Renaissance Institute of Spiritual Development

Thank You, Michael Jackson

By now you all know that Michael Jackson has died. As one who understands that death is just a transformation of form I was caught off guard at how deeply this death impacted my awareness. As a person of spirit and of logic, my emotional response made no sense. Farrah Fawcett had died earlier. Ed McMahon had died earlier in the week. My next door neighbor had died last week. Why didn’t I have the same sense of loss with those deaths as I did with Michael’s transition? With the exception of my neighbor, I knew none of them personally. I had no real relationship with any of them. I had never been in their physical presence. If I was short of funds, I couldn’t call on any one of them to spot me a couple of bucks through the rough times.

So why this sense of loss? 

I was up late into the evening figuring this out and then it came to me. Until this event, I had always believed that spirit transitions when it is ready, after its purpose is complete. Now I’m not so sure that this is always 100% the case. Our bodies are of the physical universe and as such, limited by processes and operations of the physical universe. Sometimes physical abuse to our bodies will have a negative impact that can shorten, impair or destroy physical life. As humans, we are both physical and nonphysical (spiritual/mental/emotional) BEings. The two go hand in hand. Perhaps in most instances, the physical death and the nonphysical death coincide with the completion of life purpose. I believe that Farrah and Ed had completed their purpose.

So why do I mourn Michael’s transition?

I mourn because while the physical life of Michael Jackson may have come to end, I am not so sure that the nonphysical, spiritual life entity had completed its purpose. I long for the dance that hasn’t been danced, the song that is yet to be sung, the Michael that was yet to emerge. And yet there is a message in this for all of us. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Don’t die with your music still in you.”  We all have a song to sing, a dance to dance, a picture to paint, a book to write, a hand to hold or a path to walk.

And I will do just that.

But to do so means I must pay more careful attention to both my physical and nonphysical Selves. Of course this whole discussion brings me full circle. If this is indeed the message that I take away from Michael’s passing then there is purpose after all. The cycle becomes complete. It is up to us to sing the song and dance the dance that Michael started for us all.

Thank you Michael. You will live on within our spirits as we love, sing, dance, and celebrate.