Misplaced attention: What is important?

This past weekend the entertainment world lost one of its biggest stars with the death of Whitney Houston. Based on the news coverage of this event, you would think that much more was lost than an individual life.

Although any loss of life is tragic, the obsession of our culture with celebrity is reminiscent of the adulation bestowed upon royalty and sports figures in many other cultures. This also reminds us of the undue attention paid to athletes and famous people in the Roman and Greek empires prior to their fall.

At a time when our nation faces enormous problems, we do have time to be sympathetic to the loss of any life. We must learn to focus our attention and efforts on those problems that threaten our very existence.

We should cease living in a fantasy world created by the sports and entertainment industry, which act like a narcotic but have no long-term benefit.

This blog is in no way a judgment on the life of Whitney Houston; it's written to remind our larger society of the importance of focusing our attention on things that truly matter in our nation.