Today they paid tribute to Michael Jackson and I thought it was a wonderful tribute. What has saddened me are the many children of God who have taken it upon themselves to be judge and jury. One thing that my husband told me was that, just as Christ, we have to look beyond the man we see to the soul of the person.

Regardless of what we think about a person or assume to know, to look at a man based on the color, the rumors, and accusations we do not even have the criteria it takes to place judgement upon anyone. Yes, have an opinion but know that for every opinion you have of someone, there is one of you too. What do you want people to think of you?

You can say you do not care what people think, but the bottom line is that unless you are a heartless person with no emotions, you do care to some extent. Words hurt….I know this for myself.

In looking at Michael’s life and from what was said today and in the past, I guess I see a lot of myself. I have always been a strange child and wondered why I was different. As the years went on I began to feel lonely and without anyone to truly get who LaTara was. From the uniqueness of my name “LaTara Venise Bussey” to” LaTara Venise Ham-Ying”  to the way I choose to share my very core,I was ridiculed for the differences I displayed.

My supposed defects were taken and raked through the coal over and over again. It was as if I were the elephant woman and so when I looked in the mirror I saw a girl who was not very pretty. Imagine how Michael felt when he was teased. I can imagine it…can you?

I may not have been a genius like Micheal, but I was a very wise child who also had to grow up faster than she should have. Molestation and abuse does a lot to the psyche of a child. Trust me I know! While I was a child at heart, there were things that occurred in my life that no child should have to ever see or experience. It messed me up!

Please note that I am not saying that Michael Jackson was molested or abused. That is my story.

I say all of that to say that you never know what pain, turmoil, and tragedy lies behind the face you see in front of you or on the television. And like my momma always said “Unless you hear it from the horse mouth, don’t put a lot of stock in it.”

I hate to see people murder someone’s character and not consider their own defects. Sadly, many children of God do this very thing and this is why so many people lose faith and leave the very thing that will save them…because of the Sadducees and Pharisees of modern times. Excuse me for being so blunt but I have never been one to mince words.

We all have defects. I can name at least 10 of mine. How many of your personal defects can you name?

Today I pray and implore you to look beyond the person that just might be encouraged, motivated, or dare I say, saved because you took the time to leave perception behind and look into the soul of the man.

For me my former Pastor, and my spiritual mother and dearest friend who passed in December of 2002 were the people who looked beyond the woman people said would lie, cheat, and steal and saw the soul of a woman who was in pain and ready for a change. Today I am the woman I am in part because they encouraged, motivated, and led me towards Christ who I accepted in March 1989.