When I first spotted local billboards about the end of the world being on May 21st (2011), I thought it about the last episode of the Oprah Show. I mean no disrespect when I say that. As a full-time real estate agent, you know that means that I am working all the time. I miss out on a fair amount of current cultural events. My access to the news is rather like a landscape illuminated by a lighthouse. There are these flashes of brilliance followed by periods of total darkness.
I have since found out that the May 21st date has something to do with the belief of a religious group that we have reached the "end times". Well, maybe so. Maybe not. By the time the news gets to me, it will be a done deal.
Meanwhile, their billboard got me to pay attention to the last little bit of The Oprah Show. Again, as a full-time real estate agent, I hardly have time to sit and have dinner. I certainly haven't had time to sit and watch the Oprah Show. Over the years, I know I have never seen more than 10 minutes of any show, not ever. And, I don't think I have seen parts of more than perhaps 5 shows total. However, there has been a show on the new OWN channel about the behind-the-scenes documentary of what it takes to put the Oprah Show on TV. That has been fascinating.
I don't think anyone can argue with me when I say that Oprah Winfrey has had a positive impact on thousands of lives. She has communicated so many basic human truths in a way that people could take that message into their hearts and lives and work with it.
The end of her show is a cultural landmark. I decided that I wanted to actually be able to say that I have watched an Oprah Show. So, this week, I have programed my DVR to catch the shows. I have been watching the shows when I can. Last night I saw part of a program about a mother, dieing of cancer, who made video tapes and cassett tapes for her daughter to have. It is an incredible legacy. The program was very moving.
They played a montage of clips of the mother's recordings and photos. The thing that struck me was the number of pictures where she was standing with her arms spread out above her head like a cheer leader, this "V" shape of exuberance and joyfulness. I have been thinking about that bit of body language and what it communicates. It is a posture of openness and joy. She was facing her death, an End Time that all of us face absolutely. And she wasn't going out with self-pity and mourning but with a smile and a message of hope for those she loved.
What a gift. What an inspiration.
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