Award winning singer, Mariah Carey was poised to lead the United States into 2017 for the new year.  Lights, camera, action beamed from New York City and Times Square.  The music blasted into the midnight air, and something unexpected happened.  The instrumentals and Mariah’s voice did not match.  She said something about not being able to hear.  Dancers accompanying Carey improvised.  She attempted the same.

            Following the performance came a barrage of Tweets, news analyses, on the air commentary, and headlines.  Blame and excuses blasted across news sources. Technicians for Carey and for the American Broadcasting Company probably have determined the source of the technical difficulties by now.  After all, it is ten days later.

            There is something deeper at work.  It is the insidious idea that life is perfect.  Every stage artist has an “off night”.  A word is missed.  A high or low note is cut short.  I have seen the range of mis-cues from Elvis forgetting words in his 1973 concert in Hawaii to a Broadway production of “Oklahoma” where the actor playing Curly had the button of his shirt cuff accidentally snagged in the hair of the actress playing Laurey, the farm girl he was courting.  He untangled the wad of hair while continuing to sing.

Carey’s on the spot commentary at the end of the three song set, “That was amazing”, holds the best outlook.  Sooner or later, something is going to fall short.  Do you remember the opening sentence from the pen of Scott Peck?  “Life is difficult.”  Television, movies, concerts, and broadway performances can entice us with the false ideal that life is or can be perfect.

            When looking back at the 2017 New Year’s Eve broadcast, there was something amiss.  That happens.  That’s life.  On December 31st at midnight, we saw a reality television show without realizing it.

Pastor Charles Murry, Lead Pastor