Icons and ikons

Today saw the passing into the netherworld of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. May God grant eternal rest to them, and let his perpetual light shine upon them. May they, and all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.


I was not really a fan of either, though I loved Charlie's Angels in syndication as a kid, and cannot imagine a world without Jackson's music. They both, each in his/her own way, defined a time in history by stepping beyond what was thought to be possible. Today, Fawcett's trademark hair is considered a prime example of camp, and Jackson's signature dance moves inspire as much mockery as nostalgia; but at the time, they set these people apart as belonging almost to another world, to a stellar Olympian realm which graced us mere mortals with glimpses of transcendent glory.

In this way, they played a quasi-religious role in American and even global culture. They became a window through which we viewed the heavenly realms -- even if those heavenly realms are notoriously deceptive and illusory. They gave their fans an experience of transcendence, of connection to something beyond themselves and beyond their experience of the world. They provided a kind of hope for something greater than this life of fear mixed with pleasure and suffering mingled with joy.

So it's no surprise that crowds are assembling en masse to honor and to mourn and to try to sort out what to do next. For those whose lives have been defined by Jackson and/or by Fawcett, a pillar in the temple of their worldview has toppled, and the whole structure shudders. It would be as if all the copies of the Bible were suddenly lost; or as if overnight the United States adopted a Marxist constitution. The question arises for many: what is left to define my life? what is my foundation? what is truly sacred?


I'm tempted either to say nothing more, or to ramble on for pages. But I will simply say this: I pray that the experiences of glory they gave to so many people will open minds and hearts to the far greater glory and joy found in Jesus Christ. This is the reason Christians of all ages have created works of art, and often depicting saints or Christ himself: to give us a window to the splendor of the heavenly realms, a glimpse of divine transcendence. And God is never absent from any experience of heaven.