Faith Forum The Indianapolis Star February 25, 2012

Talent can honor God, but it can also make us susceptible to temptation- Faith Forum looks at Whitney Houston's death from a perspective of faith

Whitney Houston's death is viewed as a tragedy because her great talents were overshadowed by her struggles with substance abuse. What does your faith teach about rising above such temptations and using one's talents to the fullest? Living...Faith/Values............Indistar

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Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Kanwal Prakash Singh

the human body is the highest gift bestowed upon us by God. .....

According to the Sikh faith, the human body is the highest gift bestowed upon us by God. Among the cycles of transmigration, human birth is our great opportunity to know and serve God. To know the Immaculate Supreme God, one must conquer the five powerful distracting hurdles: lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride. Unchecked, this eternal struggle leads to much pain and suffering, violent and destructive behavior, temptations and self-centeredness that keep us away from God.

The Sikh faith reminds us, "The human body is a temple; the home of God-Light; a place of sacred pilgrimage." Therefore, spiritual commandments include remembering God, and righteous conduct; keeping the body and mind clean; and abstaining from foods, intoxicants and temptations that harm our body, diminish our faculties and destroy our talents. We must honor our blessings and lead a full, happy and purposeful life. Dangerous drugs are among the deadliest poisons to one's body, a grave threat to society and one's ability to see right from wrong.

We cannot fully know the formidable challenges and personal struggles that Whitney Houston faced in recent years after her meteoric rise as the singer with golden talent and global acclaim.

Whitney's tragic death will not overshadow her music legacy; it will continue to enthrall generations to come. We can also imagine that Whitney is seated in the court of the Lord, among "countless accomplished singers with magical musical instruments," offering exalted praise.

Whitney's untimely passing is another jolt; the menace of rampant drug use in our society claims another star victim. Families, faith leaders and health-care providers need to develop strategies and support systems for an early, vigorous and disciplined intervention to eradicate the menace of drug addiction that is devastating many lives

Whitney Houston was an icon and a once-in-a-lifetime talent who inspired a generation of singers and brought joy to millions of fans around the world. She had a voice of unmatched beauty and power that changed music forever, ...READ”

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• More about KP Singh

Every second or third month I am (along with two representatives from other faiths) invited to comment (in 300 words or less) and offer the Sikh faith perspective on an issue of current interest outlined by the newspaper staff. This week's Faith Forum it is about Whitney Houston's death in which her drug and alcohol addiction may have played a major part. I hope that as leaders in your communities, you may find the subject of urgent interest since it is devastating millions of lives in the USA, Punjab, and around the world.

Without treading on any of your individual and collective perspectives as to how to advance the Sikh diaspora in our new and changing environment, I suggest (and many of you may already be vigorously engaged in this area) that we should, along with all the instructions about faith, cultural, religious, interfaith, environmental, and humanitarian concerns, consider including discussions by experts on this matter at our religious gatherings and in special forums to safeguard our communities, specially our youth, from the rampant epidemic of substance/drug abuse. Any initiatives that we take in this regard would be a timely and welcome step and may save a future heartache and tragedy for one of our own brothers or sisters.
We pray that we can do something before that happens.

With kind regards and thank you for your continued involvements to advance the work of building a better future for all of us.

KP Singh