Talent and torment

Noting the connection between talent and torment didn't start for me with the death of Michael Jackson. I have long noted that the people who are the most talented are often people who are most tormented. Michael Jackson just gives an example of extreme talent and extreme torment.
That dynamic is backwards from what we would tend to think. The talented people -- the people who seem to have everything going for them--would seem to be the people who would be the happiest. People with fame, fortune and gifts would, logically, be on top of the world. More often than not, those are the very people who have profound unhappiness and deep inner anguish. It's often the talented people who self-destruct and disappoint. And that's not just a show biz problem.
How sobering and sad that it is often the most gifted Christian lay person or pastor who destroys their own lives and the lives of those who care about them. In the church, we don't just lose the people who are "losers" (by some cultural definition). We watch those who are most successful forfeit their respect, betray their families, and squander their gifts. Those who have gained the most and have the most to lose are often the ones who throw their lives away.
We spend too much energy in envy.
When others are especially gifted, that should be our signal to pray for them more fervently. The struggles they are facing often don't surface until they are tragedies. But when people are gifted, you can be sure the struggles are there. Success -- in any terms: financial, professional, relational, spiritual, educational-- is dangerous to balance and humility. Be careful who you put on your pedestal. The more talented people are, the more tormented they often are.