Joy and Pain on Christmas Day

It's been a very different, but wonderful, Christmas for us this year. For starters, my wife's mother, Josiane, is with us. It's not rare for her to be with us, but this is the first time in a while she's been here for Christmas. It's made the holidays very special.

Secondly, as some of you know, we spent Christmas Day in Las Vegas with our dear friends Matt Taylor and Angie Kwik, where I performed their wedding and my girls were the flower girls. It was such a beatiful and classy affair. I've never encountered a more organized bride than Angie. Every detail was perfect. It was an absolutely beautiful day. You can see a short clip from the ceremony below (taken, by the way, by Elysabeth on my new toy I received for Christmas).
Angie Kwik/Matt Taylor Wedding from Ryan Bell on Vimeo.

The entire event was held in the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. We had the privilege of staying in the hotel for the two nights we were there and we felt so spoiled. We lived like royalty.

Contrast this with the news I received on Christmas Day, just hours before the wedding began. I received an email from another Hollywood member, Pierre Auguste, who shared that his wife Ruth's mother and brother were tragically killed that morning while driving to New Jersey from Boston, when a tree blew over and landed on their car. I can't imagine a more random and freak accident.

Once again I was struck by the contrasts that we live with in our world. Here I was, standing in a beautiful hotel suite at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas, watching my daughters get their hair done, just hours before one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been a part of, when another friend emails to say his wife's mother and brother have tragically lost their life. All on one Christmas Day. It was so difficult for me to hold both of those events in my heart at the same time. I wanted to push away the bad news to make room from the event I was about to participate in. How could I experience both of these at the same time.

But this is life, isn't it? Full of both beauty and tragedy. Joy and pain. Life as well as death. For my friends Ruth and Pierre and their family, Christmas will always remind them of the tragic loss of their family members. For Matt and Angie it will be their wedding anniversary. We are called to live with both of these realities and be with people through both of these experiences.

I was also aware in that moment that these two events on one Christmas Day represented the range of people's experience of the holidays. Some have warm and wonderful memories. Others hope the season will pass quickly.

How can people of faith be present to people in both sets of circumstances? How do these two experiences call the church to live with and for these members of our community? I'll be thinking about these and other questions for some time to come.

UPDATE: Here is a news story about the tragic accident.

Comments

[Jeff Gang]

How tragic and random, I will keep the family in my prayers. So strange, I was reading Google news Christmas night, usually things in NJ catch my attention, as did this story. As I read through it I discovered the SDA connection. Little did I know they were connected to your members. Grace and peace during this difficult time.

[Ryan Bell]

Hey Jeff, do you have the link to that story? I'd love to read it. Thanks!