Ministry helps Della Reese touch others through work
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, April 04, 2008
Repeats of "Touched by an Angel" can be found weekdays on the Hallmark Channel. Della Reese was one of its stars.
Are you surrounded by negative people who drag you down?
"Don't let them have any power over you," Della Reese insists. "We give them the power to rattle us up. But you've got two legs. Put one in front of the other and walk away. You can move from negativity to a place of peace."
The gospel according to Della? Nope, just another life lesson the singer and actress has learned.
Through more than 60 years in show business, the former star of "Touched by an Angel" has amassed a mountaintop of inspiration. And now, as the minister of Understanding Principles for Better Living, a church in Los Angeles, she has been able to put the experiences in play and show just how valuable trust in God can be.
"I have asked for some things and said, 'Father, if I don't have this, I will die...you must give me this' and I didn't get them," Reese says by phone from her home. "Four or five years later, I saw that thing I thought I had to have and my prayer became, 'Thank you God for not giving me that.' It just takes time."
At age 6, the former Delloreese Patricia Early began singing in church. At 13, gospel legend Mahalia Jackson hired her and the die was cast. "We traveled by car and I realized suffering is not my long suit. I found I could make a living singing."
Ministry was always a part of her life but, back, then "women were not allowed in the pulpit." The Rev. Johnnie Colemon, however, was preaching a message that wasn't fire and brimstone, but comfort and love. "She said God wasn't my enemy. She said God loved me and wanted the very best for me. He wanted me to have an abundant life...and no one had said that since my mama." While making hit records and starring in television shows, Reese decided to get the background that would let her teach. "During 'Chico and the Man,' I'd fly to Chicago, take lessons all day Saturday and fly back Sunday until I got my teacher license." When friends asked her to preside at their wedding -- they didn't like the "until death do us part" clause -- she emphasized the positive -- "as long as we both shall live" -- and came face-to-face with a minister who tried to cast a pall on the ceremony and accuse the couple of shortchanging their life together. When another questioned her view of eternity at a
funeral, Reese knew "I need to have more credentials." She got her degree in ministry, earned a doctorate and pressed on.
Entertainment? "It's not a means to an end," she says. "It has been wonderful to me. I needed all the experiences I've had because they help me tell what God has done in my life. When you're telling the truth, it resounds in people."
"Touched by an Angel," which ran for nine seasons on CBS, enabled Reese to combine both worlds in one.
She and Roma Downey became such good friends Reese presided at the actress' marriage to Mark Burnett, the creator of "Survivor."
"Roma is like my daughter," she says. "I see her quite often. I haven't seen John Dye as often as I'd like but he likes to go to small places outside the country. I hear from the crew all the time. We were such a close family."
And now? Reese is working on the script for another series, one about a woman who's able to touch people. Yes, she'd star in it.
But writing, acting, singing, preaching and teaching? Isn't that a lot? She laughs. "I don't find it a problem to rest. If your body says you need to rest, then you lie down...even if it's only 2 o'clock.
"I do what I want to do. I enjoy my husband, my children, my life and my house. In my career, I've had wonderful days and down days. I was not an overnight sensation and I've learned to adjust."
Too many young performers -- the Britney/Lindsay/Amys of the business -- go from nothing to everything. "That gap is so vast. You don't know what to do. You started with 3, 5, 7 people appreciating you and now, there are thousands. It's so big, you don't know what to do and you do dumb things, silly things and, eventually, you grow out of that."
Reese saw the phenomenon first hand when she starred with Freddie Prinze on "Chico and the Man." "He was in that gap. He came from East L.A. one week and the next week he was performing for the president of the United States. He didn't intend to kill himself. He just needed to entertain at all times."
Redd Foxx -- a close friend and co-star -- also had the need to please. "He would do anything to help you," Reese says. "If you came up and said you needed money, he would reach in his pocket and give you what he had. When he started doing 'Sanford and Son' he brought up all those people who had been in the street with him. He was a magnificent man."
Reese's life also has had its share of challenges. "I've been robbed, beaten and confused," she says. "I've doubted God. I've expected God to make common sense and God is not common in his sense. I've wanted to treat him like my lackey boy. But I've never been mad at God.
"I realize Jesus saves. The Bible doesn't say, 'Della saves.' When I speak in church, all I have to do is tell the truth. I can only give you the information. It takes God to give you the revelation."
Who: Della Reese, speaking at the Women's Power Luncheon
When: 11:30 a.m. April 10
Where: Marina Inn Convention Center
Tickets: Call 255-3551
Details: The "Touched By an Angel" star speaks on "courage and character" as part of the annual luncheon. She has been nominated for several Grammys and Emmys and is currently serving a congregation in Los Angeles.
"Don't let them have any power over you," Della Reese insists. "We give them the power to rattle us up. But you've got two legs. Put one in front of the other and walk away. You can move from negativity to a place of peace."
The gospel according to Della? Nope, just another life lesson the singer and actress has learned.
Through more than 60 years in show business, the former star of "Touched by an Angel" has amassed a mountaintop of inspiration. And now, as the minister of Understanding Principles for Better Living, a church in Los Angeles, she has been able to put the experiences in play and show just how valuable trust in God can be.
"I have asked for some things and said, 'Father, if I don't have this, I will die...you must give me this' and I didn't get them," Reese says by phone from her home. "Four or five years later, I saw that thing I thought I had to have and my prayer became, 'Thank you God for not giving me that.' It just takes time."
At age 6, the former Delloreese Patricia Early began singing in church. At 13, gospel legend Mahalia Jackson hired her and the die was cast. "We traveled by car and I realized suffering is not my long suit. I found I could make a living singing."
Ministry was always a part of her life but, back, then "women were not allowed in the pulpit." The Rev. Johnnie Colemon, however, was preaching a message that wasn't fire and brimstone, but comfort and love. "She said God wasn't my enemy. She said God loved me and wanted the very best for me. He wanted me to have an abundant life...and no one had said that since my mama." While making hit records and starring in television shows, Reese decided to get the background that would let her teach. "During 'Chico and the Man,' I'd fly to Chicago, take lessons all day Saturday and fly back Sunday until I got my teacher license." When friends asked her to preside at their wedding -- they didn't like the "until death do us part" clause -- she emphasized the positive -- "as long as we both shall live" -- and came face-to-face with a minister who tried to cast a pall on the ceremony and accuse the couple of shortchanging their life together. When another questioned her view of eternity at a
funeral, Reese knew "I need to have more credentials." She got her degree in ministry, earned a doctorate and pressed on.
Entertainment? "It's not a means to an end," she says. "It has been wonderful to me. I needed all the experiences I've had because they help me tell what God has done in my life. When you're telling the truth, it resounds in people."
"Touched by an Angel," which ran for nine seasons on CBS, enabled Reese to combine both worlds in one.
She and Roma Downey became such good friends Reese presided at the actress' marriage to Mark Burnett, the creator of "Survivor."
"Roma is like my daughter," she says. "I see her quite often. I haven't seen John Dye as often as I'd like but he likes to go to small places outside the country. I hear from the crew all the time. We were such a close family."
And now? Reese is working on the script for another series, one about a woman who's able to touch people. Yes, she'd star in it.
But writing, acting, singing, preaching and teaching? Isn't that a lot? She laughs. "I don't find it a problem to rest. If your body says you need to rest, then you lie down...even if it's only 2 o'clock.
"I do what I want to do. I enjoy my husband, my children, my life and my house. In my career, I've had wonderful days and down days. I was not an overnight sensation and I've learned to adjust."
Too many young performers -- the Britney/Lindsay/Amys of the business -- go from nothing to everything. "That gap is so vast. You don't know what to do. You started with 3, 5, 7 people appreciating you and now, there are thousands. It's so big, you don't know what to do and you do dumb things, silly things and, eventually, you grow out of that."
Reese saw the phenomenon first hand when she starred with Freddie Prinze on "Chico and the Man." "He was in that gap. He came from East L.A. one week and the next week he was performing for the president of the United States. He didn't intend to kill himself. He just needed to entertain at all times."
Redd Foxx -- a close friend and co-star -- also had the need to please. "He would do anything to help you," Reese says. "If you came up and said you needed money, he would reach in his pocket and give you what he had. When he started doing 'Sanford and Son' he brought up all those people who had been in the street with him. He was a magnificent man."
Reese's life also has had its share of challenges. "I've been robbed, beaten and confused," she says. "I've doubted God. I've expected God to make common sense and God is not common in his sense. I've wanted to treat him like my lackey boy. But I've never been mad at God.
"I realize Jesus saves. The Bible doesn't say, 'Della saves.' When I speak in church, all I have to do is tell the truth. I can only give you the information. It takes God to give you the revelation."
Who: Della Reese, speaking at the Women's Power Luncheon
When: 11:30 a.m. April 10
Where: Marina Inn Convention Center
Tickets: Call 255-3551
Details: The "Touched By an Angel" star speaks on "courage and character" as part of the annual luncheon. She has been nominated for several Grammys and Emmys and is currently serving a congregation in Los Angeles.
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