[/caption]Carol Forsloff - Culture, music and religious differences faded in the Kevin Costner performance at singer Whitney Houston’s funeral, as he addressed these issues in ways that bind and not divide, as so many other events often do, and as he spoke of the love and faith that unify our souls.
It was that performance that showed the world community the central part the church plays in the African American community, as they heard Costner speak about his friend Houston with humor and great affection. His message and his manner crossed that great divide that some folks in the South relate, how death and Sunday church are the two times when segregation most often shows its face.
Costner talked about the similarities between him and Whitney Houston and how the issues of her life and death had touched him in deeply personal ways. The similarities Costner addressed had to do with faith, the memories of childhood that faith issues and events bring when folks become adults. He and Houston had both grown up in the Baptist church, were involved in the music and the very culture of their church. He spoke of how important, how significant these things can be in how we relate to one another throughout our lives. But in addressing those areas of shared belief, Costner also touched upon the kind of superficial differences that keep folks from learning how faith can bring folks together, as occurred with Costner and Houston in the making of the film, “The Bodyguard.”
As great gospel music poured through the church in New Jersey as people gathered to celebrate the life of Whitney Houston, perhaps it was Costner who, in sharing his conversations with Whitney about life and faith and what is really meaningful in life, brought a sense of unity to those gathered at the church, as well as those who watched on television today. Like the film, "The Bodyguard," that challenged notions of race and what it means to love beyond those superficial differences, the message from the actor, Costner, reminded us again how love and faith are the overriding qualities that bind us all in death.