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When You Wish Upon a Star

© Rev. Marie Jones

When I was little, I wanted to be Sammy Davis, Jr. more than anything in the world. Problem was - I wasn't black, I wasn't Jewish, and I had both my eyes. Oh, and I didn't have his talent. But I thought I did. I wanted to be on Broadway, belting out those show tunes and blowing kisses to my adoring fans.

Until a few months later, when I decided to be a jockey. You know how kids are.

Still, there isn't a man or woman alive who hasn't dreamed of being a famous movie star, a baseball hero, or a rock God. To have the public at our feet (when they're not at our throat) and ride around in limousines, hounded by our adoring fans as we duck into one of our seven mansions is a fantasy we are all guilty of engaging in from time to time.

To the majority of us living fairly quiet, normal lives on the other side of that gold-plated fence, that grass over yonder looks awfully lush and green. We want what they have, and if we can't have it, we sure as hell can live vicariously.

As long as the living's good, that is. For even the brightest stars sometimes fall from the sky. Many crash and burn in public. Look at OJ, River Phoenix, Kurt Cobain, Chris Farley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and even Elvis. And ALL stars take a tumble off the pedestal now and then.

They have to. They're human.

When we worship the rich and famous, we worship an illusion. We see only the glitter and glamour of success. We hardly ever see the sweat, the grueling hours of work, the pain of rejection, the excess, and when we do, it's live and in color. Drug addiction, alcoholism, sex scandals, bankruptcy, suicide, and murder.

Kind of like our own lives.

They are just people. They have gifts, for entertaining and making us laugh and cry. They look good and take good care of themselves. They can afford Jose Eber and Tony Little and Vera Wang. They work hard - unbelievably hard.

They lose, they win, they get old and die. Just like real people. And though they may be worthy of our support, our praise, and our thanks for the fun and thrills they provide our dull lives, they are never worthy of our worship. Not even the Beatles, and they were once bigger than Jesus.