"This Is It", My Thoughts

Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.


We went to see the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It" tonight, which was the first night it was open in my area. I know many of you are planning to see it and I am not going to give anything away!



I went more out of nostalgia, and maybe a little curiosity, than as a crazed fan. In fact, I wasn't really even allowed to listen to Michael Jackson when I was growing up. But come on -- even I knew most of his songs by heart. They have become part of our very culture.


As I watched I was reminded of what a great talent MJ was. Unbelievable talent that I can't imagine having been bestowed all on one person. I had feared that two whole hours was too long to watch and that I might get bored. But it was truly captivating to watch and to listen. And I don't know if I could have seen the beauty I saw in it if I hadn't also felt the sadness. Disclaimer: There were definitely at least two parts that made me feel uncomfortable (a scene where girls are dressed and dancing provocatively and the scenes for Thriller).

Despite all of the questions about him, and all of the debate about who he was, if he was a bad or a good person, discussion about how strange people would say he was, etc. I felt sad. Because from the very beginning of the movie, I began to have a feeling I couldn't shake for the whole movie. I think maybe my eyes were opened to a truth I had not grasped before.

Before I can get to that, let me explain...

When I think about our desires as people, and what we have difficulties with, I have to go back to reminding myself what we were created for.

Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

So I am reminded that we were created to love and worship our Creator. And we were designed to share that Love.

We were not designed to be adulated. We were designed to adore.

So as I watched I was so impressed with how sad it was that every time Michael tried to show love, people acted like they were not worthy of his love and deflected it all back on him. People literally worshipped him, a human being, and did not allow him to really give love in return. At one point in the movie someone even verbalized it by saying it was like church.

It truly even frustrated me as I watched. It's kind of like that compliment you give that your friend never really receives.

"You are so beautiful."

"You nut. No I'm not. So sweet of you to say though."

"No, really! You are beautiful!".

"No, YOU are."

"You are gorgeous inside and out and I love you."

"NO, YOU are gorgeous and I LOVE YOU MORE."

It's like they are saying "I'm rubber, you're glue. Whatever love you give bounces off of me and sticks to you."

... makes me feel sad and tired just pretending I am having that conversation. "Just acccept my compliment already, and accept my love...PLEASE!"

What a sad and frustrating thing, probably even confusing, to never really be allowed to give love but to continually receive the worship of people, when you yourself are a person, and you also were created to worship and to praise and to love.

It seems with any gift, any strength we are given by God, there is a weakness. I often think artistic people feel things more deeply. So when someone feels deeply, when they love deeply, and they cannot find a way to either express their love, or find a way that they can get others to receive that love, it makes perfect sense to me that they would be perceived as strange. In fact, I think it would be miraculous if they were not weird.

It reminds me of that song "Starry, Starry Night" about Vincent Van Gogh, who was also very artistic. Seeing beauty and trying to share it. Feeling like no one will listen, really listen, to your heart. Everyone exalts you when you know intrinsically that you should not be exalted. And they turn all of your love back onto you. So really, they never truly even LOVE you, they just adulate you.

What pain we go through when we are not what we are created to be.