‘You are gods,’

Valerie Cullers 44 Comments

 

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“I said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High, but you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” Psalm 82:6-7

A few weeks ago, a noted sports celebrity died in a helicopter crash. It was Sunday morning and I turned on the computer to look at the news. I read the article and was in shock. I then told my husband and he felt the same way. Afterwards, I began to analyze my feelings about his death. Why was I so shocked by it?

The more I thought about it, this verse came to mind and I realized why I felt the way I did. Those among us, the best and the brightest, those that receive the most notoriety; we place them in a different category than ourselves. Unconsciously, we give them Superhuman status, a god-like status. We start to believe they are different from the the rest of us, that somehow they are immune to the same laws of physics that we are.

When a John Denver dies because his plane crashes without fuel or when a John Lennon dies because he is shot, we are in shock. We wonder, how can this happen to them? Surely, they are better than we are and they will not have to suffer the same fate as we do. When a famous athlete dies in his prime, we cannot believe it at first. Surely, his pilot could have navigated in thick fog without ground mapping radar. But alas, it is not true.

As I said before, we do not do these things consciously. The more media attention a person gets, the better they are in their field, the more gold medals they win; we begin to elevate them to a god-like status. We would do better if we could hold a more realistic view of them.  The Scripture says, “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

In the end, they are after all, human just like the rest of us. 

44 thoughts on “‘You are gods,’”

    • It has probably always been that way. The only difference is we have world-wide media coverage. This tends to elevate them to an even higher degree than they were in ages past. Blessings to you, Nora! Have a great day! ❤🌷

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  4. We are all human, tis true. One day we will all die, unless the Lord first comes back to take those who are his to be with him forever. I still remember the day JFK was assassinated. I was sitting in 8th grade history (or social studies) class. They announced over the loud speaker that the president had been assassinated. I didn’t know what that word meant, but all of a sudden students in the classroom were crying. I thought, “Why are they crying?” I didn’t understand what was going on. But, then I learned. And I watched as a nation went into shock. But, people get killed every day. Presidents are no different than we are. They are flesh and blood, too.

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  5. I felt this way when Lady Diana passed. Devastated. Royalty lost but a human, mother, lover.
    The twin towers brought out more emotion. Simple people banding together, the simple firemen showing their sterling core. However we perceive it, we are princes and princesses of The Most High.
    A timely reminder dear Val. Thank you. 🌺 🌸 💐

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  7. Great thoughts, Valarie. It’s so true. I don’t consider myself to be a very star struck sort of person, but certainly subconsciously (as you wrote) I can feel that shock too. You always remember where you were when you heard the news too. Those shocking events stick with you.

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  8. So true. The world esteems “celebrities” for singing, acting, sports. Sad we don’t pay more attention to those that actually instruct us in God’s way and save souls. They truly have God’s will in their hearts to better the world.

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  9. I think I feel the most shock when a musician whose music has been part of my life dies before his or her time. (They are too many to mention.) It’s like they’ve taken that part of my life with them, and I don’t want to believe it.

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  11. Valerie, your posts are so thought-provoking and faith-stirring. Somehow we expect an early death will never befall a famous athlete. We are all dust of the earth. I pray many take a second thought at the brevity of this life and consider the day we will all meet our Maker. God bless you!

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  13. So true! Good reminder, Valerie. The superhuman hero status bestowed on some makes their deaths seem impossible. The truth is, we’ve all been given a certain amount of time by our Creator before we return to dust. Good to know where we’ll spend eternity.
    Thanks for this piece! 🙂

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  18. Amen. No one thinks it will happen to their favorite heroes, or themselves or their loved ones. I’m truly sorry for him and the others who died, but it did cross my mind that it’s kinda crazy how much attention this tragedy got compared to the deaths of ‘regular’ people.

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