Jackson rabbi-friend: Singer was 'a tortured, tortured soul'
Michael always thought that he had ailments of the body. He always had a neck that hurt, a foot that was twisted. Really, he had an affliction of his soul. He was extremely lonely, he was extremely unhappy. He felt purposeless, he felt lethargic. And the way he dealt with that pain -- and he was especially afraid of evasion, of that perhaps his best years are behind him.
Michael told me once -- and this is a heartbreaking conversation between us -- "Shmuley, I promise I'm not lying to you," he said. "I'm not lying to you." He said that twice. "But everything I've done in pursuing fame, in honing my craft" to quote his words, "was an effort to be loved because I never felt loved." And he used to say that to me all the time.
And on the way back I could see Michael was angry at me, although he never had a temper so he wouldn't show it, but he was withdrawn. So, I said, "What's wrong?" So, his manager says to me, in front of him, "Shmuley, you want to make Michael accessible and normal. Don't you understand he's famous because he's not normal. And then I understood the full tragedy of his existence. Michael was terrified that the moment he became average that the public would forget him.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/30/jackson.rabbi/index.html
When we look at him, he appears to be an internationally admired/loved pop star by all, but what he has shared with his friend earlier, in the above news, is how he has felt deep inside and thats so true. Name, fame, money, wealth, beauty, relationships, pleasures of life etc etc can never ever satisfy any one. Vanity, Vanity and Vanity alone!
ALL is Vanity :)
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? (Luke 9:25 )
