michael, may you now be at peace: a reflection (no. 66)

"it doesn't matter if we're in the apocalyptic end times; we have to carry on with the spirit of our lives."

when i was having the conversation with you last night i heard this statement, made by mr. walt curtis, who is an elder in the poetry community here in portland. he hosts a radio show, and he said this during the show. i know you being raised as a jehovah's witness (and still following some of that sentiment) i know you're quite familiar with the philosophy of the 'end times'... you also made this pretty clear in some of your teachings on record, and the whole 'we have four years to get it right' statement, which was presented on 'this is it'.



as you also know, it states in the book of revelation (the final book in the bible) that before the end, there will be a time of relative calm, or peace. with all of this destruction, these de-population efforts and oppression it seems as if there will never be any peace.

i am not as astute a student of the bible as you. granted, i grew up presbyterian (and even went to lutheran school). i am a huge critic of what that stands for, considering the connection between martin luther (NOT the king) and the crusades... however, for what it's worth, i do find reading the bible to be an interesting experience. i'm not going to pretend that the bible consists of 'the truth'- we must acknowledge that when a book is re-interpreted over and over and used to disparage groups of people (as well as leaving AFRICA out of the picture in mainstream biblical discussions), it all comes down to perception. if the twelve tribes of israel are descendants of jacob, wouldn't that mean that israel geographically has to be associated with the cradle of civilisation that is africa? at this point israel is still considered to be located in the 'middle east', so...

the treatment of ethiopian jews (some who actually ARE direct descendants), the relentless murder of unarmed palestinians (and those who choose to bring awareness to the issue), as well as the embargo- the inability for them to receive proper provisions; and national identification issues in israel today are uncalled for. the issues have gotten to be more political than spiritual.

but i digress...



truthfully, i do not read the bible in terms of receiving absolute guidance. when i open it i recognize the bible to consist of a set of parables. for this book to be re-interpreted consistently to fit our times, it cannot contain 'the truth'. i do think the bible's intentions are very clear- to translate to us a set of moral codes. if we follow these codes verbatim as written, then we have violated one of the major guidelines: ALWAYS. QUESTION. YOUR. TEACHER. teachings are a model, not an absolute. each of our circumstances are different, so the teachings cannot possibly apply to everyone in the same way.



in line with mr. curtis' quote, the book of revelation instantly jumped in my mind. so i opened it up. with everything happening for a reason, the page i turned to happened to be on chapter 12.

so... we can look at this one piece in particular, all 17 verses:

"And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

instantly reading this passage it took me back to what i was speaking about yesterday. i know earlier i spoke of the politicization of israel, but instantly i thought about what is happening here. i instantly thought about de-population efforts. i thought about consistent efforts to watch, silence and discredit or eliminate people who speak truth. i saw how innocuous people become tools for these missions. i saw how easily people become deceived by these tools. i saw how agent provocateurs destroy 'private property' so as to perpetuate a system of complacency/compliance (and the police and curfews can roll in)... all that COULD be paradise here on this plane is prevented by these efforts.

and of course, all these things (according to this parable) are a series of tests to see if we will remain with 'the truth' (which resides in us the whole time) instead of being deceived.

if any of these verses can attest, then there will always be war, because there will always be those who have arrived at truth, and those who vehemently oppose.



everything happens for a reason... i know that some of the elders say that GOD called you home for a reason. the interesting thing, in reading this passage, and in also looking at your teachings; it was as if you HAD to leave this plane in order for people to grasp your true message. and the 'dragon' or 'devil' (in this case several media organisations, journalists and citizens) work to prevent this message from spreading.

and being that you cannot necessarily 'run things' down here in the same way from where you are; your message is still extremely powerful, because it is based in 'the truth' (which we discussed yesterday). they can do whatever it is they do with money, material items, or even your art... the essence of your (and the) truth cannot be removed from any of it. because it has already seeped into our public consciousness.



it's still EXTREMELY difficult for me to even see those three words: 'michael. jackson...' well, you know how it ends. at this point, my difficulty in seeing those words has moved far beyond acceptance of your transcendence. it's more about how i relate to the word, in terms of my relationship with you. even the phrase people have now begun to analyse since your transcendence, trying to see if you're still here- "i'm alive and here forever"... for me, this phrase is quite true, because this speaks to your essence; that essence which is, truth. and we are so conditioned to focus on the physical, in matters of life or death. if this is the case than this means that your teachings have not been fully accepted, and that we can only learn from you when you are physically present.

of COURSE you are still living, because your spirit lives. because your teachings live. and because your teachings come from a long queue of ancestors and teachers of your own.

when i see those three words, i'm like, 'he IS??!!' you have become such a part of me that i don't even see how anybody could say those things about you. i mean, i GET what they are saying, but it just doesn't make sense to me. i have committed so much of myself to you and your teachings, that i just don't see your physical self not being here as being able to relate any less.

what happened to you is exactly what it is: a transcendence. it is a transition. your journey is now occurring in another place, where your work carries on with just as much vigor. and still, there is much work for you to do here... i am sure you have people on this plane assisting you in this.



in terms of what is happening in relation to your estate i cannot say i know if you have any people assisting you down here on this. the latest news is that an assemblyman by the name of mike davis is making attempts to sell the idea of neverland being a state park to the california legislature. the parks department (which is hurting financially it's been said) does not fully support the idea. considering that foot traffic was an issue continuously brought up in the discussions of the possibility of a burial there; i do not fathom how there could even be discussion about a state park.

another story is how fans have written on the tomb/mausoleum you are said to be in. the press has been calling it defacement. one of the writings which stood out to me was "keep the dream alive"... it's intriguing to me that this incident was not reported to the police... personally i don't think this is worthy of calling the police at all; considering though, such a high-profile figure in such a mausoleum, you would think that there'd be attention given to 'protecting' it. so i'm sure you know i find this story suspect, or highly suspicious.

in both of those stories the issue is how we choose to place our energies in commemorating you. is it important that we honor you with a relic (by way of a national park or a piece of legislature), or that we place ink to a building to designate some sort of devotion (or territory)? in terms of how we view you, what exactly is the priority?

"keep the dream alive"... to me, when you danced the dream, it became a reality, because you knew that time was of the essence... and that reality is served by presenting and maintaining truth. THE truth. instead of requesting that the dream be kept alive, we have to know that that 'dream' (which is the truth) is very much alive, and is not going anywhere. it will only go away if we cease to share it with the world.

"it doesn't matter if we're in the apocalyptic end times; we have to carry on with the spirit of our lives."

love,
jamilah