Blog 282 – 04.27.2016

Last Saturday evening I got to sing Karaoke with friends in Indiana. It had been several months since I had had the opportunity so I had planned ahead to do a little three song tribute to the King, Elvis Presley. First I planned to sing Walking In Memphis, then two songs the King himself had sung early in his career, Teddy Bear and All Shook Up. I did not know as I planned to sing these songs that just before I sang them Prince would have died. Two Karaoke singers who sang before me sang Prince songs in honor of our departed brother.

A King and a Prince both famous singers and both royalty but I am here to tell you that all of my brothers and sisters are royalty. Not just the famous singers and not just those who have said yes to Jesus or Mohamed or Buddha or a host of other so called gate keepers but all of my brothers and sisters are royalty. It is interesting that earthly royalty are usually called that because some group picked an ancestor from among his brothers and anointed him king over them. And that royal right or privilege is passed to his heirs who are called princes and princesses till they by some right of succession become the one picked to reign.

There  is only one who has the true right to reign supreme and that is God whom I prefer to call the Universe.  There is a somewhat sad story in the Old Testament about how the children of Israel went to Samuel, the Prophet, and said, ” All the people around us have kings. We want a king too.” Samuel talked to God and God expressed His disappointment and said in so many words that they had not rejected Samuel but Him. But God went on to tell Samuel that He would grant them a king but that the king would end up being a disappointment to them.

The King, Elvis Presley, is said to have read and carried with him always a book called The Impersonal Life. Elvis had the book with him when he passed. I read the book a couple of times recently and recommend it. Elvis like many of us lead a very conflicted life. The things he was taught as a child were in opposition to much of what he found in life. Whitney Houston another conflicted soul sang, “Everybody’s looking for a hero but I never found anyone to fulfill my need till I learned to depend on me.” There is but one true King and He/She sits on the throne of your heart and will eventually reveal all pretenders to that throne to be false gods, flawed heroes, at best good men and women with feet of clay.

We are always tempted to pick the tallest, the handsomest, the most charismatic, and most gifted speakers among us to make princes and kings or princesses and queens. We in the U.S. swore off royalty when we separated from Great Britain some years back. But we have flirted with royalty over the years and loved Princess Diana. I saw a birthday post on Social Media for Queen Elizabeth and even though I know in my heart that she is no more Queen than Queen Latifa she is no less a queen than any of my sisters. I bow to each and all. Nameste, “I bow to the divinity (royalty) in you.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White