Imagine my surprise and disbelief last week when out
of the blue I received a text message from a friend asking me if I could
confirm the news about Whitney Houston’s passing. No sooner than I turned on
the television, did I see the "breaking news" story that
singer/actress Whitney Houston was dead at the age of 48. One has to
understand that this was not just another celebrity death, but she was an
icon of my generation and someone that guided my early adult years with her
tremendous vocal talents and stunning beauty.
In the days that followed, I struggled, as a person
of faith, to find the greater meaning in her short life and sudden death. It
was far too easy to blame all of this on her history of drug abuse and poor
choices. If life suddenly took everyone who refused to say "no" to
drugs and alcohol or chose the wrong partner to marry, the world would be
scarcely populated and those left on earth would never be able to reach the
high notes that Houston did in so many of her number one hit songs.
The larger questions seem to be, in the case of Whitney, if she is of lesser value because of how she died or simply because she is dead? Is death for her the end or the beginning? Or put another way; is death her ultimate punishment or her ultimate healing? The answers to these questions will largely depend on what one believes about death. Good Morning America reported this week that Whitney may be worth more in death than she was while alive. According to experts her estate is set to gross more than 10 million dollars in record sales in these weeks following her passing. |
Death, for me, is not the
end, but another leg of the journey in life that leads to ultimate healing. Death
is the one thing we can surely count on and yet, it is the very thing that we
spend our lives trying to avoid. I remain confident as life makes way to death the
presence of God was with Houston in life, and continues to be with her through death.
We, who remain, are also in the presence of God as we journey through this aspect
of life toward our very own death. I am reminded of the words of the Apostle
Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” It is likely that
Whitney understood this theological tension regarding the journey of life to
death as she belted out that short, yet prophetic rendition of Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah in 1993 with
Barbara Walters. One only calls on Jehovah, when one understands the struggles,
stresses, and pain that life presents with belief Jehovah will respond to that
call.
Tomorrow Whitney’s family will hold a private funeral at the
New Hope Baptist Church in New Jersey. This will be their final farewell to a
daughter, mother, sister, and friend. In respecting the pain of her family who
in death has lost a loved one, all can take comfort in the words from the
Apostle Paul who knew death in life, “To be absent from the body, is to be present
with the Lord,” which allows Whitney to once again be free and back on top of
the only chart that really matters.
Your introduction was so on target; drew me right in. That's how I learned about Houston's death too, from a text question. Such a fine balance of passion and compassion. One can hardly help contrasting Houston's voice that seemed to draw everyone in, as a NJ woman born and bred, and the Gov. of NJ just rejecting equality. For all her suffering, her gift was a gift of inclusion.
ReplyDeleteDid you happen to read Rick Santorum's remarks calling her a "poor roll model?" It brings to mind the question of worth.
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