one step away from crazy

Let me begin by saying that I'm not a religious person. Rather, I'm an incredibly spiritual person. I believe that a higher power is not something that is out of the realm of possibility in this universe. In fact, I believe these higher powers are all around us each and every day.  We just misinterpret their presence. 

Although I was raised in a combo Catholic/Protestant household, I definitely don't claim to know much about the teachings of the bible, nor can I wrap my head around all the "God's" that exist globally within each faith.  What I do know is that we're all in it for love.  Maybe not big worldwide love, but love within our own communities - whomever we believe them to be based on colour, religion, taste or status. It's safe to say we turn to religion to give us faith and hope because without them we can often find it hard to carry on when we're faced with the ugly truths within this world.

Whether we like it or not, Michael Jackson's death has caused us all to stop for a moment, even if very brief, to think about humanity.  Yes, he's 'just a pop star', but his message for the last 40 years was beyond music. Personally, I've been bummed this past week, not so much about the loss of one individual, but what his loss means and represents.  Sure, the King has fallen over the years, but it was slow and painful and we all took a front row seat to watch it happen. Chronologically we saw a metamorphosis in his physical appearance, we watched him become a recluse and we listened to tales from parents and children accusing him of horrific, unspeakable things.  And I wonder, did we do this to him?  My dad always taught me about taking accountability for my own life at a certain age and while I agree with him, does this situation still apply for Michael? In many ways, this person (from the little I know of him) was put in a position quite different from the rest of us.  One that lacks genuine nurturing and normalcy. And even without those things, it was obvious that he wanted to give love and to be loved, that he wanted to be child and he wanted children to live like children.  He was a strong presence. He wanted to say more to us, but we broke him down over time.  We silenced him.

As I started thinking about him, I then thought of Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ.   Why is it that whenever we look at individuals that have the power to hold a global conch, that speak the 'gospel' of love, music, peace and a brotherhood, we think they're a bit crazy?  Crazy for their believes, their courage, strength, their relentless and exhaustive efforts to believe in a beautiful, innocent world.  We want to abuse them and take them down.  On the flipside, I can then close my eyes and honestly see the countless number of homeless faces I pass in the run of a month and think about when I make eye contact with them - they always smile at me and express words of endearment, peace and love.  Often their words are not that different than the words spoken in scripture, history books and in lyrics.  And we, yes we, definitely look at these people and think they're crazy too. 

We continue to try and take down these various higher powers that are present in our everyday life when we really should just be directing our simple faith and hope in their pure goodness and love.  

So, who's really crazy here?  C'mon, show of hands....