Since Whitney Houston’s unfortunate death I’ve heard bitter criticism, like:
“Whitney Houston was just another drugged-up Hollywood star–
why’s anybody celebrating her life?”
“Don’t we have any positive role models for our children instead of messes like her?”
“It’s a tragedy she wasted her great talents–
she had a strong Christian upbringing, a loving family & still she died a drug addict!”

One person said, “How could all these famous people claiming Whitney was so loving & giving be blind to reality? We saw her stupid embarrassing behavior in the news for the last 20 years–
so what if she could sing–
she was a disaster and a druggie!”

A last complaint I heard was, “How could Alicia Keys sing her heart out with the words ‘Whitney’s an angel’ at her funeral? Yes, she’s sad but Whitney wasted her life!”

To these complaints–seen scrawled in anonymous Internet posts and heard from sincere people on the subway and at work, let me offer these thoughts:

First of all, I won’t waste any time trying to pretty up Whitney Houston’s life. It was what it was–
with incredible highs and lows lived all too painfully in the public eye.

We know Whitney reached incredible, soaring musical heights and mind-numbing personal lows of misery & degradation.

What to make of this wild contrast?

Let me remind you a little bit about Whitney’s hidden spiritual perspective–
and by doing this remind us about our own.

Simply: Whitney was born into Earth life as an off-shoot or part of her soul from God’s angelic realms.

She was born here with a purpose.

Whitney Houston was in fact part-angel.

Just like you and me.

No matter what Whitney did in her lifetime, she COULDN’T completely deny that fact of divine origin–but she COULD choose to embrace or ignore it during life’s many stresses & confusions.

Let’s remind ourselves:
We are each of us born of a spark of GOD.

This fact makes us more special, and more valuable–
more responsible for our free will choices–
than we imagine.

What do we make of this?

THAT’S the personal question every one of us faces, every day on our JOURNEY into awareness, towards gaining enough humility to let our souls lead us back upwards in spiritual evolution.

It doesn’t matter if our lives are completely obscure to the world at large. Or we never have a drop of bliss or an ounce of wealth or the admiration of many friends or the notoriety of great or stupid deeds.

Because every one of us knows our own flaws. We UNDERSTAND our own flaws.

Because we are LIVING IN our own flaws, we are responsible for our own flaws, we want forgiveness for our own flaws, we want to be free of our own flaws, we want to be known as good despite our own flaws…

Aren’t we here to EXPERIENCE THE FACTS of OUR FLAWS, and to UNDERSTAND more about how to change from suffering them to overcoming them? To dissolving them?

Maybe even we want to know more about our souls? To feel how they are not flawed? How they are born of God? How they are fed by the ongoing breath, pulse & purposes of God?

So I ask you today:

Do you think Whitney Houston EVER DID ANYTHING in this recently passed lifetime that in any small way, reached out hungrily for the angel nature–
the divine angelic source–
of her soul–
and of yours?

When she sang, did she sing about love’s possibilities or defeatism? About violence & hatred? About cruelty or kindness?

Did she ever move anybody’s heart?
Did she ever bring you any twinge of gladness, or any tears of shared sorrow?

Was she ever kind or concerned for anyone besides herself? In public or in private?

Did she ever express patience? Adventurousness? Joy?

Did she ever love her husband, her daughter, her family, her friends?

Did she ever exhibit strength?
Courage?
Did she ever try to grow through any of her mistakes?

Did she ever give a damn about anybody else?

Despite her personal flaws–
and like ever one of us, she had plenty–
did she ever LOVE?

Did she ever CARE?

Did she ever TRY?

If she did, then you know what?

Her life WAS a success.

The more she did ANY life-affirming, soul-affirming things, the better–
no matter what failures, what addictions, what stupidities, what weaknesses afflicted her along her journey that continues today in the spiritual realms…

Whitney never lost her soul.

Yes:
Alicia Keys was right:
Whitney Houston, despite all her failures and flaws, is still an angel.

Just like you and me.

*************

See PART II of Whitney Houston: No Less An Angel, coming soon.

Peace & Blessings to you,
Rev. Scott Ufford
Copyright 2012