One In Service

Less than one month after I'd written my very first poem, I woke up one morning with an incredibly distinct memory of Michael having visited me in my sleep. Although I didn't remember the details of a dream, it was very clear to me that he had been there with me and I felt a sense of urgency about his visit. As I began to get ready for work, this urgency would not leave me alone and soon, words began to flow through me. I immediately stopped everything to capture them on paper. It was one of those times when the words were coming so rapidly I could hardly keep up, and I wasn't even totally aware of what I was writing. I could feel Michael's energy as I wrote. He was like Tigger - you know, Winnie the Pooh's Tigger - bouncing all around me with an excitement and joy that was palpable. He was poking and prodding me to get these words down and to DO something with them! It felt as if he had been waiting to give me this message for a very long time. As if my new gift of writing poetry was the medium through which he could most effectively communicate, and he could hardly wait to begin!

After months of getting little more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep every night since this "awakening" ignited that summer of 2009, I was only beginning to understand how it must have been for him all those years when he had difficulty sleeping, as God channeled his messages through him for the world to hear. His Gift was in receiving those messages and giving them to the world through his music and other writings in a way that would awaken us to the importance of God's concerns and the certainty of his Love.

At the time I didn't have a blog yet, and the only way I could share this message with the fan community was through a friend of mine who ran her own MJ website, MJUpbeat.com. I immediately sent it to her and asked that she post it. I also shared it with others at every opportunity. I had not yet begun to use facebook to connect with other MJ followers, so this poem has been waiting in the wings for another appropriate time to share it with you. I believe the time has come!

On this 53rd anniversary of the day the world was gifted with the new life of Michael Joseph Jackson, I share with you his message as it came through me a year and a half ago. It is simple and clear, not particularly profound, but given in the spirit of love and joy, with a playfulness that could only be Michael and an urgency that we understand the importance of our role as his voice in this world. He has been grooming us for some time now, gathering us together as One body with a common purpose...

"Today we stand together all around the world, joined in a common purpose to remake the planet into a haven of joy and understanding and goodness. No one should have to suffer, especially our children. This time we must succeed... this is for the children of the world."

~Michael Jackson
Intro to Heal the World
1993 Super Bowl

Michael's Message

You came to me in my sleep last night
I awoke without fright
Did you come to even the score?
Three hours of sleep, I can’t do this no more!

You said, Get up! Get up! There’s work to be done
This is not the time to be having fun!
There are children who need you all around the world
You have the gift, let the truth unfurl!

I don’t ask much of you except to be
an angel of love, to remember me
Others need to hear your voice
Tell how you’ve been moved, given the choice
to express my love in the world today
Because I can’t, you see, I’ve gone away

I need you to believe it’s true
The music will speak, it’s all right there for you

I lived and dreamed, sacrificed much
To share my gift, make a difference and such
Now it’s up to you to pass it along
Make the world a better place, remember the song?

Don’t forget to share some candy
It will bring a smile, make the children feel dandy!

Go now in peace and harmony
Remember I love you as much as can be
Your heart is mine
I will respond in kind
When we finally do meet
Our journeys complete
God will bring us together when the time is right
But now we must continue the fight
To change the world, put some love back in it
For the children, you know
... and for the planet!

01/24/10
Copyright © 2010 by Charlene Burgess

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Gods messengers are joyous, and their joy heals sorrow and despair."

A COURSE IN MIRACLES, Lesson 100
written by Helen Schucman
published by the Foundation for Inner Peace

My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.

Just as God’s Son completes his Father, so your part in it completes your Father’s plan. Salvation must reverse the mad belief in separate thoughts and separate bodies, which lead separate lives and go their separate ways. One function shared by separate minds unites them in one purpose, for each one of them is equally essential to them all.

God’s Will for you is perfect happiness. Why should you choose to go against His Will? The part that He has saved for you to take in working out His plan is given you that you might be restored to what He wills. This part is as essential to His plan as to your happiness. Your joy must be complete to let His plan be understood by those to whom He sends you. They will see their function in your shining face, and hear God calling to them in your happy laugh.

You are indeed essential to God’s plan. Without your joy, His joy is incomplete. Without your smile, the world cannot be saved. While you are sad, the light that God Himself appointed as the means to save the world is dim and lusterless, and no one laughs because all laughter can but echo yours.

You are indeed essential to God’s plan. Just as your light increases every light that shines in Heaven, so your joy on earth calls to all minds to let their sorrows go, and take their place beside you in God’s plan. God’s messengers are joyous, and their joy heals sorrow and despair. They are the proof that God wills perfect happiness for all who will accept their Father’s gifts as theirs.

We will not let ourselves be sad today. For if we do, we fail to take the part that is essential to God’s plan, as well as to our vision. Sadness is the sign that you would play another part, instead of what has been assigned to you by God. Thus do you fail to show the world how great the happiness He wills for you. And so you do not recognize that it is yours.

Today we will attempt to understand joy is our function here. If you are sad, your part is unfulfilled, and all the world is thus deprived of joy, along with you. God asks you to be happy, so the world can see how much He loves His Son, and wills no sorrow rises to abate his joy; no fear besets him to disturb his peace. You are God’s messenger today. You bring His happiness to all you look upon; His peace to everyone who looks on you and sees His message in your happy face.

... [You must] realize your part is to be happy. Only this is asked of you or anyone who wants to take his place among God’s messengers. Think what this means. You have indeed been wrong in your belief that sacrifice is asked. You but receive according to God’s plan, and never lose or sacrifice or die.

Now let us try to find that joy that proves to us and all the world God’s Will for us. It is your function that you find it here, and that you find it now. For this you came. Let this one be the day that you succeed! Look deep within you, undismayed by all the little thoughts and foolish goals you pass as you ascend to meet the Christ in you...

You are essential to God’s plan for the salvation of the world!

Helen Schucman: A Course In Miracles, Lesson 100

Published by the Foundation for Inner Peace

One In Pain

“The time has come… It is now I see and feel that calling once again, to be part of a music that will not just connect, but make all feel one, one in joy, one in pain, one in love, one in service and in consciousness.”
~ Michael Jackson - posted on MJFC, 3/9/09

Well over a year ago, I decided to look through the news archives on the Michael Jackson Fan Club website in a fervent effort to find out all I could about Michael and what was going on in his life during his last months on this earth. I started with June of 2008 and worked my way up to June of 2009 and a little beyond. This quest of mine took me on an emotional journey that was somewhat unexpected. I don’t know why I didn’t expect it, but all I can say is that I entered into it just wanting to learn more about Michael. I think I also hoped to feel a little bit more a part of his life during that time. What were the fans talking about? And what was all the latest news about Michael?

I read about Michael sightings and the excitement they generated. Just knowing where he was and what he was doing seemed to fill the fan community with such joy. And the fact that he was back ‘home’ in the U.S. was also cause for celebration. Reassurance that he was OK and making plans for new projects seemed to be all that was needed by the fans to know that the object of their undying love and affection was on the mend and ready to give the world more of his amazing talent. There was great anticipation over the possibility of new music and maybe even another tour, but the details of the next big thing didn’t come to light until March 6, 2009 when he made the official announcement for the This Is It concerts at the O2 arena in London. The above quote, which is now historic, and quite possibly the last publicly released statement by Michael, was posted on the MJFC website just a few days after his official announcement of the tour. The whirlwind of activity that followed along with the news about ticket sales and the adding of concert dates to accommodate the astounding number of people who wanted tickets, created an energy that was palpable and very contagious!

What I didn’t anticipate going in to this quest is that with each news item I read, there was the inevitable reality of June 25, 2009 looming in my consciousness like a crouched cat, waiting for the right moment to strike. And as I got closer and closer to that date, my tension increased, my heart beat faster, and tears were shed more and more readily. The pain was unbearable at times, but I continued on my quest nonetheless. I felt almost like an observer, re-living those days and watching from afar with the knowledge of what was to come. If I could only change the course of events that led to that day, oh, I think I would give my life to do so! When I came upon the above quote and read it for the first time, I was blown away by the power of it. Michael was referring to the upcoming concerts and his hope that the messages he had to share with the world through his music would be heard and taken seriously at long last. “The time has come…” he said. The urgency of now was and is upon us. He wanted us to come together in unity over the issues he brought to our awareness and he hoped that we would be moved to take action to DO something about the state of our world.

When I read this statement, I was struck by the feeling that Michael somehow knew that this would be his legacy. This was the purpose of everything he hoped to accomplish through his music forever! When he talked about wanting to be immortal - to live forever through his music - THIS is what he meant! And all of these things have come or are in the process of coming to pass in the wake of his departure from this earth.

We have felt one in pain as we have mourned the loss of this remarkable man who was a brilliant shining light on this planet. Our pain over his physical absence as well as the loss of the possibilities - the dream of all the gifts he had yet to share with the world - has been immense. We have cried an ocean of tears together over the pain he suffered during his life, most especially from the trial of 2005. All of this pain has brought us together from all around the world in a community of “oneness” by our shared love for this one incredible human being who graced this earth with his beautiful presence for 50 years. We have taken Michael’s messages seriously and we are using our pain to make a difference in this world through our many projects of philanthropy and justice in his name. I believe this is exactly what Michael meant when he said “one in pain.” He wanted us to feel the urgency of his messages down to our bones. He knew that if we didn’t feel HIS pain over the concerns he had for the condition of our planet and the state of humanity, we would not be moved to make that change. So the pain is inevitable if we are to continue doing his work in this world…. and we must!

In our darkest hour
In my deepest despair
Will you still care
Will you be there
In my trials
And my tribulations
Through our doubts
And frustrations
In my violence
In my turbulence
Through my fear
And my confessions
In my anguish
And my pain
Through my joy
And my sorrow
In the promise
Of another tomorrow
I'll never let you part
For you're always in my heart

~ Michael Jackson ~
Epilogue, Will You Be There

One In Joy

You wouldn’t think that a devotion about being One in Joy would be difficult to write. But this one is particularly difficult because we are heading toward a time we’ve all been dreading - the upcoming trial which will hopefully determine the truth about Michael’s passing from this earth and which will also lead to some kind of justice for the taking of the powerful life force that was Michael Joseph Jackson. How can I talk about Joy when Michael himself will most likely be scrutinized to the nth degree and tried once again by the media and the court of public opinion?

This feels a bit like a deja vu experience to many of us as we recall the darkest days of Michael’s life not too long ago when he was publicly humiliated and tried for false accusations of child molestation. We all know that, although he was found not guilty on all counts, his life would never be the same after this horrifying experience. And although he would come back once again to share his incredible gifts as he continued to do what he was called to do on this earth, we all have a sense that it was ultimately the same dark forces that tried to bring him down in 2005 which contributed to the circumstances surrounding the end of his physical life just over 2 years ago. Our grief over his loss to this world has been tremendous and our wish that things could’ve been different for him in the final years of his life is palpable. How do we get to JOY from here?

Photo art by Debbie Michaels of Major Love Prayer

One of the things I discovered about Michael while getting acquainted with him over the last couple of years is that he not only brought Joy to millions around the world through his music and his generous spirit, but he himself experienced much Joy in his life. We tend to forget that as we are enmeshed in the tragedy of his loss and the challenges he faced. Michael overcame much of the adversity in his life with a positive attitude and a spirit of Love and Joy. He had many good years of happiness. The very thing that brought him the most Joy was being able to give from the abundance of his own good fortune and to use his fame to bring others Joy. He certainly did plenty of that!

I recently had the privilege of being able to view the entire documentary of Michael’s Home Movies. In this sharing of memorable times during his personal life, I saw a man who experienced the Love of friends and family, the Joyful innocence of play and laughter with children, and the warmth of knowing he was able to make a difference in others’ lives as he traveled the world as well as when he invited others to share in the Joy which was his home at Neverland Valley Ranch. He had 17 years of happiness and good memories at Neverland. We must remember this.

I’ve often wondered how he must feel about his life now as he reflects back on the whole adventure. When given the opportunity to account for how he lived his life and how he used the gifts with which he was so blessed, I believe it must be the Love and the Joy he gave to others and indeed which he experienced himself that is most remembered and cherished. A friend of mine shared with me that she had a dream of Michael shortly after he passed in which he said to her, “It’s been one wild ride!” I’d like to think this is the way Michael views his life from his current perspective - as a Joyful and Love-filled adventure!

Michael never did like to dwell on the negative. He knew and understood one of the common laws of the universe - that by giving your attention to a thing, you give it power. His ability to deflect the negative and reflect Joy is evident in nearly every interview he gave. (One of my favorites is posted below in 2 parts - the 1987 Jet Magazine interview.) He always expressed gratitude for the gifts he was given and the blessings in his life. And, above all, he was stronger than the dark forces which surrounded him. I believe he would want us to do everything we can to reflect his Joy and Love in our lives and to emulate his strength as we face many of the same challenges he faced throughout his life.

When we remember his Joy and his magic, we honor him.

Did you happen to see Michael perched on that crescent moon last week? It was truly magical!