Berhane was a musician who died over 40 years ago. And he was buried in the same village where he was born, only 36 years before that. According to a report I read he was laid to rest with a Bible open to Psalm 23. And the report also said that he had been “baptized in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and accepted Christ as Messiah.” I don’t if that’s true. But I hope so.
Because we should always hope that. For everyone.
Sadly, most people want nothing to do with Jesus. But that means most people will lose out on the one thing everyone wishes for. Immortality.
But, back to Berhane.
This musician who died over 40 years ago wasn’t a nobody.
Just because you’ve never heard of him (or maybe you have) doesn’t mean he didn’t make quite an impact in the world of music. I’ll share some of that impact in just a minute. But first, I wanna share what Berhane’s “minister” said about him.
Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq, from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, said Berhane, “was really a good brother, a child of God, regardless of how people looked at him. He had a desire to be baptised long ago, but there were people close to him who controlled him.”
Yesehaq added that Berhane “came to Church regularly.” And he continued by saying that, during one mass he looked down at Berhand “and tears were streaming down his face. Many people think he was baptized because he knew he was dying, but that is not so. He did it when there was no longer any pressure on him. And when he was baptized, he hugged his family and wept, they all wept together for about half an hour.”
That sounds very different from the Berhane you might have heard.
Yep. You might have heard him sing.
Because millions of people did. In fact, his music has estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide. Not bad for a village boy from a small island country. But that ain’t all.
You’ve heard of Rolling Stone magazine. Right? Yeah, it’s junk. But it’s an influential periodical. And they ranked Berhane at #11 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Wow. Plus, he also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But more important than those awards is this little fact.
I’ve sung some of his music to live audiences for years.
And his songs include lines like, “Jah sitteth on Mount Zion. And rules all creation.”
Then, there’s this one, “Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner. There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of Creation.”
And a personal favorite of mine,
“Give thanks and praise the Lord and feel alright.”
OK, that last line might’ve given it away. But just in case you still don’t know it, Berhane Selassi was better known to the world as Bob Marley. And I shared all this with you because he died on this date, November 4, back in 1981.
Marley was a big doper. And according to the report, that mentioned how the Bible was buried with him, someone also placed a large “stick of ganja” in the coffin. Hopefully Bob didn’t end up in a place where that ganja could be lit. And it would appear that he might actually be with the Father of Creation now.
If that’s the case, one of the pioneers of Reggae music truly understands the One Love that conquers all.
Stay tuned,
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