Not Almost

May 4, 2023

From Pastor Joseph Wamack

Many of you remember the great singer Whitney Houston who died in February 2012. She was regarded as perhaps the greatest female vocalist of all time with huge hits like “I Will Always Love You” and “The Greatest Love of All”.

But I want to direct your attention to her 1987 album Whitney and the song “Didn’t We Almost have It All”. It was her 5th consecutive #1 song, sold over a million copies and received a Grammy nomination for “Song of the Year”.

It is actually a sad song-a sad song about something that once was there but is now gone-a song about lost love. One of the lines says, “Help me bring the feeling back again.” She (as the singer) was reflecting on an intense love, or maybe she saw her lover again and it brought feelings back alive. So she sings,

Didn't we almost have it all When love was all we had worth giving? The ride with you was worth the fall my friend Loving you makes life worth living.

It is a sad song and the saddest word is the word “almost”. Almost keeps company with expressions like “if only”, “not quite” and ‘sort of”. Almost is a word that aches of missed opportunities and fumbled chances.

Someone finishes second in the Olympic 400-meter race by two-thousandths of a second-he almost won a gold medal. If a young man failed to straighten up his life-“He almost got it together.” A divorced couple might say-“We were almost able to work it out.” About a baseball player we might say-“He almost made it to the big leagues.” The Atlanta Hawks almost won the NBA Championship. ““Almost” only has worth in horseshoes and hand grenades.

It has caused me to reflect on this state of being where someone or something is “almost”. It sounds halfway. It sounds lukewarm. It sounds like a sigh of resignation. It sounds sad. I don’t want to be “almost”-I want to live my life “fully”. Fully engaged, fully dedicated to my family, my work, my health, my relationship with God. God doesn’t do things almost so why should I? Today I am fully ME, fully HIS. May you live in the FULLNESS of God’s love and not halfway-not almost. To live to God’s Glory-be fully alive!