Spirit

I, like so many others today, watched the memorial service for Michael Jackson with gratitude for his music and how it is weaved through my life and memories.

People say his music, dance moves and career were genius. I would agree, but Jackson said these things were never "his." In fact, he said he felt guilty about putting his name on "his" work because it was effortless for him. The music, he said, came through him from God.

His real brilliance was that he was so open to Spirit that all of this amazing music simply flowed through him. And Spirit moved through him in other ways too. It was said at the memorial service that when he suffered a serious burn on his scalp, he used the experience to empathize with others and build a burn unit. And he did this in many other circumstances as well - bad experiences were turned into opportunities to help others. Spirit doesn't see negatives.

Michael Jackson's music is his legacy to the world. But a less obvious legacy is this: when we allow Spirit to flow through us, not only are we lavishly fed and nurtured - magical gifts are bestowed upon us to share with the world.

I heard a sermon recently where the minister said that often times we pick and choose "Okay God, you can take this and that part of my life but this other thing is really important so I better handle it..." We all laughed but it really is true.

What would our lives look like if we opened our whole lives to Spirit? THAT would be an amazing example to our children and a lasting legacy.