To my worldwide audience, this
is the video of the memorial service of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his
young daughter Gianna Bryant that took place today in Los Angeles, California
USA. If you did not watch it on TV, watch it now. If you have watched it
already, re-watch it. What is the message or messages you are receiving as you
take in the totality of this story?
I believe that God uses the life of celebrities and well known people to convey messages to the masses. When something happens to a well known person as opposed to a person who is not well known, the event that occurred puts a vast and immediate spotlight either on the subject matter related to the event or that caused the event (e.g., drug use, murder, terminal illness, catastrophic accidents, etc.). And as a consequence of the event, the life and/or life choices of the well known person are put into focus by the media to the masses.
Kobe Bryant was just a young boy whose interest morphed into a passion that he methodically honed into a talent through hard work and focused determination. His journey along the way is the real story as partially eloquently portrayed in his Oscar Award winning animated short film Dear Basketball that he penned (i.e., wrote). His incredible basketball career, albeit the center of the story, is only partially the story of his life journey. In his personal life, the love he had for the family he created and the lessons he learned as a result is the rest of the story. It is no mistake that Kobe had four daughters instead of sons. If Kobe had fathered a son, the story would have been too predictable. It was God's plan to bring worldwide attention to the disparity in rights and privileges of men over women by using Kobe's status as a girl dad, his celebrity and his basketball fame as the platform. It was God's plan to use Kobe's celebrity to bring attention to the importance of compassion, love and family. It was God's plan to use Kobe's path to his stellar career through Kobe's voice and through his story as an instrument of hope and inspiration for the lost, hopeless, self-doubters and anyone feeling less than.
So when you ask yourself why, know that everything, and I mean everything, is according to God's plan. Kobe Bryant was God's soldier fighting the good fight and what we perceive as an untimely death is really just Kobe Bryant's tour of duty coming to an end. His death is the event that put the spotlight on all of God's messages that I wrote about here today.
Kobe Bryant
I believe that God uses the life of celebrities and well known people to convey messages to the masses. When something happens to a well known person as opposed to a person who is not well known, the event that occurred puts a vast and immediate spotlight either on the subject matter related to the event or that caused the event (e.g., drug use, murder, terminal illness, catastrophic accidents, etc.). And as a consequence of the event, the life and/or life choices of the well known person are put into focus by the media to the masses.
Kobe Bryant was just a young boy whose interest morphed into a passion that he methodically honed into a talent through hard work and focused determination. His journey along the way is the real story as partially eloquently portrayed in his Oscar Award winning animated short film Dear Basketball that he penned (i.e., wrote). His incredible basketball career, albeit the center of the story, is only partially the story of his life journey. In his personal life, the love he had for the family he created and the lessons he learned as a result is the rest of the story. It is no mistake that Kobe had four daughters instead of sons. If Kobe had fathered a son, the story would have been too predictable. It was God's plan to bring worldwide attention to the disparity in rights and privileges of men over women by using Kobe's status as a girl dad, his celebrity and his basketball fame as the platform. It was God's plan to use Kobe's celebrity to bring attention to the importance of compassion, love and family. It was God's plan to use Kobe's path to his stellar career through Kobe's voice and through his story as an instrument of hope and inspiration for the lost, hopeless, self-doubters and anyone feeling less than.
So when you ask yourself why, know that everything, and I mean everything, is according to God's plan. Kobe Bryant was God's soldier fighting the good fight and what we perceive as an untimely death is really just Kobe Bryant's tour of duty coming to an end. His death is the event that put the spotlight on all of God's messages that I wrote about here today.
Kobe Bryant
Tour Of Duty
8/23/1978 - 1/26/2020
