Breaking News. “Oh, okay let’s see what this is going to be?” Prince has passed away at the age of 57.

Wow. I don’t know about you, but Prince’s death hit me in a way I would not have expected. It has struck a chord with so many.

He was a musical maestro, immensely talented and gifted with a way with words that few musicians possess. He encouraged us to party like its 1999, because surely there would be no year 2000.

His concerts weren’t just concerts. They were part work of art, part religious experience. His performances drew you into a different world for a little while while pointing you to a different kind of truth. Perhaps there is something deeper to our mourning Prince’s death than just his music. His music points us to a deeper truth about his life. Prince lived life free and to its fullest. Check out this quote from him, “despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people.”

How liberating is that statement? It’s a gift to own that we are a beloved child of God, uniquely made by God, and given gifts to use in this world. How many of us can’t live out that truth in our own lives for one reason or another? How many people in the world have this truth suppressed in their lives? Do you (and I) suppress this truth for others?

You are a child of God. No one can dictate who you are to God or to other people. No one.

That is what I will miss most about Prince. Prince knew the freedom to be fully alive, to be who God had uniquely created him to be. No one could dictate who he was created to be. The world admired him for that and gave us hope that each could know that same fullness of life.May we embrace that for ourselves while extending it to all people.

“no one can dictate who you are to other people.” 

Thank you Prince. Well done, good and faithful servant.