Wayman: Great man, great faith
It’s impossible for a few words to capture the essence of Wayman Tisdale — even a few thousand words.
That many and more have been written and printed and said and broadcast since Tisdale’s unexpected death on Friday. Still, it hasn’t been enough to cover every angle and explore every aspect of his life. That’s because he was so great in so many ways.
He was a basketball player, a jazz musician, an Oklahoma ambassador, a great humanitarian and so much more.
But one thing that permeated every aspect of who Tisdale was — his faith.
Tisdale grew up the son of a Tulsa preacher. He went to Sunday school and Wednesday services. He was there every time the doors were open. So, it’s fitting that when he first took up guitar, he honed those skills in church. He played in the worship band.
His father didn’t want him playing with a band outside of church. Papa Tisdale knew the problems that could arise for a teenager in a band.
Wayman’s faith impacted more than early days of his music. Everything that Wayman did, he did to the best of his ability. Basketball. Music. Being a husband. Being a father. Fighting cancer. He did everything at a world-class level, and if you listened closely to him, you know why.
His faith.
He talked about not having a spirit of fear, and that included shooting for the highest level possible, refusing to take his gifts for granted and dreaming the big dreams. Wayman didn’t wear his faith on his sleeve. He didn’t go around preaching or spouting scripture. What he did was live his faith.
Sometimes, that’s a much tougher thing to do.
Last Friday morning, the world lost a great jazz musician, a great basketball legend and a great smile. But it also lost a man of great faith.
One thing does not capture the essence of Wayman Tisdale, but his faith was at the heart of who he was.
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