ESPN commentator and “First Take” host Stephen A. Smith described a valuable lesson he learned from a pastor just before delivering the eulogy at his father's funeral.
Smith said this in an interview with Sean Hannity. About the new two-part Fox Nation special “Shawn” She was unable to repair her relationship with her father during his lifetime, but in 2018 they “reconciled” on the day of his funeral. Even though it was “not the plan,” Smith said sports media announced that the star wanted to pay his respects to his family.
“These things have been on my mind…I've been suppressing them for years,” Smith recalled telling the pastor before his speech. He told Hannity, a longtime friend, that he disagreed with the way his father treated his mother, saying, “What my father felt, how he acted, what he said compared to what my father did to my mother. It's not a big deal,” he explained.
Stephen A. Smith joins Fox Nation host Sean Hannity for a special, in-depth conversation about his new show, “Sean.” (Fox News)
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But the pastor advised him not to discuss his grievances at his father's funeral.
“He took me to the scriptures in the book of Matthew about forgiveness,” Smith said. “It was about making sure they understood that the power of forgiveness is the ultimate power.”
Smith followed his pastor's advice, choosing more generous language and continuing to pay tribute to his father. I remember him ending his speech with this. “I know there's a lot to complain about, but he was my father and I loved him.”
“I am grateful every day to the pastor who spoke to me that morning, because if I hadn’t had that conversation with him, the pastor my sister Carmen had been listening to on the phone an hour earlier would not have been able to do that memorial service. Because he wouldn't have expressed his intentions.”
Smith also spoke at length about his love for his mother, calling her “the greatest mother I've ever known.” He said he and his sister watched their mother starve “just to make sure she wasn't hungry.”
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ESPN host Stephen A. Smith has appeared numerous times alongside Sean Hannity alongside his regular role in sports media. The photo is from “The Stephen A. Smith Show.'' (Screenshot/YouTube)
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