Saturday, June 27, 2009

A Moment From the Madness of This World....

Everyone is talking about Michael Jackson. Some are sensationalizing him, making his talent that cannot even be put into words or described seem cheapened by his eccentric behavior. They are sick and sad.

No one can dispute that this man, from the age of four, gave this world great joy. He transcended racial barriers, overcame extreme poverty and even though he was greatly insecure cared deeply about his fans and the message his music conveyed to the world was timeless and transcended all nationalities and connected with his audiences in a very powerful way. He had been working on a concert series that seemed daunting and I will not offer an opinion about whether or not he might have been able to achieve it. I will leave that questions to the ages.

Michael Jackson gave this world the best of himself. Some of his very best music is not even his most famous music. Beautiful, heart-felt melodies that have messages that will stand the test of time. Like many who came before him, he will always be loved and his music will always be timely. He joins James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, and others who were so talented but left us at such a very young age. I believe the best of Michael Jackson was ahead of him.

The cruel part of fame is that one has no privacy and Michael Jackson was a walking lawsuit. Even though he was never convicted of any crime, there are those who label him to this day of crimes he was never convicted of and I don't think that man had a cruel bone in his body. I don't think he would ever hurt a soul. I would never stand in judgment of someone who is innocent and he was an innocent. He was taken advantage of by those with their own agendas; parasites.

Jackson, who performed for the public from the age of 5, (performed at huge venues at that age) and at age 12 had his first break-out single with "Ben". Who can forget that? He won eight grammys for "Thriller" alone, and owns the record for sales for that album. He broke records, he broke the rules and he set precedent for those who would follow him in the music business. No one could ever do what Michael Jackson did. He was one-of-a-kind and his type of genius comes along very rarely. There have been few that I can think of in his caliber. Mozart comes to my mind. Certainly the creativity, the genius, the quirkiness and the fact that he left this world way too early all parallel Michael Jackson. Some people may be appalled that I would DARE compare him to Mozart. But, he was that caliber. And I believe he hadn't even reached his peak.

What is sad that though he achieved so much success and so much adoration from his fans, he lost his childhood as a result. There are stories from Barry Gordy of seeing Michael watching children playing from a window but being called back to rehearse. He retained the innocent outlook of a child, he was not exposed to the outside world as one is as we grow older. He was protected from it. I am sure that is why so many people misunderstood him. His innocent outlook made others uncomfortable because they couldn't understand why he chose to see things as a child or have a child-like outlook on life. Perhaps he was calling out for help and no one heard him, no one bothered to hear. He was a person first, a performer; dancer, singer, songwriter after. His death really should remind us that no matter who one "is", they are PEOPLE and should be treated as such. And in death, we should remember that this man was a person. He deserves to be respected and in this day and age of anything goes, it's about time for us to treat our fellow man as we would want to be treated. Where did we leave our humanity?

His music will always have life. He will live forever through it. May God bless his three children. I hope God will spare them the devastation of court fights for custody and grant them a peaceful and guarded childhood. Michael's money will protect them. Perhaps his family should hire Pricilla Presley to handle Michael's estate and grow it so that his children will have plenty of money as they grow older. She handled Elvis' so well, she raised it from the ashes into a huge empire. Isn't it ironic the similarities between Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley? Both generous and innocent? Both grew up in poverty but overcame it. But never forgot where they came from. Jackson was a part of 39 charities and gave huge sums of money to those less fortunate and who knows how many people he helped in his years on this earth. This is what he will be remembered for in my mind. His goodness and his ability to see the good in others.

For those who are still being critical of him, even in death; for the cruel jokesters; remember that you will answer for every word out of your mouth one day. Even those about Michael Jackson. No one is perfect, none of us are and certainly those who are being critical of him are. God will have His day with those who are being cruel.....God is just and true to His word.

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