Reflect

                                                             

I'm going to start this blog with a warning... Some of you may feel your toes have been stepped on, stop reading now. For those that get sensitive when any talk of religion is mentioned, stop reading. Those that feel you are above everyone else and are free to judge all, stop reading now.

            Now unto the subject in my brain. I, along with presumably millions of others, watched the Home Going service of Whitney Houston. At the same time as the services, I was streaming my son’s track meet wondering which would end first. It was a long day for sure. While watching the service, I found it quite interesting that Don Lemmon from CNN had to constantly tell Piers Morgan that this is the way a service is in a black Baptist church. Actually, it was more like he was constantly explaining it to the world. I didn’t grow up in a Baptist setting, but I’m one that enjoys good music in a church. I can do without the preaching, I did learn how to read the Bible after all. I grew up Lutheran where you are in and out of church in one hour. You used to be able to drop your film off at Fotomat and return after service to pick it up. Ahhh, the good ‘ol days. The fact that Whitney’s service was 3 ½ hours didn’t matter to me, listening to people forget the words to their own songs didn’t matter. What got me was the ignorance of a lot of comments during and after the services on the social sites.

            As I said, I grew up in the Lutheran church and my mom was raised Catholic. What this meant for me was, we were at our own church first, and then headed to the city to go to church with my grandma. It made for a long boring Sunday to say the least. The music is tired, one religion appears to want complete control over mind, body and soul; the other (my church) made it super clear you knew there was a pecking order and you knew  what bills in the church  needed to be paid. They collected money at all services, coffee hour and from the kids in Sunday school. I remember going to my paternal grandma’s church and being scared out of my mind when a lady started jumping and shouting, my first taste of a Baptist church; quite a contrast from dour, somber and boring to celebration and jubilation to say the least.

            What got me the most were the people that were complaining that there shouldn’t have been hand clapping or laughter because it was a funeral. Hint: a homegoing is a celebration of going to meet your God and no longer dealing with earthly pain. Well, once that was explained several times, people complained because it was basically a state church service with honors and the flags flew at half staff. I’m guessing the governor of New Jersey is a big Whitney Houston fan, maybe a bit over the top but it was only during her service. For the naysayers, I truly doubt that it was meant as a slight to our military. Our military is the BEST by far and no one wants to disrespect our men and women, however, if our flags were to fly half staff for every soldier lost (as some suggested during the service) we would be in a perpetual state of mourning. Our flag flies high proudly waving because of our men and women in the military. One day of flying half staff (in one state only) for someone as beloved as Whitney shouldn’t have made a difference.

            The next wave of naysayers came from a few people I know and went to school with and this is where some of you need to step back and reflect. No matter what a person has done, we all deserve to have a Christian burial with dignity. To suggest Whitney didn’t deserve the praise and adoration during her service because she allegedly had issues relating to drugs and alcohol, shows how judgmental and forgetful some have become. I do remember quite a few special deliveries to some of you. I remember when we ALL were doing a little dirt back in the day. I remember the guys that beat their girlfriends, teachers being inappropriate with students, teachers flirting with each other, blah blah blah. Some of you have that past looking in your face every day, yet you feel the need to judge someone else for what they may have done. I remember myself getting so bad, that I didn’t even remember my locker combo, so I used my best friend’s locker all the time. I remember choir concerts when a little speed went a long way for several of us. Go figure, somehow some of you feel you can judge someone else. The comments divided down the racial line with a quickness and that’s sad. I guess the really sad part is some of you haven’t really changed at all.

            Some people do the same things a public figure does, some survive their own destructiveness and some don’t. It’s safe to say that we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but we would like to think not only do we know what’s going on; we have every right to criticize what goes on. Look in the mirror do you like the reflection you see? Does anyone know the positive things that Whitney Houston has done or is everyone so caught up in the negative and the hype it’s creating. Think about this, if you had the means to accomplish anything you wanted, would you give back to your old neighborhood, would you give back to the school you went to? I have several classmates that are doing quite well; they did dirt back in the day. They don’t even give this area a second look; we’re to the point now that we don’t hear about anyone unless it’s an obituary.

            The manner in which one’s life is celebrated shouldn’t be looked at as a negative thing. We celebrate births, we celebrate graduations and heck some of you celebrate just getting your butt out of bed. The manner of celebration isn’t one for someone to say what should or should not be. There should be no need for a news anchor to explain the why’s of how a service is conducted. Reflect back on your own life, have you made that much of an impact on anyone? The issue of black and white shouldn’t have really mattered, but of course it did. Once again it shows that even in this time, we still don’t embrace our differences.

            I don’t care what Whitney Houston did or didn’t do, it wasn’t my life to control. I enjoyed her music, I enjoyed seeing her in concert and I loved the fact that a woman whose skin tone looked like mine was able to grace the cover of magazines when I was younger. It’s interesting to read all the criticisms about how she lived her life; did anyone notice her life was centered within the church? Can you say that about your life? I know I can’t. I love the Lord, no doubt, but put me in a church and it will probably crumble. I loved my Army uniform when I wore it, but that doesn’t mean I’d be willing to put it back on. I still enjoy a drink once in awhile, but getting drunk isn’t fun anymore. People change; they grow and have vastly different experiences. Personally, I’d rather be remembered with great music, hand clapping and shouting; they can leave out the sermon. Hell, I’m just hoping to be remembered. By the way, the track meet ended first.  Reflect on that one. ~Just my two cents