There has been so much in the Media about Michael Jackson this weekend. As for how I feel to a large degree I'm sad, in fact I was sad before he died. Michael was an Icon of my teen years and his music defined many of the moments I had as a teenager and musician. It made me sad to see him abuse his body and have so much plastic surgery. It made me sad to see him abused by minders, sad to see his family subjected to a bizarre lifestyle and sad to see him go from the king of pop to the joke of his later years.
He was an amazing singer song writer, dancer, and performer. and the things he broke open set the scene for all the music to come after him.
SO I hope History will be kind to him and remember what he achieved and not the bizarre lifestyle of the last few years. In my view he was a gentle and innocent soul who was misunderstood and abused by those around him. His naive nature meant he constantly was set up to fail and to fall into the bizarre and weird.
The challenge I feel as I watch all the tributes is, what is my legacy? am I prepared to be a pioneer? am I prepared to lead instead of follow? am I prepared to challenge the perceptions of me or do I believe what others say, even when it's not true? am I naive? am I prepared to walk the lonely track of creativity at any cost or am I. to quote jack Black on school of Rock..."owned by the man"!
So thanks to Michael and for his gifts to the world, may he rest in Peace and I hope have found commitment to Christ as a part of his walk so that in heaven when we sing together there will be that characteristic sound of Michael singing with all his might for something of greater value than anything the earth could ever offer.
