Inner Michael

Looking around the world today, at social trends toward coming together in communities even virtual ones, and the recent uprisings of countries against their dictatorial leaders and the occupy movement, one knows without words, a deep dissatisfaction with the direction the human race is headed. There is a sensory experience that remains as yet unlabeled that drafts people into its midst who know it without knowing its words.

Something is terribly wrong. We sense it, we feel it, we resist it but we are at a loss to name it. But there is an inner knowing that something is askew or lacking or as yet undesigned and that it impacts life and individual lives and eventually even the trajectory of human advancement.

The deeper I read Joe Vogel’s Man in the Music, the more I appreciate Vogel and sense what a huge project this was. Not only has Joe Vogel written with scholarship and savvy about this twentieth century musical icon– the man and his music, but he has provided set, setting and context. The additional information richly places the work in historical context allowing the reader to imagine the circumstances under which Michael Jackson created his art.

Vogel’s book is a meaty piece of literature that is far removed from the tabloid trash that is supposed to have served as biographical reflections of a man whose influence on global culure has yet to be appreciated. One cannot just simply read Man in the Music, one must be prepared to study it a bit more deeply and reflect on it to grasp the impact and extraordinary influence of a singular artist on the time in which he lived.

A world without Michael Jackson having been here might be much worse. I know that is a bold statement, but indulge me for a moment. Consider too, how much greater might have been his influence had he been a politician ala Sonny Bono or prominent cultural leader like Mandela in a genre taken more seriously than music. Yet music was the perfect language to reach a world audience and in particular, youth growing up in a culture that they intuitively and in their bones, knew didn’t support them.

The rampant cynicism in the current climate is so insidious and habitual as to be invisible. We have lived with it so long that we take it for granted and work from the premise that it’s a concrete reality that cannot be changed. Yet there is a push back against it even without a convinced recognition or a name.

Things are either life affirming or death inviting. They support life and lives of human beings, or they don’t. Things are either soulful or they are not. And the human knows the difference in a region within self that also has no name. I have a friend who calls it the “god self” and she is referring to the spark of divinity within– the part of self that knows and knows that it knows. It the internal sometimes subtle, sometimes quaking squirming when things are not quite ethical, are out of integrity, not in alignment with one’s best interest, inhumane or erodes dignity. 

When my friend, another minister from my seminary, needs to make a decision she literally says: “let me check with my god self,” she closes her eyes, adopts a sober expression, goes silent for a few seconds and then pronounces her decision. And she is never wrong. He decisions are life affirming for her and add spark and juice, joy and spirit to her existence. She is a delight to be around and a truly bright spirit. She is an admirable, inspirational and trustworthy being. One can feel the love eminating from her.

That is how Michael Jackson is described by those who personally knew him and were part of his inner circle of friends, collaborators, and colleagues. Their memories of Michael all have that glow of warmth and a measure of reverent appreciation– unlike those on the fringes of his orbit or who speculated and projected from a distance. Vogel has managed to capture some of that warm glow in Man in the Music.

That Jackson dared to dream of a different kind of world should have been cause for celebration intead of ridicule. That he instituted the idea of fundraising and philanthropy for those less fortunate by leveraging his fame, talent and visibility is all but forgotten in the mythology that surrounds his legacy. He preached in his words and in his lyrics about unity, oneness and the pregnant potential in a world come together for the sake of stewardship– of people, of children, of the planet. “I believe in us, he said.” And I believe he did.

Millions around the world heard that message and felt that pregnant potential in it. His audiences spanned all ages, ethnicities, religions, cultures, countries, and broke down any barriers of exclusion or separation. He made friends of enemies and heads of state. A true visionary, he reminded humanity of its pregnant potential even in the face of ridicule and humiliation. A world without Michael Jackson’s influlence might be more cold, more divisive, more cynical. A study of his lyrics reveals a ministry of belief in humanity and a conviction that we can ‘change the world.’ Perhaps that is why his passing brought people into the streets weeping. There are very few indeed for whom people might be at their passing– ‘weeping in the streets.’ Some don’t know why they cry; they just do. Perhaps it’s because the value and influence of a “Michael Jackson” has yet to be tallied.

Vogel’s book, while reportedly off to a start that is slow by some standards, Man in the Music is likely destined for appreciation in a cultural and historical sense long into the future. As those inspired by a resistance to something they cannot yet name gain understanding and with it momentum, the depth of Vogel’s effort will be more appreciated. I hope the day when this kind of work, not just about Jackson, but like visionaries who go unrecognized and unappreciated by the cynical majority, is popularized by a longing for “soul” in all human affairs is– soon at hand.

Man in the Music is part of the first wave of a revolution in the making that longs to leave behind that which is toxic– in society and human affairs. Art and literature will significantly contribute to a new awareness arising on the planet that for now remains amorphous and nameless. I would like to see Joe Vogel and others with visionary soulfulness rewarded financially and with recognition for their contributions to that effort. So, please consider taking a photo from around the world featuring recognizable images or intorduce us to new images and places. You too are a ‘cultural creative’ and first wave visionary– let us recognize you.

Here is someone whose lucky friends will be receiving as a Christmas gift, one of the eight total copies she purchased– six during the contest and two since its closing– of Man in the Music.

Meet Kimberly who lives near Chicago and shares Man in the Music and the Chicago skyline.