Tribute to Prince

Sad to see yet another music legend has passed away. And annoying that newspapers are saying he died of an overdose, when there’s no evidence of that. But then, as we all know, newspapers will say anything to sell a few more papers, and the truth is irrelevant. They just want a salacious headline, regardless.

Tributes to a musical genius

Over the last 24 hours or so I’ve seen lots of news bulletins and quite a few tributes to Prince, who died just a couple of days ago. I’d always liked what I saw of him, but that wasn’t very much really and I would never have classed myself as a great fan. But I did recognise that he was way more than the average rock star. There was something about him that was clearly very special. And I was aware that he was a prolific song writer and had written for many great stars. In fact, people used to think he was singing cover versions of other stars’ hits, when in fact he’d written the songs that they’d gone on to make famous.

What I wasn’t aware of was that he wrote and recorded music almost ceaselessly over the years, and he would often play every instrument on a track himself. That level of skill and artistry is rare indeed, and I’m almost shocked at how many of the world’s top musicians and rock stars are heaping praise on him. He must have been way more special than I’d ever realised.

“I pray every night … I just say thank you”

Then today, I caught a few minutes of a documentary about him and there were several mentions of him being a very spiritual person. He was quoted as saying that he’d always been guided by God and owed everything to divine inspiration. Someone who had interviewed him years ago had asked him what he thought of getting older (he was in his late 30’s at the time apparently), and he’d said “the older I get the closer I get to where I’m going, and that’s a better place”. But the most tellling moment, to me, was when he was shown speaking to camera some time ago and he was saying how much he owed to God, and he ended by saying these words:

“I pray every night. And I don’t ask for much. I just say thank you.”

I thought right away, that sums up a truly spiritual person. He doesn’t ask for much, although he’s no doubt ready and willing to accept what comes to him in the way of guidance and inspiration, and he’s ready, always, to give thanks. Gratitude truly is the greatest prayer.

If you never say another prayer, say “Thank you” for everything in your life. And if you haven’t already, start to make it a habit to feel gratitude, and to express it somehow. Possibly the greatest ‘sin’ is to indulge in life’s luxuries without ever giving a thought to how fortunate we all are to live such wonderful lives. They’re bursting with possibilities and potential, and that potential only quits when we gasp that last breath.

“Thank you” is the greatest prayer

Even with all the problems that seem to beset us from time to time, life is truly amazing. And we should be ceaselessly, and humbly, grateful for that.