James, Gerald, Saddam & Merrill

They say that deaths come in threes, at least around the healthcare arena, where I work. There were three deaths of relatively famous or infamous people this past last week. The deaths of these three for some reason reminded me of a song. It was perhaps the most popular song of the ‘60s and was sung by Marvin Gaye as well as a number of other artists. The song's title was “Abraham, Martin and John”. The song referred to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, who were all assassinated while they were still in the prime of life. The following is part of the lyrics of the song:

“Has anybody here
Seen my old friend ___________?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lotta people
But it seems the good, they die young
You know, I just looked around
And he's gone …”

In the blank space you could put the names of each of the three fallen figures, these lyrics repeat three times making up the first three verses. Then the heart of the song is the fourth verse:

“Didn't you love the things
That they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good
For you and me?
And we'll be free
Someday soon
And it's a-gonna be
One day...”

No matter how much time we are given, the Bible says that each life is but a vapor. Scripture also says to ask God to help us to “number our days”. Most people will have 70 years or so to live.

We each have a purpose and mission in life and we should strive to fulfill it. Jesus is our example He was taken at the early age of 33, but He accomplished His purpose in life. The three men sung about in this song all died relatively young, and are in stark contrast to the three recent deaths of James Brown, President Ford and Saddam Hussein.

GERALD FORD

President Ford lived a full life. In fact he was the longest living President. He filled in for the only President to resign in disgrace. He pardoned President Nixon, which many speculate caused President Ford to lose the 1976 election to a person who has turned out to be the worst President in American history, Jimmy Carter. President Ford definitely will not be remembered as one of the legends of American history.

JAMES BROWN

James Brown was a positive black role model. He was called the “Hardest working person in show business” as well as the “Godfather of soul”. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He helped many other artists with their careers. The lyrics that might apply to him are:

“Has anybody here
Seen my old friend James?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He entertained a lotta people
I can still hear him sing “I feel good”, now his last song’ s sung
You know, I just looked around
And Aaaaaaah (scream)!!!! he's gone …”

SADDAM HUSSIEN

What can you say about this despot? He was a cruel leader, who for over 30 years killed at will. One of his primary goals was to destroy Israel and he worked hard to accomplish this purpose. However, God used George Bush to cause the demise of Saddam Hussein. We could rewrite the words of the song this way for Saddam:

“Has anybody here
Seen America's old foe Saddam?
I can tell you where he's gone!
To hell - with Hitler, Stalin and Mao - for He killed a lotta people
But it seems the bad, they don’t always get hung
You know, I just looked around
And now thank God he’s gone …”

MERRILL S. KEISER, SR.

You know these three men, who recently died, actually cannot hold a candle to MSK, Sr., about whom fellow blogger Sam wrote an article. At 90 Merrill died just a few days before Christmas.

He was not well known, although he was an entertainer of sort, playing his accordion in ministering to nursing home residents. He never held elected office, but touched many lives. He served in the Medical Corp in World War 2.

But in God’s eyes I cannot help but think he (Merrill) was greater than either James, Gerald or Saddam. He knew God personally having invited Jesus into his life and having lived for Him day by day. God was real to him. Death is the great equalizer isn’t it? James’ gold records, Saddam’s fame and Gerald’s past political power and prestige amount to something for which they will have to account for as they will all stand before Jesus their Maker and their Judge . . .

CONCLUSION

This is something to think about at the brink of the New Year. The most important thing in life is what we do with the person of Jesus. Have we accepted God’s gift, Jesus, and have we honored God by accepting God's provision, Jesus, into our heart and life? By repenting from the sin and the evil in our lives and by inviting Jesus into our lives, that is all that really counts for the long run. Unfortunately most Americans will hold James, Gerald and even Saddam in greater esteem or recognition than Merrill, who did accept Jesus into his life and who did make a difference for God’s kingdom during his life here on earth . . .


Note: Fellow AGC blogger "Sam" provided sone editorial assistance and insights with this article.