Of all the words spoken or sung during yesterday’s service for Whitney Houston the most lasting impression that I have is not of the words spoken by Kevin Costner or other celebrities, nor the lyrics of songs (changed for the occasion) by such music greats as Stevie Wonder, Alecia Keys and others but the very pertinent observation by Pastor Marvin Winans.
During the eulogy, Pastor Winans thanked Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother, for having the service at New Hope. “That took a lot of courage. And because of that you brought the world to church today”
How right he was.
Boadicea's Chariot 
G’dag, Soutie! Hallelujah! That’s show business, innit?
Howzit Janus.
Hallelujah! indeed.
Show business? Well, it was and it wasn’t 😕
I wonder if they used coke in the communion wafers?
I find the televising of these events rather distasteful.
I’m still trying to work out why it took courage to have the funeral service in this church. Odd statement.
As understand it Hollywood, the music industry, the networks and anybody who could have made money out of the event wanted a big glitzy ‘TV special’ (remember the Michael Jackson memorial?)
I initially heard that a 15,000 seater stadium had been provisionally booked.
Whitney’s mother would have none of it, insisted on a ‘small’ service at the local church with no cameras! She was persuaded to allow a single camera, no big movie crew, no huge outside broadcast budget (ala Princess Diana.)
So, Sheona, it wasn’t the fact that the service took place in this particular church that took the courage but the fact that it was held in a church at all. The mothers desire to have a simple a service as possible held sway, good for her.
Boadicea, it was an event that generated massive worldwide interest, the simple service (simple as far as Baptist services go) with it’s very basic single camera was anything but distasteful, it should indeed be held up as an example of how future events can be made available to the public while maintaining both the respect and dignity of those involved.
No4 & 5, too right! Frankly after doing $100 million on coke and a shit of a husband, i find it remarkable that any church would have the corpse through it’s doors!
But then I suppose forgivenesss is their only stock in trade, redemption on the final frontier.
I’m so tired of all these dreadful weeping and wailing eulogies for complete losers who threw good talent after bad so to speak. Total load of rubbish and to add insult to injury to try to imbue the whole thing with artificial grief. Where were these people when she was on her beam ends financially?
Nowhere to be seen, all positively puke making.
A small, understated service? That is always what I say when I see the hearses in gold. 🙂
Quite! Especially when all I could find on BBC 24 hour news was a ‘Live’ broadcast…
She had talent and a career. Then she lost it all. After that, she died. Her greatest hit was a cover of, in my opinion, the vastly superior original by Dolly Parton. It’s never a happy thing when people die, but what point is there to watching it on the television? She sang a few songs, that’s it. She wasn’t someone who dedicated her life to the greater good, she wasn’t someone who spent her life in service to others.
Mourning Mother Teresa or the passing of a well-loved monarch is one thing, Houston’s death is another.
That’s really all I have to say about it.
Thanks for the explanation, Soutie. I’m glad her mother’s wishes prevailed.