Does Great Talent Equate with Great Person?

Over the last few days every media outlet has saturated us with information, adulations, and memorializations of Michael Jackson. During this extravaganza of video and commentary, there has been a tendency to not only recognize the musical genuis of Jackson, but in so doing, to equate that musical genuis and greatness with personal greatness. Is that reality?

My personal opinion, which probably only has value to me, is that just because one possesses great ability or talent does not mean that individual also is, or was, a great person. The truth is that some people with great ability are actually quite mean, arrogant, selfish, and even cruel.

Don't misunderstand me. I never met Michael Jackson. I only know him as most of us do from his music, from news reports, and from interviews. He was a gifted performer. He could moon walk before we had a name for it. He could sell albums because the music drew us in and was different from most of his contemporary musicians. But he also held his child over the balcony ledge. He was addicted to pain killers. He had major personality and emotional issues.

So - if the microscope is placed against my life or against yours, we probably all reveal some good, strong traits, and some pretty strange behaviorial issues. In other words, as John Ortberg revealed in the title of his book: Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them, we are some of those "everybodies."

My whole rant is this: I want us to start looking for greatness in the lives of those people who make a true difference in the lives of other people - those who make the most money, get the most publicity, and have the highest popularity are not necessarily the greatest people. There are teachers, police officers, firefighters, doctors and nurses, farmers, writers, and even an occasional minister or two who may measure up past those who were blessed with great talent and ability.

Day Nine and Counting

I am not a coffee drinker. Over the years I have saved a great amount of money by not having to buy a Starbucks' drink one, two, or three times a day. Of course, I have found other ways to spend that money.

While I don't drink coffee (or alcoholic beverages), I am a great consumer of Coca Cola - not the diet stuff - the real, leaded, red can, classic stuff. Three or four a day has often been my pattern. But in an effort at better health and in an effort to become less wide, I am in day nine and counting of time without a Coke Classic.

Why do I tell you that? Well, my co-workers would rather me write than complain. Actually, I have done better than I expected. To this point, I have not had road rage; have not hit anyone; have not yelled at anyone; continue to shower and shave every day; and have gotten out of bed and gone to work each day. Not bad for someone in the major throes of withdrawal.

I have developed a growing concern though. In light of today's economy, I hope that my not drinking all those Cokes is not adversely effecting the bottom line at the corporate office!

Nostalgic Closing

The local news in Denton, Texas, this week included the closing of the two Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in town. While this doesn't compare to the President speaking in Cairo or the Texas Rangers leading their division, it does elicit a certain sense of nostalgia. These are the last two known Piggly Wigglys operating in Texas. I may be one of the people responsible for their closing. In almost two years of living in Denton and fifteen years working in Denton, I have only been in one of the stores and that was only one time. I think I bought some candy - not a big purchase.

But my nostalga is not about the last ones in Texas; rather, it goes all the way back to my childhood in Temple, Texas, where my mother seemed to always shop the small grocers - Dooleys in Troy, Wrights, Spot Cash, and Piggly Wiggly all in Temple. The thing that stands out to me fifty plus years later is that all the employees seem to know your name and knew where everything was on every shelf. As a child, I often ate a package of Mrs. Braid's chocolate cupcakes while we shopped. At the checkout counter, the clerk rang up an empty wrapper. If you went to one of these stores to run an errand for your Mom, you could tell the clerk what you needed and they could tell you what brand your mother usually bought. It was a day of personal service that has slowly slipped away as the smaller gives way to the larger. The need today is to recapture the friendliness and customer service of the smaller and place it in the larger. I just shop better at the grocery store if I am eating chocolate cupcakes.

Is Virtual Reality, Reality?

Allergy medications may cause strange thoughts - certainly cause drowsiness. In the midst of the two, the question surfaces - is virtual reality really reality? Of course it is! Am I crazy or just drowsy? But - Presidential speeches being twittered; finding friends on Facebook; and texting on cell phones! Where have all the people gone! Gone to digital everyone.

Now don't get me wrong. The truth is that I like and use most of the digital forms of communication. I text three, four times a month - with proper spelling and grammar of course. I have a blog - actually, I have three - this personal one and two related to my job. I have a Facebook page and even have a few friends on it. Email accounts at work and at home easily accessible through my IPhone which also has a level, access to USA Today, and pool, bowling, and golf games (for when I am not working).

Could I get by without all of these devices in the world of virtual reality? I probably could, but I don't want to. I may be addicted - although I can quit anytime I want - I just don't want to.

But what about real people? Friends are more than digital transmissions through space. At some point friends must be real people that you shake hands with, that you hug, that you eat a meal with, and that you laugh and cry with. Sure you can do some of those things (at least metaphorically) online. And when distance separates you, online is a great way to stay in touch (metaphorically speaking). But we all need real, live people around us also. These are people that turn virtual into reality. These are people that can read your body language when words don't come from your mouth or from the keyboard.

Today is a good day - even with the allergies - to give some thought to the real people who make a difference in my reality while my fingers touch this keyboard in a virtual, sometimes real, always changing world.

Iraq, the Economy, Swine Flu, and Everything Else

The headlines from the world's newspapers would all be alike if they were written in a common language. The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan held the most column inches for an extended period of time. Our minds were focused on how many troops were being killed each month or each week.

The only thing that moved our thoughts from the loss of human life was the loss of money out of our pockets. Suddenly, people lost jobs, corporations and individuals filed for bankruptcy, and homes went into foreclosure. The economy replaced Iraq as our number one news concern.

I that how we will pay for dinner would still be at the top of our list if a pig hadn't coughed on a bird that flew over a person depositing some virus into the air that was inhaled and the swine flu became a reality. School closings, reported cases, number of states reporting cases, cases world wide, and number of deaths from the swine flu has grabbed the spotlight in the papers, on television, and across the internet.

Makes you wonder what's next! Don't misunderstand me - I am not making light of any of these happenings. Each one is very serious. Each one is greatly affecting human life. Each one increases anxiety. And yet, we have survived them one by one. Just as we have survived countless other headline grabbers.

Does that mean that we will always be survivors? Not necessarily. But I do think that we must keep in mind that life is filled with crises. These come in the forms of war, crime, economic upturns and downturns, disease, accidents, relationship breakups, and countless other subject headings. The focus I must maintain in all of these situations comes together in these three statements for me:

• While the events of life may surprise me and even catch me off-guard, God, the creator of this world and redeemer of it through Jesus Christ, is never surprised by events and is never caught off-guard. I will trust Him.
• While I don't know the answer to every dilemma that I encounter, I know that God does. My job is to work and respond under His leadership in both times of peace and times of confusion. I will obey Him.
• While I have no desire to be killed in war or die of a pandemic disease or become homeless, I will not be afraid and will not go into hiding because such possibilities exist. I will live this life to the full extent that God gives me strength and capacity. I will serve Him.

How we choose to live life is a choice. I have made my choice. Have you thought about how you will choose to live your life?