Like rock stars Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain, who all died under mysterious circumstances at age 27, Winehouse's short erratic life and troubling death is tragic in many ways. What struck me about the notice in the paper was as much its location as anything else. While she lived and died Winehouse was front page news, but today, only a month after her passing, she is relegated to a tiny two-inch notice in the back of the paper. What this says to me is, mess up (or even let there be a hint of impropriety) and you will make the front page - it will be shouted from the rooftops. If what happened eventually turns out to be unfounded, well...that's just too bad.
I'm not blaming the media for this. Nor am I blaming the hordes of people who live their lives vicariously through the rise and fall of celebrities. I'm actually not blaming anyone. Instead what I'm doing is sounding a warning - before you do whatever it is you're about to do - before you make that choice - ask yourself...will what I'm about to do make the first paragraph of my obituary? That thought is not original with me - I read it somewhere else. In fact, it probably wasn't original where I found it.
Long ago, Jesus of Nazareth put it this way (Luke 12:1-3): "Be on your guard ... everything that is secret will be brought out into the open. Everything that is hidden will be uncovered. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight. What you have whispered to someone behind closed doors will be shouted from the rooftops."
I'm sorry for Amy Winehouse and her family. I'm sorry for others whose greatness has been overshadowed by scandal (Tiger Woods, Ted Haggard, and countless others). Their story is written and their reputations may or may not ever be salvaged. We are still in the battle - let's learn from their mistakes.
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