Hello there,I only had room for 350 guests. So, I couldn’t invite all of you, but I wanted to find a way to make you feel like you were there with us. So here are lots of pictures and my little bit of a walking tour for you.
I called the celebration IMAGINE THAT.
When you invite people to come you really don’t know who will show up. So, I was so honored and moved when I saw Will Smith, Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson, Oprah, Ruby Dee, Danny Glover, Usher, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige and on and on and on. They all came to celebrate with me. Isn’t that the coolest thing?
We started at 6:00p.m. with a walking tour of the studio. Then we did a presentation with fireworks. Tamar Davis sang THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM here on the pond.
We flew in over just under a million flowers for this event from all over the world. I called this moment TAKING TIME TO SMELL THE FLOWERS. Then we went onto the backlot, and I dedicated 3 of the 5 sound stages. One to Ms. Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, and then the next to Ms. Cicely Tyson, and the last was the moment when I lost it. When Sir Sidney Poitier took the platform for his dedication, I lost it. There was not a dry eye there.
Then we had dinner, and afterwards I raised the roof, literally, in the place and Mary J. took us home with an hour-long concert. Then John Legend sang. Then Patti LaBelle and Gladys. Oh my God!
Then on Sunday I invited everyone to my house for the Gospel Brunch. Now, I used to be ashamed to let people see how blessed I am. Ain’t that crazy! So I wouldn’t show anything. I would hide it. Now I know that was wrong because how can people be inspired if they don’t see? So here are some pictures of my house from the Sunday Gospel Brunch, and I would only show these to you.
I hope this made you feel like you were there somehow because I carried each and every one of you there with me in my heart. And the thing that made me so emotional was knowing that it was all of you. Before any of these folks knew me you were right there coming to see me. Crowding into theaters, like the Saenger, the Kodak, the Beacon, the Merriam, the Regal, the Warner, the Hampton Coliseum, and the Fox. Some kid from New Orleans! Oh God, that makes me full.
Listen to me when I tell you this. Hear me clearly please. DREAM, DREAMER!
There is a scripture in the bible where God asks Moses, “What is that in your hand?” And then there is another scripture that says your gift will make room for you. And what that is saying is, God is not trying to get information. He knows what’s in your hand already, but he wants you to know it. So, what I’m asking you today is, “What’s in your hand? What gifts do you have that you are sitting on?” Use them and they will take you to your destiny.
Don’t worry about what’s going on or how many people there are who may have what looks to be the same gift. YOUR GIFT will make room for YOU if you believe and faint not. And listen, be careful who you share your dreams with, because there are people who don’t know how to dream and will try to discourage you. That’s okay. Sometimes only you and God have to know. And if He is for you then show me one human being that can stand against you.
Everybody who left my house on Sunday after the Gospel Brunch was so excited because they all got uplifted. They all felt like they could dream again. The last thing that Oprah said to me before she left was even she was inspired to dream a bigger dream. Imagine that!
Tyler
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