Whitney Houston, 1963-2012

The headlines were numerous on Saturday night and all through the day Sunday:  "Whitney Houston, pop titan, dies at 48" "Celebs react to Whitney Houston death: 'Please tell me it's not true.'"  "Whitney Houston mourned at New Jersey church of her youth" "Family, fans mourn Whitney Houston with tears, prayers."

I don't normally blog about celebrities, perhaps it is because of her age being so close to mine, but I found Whitney Houston's death to be very sad.  48 is truly too young to die.

A sensation from her very first album, she was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. She awed millions with soaring, but disciplined vocals rooted in gospel and polished for the masses

While I was working as the secretary of Truth Tabernacle Christian School, she was recording her first album and making millions.  I was still going to Youth Camps and Conventions, and she was touring the world. 

But the end of the story is where the tragedy lies.  I'm sure we will never fully know all the details.  But it appears she was alone in a hotel room in Beverly Hills. Her fame and fortune couldn't comfort her in her final moments.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Mark 8:36