little relieved and a little sad at the same time.  One day he'll stop sitting in my lap.  That will be the day that I start the anti-depressants.  This growing up stuff is not sitting very well with me.  I like the fact that my son depends on me.  He really needs me for stuff.  Now I'm registering him for the "big boy school".  It won't be long before I'm handing him the keys to my Cherokee.  Then off to college.  A wife and kids.  Then no more phone calls.  Then he'll put me in a nursing home.  Good gosh, I have so much to look forward to.


Sometimes I think we resist the idea of "growing up" in another area of our lives.  When it comes to our relationship with God, we can very easily fall into neutral.  It's easy to take it for granted isn't it?  God is always there right?  We can pray without ceasing or we can give it 30 seconds before falling asleep.  We can read the Bible daily or just wait until we hear it read in church.  We can worship as often as we can or we can show up when there's nothing else to do that day.  No matter what, God is going to be there.  God is going to show up.  God can be at the top of our list of priorities or he can be at the very bottom.  He's there.  No matter what.


I once heard someone say that there are only 3 places that we can ever be in our relationship with God.  Forward, neutral, or reverse. One is really good.  The other two are not.  I think that part of it is fear.  We fear growth in this relationship because if we grow then something will be asked of us.  Life might change.  Routines might get shuffled just a bit.  We may have to begin making decisions between the myriad of Sunday options and worship.  Someone might ask us to work the church garage sale or to consider serving as an usher which would then require a commitment of some sort.  Look out if you express any interest at all in working with kids...you'll be on the "volunteer list" so fast your head will spin.  We resist growth because we resist change.  I wonder what our biblical story would look like if Mary had resisted her call or if Paul had just keep on killing Christians?  What if Moses decided to remain a shepherd? What about Peter, James, and John?  I suppose we would have never known their names.  


If you're resisting growth then don't.  God is there even if you deny him for awhile.  He's not going anywhere.  As soon as you turn to him then the "host of heaven" will dance.  Continue to seek and you will find.  Don't stay home on Sunday.  Worship.  Sing.  Pray.  Listen. Meet people who struggle like you.  Find God and be open to change. God won't do it for you, but he will show you the map.  He'll be you're GPS.  You need God.  Apparently he needs you.  Otherwise, why would he take the time to seek you?


I remember that I wept at the front door when I visited Graceland for the first time.  I fear a repeat performance when I get to the school tonight.  The boy is growing up.  Not neutral or reverse.  Forward.  I am grateful.


On a totally unrelated note...I have a good friend that has launched an amazing website for folks who are addicted to tennis like I am. Check it out:


www.tennisnmore.com        


     

Can't wait for my turn

Dick Cheney is to old to get a heart.  That's what I read.  He's to old to get a heart.  In other words, he's to old to live.  He doesn't deserve it because, best case scenario, he'll only be able to use his new, transplanted heart for about 10-20 years max before he dies of old age.  Better give it to someone else who can get more life out of the thing because after all, the man is 71 years old for crying out loud. As you probably know, Dick got his heart.  The debate continues in regards to who gets the scarce, vital organs out there and who doesn't.  Seems that there are many who believe that age should be a factor (this is currently not the case).  Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist practicing in California, summed it up best in the New York Times; "the ethical issues are not that he had a transplant, but who didn't".  I don't know about you, but this whole debate deeply troubles me.  


Please do not read my remarks today and think that I don't like kids or that the children and youth of the world are not important.  Please don't wonder how I can be ignorant enough to not see, in an age when vital organs are in fact scarce, that it makes perfect, logical sense to give them to those who might benefit from them the longest.  Yes, it makes perfect sense to give them to those who have their "whole life ahead of them".  I get it.  If, God forbid, my 5 year old needed a heart and it was given instead to Dick Cheney, I too might well up with anger.  I know I would.  So, again, I get it.  Here's what troubles me.  The language and scope of the debate sends a message to our "seniors" doesn't it?  The message is not new.  You don't matter.  Your time is done.  You have reached the point that your life is no longer as valuable as another life.  Thanks for all you've done.  Thanks for leading us through World Wars.  Thank you so much for navigating us through the tumultuous 60's and 70's; it could have gone a much different way.  We appreciate the way that you so nicely preserved things for us and moved our technology towards the rather amazing place that we find it today.  Could you step aside now?  We've got to move on.  Let us do what we need to do now.  You go to Branson and watch Mickey Gilley and Andy Williams sing all of that old stuff nobody listens to anymore.  If we need you we will call you.  But don't wait by the phone.  We can take it from here.


I have this nightmare.  If you've been reading my blog then you know that I am a priest in the Episcopal Church.  The church I serve is amazing.  It's really grown.  People listen with some level of intensity when I preach.  They look to me to stand behind the altar and pray the prayers and touch the bread and the wine.  They expect decisions from me.  They want vision and leadership.  They look for me to teach them the things of scripture.  They ask deep questions and they want answers...from me.  One day they won't.  No one will. This is my nightmare.  I will be all alone at a very old age and not one single person will care about what I say or what I believe.  They won't ask me about vision and they won't look to me for major decisions. People won't nod their heads in affirmation when I speak and they won't feverishly make notes as I give my interpretation of the Gospels.  I will be to old for any of that. The world will have passed me by.  Moving on without me.  A life that was once filled with the sense of so much purpose will be left staring out of the window to watch the squirrels digging the ground.  If I need a liver or a heart to go on with my life, I will read somewhere that the majority believe that it's better to let me die.  Depressing?  All nightmares are.


Years ago the Diocese that I serve created a vision and core values. It stated that we are "youthful".  We are "reenergized" by the constant infusion of youth.  The church is constantly seeking ways to reach out to youth and young adults.  Youth youth youth.  This is all well and good but something is missing here.  We must not forget who or what "brung us" to where we are.  We must not forget that the vision and direction that we applaud these days was set on the foundation of those that had vision and direction before us.  No life is useless and no life should be forgotten.  Even when we pass the age of 72, we are, according to the Bible I read, "children of God", a "Royal Priesthood", and the "Body of Christ".  We all have "gifts" to be used to advance the Kingdom of God.  Nowhere do I read that once you reach retirement age that you are now disqualified from doing the work that us "young-uns" are supposed to be doing.  In God's eyes, the folks who are left alone in our nursing homes to throw bread to the gathered pigeons are no less valuable than my 5 year old son or his dad the young, energetic priest.  Search the Bible if you will, but I can save you the trouble.  You won't find any footnotes or asterisks that would lead you to believe that God takes away our value and worth once we are limited to moving in a "Hover-round".  Can I be bold enough to say that one of the great sins of our generation is the way in which our culture can so flippantly set aside the lives of the older and weaker children of God?  They need us and we need them.  They are not a burden to society.  My goodness, didn't they bear burdens for us?  It's time we repent of this sin I think.  Look at it this way.  One day it will be you.  It will be me. There's no stopping it.  One day it's our turn.  Someone will scoff when we can't quite figure out the IPhone 15.  They'll take away our license because we are "dangerous".  Our eyesight will go.  We will learn firsthand the meaning of "fixed income".  Will we yearn for the day when we are forgotten?  I think not.  


So I say way to go Dick Cheney.  Hope you live to be 100.                           

Try a blind audition

"The Voice".  Maybe you've seen it.  I hear that it's now approaching "American Idol" viewership.  In "TV speak" that means it's a really big hit.  I've been watching the past few weeks as season two has begun. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then here's the "Cliff's Notes" version.  Aspiring amature singers have been auditioning for the show over the last several weeks.  There are four judges that sit in gigantic, rather comfortable looking chairs.  They critique each aspiring young singer with what looks like a great amount of thought, at least judging from the very serious faces they make while they listen. If you didn't know any better, you'd think that they were studying for final exams. It's basically the same concept as all of the other shows that judge America's Greatest Talent, America's Greatest Dancer, America's Greatest Cook, and America's Greatest Idol.  One difference with this one.  On "The Voice", contestants earn a spot on the show by going through what they call "blind auditions".  While the singers perform, the judges have their backs turned to the stage. They can't see who's singing.  They can hear but they can't see.  If they like what they hear, and if they want the artist to be on their "team", they press a button and their chair turns around to face the stage.  A sign lights up at the bottom of the chair that says "I want you".  I like it.  The judges don't want to be in any way biased by what they might see.  They want to judge on merit (and voice) alone.


Have you ever heard the expression, "you eat with your eyes first"? It's true, presentation is everything.  If it looks like it just came out of the dumpster out back then you aren't going to eat it.  I once ordered a green hamburger on St. Patricks Day.  Not good.  I decided that before I put it in my mouth.  Sandwiches with weird looking bread are a turn off for me.  I like my fries to be long and thin, I don't like for them to look like miniature waffles.  Long, thin ones taste better. Maybe that's why green ketchup and Diet Coke on white cans never passed muster with the public.  It's just to strange. It looks funny, which of course means that it's no good.  It's not just food.  I hear that something like 80% of all people who visit churches for the first time decide whether or not they'll come back before they ever walk in the door. I guess you worship with your eyes first too.


I'm wondering what criteria I typically use when I judge the people I meet?  Is it hair color and style?  Color of skin?  Weight? Smartphone? When I see someone with a cup of Starbucks in their hand, this communicates something to me.  I'm not sure what exactly, but I know that if the next person I see has a cup from the Exxon down the street then I will make a judgement call.  Shiny black Hummer vs. Ford Fiesta?  You get the point.  There's a place in the Bible where it says that Jesus could "see into the heart".  This can sound like a threat at first, like, "Jesus knows the skeletons in our closet".  I don't see it that way.  Jesus sees past our hair.  He looks past the diet long since forgotten.  Droids and iPhones are the same to him.  Starbucks might be what's served at the heavenly banquet (surely it is), but Exxon will do just fine.  Jesus sees us for who we are.  Children of God I think it says.  


Try this for Lent (we have 5 weeks left).  Try doing a blind audition. I'm not suggesting that you turn your back on everyone you meet, and then if you like their voice, that you then turn around with a shirt that says "I want you" printed across the front.  That might land you in jail where the food is not meant to be pleasing to the eye.  Instead, try to look past outer appearance, dress, or coffee cup.  Try your best to see people for who they really are.  Rather than huffing and puffing because you have to sit next to that "person" on the flight home, strike up a conversation.  Maybe they like Starbucks too.  Instant bonding will commence.  If you get "stuck" next to another one of "those people" with one of those ridiculous sounding ringtones that has the same effect on you as nails on a chalkboard, rather than thinking them to be yet another "loser" who's strayed right into your path, say hello.  How are you?  When you're in the elevator and the girl gets in with purple hair and a piercing in every visible orifice complete with complimentary tattoos, nod your head as if to say"good morning".  Better yet, say it.  Don't judge by what you see outside because you (we) have no idea what's going on inside.  You might be the only "good morning" they get all day.  They just might need it.  Perhaps, you have been placed in their path for a reason.


Try the blind audition.  Meet some fascinating people.  Drink Starbucks.  Love people.  After all, it says somewhere else in that book I referenced earlier that they are your brothers and sisters in Christ.  I think they might be worth getting to know.             


     

Really?

A few weeks ago, a man named Josh Powell blew up his home in Washington State with his 2 small children inside.  On purpose.  The world was left to wonder why.  How can one be so cruel?  How could a man do that to his kids?  Why is their so much cruelty in the world? Thank goodness that we had Westboro Baptist "Church" to answer these very important questions for us.  According to this "church", it all happened in Washington because of the state's recent "rebellion"; a reference to the state's support of same sex marriage.  God was punishing Washington.  Westboro has protested a number of military funerals because the "church" (note the repeated use of quotation marks) believes that our soldiers are dying in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan because of our country's tolerance for homosexuality. They hold up signs like "Pray for more dead soldiers"; logic so skewed and twisted that it is beyond my ability to even comprehend it.  I've seen pictures on the news that showed Westboro children that could not have been more than 5 or 6 years old holding up signs with messages that I won't dare repeat.  You can Google the "church" if you want to see them for yourself.  My 5 year old son recently held up a sign that said "Good Luck Dad, we love you" at the 5K I ran several weeks ago.  The "Westboro kids" hold up signs condemning the world to the eternal pit of fire; unless of course it repents.  At least according to the 4 year old.  This, in my opinion, is just about as sad as it gets.


This is not a blog about whether or not I believe that homosexuality is sin/not sin, right/wrong, a choice/born that way, so if that whole conversation makes you uptight then you can read on.  I have my feelings about it that are personal to me and the people that I know and love.  I do want to say this.  It seems that the church (not just Westboro) has made it a habit of demonizing the people that it calls "sinners".  Not only that, but it seems to pick and choose which "sins" among the many are worthy of this particularly charged demonization and condemnation.  Maybe I missed it, but I've never seen or heard the church actively communicating the fact that those who abuse their wives to the point of sending them to the ER in the middle of the night are going to the above mentioned eternal flames. I don't see the church holding up signs that are condemning people who blow up their kids.  I haven't noticed the church demonizing pornography, genocide, or child abuse.  Again, maybe I've missed these regular displays, signs, protests, and "occupy-like" movements by the church because I don't get around to watching the news every day.  But if I were a betting man, I'd bet the farm that the reason why I don't see these things is because they simply aren't happening. In fact, my bet would be "all in".


I've been doing a little research.  I've noticed that in the Bible, when Jesus sat with "sinners" like "tax collectors" and "prostitutes", etc; his interaction with them was far different.  Sometimes, Jesus would even hang out with lepers.  Lepers were considered ritually unclean, which was about the worst possible state of condition a human being could be in.  You were an outcast if you were unclean.  No one wanted anything to do with you.  Period.  Jesus did in fact point the finger when he encountered people like this.  Funny thing though, the finger got pointed at the "finger pointers".  Jesus had some "not so nice things"  to say to the self righteous legalists who seemed to make a living out of pointing out the faults of others.  Like this one time when Jesus sat (reclined) at a table with the afore mentioned "sinners".  The Pharisees (legalists) jumped on that one like a fish to water.  "Why is he sitting with them"?  Part of his response included this, "I desire compassion...I did not come to call the righteous but sinners".  Guess what?  That word "sinners" included (or includes) everyone.  If you are reading this blog then like it or not, you fall into that category.  You are a sinner.  So am I, there's just no getting around it.  You also get the grace of the cross.  WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?  Yes, you also get the grace.  May not make sense my fellow believers, but you get it.  Oh, by the way, guess what Jesus did one day when an unclean and socially unacceptable leper came right up to him and begged to be healed?  Jesus touched him. SCANDALOUS!!!  He touched a leper, which meant that Jesus was now unclean!!!!  At least according to the rules.  Those rules were not the same as Jesus' "rules".  His rules are not the same as our rules either.  "My ways are not your ways", he said.  Thank God.


So to the "Westboro-like theologians/churches" of the world, time to fess up.  You know who you are.  To call yourself the "Body of Christ" means to act like you actually are the Body of Christ.  The message is salvation not condemnation.  Point your finger at one you call a "sinner" and the finger can be pointed right back at you.  That statement is true for everyone but the sinless Jesus.  What were those words again?  "For God did not come to condemn the world but to save it".  That's the Gospel of John.  Those are the words of Jesus. And again.  "Forgive them Father", Jesus is quoted as saying as he hung on the cross while looking down at the people who were calling for his death and giving him sour wine and gall to drink.  And to put it another way.  "Do not judge others, for you will be judged by the same measure that you are judging them".  Yep, that's Jesus.  Grace rules the day in God's Kingdom.  I don't claim to know who's in and who's out or who gets the "pit" and who gets the clouds.  I don't know who spends eternity "smoking" or "not smoking" as the familiar church signs declare.  I do know that when I condemn/judge that I'm usually doing it to make myself look better and feel better.  At least I'm not as bad as that guy, right?  I know that Jesus loved the people that the world said were not supposed to be loved.  He accepted the unacceptable.  And then in one great and awesome act, he saved the world and asked a couple of things in return.  Believe.  Repent.  Love God.  Love neighbor.  Love self.  Love neighbor?  Love self?  What does that mean?  


It means to love sinners I suppose.


                               

Will this ever end?

I saw something on Facebook today that raised my blood pressure to unsafe levels.  Here are some quotes from the thread.  I have removed the names to protect the innocent.  In regards to the passing of Whitney Houston I read the following.  "She was beautiful and talented before she got into drugs".  "In 6 months we're all gonna find out she [overdosed] but it won't be her fault.  Let's all blame Bobby Brown, get real folks"!!  I just read this headline on the the Fox News website, "Prescription drugs found in Whitney Houston's room".  I am sad today, and not just because one of the great talents in the world has died.


It's not the first time I have had these feelings.  I'm not gonna get on my high horse and tell you that I've never engaged in this kind of stuff so please don't read this as some self righteous blog from a guy pointing his finger at everyone else.  Note that I will use "we" not "you".  It's the source of some of my sadness today; the thought that I can be guilty of sensationalizing the flaws I see in others.  Most notably, the rich and famous.  People like Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse and Elvis Presley.  People who "fell from grace".  People who made the conscious decision to share their amazing, God given gifts with the world despite the fact that they knew that it would put them under the microscope forever.  People who didn't handle that all so well.  And since their lives could only exist in the proverbial fish bowl, their every flaw was exposed for all the world to see.  What did the "world" do with that most of the time?  It demonized them.  It held them to a higher standard.  It watched from afar and judged them without knowing a whole lot about them.  It forgot, somehow, that they were human.  I am a part of that world. I've done it.  I've pointed.  I've whispered under my breath.  I've held them to the highest standard and flippantly decided that they "knew what they were getting into when they chose to go public".  So it's ok for me to judge because they made it possible for me to do so. It comes with the territory.  I'm sad.


I was thinking just now...what if Whitney was my daughter?  How would I handle reading the posts and the headlines?  How would I deal with the fact that the words, "most amazing voice in the history of the industry" were usually footnoted with "life that spiraled out of control"? How would I be able to function, having lost a child, with the judgements of her character coming from people who knew little or nothing about her?  What if I was Whitney?  What if my weaknesses and my struggles were exposed for all the word to see whether I liked it or not, whether I chose it or not?  What if my demons were public? What if the fingers were pointed at me?  Once you're in the fishbowl you will always be in the fishbowl.  It's like stepping off of a high cliff. Once you make the step it can't be undone.  No matter what you do you are all in.  You might regret making the step once you begin to fall, but it still won't stop the fall.  Maybe that's why they chose to live in the kind of "fog" that numbed them from the reality that they could never be normal again.  I'm not condoning bad behavior and addiction. But it makes me wonder just the same.  


Thank God for the word "redemption".  God redeems.  God makes us whole.  Jesus, when in the midst of the most broken, made a habit of being present and loving them.  The people who had fingers pointed at them because of their "sins", those who were outcasts, those who were "less than" for whatever reason, were always welcomed and loved by Jesus.  They were forgiven.  They were loved.  We are loved. You, me, Whitney, Michael, Amy, Elvis.  Loved and redeemed.  I have to think that in God's eyes they were never drug addicts or alcoholics. They were broken.  Lost for a time yet found.  That one sheep that strayed, so loved by the shepherd that he left the flock to find them. They are home.  Too soon by my standards but home nonetheless.


We make mistakes.  We do things we're not so proud of.  We say things we wish we could take back.  Sometimes we are forgiven by the people we know and love.  Some times we are not.  We are never unforgiven by God.  When we're lost we're found.  Last night someone lost a daughter in a room on the 4th floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Someone lost a mother.  Someone lost a friend.  I hope that I'll remember that the next time I decide to start pointing the finger at the next "fall from grace".  I hope we'll all remember it.  Good thing that God never forgets.  Lost and then found.  


Ellen and I once danced on the beach to the voice of Whitney Houston. It was sunset.  One of my greatest memories.  I've loved Whitney ever since.  Thanks for the memory.  I will miss you.