What I wanted more than anything was to be ordinary.
The Sabbath was when I could be.
By: Michael Jackson.
In one of our conversations together, my friend Rabbi Shmuley told me that he had asked some of his colleagues–-writers, thinkers, and artists-–to pen their reflections on the Sabbath. He then suggested that I write down my own thoughts on the subject, a project I found intriguing and timely due to the recent death of Rose Fine, a Jewish woman who was my beloved childhood tutor and who traveled with me and my brothers when we were all in the Jackson Five.
Last Friday night I joined Rabbi Shmuley, his family, and their guests for the Sabbath dinner at their home. What I found especially moving was when Shmuley and his wife placed their hands on the heads of their young children, and blessed them to grow to be like Abraham and Sarah, which I understand is an ancient Jewish tradition. This led me to reminisce about my own childhood, and what the Sabbath meant to me growing up.
When people see the television appearances I made when I was a little boy--8 or 9 years old and just starting off my lifelong music career--they see a little boy with a big smile. They assume that this little boy is smiling because he is joyous, that he is singing his heart out because he is happy, and that he is dancing with an energy that never quits because he is carefree.
But while singing and dancing were, and undoubtedly remain, some of my greatest joys, at that time what I wanted more than anything else were the two things that make childhood the most wondrous years of life, namely, playtime and a feeling of freedom. The public at large has yet to really understand the pressures of childhood celebrity, which, while exciting, always exacts a very heavy price.
More than anything, I wished to be a normal little boy. I wanted to build tree houses and go to roller-skating parties. But very early on, this became impossible. I had to accept that my childhood would be different than most others. But that's what always made me wonder what an ordinary childhood would be like.
There was one day a week, however, that I was able to escape the stages of Hollywood and the crowds of the concert hall. That day was the Sabbath. In all religions, the Sabbath is a day that allows and requires the faithful to step away from the everyday and focus on the exceptional. I learned something about the Jewish Sabbath in particular early on from Rose, and my friend Shmuley further clarified for me how, on the Jewish Sabbath, the everyday life tasks of cooking dinner, grocery shopping, and mowing the lawn are forbidden so that humanity may make the ordinary extraordinary and the natural miraculous. Even things like shopping or turning on lights are forbidden. On this day, the Sabbath, everyone in the world gets to stop being ordinary.
But what I wanted more than anything was to be ordinary. So, in my world, the Sabbath was the day I was able to step away from my unique life and glimpse the everyday.
Sundays were my day for "Pioneering," the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. We would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door to door or making the rounds of a shopping mall, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I continued my pioneering work for years and years after my career had been launched.
Up to 1991, the time of my Dangerous tour, I would don my disguise of fat suit, wig, beard, and glasses and head off to live in the land of everyday America, visiting shopping plazas and tract homes in the suburbs. I loved to set foot in all those houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderfully ordinary and, to me,magical scenes of life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were positively fascinating.
The funny thing is, no adults ever suspected who this strange bearded man was. But the children, with their extra intuition, knew right away. Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I would find myself trailed by eight or nine children by my second round of the shopping mall. They would follow and whisper and giggle, but they wouldn't reveal my secret to their parents. They were my little aides. Hey, maybe you bought a magazine from me. Now you're wondering, right?
Sundays were sacred for two other reasons as I was growing up. They were both the day that I attended church and the day that I spent rehearsing my hardest. This may seem against the idea of "rest on the Sabbath," but it was the most sacred way I could spend my time: developing the talents that God gave me. The best way I can imagine to show my thanks is to make the very most of the gift that God gave me.
Church was a treat in its own right. It was again a chance for me to be "normal." The church elders treated me the same as they treated everyone else. And they never became annoyed on the days that the back of the church filled with reporters who had discovered my whereabouts. They tried to welcome them in. After all, even reporters are the children of God.
When I was young, my whole family attended church together in Indiana. As we grew older, this became difficult, and my remarkable and truly saintly mother would sometimes end up there on her own. When circumstances made it increasingly complex for me to attend, I was comforted by the belief that God exists in my heart, and in music and in beauty, not only in a building. But I still miss the sense of community that I felt there--I miss the friends and the people who treated me like I was simply one of them. Simply human. Sharing a day with God.
When I became a father, my whole sense of God and the Sabbath was redefined. When I look into the eyes of my son, Prince, and daughter, Paris, I see miracles and I see beauty. Every single day becomes the Sabbath. Having children allows me to enter this magical and holy world every moment of every day. I see God through my children. I speak to God through my children. I am humbled for the blessings He has given me.
There have been times in my life when I, like everyone, has had to wonder about God's existence. When Prince smiles, when Paris giggles, I have no doubts. Children are God's gift to us. No--they are more than that--they are the very form of God's energy and creativity and love. He is to be found in their innocence, experienced in their playfulness.
My most precious days as a child were those Sundays when I was able to be free. That is what the Sabbath has always been for me. A day of freedom. Now I find this freedom and magic every day in my role as a father. The amazing thing is, we all have the ability to make every day the precious day that is the Sabbath. And we do this by rededicating ourselves to the wonders of childhood. We do this by giving over our entire heart and mind to the little people we call son and daughter. The time we spend with them is the Sabbath. The place we spend it is called Paradise.
The Sabbath was when I could be.
By: Michael Jackson.
In one of our conversations together, my friend Rabbi Shmuley told me that he had asked some of his colleagues–-writers, thinkers, and artists-–to pen their reflections on the Sabbath. He then suggested that I write down my own thoughts on the subject, a project I found intriguing and timely due to the recent death of Rose Fine, a Jewish woman who was my beloved childhood tutor and who traveled with me and my brothers when we were all in the Jackson Five.
Last Friday night I joined Rabbi Shmuley, his family, and their guests for the Sabbath dinner at their home. What I found especially moving was when Shmuley and his wife placed their hands on the heads of their young children, and blessed them to grow to be like Abraham and Sarah, which I understand is an ancient Jewish tradition. This led me to reminisce about my own childhood, and what the Sabbath meant to me growing up.
When people see the television appearances I made when I was a little boy--8 or 9 years old and just starting off my lifelong music career--they see a little boy with a big smile. They assume that this little boy is smiling because he is joyous, that he is singing his heart out because he is happy, and that he is dancing with an energy that never quits because he is carefree.
But while singing and dancing were, and undoubtedly remain, some of my greatest joys, at that time what I wanted more than anything else were the two things that make childhood the most wondrous years of life, namely, playtime and a feeling of freedom. The public at large has yet to really understand the pressures of childhood celebrity, which, while exciting, always exacts a very heavy price.
More than anything, I wished to be a normal little boy. I wanted to build tree houses and go to roller-skating parties. But very early on, this became impossible. I had to accept that my childhood would be different than most others. But that's what always made me wonder what an ordinary childhood would be like.
There was one day a week, however, that I was able to escape the stages of Hollywood and the crowds of the concert hall. That day was the Sabbath. In all religions, the Sabbath is a day that allows and requires the faithful to step away from the everyday and focus on the exceptional. I learned something about the Jewish Sabbath in particular early on from Rose, and my friend Shmuley further clarified for me how, on the Jewish Sabbath, the everyday life tasks of cooking dinner, grocery shopping, and mowing the lawn are forbidden so that humanity may make the ordinary extraordinary and the natural miraculous. Even things like shopping or turning on lights are forbidden. On this day, the Sabbath, everyone in the world gets to stop being ordinary.
But what I wanted more than anything was to be ordinary. So, in my world, the Sabbath was the day I was able to step away from my unique life and glimpse the everyday.
Sundays were my day for "Pioneering," the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. We would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door to door or making the rounds of a shopping mall, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I continued my pioneering work for years and years after my career had been launched.
Up to 1991, the time of my Dangerous tour, I would don my disguise of fat suit, wig, beard, and glasses and head off to live in the land of everyday America, visiting shopping plazas and tract homes in the suburbs. I loved to set foot in all those houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderfully ordinary and, to me,magical scenes of life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were positively fascinating.
The funny thing is, no adults ever suspected who this strange bearded man was. But the children, with their extra intuition, knew right away. Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I would find myself trailed by eight or nine children by my second round of the shopping mall. They would follow and whisper and giggle, but they wouldn't reveal my secret to their parents. They were my little aides. Hey, maybe you bought a magazine from me. Now you're wondering, right?
Sundays were sacred for two other reasons as I was growing up. They were both the day that I attended church and the day that I spent rehearsing my hardest. This may seem against the idea of "rest on the Sabbath," but it was the most sacred way I could spend my time: developing the talents that God gave me. The best way I can imagine to show my thanks is to make the very most of the gift that God gave me.
Church was a treat in its own right. It was again a chance for me to be "normal." The church elders treated me the same as they treated everyone else. And they never became annoyed on the days that the back of the church filled with reporters who had discovered my whereabouts. They tried to welcome them in. After all, even reporters are the children of God.
When I was young, my whole family attended church together in Indiana. As we grew older, this became difficult, and my remarkable and truly saintly mother would sometimes end up there on her own. When circumstances made it increasingly complex for me to attend, I was comforted by the belief that God exists in my heart, and in music and in beauty, not only in a building. But I still miss the sense of community that I felt there--I miss the friends and the people who treated me like I was simply one of them. Simply human. Sharing a day with God.
When I became a father, my whole sense of God and the Sabbath was redefined. When I look into the eyes of my son, Prince, and daughter, Paris, I see miracles and I see beauty. Every single day becomes the Sabbath. Having children allows me to enter this magical and holy world every moment of every day. I see God through my children. I speak to God through my children. I am humbled for the blessings He has given me.
There have been times in my life when I, like everyone, has had to wonder about God's existence. When Prince smiles, when Paris giggles, I have no doubts. Children are God's gift to us. No--they are more than that--they are the very form of God's energy and creativity and love. He is to be found in their innocence, experienced in their playfulness.
My most precious days as a child were those Sundays when I was able to be free. That is what the Sabbath has always been for me. A day of freedom. Now I find this freedom and magic every day in my role as a father. The amazing thing is, we all have the ability to make every day the precious day that is the Sabbath. And we do this by rededicating ourselves to the wonders of childhood. We do this by giving over our entire heart and mind to the little people we call son and daughter. The time we spend with them is the Sabbath. The place we spend it is called Paradise.
I care for Michael Jackson cause he made me believe that you can do anything if you set your mind to it he has made me happy rather its his smile or music the song "Cry" i would always listen to when i felt down or sad but i would look up and keep my head to the sky. I know Michael tried to change the world and he couldnt do it by himself. He needes help im wanting to help the world so bad and hope that people will never forget the King Of Pop. I have learned so many things if you compare my life with his. Well thats another story but i love michael hes my idol some one i look up to hes always made me smile and if haters cant see that. Let them hate we dont care right? if you will comet why you love and care for Michael Jackson our King of Pop
The owners of the Neverland Ranch -- the former home of Michael Jackson -- want to turn the property into a teenage music haven.
TMZ has learned Colony Capital wants to develop a business plan to turn Neverland into a small music institute -- similar to The Juilliard School in NYC. The plan is to teach teens all aspects of music, including writing and performing.
Colony wants to turn the property into a campus, in which scores of teenagers -- rich and poor -- can learn the trade that made Michael Jackson a legend.
There are two big stumbling blocks. The first is making sure Santa Barbara County will sign off on such a project.
The second -- and bigger issue -- is whether Colony Capital can use Michael Jackson's name to promote such an institute. TMZ has good news for Colony .... sources directly connected with the Michael Jackson Estate tell us, "It's an interesting idea and we'd be open to it."
TMZ has learned Colony Capital wants to develop a business plan to turn Neverland into a small music institute -- similar to The Juilliard School in NYC. The plan is to teach teens all aspects of music, including writing and performing.
Colony wants to turn the property into a campus, in which scores of teenagers -- rich and poor -- can learn the trade that made Michael Jackson a legend.
There are two big stumbling blocks. The first is making sure Santa Barbara County will sign off on such a project.
The second -- and bigger issue -- is whether Colony Capital can use Michael Jackson's name to promote such an institute. TMZ has good news for Colony .... sources directly connected with the Michael Jackson Estate tell us, "It's an interesting idea and we'd be open to it."
You came and changed my life
You Let Me survive
I never felt like this before
It's very perfect more Than I Thought
I came to This world hopeless,helpless
you Made Me Speechless
I was alone with no friend
you came my friend
Until The end
and never looked for How Much you had to spend
when My fears came
you came and took The shame
you lifted me up In the sky
and Made me fly so high
like a butterfly
cause you're angel In My sky
you opened my heart
Through blocked walls
You Made Me See the light
through Darkness night
You were My dreams
through My fighting In nightmare
I can't explain Much
how I Feel About You
Just Let my feelings come to you
Cause I love you
yes It's true!!!!!!!!!!
You Let Me survive
I never felt like this before
It's very perfect more Than I Thought
I came to This world hopeless,helpless
you Made Me Speechless
I was alone with no friend
you came my friend
Until The end
and never looked for How Much you had to spend
when My fears came
you came and took The shame
you lifted me up In the sky
and Made me fly so high
like a butterfly
cause you're angel In My sky
you opened my heart
Through blocked walls
You Made Me See the light
through Darkness night
You were My dreams
through My fighting In nightmare
I can't explain Much
how I Feel About You
Just Let my feelings come to you
Cause I love you
yes It's true!!!!!!!!!!
11/11/2010 11:00 PM PST by TMZ Staff
The first new Michael Jackson single will be a duet with Akon -- a song entitled "Hold My Hand" that was originally leaked in 2008.
Epic Records/Sony Music just announced the lead single off the upcoming album "Michael" -- and "Hold My Hand" will be released this coming Monday, November 15 on michaeljackson.com.
Akon and MJ recorded the track back in 2007 ... a raw, incomplete version was eventually leaked to the public.
The new album will feature a total of 10 tracks -- including the controversial "Breaking News" -- when it's released December 14.
The first new Michael Jackson single will be a duet with Akon -- a song entitled "Hold My Hand" that was originally leaked in 2008.
Epic Records/Sony Music just announced the lead single off the upcoming album "Michael" -- and "Hold My Hand" will be released this coming Monday, November 15 on michaeljackson.com.
Akon and MJ recorded the track back in 2007 ... a raw, incomplete version was eventually leaked to the public.
The new album will feature a total of 10 tracks -- including the controversial "Breaking News" -- when it's released December 14.
Michael Jackson could live again on the big screen -- TMZ has learned a former Jackson associate is trying to shop around a full-length movie featuring unseen rehearsal footage from MJ's 1981 concert series.
The man behind the deal is Ron Newt -- who claims he was so close with Michael, that the singer gave him special behind-the-scenes footage from Jackson's 1981 Triumph Tour.
Now, after seeing the success of "This Is It " -- Newt tells TMZ he's put together a 64-minute feature film from his footage ... which includes several candid moments involving MJ and his brothers. Michael can also be seen dancing, singing and directing the stage production.
Newt tells us he's already getting offers from several interested parties -- with proposals reaching into seven figures.
The man behind the deal is Ron Newt -- who claims he was so close with Michael, that the singer gave him special behind-the-scenes footage from Jackson's 1981 Triumph Tour.
Now, after seeing the success of "This Is It " -- Newt tells TMZ he's put together a 64-minute feature film from his footage ... which includes several candid moments involving MJ and his brothers. Michael can also be seen dancing, singing and directing the stage production.
Newt tells us he's already getting offers from several interested parties -- with proposals reaching into seven figures.
The world was in great depression,
the custody for your kids was in session.
There was too much buzz around,
all I wanted to hear your voice your sound.
I wish you hadn't gone,
all you had to do was sing one more song.
I'm writing this to you.
your death has made me blue.
Why did you pass on June 25, 2009?
"This is it" last concert then you had to resign.
On my continuation my friend
told me you had passed you were dead.
God decided he needed you,
I respected the things you used to do.
Your songs were good, great,
to me and the music world you were a saint.
Jesus decided he wanted you my friend,
you and I know that your music is not at an end.
The world kept talking about him,
the planet and the sun now seemed a little less bright, dim.
Goodbye you were a story, a light,
see you later and when I see you, you will be a sight.
the custody for your kids was in session.
There was too much buzz around,
all I wanted to hear your voice your sound.
I wish you hadn't gone,
all you had to do was sing one more song.
I'm writing this to you.
your death has made me blue.
Why did you pass on June 25, 2009?
"This is it" last concert then you had to resign.
On my continuation my friend
told me you had passed you were dead.
God decided he needed you,
I respected the things you used to do.
Your songs were good, great,
to me and the music world you were a saint.
Jesus decided he wanted you my friend,
you and I know that your music is not at an end.
The world kept talking about him,
the planet and the sun now seemed a little less bright, dim.
Goodbye you were a story, a light,
see you later and when I see you, you will be a sight.
TMZ has learned Michael Jackson's tomb has been defaced by a stealth band of vandals -- who have marked the walls of MJ's mausoleum with hidden messages ... and it's all in permanent ink.
Security at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA is on the lookout for "fans" who have been writing messages in hard-to-spot places outside the main window of the building in which MJ is entombed.
The writing is mostly hidden underneath ledges -- or in spots covered by bushes -- and contains messages like, "Miss you" and "Keep the dream alive."
Reps at Forest Lawn are pretty ticked off -- telling TMZ, "Activity such as this, is a prime example why we are evaluating the level of access to the various entrances of the Great Mausoleum."
Forest Lawn also tells us that anyone caught vandalizing the cemetery will be banned for life.
Security at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA is on the lookout for "fans" who have been writing messages in hard-to-spot places outside the main window of the building in which MJ is entombed.
The writing is mostly hidden underneath ledges -- or in spots covered by bushes -- and contains messages like, "Miss you" and "Keep the dream alive."
Reps at Forest Lawn are pretty ticked off -- telling TMZ, "Activity such as this, is a prime example why we are evaluating the level of access to the various entrances of the Great Mausoleum."
Forest Lawn also tells us that anyone caught vandalizing the cemetery will be banned for life.
The company suing the Michael Jackson estate for $300 million over the Jackson family concert that never took place just got two strikes against it, and the pitcher was a federal judge.
The judge on Tuesday threw out two of the three claims AllGood Entertainment filed against the estate, AEG and Frank Dileo.
The suit claims Dileo, MJ's alleged former manager, made a deal with AllGood that Michael would perform at a Jackson Family concert before doing any other gigs. By launching the London series of concerts, AllGood claims Jackson breached his deal and cost AllGood a bundle.
But a federal judge ruled AllGood's claim for fraud and tortious interference (i.e., intermeddling) was bogus. All that is left of the lawsuit is a breach of contract claim.
The estate claims Dileo never had authority to make a deal with AllGood.
The judge on Tuesday threw out two of the three claims AllGood Entertainment filed against the estate, AEG and Frank Dileo.
The suit claims Dileo, MJ's alleged former manager, made a deal with AllGood that Michael would perform at a Jackson Family concert before doing any other gigs. By launching the London series of concerts, AllGood claims Jackson breached his deal and cost AllGood a bundle.
But a federal judge ruled AllGood's claim for fraud and tortious interference (i.e., intermeddling) was bogus. All that is left of the lawsuit is a breach of contract claim.
The estate claims Dileo never had authority to make a deal with AllGood.