I really liked Johnny Carson back in the day. He was the best. No one else has even come close, in my opinion. I even saw Johnny and “The Tonight Show” in person on a trip to Los Angeles and Burbank. Carl Reiner was a guest on the show that night.
A good book about Carson was written by his long-time friend and attorney, Henry Bushkin. In the book, he wrote about Johnny’s off-camera struggles, including four marriages and his battle with alcohol.
At the peak of his career, he was making $71 million a year in today’s dollars, amounting to $640,000 an hour. When he died in 2005, he was worth $450 million.
The book’s author concluded, “None of this made Carson especially happy.” (“Wall Street Journal,” October 19, 2013, page C8)
In a way, he sounds to me a little bit like King Solomon in the Old Testament. He had everything that people today seek after: money, power, influence, popularity. But yet, after achieving all these things he observed, “Everything is useless. It’s all like chasing the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 2:26)
It really does not have to be that way. Things can be different. There is Someone who offers to us fullness of life. His name is Jesus Christ. Think about his words today: “I have come that you might have life, life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)
You are invited to worship at First Methodist: Sundays, 9:00 & 11:00 AM Corner of Broad and Kirkman www.fumclc.org