Whitney Houston: In Memoriam and in Praise of God's Work in Her Life

I had written about Whitney Houston for Technorati in October last year. I knew she was troubled.  Issues rose up in her life, then were quelled, covered by family and Houston herself. Too many prying eyes...too many ridiculing, envious hearts.

But if there were warning signs, only Whitney Houston could have realized what was happening. It is not for others to judge; it is impossible for others to know. We can only try to stand in another's shoes. And if we believe in the Lord, which Houston and her family surely did and do, then we must trust Him. Only He knows the purpose of our lives. He is the author and finisher of our faith. And the world may wag on, but He is the designer, and glory comes to Him through us.

That said, I've written this sonnet in remembrance of a beautiful and glorious child of God. He blessed her with his precious gifts. They will be treasured in our lifetime and beyond, because it is His joy to celebrate the goodness that shined the light of Whitney Houston. And through the grateful appreciation of her divine, anointed talent, I do believe many will be lead to the Kingdom of God.

This sonnet is dedicated to Whitney Houston. To God be the glory.


                          Whitney Houston

When you were born God's plan was set in place;
Your being not your own, the Tree of Life
Did hold you up and lift you to God's grace,
Though storms would come to beat you with their strife.
Though worldly, carnal lures would distract you,
Though fame and fortune waved their glittery hands
And beckoned you embrace them as "the truth,"
And follow them in snares of their commands.
But never did the Lord allow your fall.
And never did you cease your faith in Him.
You never let your soul be world enthralled,
Despite blind media's judgments of "your sins."*
With Him in Spirit, Whitney lives in Grace
And softly wins you to His love's embrace.

*Only God can judge us. And we are forgiven. So any talk of her "faults/sins," by anyone must be viewed as follows. This is probably someone who doesn't believe/hasn't accepted in his/her own life that God forgives; does not believe that God is love and does not believe in the Spiritual power of the Living God. Pray for that person/those individuals, if you are lead to. Then move on.

BLIND

I thought about adding a photograph to this sonnet. And then I realized the black background of this blog is what FAITH, my faith, is all about, a blackout of my trust in realms of physical sight (representing carnality). Years ago, when I taught, I awakened from a nightmare that I remembered. In the nightmare, I was driving down the road in complete darkness, blackness, a night so black I couldn't see an inch before me let alone the road. Yet I was driving, somehow, moving along and there were others in the car with me, two students I taught years ago in their ninth year, who, at the time (I knew this, sensed this and still remember who one of them was; forgot the other.) thought I was not only weird, but who did not appreciate or LIKE me. (It was in 1987, around the time of the Jessica Hahn scandal and my decision to take a stand against the church she had been a part of and the leadership who supported her.) Anyway, when I woke up, I did and didn't understand the dream, based upon my journey in Christ up to that point. Now, I see its meaning for today and realize it is coming to pass and has come true. I am blind.

Upon the road, when driving home to write,
It came to me, a searing, striking flash,
That blind I was, His Love had darkened sight.
And taking up the sword, the Word, I'd slashed,
My trust in physical realms, my senses five.
I'd pierced my physical sight like Oedipus,
And drove the Word to gouge and gouge my eyes,
Til Truth in time became my greatest Trust.
And now Blind Faith embraces close my heart,
Draws me in love toward God who can't been seen
And Christ, the "world" THINKS dead will always start
My days to SEE His work in planes between,
The living and the dead, the dark the light
The spiritual world, the physical realm of sight.*

The Word of the Lord counsels us to walk by faith not by sight. This was a long and gradual process for me to understand.

Mockers Before Christ's Redemption: Must We Suffer Them? 5/19/87

 On my journey through religion's byways, and scandals in 1987 at the Full Gospel Tabernacle and other churches I attended, I encountered a motley group of individuals and was forced by the Lord to discern after the Spirit, not after the flesh, which, of course, deceived. There were those in church who apparently "loved" the Lord, but also mocked His truth and commandments with their behavior. Could I judge a righteous judgment against the church, the "believer"? The scripture says I can. Did I? I was mocked and not understood, walking after the Spirit, a Christ representative. I wrote this sonnet to cope. And eventually, the Lord led me onto another unexpected path.

Oh Lord, the scorners, mockers always there
Who would upend Your loving, generous self.
As such their darkness would my soul to wear
So they could justify their evil's stealth.
Do not receive your Being, and ignore
The coming of Your light to help their cause.
Such haughty, errant crassness won't repent.
Instead they'd mock the Lord and Calvary's cross.
As they feel nothing is their worth in life
Know not He is their source, He is their light.
They choose to cause self-torment, no respite
From inner turmoil, hate and inner strife.
Oh Father fuse their souls with thy Love's heart,
And separate them from the Dark One's arts.

Agape (In C.S. Lewis' Discussion of Four Loves-Agape is greatest)

In C.S. Lewis' brilliant The Four Loves the author discusses the greatest of love, agape which is Christ's love. First, it is a spiritual, divine and all-encompassing love. It is given freely with no expectation of return. For those unfamiliar with Christ's love or for those who are just beginning to understand the depth of it, it seems impossible to bestow. This is the "turn the other cheek love." Turning the other cheek requires superhuman effort, divinely inspired; in fact it is impossible unless one is in Christ's spirit and renewing one's mind in the Word daily.

From the perspective of one on the receiving end, if they are not in Christ's spiritual adulthood, often they do not realize what it is. How can they without God's wisdom of understanding at that adult level? Such love is incomprehensible to the human mind. All manner of twisting and distortion occurs about it until finally the anointing breaks through (probably years later) and the understanding comes to the one on the receiving end. Most likely, the individual giving the agape and the "receptor" have long gone to other spheres of influence. As the Word says:  the seed was planted, one came and watered, another tilled the soil around the plant, another provided the sustenance, etc.

This sonnet is representative of such agape love which is spiritual and never physical. The closest thing to the physicality of agape is feeling inner peace, warmth and forgiveness; it's power can send chills running up and down one's spine at its recognition and its presence. Being physical is so far beneath agape; it is mortal and selfish. It can indeed, kill agape love: objectify another's soul making it a nonentity (think what the Nazis did to eradicate self/identity in the concentration camps).

In human terms the closest thing would be to say agape is like platonic love. However, agape is much greater than that because it leads to redemption and renewal of the soul to Christ. Platonic love does not entail Christ, the anointing, the spiritual level of wisdom and faith.  Platonic love is mental and intellectual. Platonic love remains on a plane of logic. Agape defies logic. That's why it's impossible to understand, unless divine understanding is given to understand:  someone plants, someone waters, someone tills, someone gives sustenance, etc.   It takes time.




Oh Michael, Christ emboldened you with Love.
This Grace bestowed upon His chosen ones.
In hallowed sanctity of world's above
The carnal, worldly realms we surely shun.
And you, confounded, and perplexed, undone,
By that, you cannot seem to grasp or see,
Will learn in seasons ripe that you are One,
With Him in fullness of His unity.
A vessel or an ark, a ship, stalwart,
He's making of your soul to receive Him.
So don't throw off my Love* which fully starts
His process of your freedom from gross sin.
Just know this song of love envelopes you.
His love and mine are One with you in truth.

 *agape love (no distortions please)