This past Sunday night after the children’s Christmas program, Vicki sat down to watch the Miss Universe Pageant. After the pageant was over Vicki shared with me the mistake that Steve Harvey made in announcing the wrong winner. Naturally my heart was filled with empathy for both Miss Colombia and Steve Harvey.
As I reflected on the story I tried to put myself in each of the shoes of those who were impacted by Harvey’s mistake. First I put myself in the shoes of Mr. Harvey and discovered they fit quite comfortably. See, although slightly different; I could easily identify with Harvey because you all know how many times I have called a person by the wrong name. (I will be forever indebted to AJ and Mary Brands and their sons).
I can only imagine the dark feelings of shame and embarrassment that likely washed over Harvey when he realized his mistake. And having made those kinds of blunders myself, I wondered if he immediately began concocting ideas in his mind of how to cover up his bungle in order to salvage his good name. But in the end I appreciated his simple humility in that he admitted his mistake and apologized to Miss Colombia.
Then I tried to put myself in Miss Colombia’s shoes. I began to imagine her feelings of shock after realizing the error was no prank. What, was she having a bad dream, or worse yet a nightmare? I imagined the feelings of jubilation and victory drain from her heart as quickly as the air escaping from an untied balloon.
And then I imagined the shock turning to anger; were her initial thoughts towards Harvey, “What, you incompetent idiot, how could you do this to me”? But not so with her, after stepping back and carefully processing the offense, Ariadna Gutierrez chose the better response by accepting Harvey’s apology with love and grace. In fact, when Ariadna was asked how she felt about the experience, part of her response was that she just cherished the few minutes she was Miss Universe. What a powerful response!
Next I put myself in the shoes of the world-wide audience and tried to imagine all the responses; responses ranging from “who really cares” to “Steve Harvey should be severely punished for his epic failure.” As I read a variety of ugly responses to Harvey’s mistake, I was reminded of how many people have yet to experience healing from such kinds of injustices in their own lives. As I continued to reflect on my own thoughts towards Harvey and Miss Columbia, the Spirit reminded me of the powerful truth from I Peter 4:8, “Above all love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins.”
And then finally I put myself in the shoes of Miss Philippines who wrongfully discovered she has lost, but then surprisingly and correctly was declared the winner. Imagine her roller coaster ride of emotions; first sinking deeply into disappointment but then immediately being resurrected by feelings of overwhelming joy and gratitude.
The experience for Pia Alonzo had to be much like that of Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus. At first struggling with the deep disillusionment and disappointment of the loss of Jesus’ on the cross, their hearts were soon overcome with joy when the Holy Spirit opened their eyes to see that Jesus had in fact defeated sin and death.
This story offers two possible resolutions for the New Year. First, make the choice to always love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. And secondly, when you chose to allow Christ to live his life through you, you will always win!
Happy New Year! Mike Altena