"There's a place in your heart, and I know that it is love...". Michael Jackson is dead. The world collectively stopped breathing and felt the pain for a trembling moment in time. How could this be? How could he have died before he got a chance to redeem himself, to make his comeback? It isn't fair! But then life isn't fair is it?

I am astounded, but on the other hand too well in touch, with the human nature that caused all of his critics and detractors to peck at him relentlessly when he was down - who are now praising him and proclaiming that his imprint on the world will never be forgotten or washed over by the sands of time.

Michael suffered so much emotional pain in the past several years of his life at the hands of careless humans who got a laugh at his expense. He was betrayed by those he tried to nurture and protect. According to those closest to him, his spirit was gentle and loving and not capable of some of the things opportunists tried to accuse him of. In the end the evidence weighed in his favor, but he was never acquitted in the world of public opinion.

Do you suppose that all of those who are so publicly paying tribute to him now, were there to comfort him when he suffered in the quiet hours of the night? Did they bolster his spirit when he needed it and did they provide a shoulder for him to lean on? I wonder about that.

Why does it take someone's death to snap us all to attention? Why did Michael have to die before the family he left behind was allowed to feel proud of him, and realize the impact we all know he has had on our lives, past, present and future?

Maybe it is time to cultivate a kinder society here in the U.S. Will this be the impetus for us to do that? Does anyone feel a little guilt at all about the way Michael was persecuted and ridiculed? Does anyone wish he could have felt some of the love during his life that is being showered on him now? Maybe it might have actually saved his life.

Will we as humans with souls learn anything from maybe the tiniest shreds of guilt we might feel in this regard? I would like to think so. We need to start a kindness movement here, where even if a person has made a mistake, we can be the first to show some compassion and forgiveness.

I'm not saying Michael did anything, in the cases he was accused of. From the reams of material I've read, it is difficult to believe he has. Sadly, there are others out there who are serving as fodder for some cheap comedian's jokes. How about we stop laughing at that kind of humor? I find myself turning the channel away from it. I also turn the channel on sensationalist journalism that loves to hash and rehash a situation. We don't need all of that negative in any of our daily lives.

So let's think about it, huh? Just a little more kindess and generosity of spirit from now on? It might just "Heal the World"!

(as I quietly step down from my soapbox and stack it in the corner)