07/12/2009 - by Chuck Monan, Preaching Minister

Life levels all men: death reveals the eminent.
~ George Bernard Shaw

I’m not so sure about that anymore.  Not in 2009 America, anyway.

The past few weeks have been a sort of Bizarro World of celebrity death and attendant public hysteria and mourning.  Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays and Steve McNair have provided fodder for television news, faux news and gossip vehicles, as millions act as if they are genuinely affected by the demise of these about whom they knew very little.

McMahon made a good living laughing at someone else’s jokes and offering hollow promises that “You may Already Be a Winner!” even though you weren’t.  Jackson was a musical wunderkind whose descent into eccentric and perplexing behavior soon overshadowed his talent.  Fawcett illustrated that while there is surely more to life than being really, really, really good-looking, that alone is enough to make you an icon.  Mays became TV’s preeminent pitchman by loudly, enthusiastically and convincingly hawking stuff no one really needs.  And McNair was a football star who came up just a few tantalizing inches short of a Super Bowl championship.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths of these were an amalgam of the following: anticipated, shocking, tragic, mysterious and untimely.  Each leaves behind unfinished business and those who mourn their passing.  All of us sympathize with these who must say goodbye to their loved ones.

But it is a sad commentary on our culture that we lionize those whose most notable contributions to society were sitting in a chair, singing and dancing, smiling for the camera, yelling into the camera, and throwing a ball.  For every moment we spend contemplating the lives of celebrities, we ignore real heroes in our midst.

On June 29, 2009, the few dozen people in attendance for the funeral of Nellie Dean White heard the story of such a person.  With great love and respect Jerry Hughes eulogized his mother as a decent, kind, honorable, hard-working, unselfish woman.  She raised three children alone after her husband abandoned their family.  Unwilling to live on government assistance or charity, she went to work.  Her limited education resulted in a low-paying job, but she worked hard nevertheless.  She never complained. She did without.  She raised her children to believe in God, and to treat others with dignity and respect.  As others in her extended family needed help, she opened her home up to them as well.  She made a positive difference in many lives.  Even if tickets to her funeral weren’t going for $8,000 on ebay.

What does it say about us that we weep over people we don’t even know and ignore those we do know?  That we celebrate skills apropos of nothing while neglecting to appreciate love, sacrifice and duty?  It is worth remembering that none of this escapes the notice of the Lord: “the eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” (Prov. 15:3).

Don’t make the mistake of confusing celebrity with character.