Tinsel

I am back from a week of intensive vitamin D therapy, otherwise known as a trip to Cuba. While there was a television in our room we only turned it on a couple of times. Why watch TV when it's 25 degrees outside or you can sit on the balcony in the evening?

The first time we did fire it up we discovered that singer Whitney Houston had died at age 48. It was sad news, although not entirely unexpected given her struggles with drugs over the years. When we returned to Canada we were inundated with coverage of every minute leading up to her demise, as well as the plans for her funeral. It was encouraging to hear that the service would take place in the church where she developed her remarkable talent. Whitney's mother is a gospel legend and faith was an important part of their family life.

How disappointing to see that the funeral turned into a bloated showbiz spectacle. It could have been an opportunity to reconnect Whitney Houston's story to the faith in which she was raised and to somberly but strongly affirm the grace of Christ and resurrection hope. Instead it became hours of posturing and grandstanding -- and that was just the pastors. Rather than offering an alternative to the shallowness of the entertainment industry the service became a part of it, or so it seemed to me.

Did you watch any of the service? Did it make you uncomfortable, or do you have a different perspective?