Icons and Idols

Death is no discriminator...How many times have we heard this? Today I reflected on this so much more severely in light of the loss of some great media-culture icons. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have been ripped out of the pages of our pop culture books by the common denominator; Death.

Amazing, that three of America's icons representing wealth, beauty and fame have died in a matter of a week. Vanished...no long with us. Who hasn't dreamt of Ed coming up the porch steps of our homes presenting us with a magnanimous check stamped with a number followed by many zeros? In the seventies, what teen did not aspire to have Farrah's hair, winsome smile and knock-out body? If my hairdresser mother were alive today, she could attest to the number of tresses cut into the 'Farrah hair.' And of course...the eighties. Oh yes. Michael's Thriller album was selling millions. Doing the famous dance in the hallway's of my high school is a memory still quite vivid and nesting in the mass of neurons in my brain. All of these icons represented to America a dream; a dream of success, making it, being there.
All vanished.
Gone.

Yes...it confirms to me that instead of chasing after the next get-rich scheme, I need to start thinking of storing up riches in heaven. That instead of slabbing on the lip gloss, and tousling the hair, I need to remember that 'charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting'. Fearing the Lord is definitely something to be praised. And the next time I spend any more time seeking old music on YouTube, or as Michael so avidly sought, the fountain of youth, I need to seek His Kingdom; the real Neverland where true youth, love, happiness and melodic music abound.

Let us ever be mindful Lord, especially in the tragic losses of idols, we hold today; whether it be wealth, beauty or fame, that You are the Everlasting. That you are the Rock to which we hold on to. All other is sinking sand.