The Sabbath was Michael's oasis
In the days since the death of Michael Jackson, commentators have attempted to make sense of his apparently peripatetic faith journey. We know that he was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, and was associated as an adult with Scientology and Islam.
Beyond that, details become hazy. In a typical assessment, Kathryn Lofton, an assistant professor of American studies and religious studies at Yale, reviewed the record last week and concluded: “Michael Jackson was not, in the end, a terribly thick subject for religious consideration: he dallied and discoed on the smooth tip of substance. Someone named ‘God’ did, as he testified, inspire nearly every lyric. Pressed on the point, he mostly repeated himself, or offered vague dismissals of patriarchic doctrine.”
Enter beliefnet, which has unearthed a 2000 essay by Jackson himself. In it, the former child star describes the obviously powerful experience of his church as the one oasis of normality in his young life.
More than anything, I wished to be a normal little boy. I wanted to build tree houses and go to roller-skating parties. But very early on, this became impossible. I had to accept that my childhood would be different than most others. …
There was one day a week, however, that I was able to escape the stages of Hollywood and the crowds of the concert hall. That day was the Sabbath. …
Church was a treat in its own right. … The church elders treated me the same as they treated everyone else. And they never became annoyed on the days that the back of the church filled with reporters who had discovered my whereabouts. They tried to welcome them in. After all, even reporters are the children of God.
Even reporters, Michael? But I digress. Jackson wrote fondly of “pioneering,” the term used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to describe the missionary work of knocking on doors and distributing literature about the faith.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/AEG via Getty Images)
“Up to 1991, the time of my Dangerous tour, I would don my disguise of fat suit, wig, beard, and glasses and head off to live in the land of everyday America, visiting shopping plazas and tract homes in the suburbs," he wrote. "I loved to set foot in all those houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderfully ordinary and, to me, magical scenes of life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were positively fascinating."
Jackson described his childhood Sundays as sacred not only because it was the day when he attended church, but also because it was the day he “spent rehearsing the hardest.”
“This may seem against the idea of 'rest on the Sabbath,' " he wrote, "but it was the most sacred way I could spend my time: developing the talents that God gave me. The best way I can imagine to show my thanks is to make the very most of the gift that God gave me.
Comments
I was born 3rd generation Jehovah's Witness 1957,and am the same age (51) as Michael Jackson,I remember the Jackson 5 debut in 1968 they were BIG.
MJ was baptized a Jehovah's Witness and then disfellowshipped/disassociated/excommunicated to be shunned.
A lot of my dysfunctional life is directly related to my apocalyptic Watchtower sect upbringing indoctrination and I wonder about same with Michael Jackson?
There are a million hurting EXJW kids out there. Best regards,Danny Haszard
Posted by: Danny Haszard | July 9, 2009 7:04 AM
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Posted by: James Jones | July 9, 2009 10:26 AM
The question arises was Michael Jackson abused? The answer is absolutely yes, he manifested every symptom in his life.
The belief system of Jehovah’s Witnesses routinely covers up abuse and of this Michael was a victim.
The weirdness of his life and actions are easily explained by understanding the “us against them” belief system of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
He was never at peace and always felt like a failure to his mom for not emulating and living her beliefs.The result was a sad person trying to find peace but deep down feeling he was never good enough where it really counted.
Posted by: Grandmom | July 9, 2009 12:04 PM
People who sometimes talk about God and dont know Him end up in the same place as those who dont talk about God and dont know Him. When someone truly knows God you cant help but hear it coming out of them.
Posted by: Clay | July 10, 2009 12:39 PM
When referring to "Sabbath" Does that suggest that he was attending a Seventh Day keeping church? The true Sabbath of God is the seventh day. Once God has blessed a day or anything...NOBODY has the power to remove it. And Sabbath keeping began before the commandment to "remember" The Sabbath. God rested the Seventh day from all is work.God blessed Michael Jackson abundantly. I pray his heart was right with God before his death.
Posted by: Andrea | July 12, 2009 1:54 AM
North Carolina yesterday offically threatened to fire teachers that would keep the sabbath rather than make up snow days and work. Haven't there been lawsuits in the past when states violate the constitution? I seem to remember a guy that was fired and took quite a bit of money from this state
Posted by: Curt | February 17, 2010 7:39 AM