Once again the theme of leadership is weaving its way throughout the newsiverse. Ed Milliband has beaten his older brother to become the leader of the Labour party in the UK. All eyes are now looking to see what exactly it is he stands for and what sort of leader he will be.
Meanwhile the much rumoured promotion of the favourite son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has happened… we think. A young man being thrust from obscurity into the limelight in the world’s most secretive state – I wonder if he needs a publicist?
In Moscow, the President has dismissed the mayor after some disagreements. The Mayor, tipped as a future president, is now looking for another career.
But then, fame is a funny old thing. I listened to a news report that announced the death of an actress. The report told me that she had starred in many films before retiring in the 1940s. It then told me that she had been the oldest actress to be nominated for an Oscar.
It wasn’t until I was told that it was the actress who played the old lady in James Cameron’s Titanic that I had any idea who had died. But then fame is a funny old thing, here one minute and gone the next. And they say a week in politics is a long time.
In WordLive we are continuing our journey through Paul’s letter to Timothy. The young leader gets some much needed advice from the older leader who’s been there and done that. How many of today’s leaders seek and listen to advice? How about us?
Darren Hill
Showing posts with label fame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fame. Show all posts
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Monday, 29 June 2009
A king's legacy: Jackson and Solomon
Google crashed when Michael Jackson died.
The most successful recording artist of all time, a popstar whose Thriller album sold over 109 million copies (far and away the bestselling album ever – more than double its closest rival), a singer who pulled a greater audience for his Superbowl halftime show than the Superbowl itself, and a man whose death has rocked the world.
There are parallels between Jackson the king of pop and Solomon the king of wisdom. Both knew the luxuries of excess. Both had experienced money and fame and both of them found it ultimately empty.
Had Jackson’s father passed on godly advice instead of abuse to his son, the story may have read differently. The first few chapters of Proverbs read as a father passing on wisdom to a son.
Solomon’s words could have been lyrics to a song that train us as listeners to see the world differently, to value God’s wisdom more than gold, to resist immediate gratification for the path of godliness, to not rely on purely human reasoning but to trust our path in life to God.
It is by adopting these principles that we preserve down through the generations the Christian way to handle the same challenges of self-identity, financial mishandling, integrity, lostness, and longing for intimacy that Michael Jackson is finally and fatally free from.
Krish Kandiah
http://krishk.wordpress.com
The most successful recording artist of all time, a popstar whose Thriller album sold over 109 million copies (far and away the bestselling album ever – more than double its closest rival), a singer who pulled a greater audience for his Superbowl halftime show than the Superbowl itself, and a man whose death has rocked the world.
There are parallels between Jackson the king of pop and Solomon the king of wisdom. Both knew the luxuries of excess. Both had experienced money and fame and both of them found it ultimately empty.
- Solomon’s story is found in the books of 1 Kings and Ecclesiastes.
- Jackson’s story is writ large in the media this week.
- Jackson’s legacy to the next generation is his songs.
- Solomon’s legacy to the next generation is his proverbs.
Had Jackson’s father passed on godly advice instead of abuse to his son, the story may have read differently. The first few chapters of Proverbs read as a father passing on wisdom to a son.
Solomon’s words could have been lyrics to a song that train us as listeners to see the world differently, to value God’s wisdom more than gold, to resist immediate gratification for the path of godliness, to not rely on purely human reasoning but to trust our path in life to God.
It is by adopting these principles that we preserve down through the generations the Christian way to handle the same challenges of self-identity, financial mishandling, integrity, lostness, and longing for intimacy that Michael Jackson is finally and fatally free from.
Krish Kandiah
http://krishk.wordpress.com
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