An unexpected reaction to . . . Whitney Houston

An unexpected reaction to . . . Whitney Houston

    I watched the funeral of Whitney Houston today and how I felt during it surprised me.  Sometimes when notable people pass away they are portrayed as Christian, and really no one truly knows the heart of any individual, except them and God when all is said and done.
     The chances that Whitney Houston and I would ever have found ourselves in the same circle, was none to nil. But today I felt a connection to her by faith.  I know that people who love the Lord make mistakes and making mistakes connects all of us. My mistakes, thankfully, have not been spread around the world for everyone to see and judge like Whitney’s were, and will be for a while. For that I am thankful.
     I think I could have sat down with her and we would have had something in common. If we had met through some unexpected set of circumstances, I could not have talked about careers or fame or importance in this world, but she and I would have had a conversation nonetheless.
     It would have been about the Lord. I have had conversations about the Lord with other people and during it I began to see they really didn’t know the Lord. After listening to Kevin Costner’s tribute to her I appreciated that even among the world of celebrities there are men and women who start with a background of faithful parents and time spent in church. Then something happens and somewhere along the line they get lost. We have seen it over and over.
     She opened the door to her life to a wrong person and in marched the evil influences that strategically worked everyday to take her down. It kept being said throughout her service that she knew where to go when she needed help getting that lion off her back. It happens to all of us. We get mired down in mistakes and think we will never see another happy day. Her family had to watch as those people she allowed to come into her life brought the very things that ended up taking her life. Things that she never would have become involved in if her family had been able to make the choices for her. I am sure they tried to persuade her. And it is also evident that the one thing that she did hold to was her faith and that she knew regardless of what she did, that her family might not have agreed with, they never stopped loving her.
     Whitney Houston was a celebrity, but she was also human; a human who started out just like the rest of us. I have to admit that during the elaboration of words for some who are in the limelight, they don’t ring true. I found myself weeping and realizing that she was probably just as fragile a Christian as the rest of us who get swept up at times in things that we know are not the things we should be involved in and end up getting stuck. I hope the last of her days do not overrule the good in this woman. Sadly, we know that marketing mistakes sell more in this world.
    What I hope more than anything is that her daughter will not have to go through the pain and sorrow that her mother endured to fine her way back to her beginning. Usually during a Christian’s service the family tries to relate the wishes of their loved one. I think Whitney would have been pleased that the eulogies for her life were for her faith in God more than her fame and accomplishments being those lasting remarks.
     I know it changed something in me. With all Whitney had, she took nothing with her. She left every award, all her possessions, everything that represented her as an icon, behind. The only thing she could take with her was her faith. 
     I know that sometimes I let myself look too much at the off ramps people take and lose the reality of who they are underneath all the trappings of life. The more I listened to the words of those who knew her intimately I think she would have been someone I would have liked as a friend.
     I hope the final pictures of her life fade soon and the media gives her a break. I know I’ll be more forgiving and less judgmental. I didn’t think it would have been a singer who inspired me to do this. I am not really a follower of music icons, never really have been.
     It shows me once again that I don’t know everything that God will use to help me be a better person. God said that He did not need any man to tell him what was in the heart of man. He knows. He says that he loves us and nothing can separate us from His love so who are we to question who that “us” turns out to be.
     Her service ended up taking a change at the end. We know that everyday we all face the possibility of not seeing tomorrow. No one knows the day or the hour that will be our last. Some say it with tongue in cheek trying not to give it the weighted importance that it has. But the truth is, we don’t know.
     Her last contribution to all of us went from glorifying the end of her life and accomplishments as an artist back to her beginning. I am glad it finished there.  That is all that really matters at the end.  I also got the feeling that this is where Whitney wanted to get back too physically and just couldn’t find the way back while she was still alive. If we could ask her what she would have done differently, I think knowing what she knows now for sure, she would have never opened that door and let the things that drew her away come in
     It was evident today that in the end it wasn’t all her musical talent that God would use in her life to touch others, that was only the instrument that drew us all to view  what she really left as a last impression. What she believed sustained her no matter what. I have to say that this service was quite different from most celebrity services.
     Now it’s her family who are left to go on. They got her back. Not in the way they hoped, but I liked what T D Jakes said,  "In Whitney Houston's case, death did not win." It should not win in anyone's case.