The death of Whitney Houston has shocked and saddened me. I have cried. I have watched clips of her on TV since the announcement was made and I feel a loss. Why? Because I honestly believe she had the most beautiful, purest voice I've ever heard. No matter where I may have been when I heard her singing, her voice made my ears pay attention. If she had a gospel CD I'm not aware of it, but I plan to find out later if she did. If so, I will be buying it. Who knows the cause of death? It's really none of our business if you stop and really think about it. Why do we feel the need to know? Maybe it's because we hope she died a peaceful, natural death, that it was just her time to go. I pray that's the reason she passed away.
The media has so quickly, as usual, jumped on the bandwagon to point out her past problems with drugs and alcohol. Why can't they just leave that alone? If not out of respect for Whitney, then out of respect for her daughter, her mother and the rest of the family, they should keep their long noses out of personal matters.
A lot of people deal with all kinds of addictions. Maybe that's why this has broken my heart. Until someone you love has personally been addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, you don't really "get" how it affects the ones you love. If that person dies, it just makes it worse for the family, regardless of whether or not they were clean and sober when they died. Don't judge people because of their past. In fact, don't judge people at all. Jesus Christ is the ONLY one authorized to judge anyone and that fact is made clear in The Bible. I pray that she was prepared spiritually to die. That's all anyone should care about. When our time to go comes, nothing will matter other than our spiritual health.
I do not actually know a lot of people in Tennessee. The ones I know are family and people I used to work with or knew of because of working. Every day, I check the obituaries in the paper to see if I recognize the names of anyone I may have known. Most of the time, I don't, but I silently say a prayer for the families of those who passed. It may seem strange to some, but ever since I lost my sweet Mother-in-Law, I've done that. She will have been gone two years later this month. There was no media blitz, no question as to how she died and no speculation as to whether or not she was drunk or on drugs when she died. That's the way it should be for anyone, unless they or their families request otherwise.
When I go, I will be cremated and there will be no memorial service. The only thing I want is for the 23rd Psalm to be read before my ashes are scattered at the place I choose. That may seem strange, but that's what I want. If there was a song it would be I Will Always Love You and it would be playing on a CD player. Whitney Houston would be singing it.
RIP, Whitney. May God be with your daughter and your family.
