Lessons from the death of a Celebrity

I remember Steve Martin’s great definition of a celebrity. “A celebrity,” he wrote, “is any well-known TV or movie star who looks like he spends more than two hours working on his hair.” His brief comedic description is actually a simple way of describing celebrities as those who give a lot of attention to the minute and give brief attention to the noble. I generally find celebrities to be a nuisance to our culture. Most of them cherish the destruction of Christendom. Most of them spend their days crusading against the values of the Church. By and large, they represent a conspicuous attempt to use their gifts to persuade others to see the world through the eyes of unbelief.

Kobe Bryan’s death is a bit of a twist in this narrative. Kobe seemed to be from all the anecdotes spreading on-line and on the news, the kind of guy who expressed genuine interest in others and who cared for others. His competitiveness pushed him into different fields. He was a genuine generalist which I find rather compelling in a figure of such prominence. He understood life as a kind of vehicle to tour the world and bring back souvenirs which would add to his knowledge.

Kobe had conquered his basketball arena and he was ready to taste victory in others. But the Bible is a compelling story of the unexpected. Many have stated how they cannot explain the death of someone who in their mind was meant to live forever. But God’s ways, as the prophet says, often befuddles ours.

There is no doubt he had various stains in his past. Yet, a celebrity married to the same woman for 18 years and fathering 4 daughters from the same woman is a rare kind of combination in the world of Los Angeles. Biographers will have to wrestle and put together a picture of Kobe Bryant that is both fair and realistic.

While many of us, distant admirers of his sheer athleticism and competitiveness, grieve in a very general capacity, there is a mother and three remaining children who grieve in a very profound way. May God be the comfort of the widow and the fatherless.

The loss of life–especially in this sort of tragic ending–calls us to see the world with greater clarity. Perhaps the lesson for us is to care less about the trivial and pour into the lasting. Celebrity or not, we shall give an account.