My first album was Thriller
We were staying with my wife’s Uncle and Aunt when I was told the news that Michael Jackson was dead. When I was told the news I immediately remembered the Christmas when my own Uncle bought me my first 12inch Album, ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson.
My guess is all of us can think of a personal memory that comes to mind when we think of one of Michael Jackson songs. For many of us we have grown up with his music and influence whatever we have thought about how he has lived. Therefore the fact Michael Jackson has died impacts us. Suddenly someone who has just been there in the background of our lives maybe even the periphery is gone and it reminds us that we are fragile beings that we are mortal beings.
The truth is we are mortal we are born and though we don’t like to talk about it we will die and when someone dies whether it is someone we have known personally or someone we are connected to through their influence we have a very real sense of lose but also a very keen sense of our own mortality.
Death creates a level playing field for all us whether we have global fame or feel like we live unnoticed, whether we have immense wealth or live in absolute poverty we will all die. The question is, are we willing to face up to this fact?
At the heart of the Christian faith is a promise that there is hope, that death can be faced with confidence that death is not the end! I would encourage us to remind ourselves of these facts or maybe to investigate them to see if they have validity.
