Redding Wings
My best friend’s wedding was held today.
It has been quite a road, a difficult but beautiful journey, to this day.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I met Nick on a baseball diamond in sixth grade.
How could it be five years ago that we cut so many classes to go to the beach or whatever because we finally had [a] senioritis, [b] drivers’ licenses, and [c] absolutely no accountability?
Was it really only a couple of years ago that we had established a tradition of being home on the weekends to watch Adult Swim together, then go on a four or five-mile walk to talk about what life was like in our different colleges?
I have watched Nick as he has grown from a feisty, insolent, wanna-be gangster into a man who has almost finished a pastoral training program at CBU, working as an associate pastor at an established church, and distinguished by his patience and loyalty and sincere heart for God. I have seen anger become sorrow, hatred become compassion, fear become courage, and above all things, passion become purified love.
In short, I have watched as Nick became a man.
And then he met Christine… this wonderful lady who shook everything in his life up because she fit so well. Everyone who has met Christine can tell that she is really pretty—but Nick instantly saw that she was beautiful. Her heart so deep, her patience so abounding, and above all her sincere faith in Christ were all seen by Nick behind the veneer of physical appeal which seems to stop so many.
This morning, I saw Nick jittery with excitement at the thought of what was to happen in a few brief hours. I was alone with Nick as I have come to know him for the last time this afternoon.
We were in a room off to the side of the sanctuary.
"Hey Buddy," I said.
"Hey Buddy," he replied.
"Are you nervous?"
"Not really, no. I was so nervous all last week, but now I'm just... excited!"
"Man," I replied, "I must be nervous for both of us then." And I was: my heart was beating really fast, and my stomach was in knots.
"Do you have the rings?" he asked.
I checked my pockets, and didn't feel the box where I expected it. For a second there, my heart was just behind my eyeballs until I remembered that I had put the box in the left breast pocket.
There they were.
"Yeah, I've got the rings," I told Nick.
I looked at the clock on the wall, which told me that it was 8:40... just as it had all day long, because it was broken. Still, even though it was still 8:40, I knew that 3:30 was drawing really close.
I heard the door handle turn.
I got up to Nick, and said, “Nick, I am so proud to be your best man. I love you so much.”
"I love you too, Brian."
I hugged him, almost crushing his boutonnière, and then his pastor came in and said that it was time for me to go join the bridal procession.
“Goodbye, Nick, and good luck!” I said over my shoulder as I left the groom’s room.
And then I was walking the maid of honor down the aisle.
And then I was standing next to the same old Nick for one last time, as we both watched in awe as Christine approached.
And before I knew it, the rings were out of my coat pocket.
And then he kissed the bride.
And, in the span of a second, I was standing next to a new Nicholas R_____.
Because now, they were Nicholas and Christine R____. They suddenly shared one name, one life path, one destiny. And I couldn’t be happier for them.
God has truly brought these two together, for better or for worse. They have faced many hardships to reach this day safely, but through perseverence they have overcome every difficulty which has met them. I will guard their marriage as best as I can, all the while realizing every day that this Nick is a new Nick...
Because, with all the finality which a pair of bands on fingers can bring, Nick has joined Christine such as he has never joined someone before.
A hard realization, when I have invested so much in a single friendship for eleven years… for over half of my life. I have hitherto been the primary voice of affirmation, rebuke, praise, gratitude, sorrow, and joy.
But now, they are Nick and Christine R____. They are a new creation.
As the best man and best friend of the groom, I had the privilege of offering the first toast to Nick and Christine R____. I told him all I could while on a microphone, but it's pretty damned hard to represent the world of collected emotion and experience from eleven years in the span of two minutes.
Man, time flies far.
Godspeed, Nick and Christine. I eagerly wait to see where God takes you in this world.
[tick]
brian
It has been quite a road, a difficult but beautiful journey, to this day.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I met Nick on a baseball diamond in sixth grade.
How could it be five years ago that we cut so many classes to go to the beach or whatever because we finally had [a] senioritis, [b] drivers’ licenses, and [c] absolutely no accountability?
Was it really only a couple of years ago that we had established a tradition of being home on the weekends to watch Adult Swim together, then go on a four or five-mile walk to talk about what life was like in our different colleges?
I have watched Nick as he has grown from a feisty, insolent, wanna-be gangster into a man who has almost finished a pastoral training program at CBU, working as an associate pastor at an established church, and distinguished by his patience and loyalty and sincere heart for God. I have seen anger become sorrow, hatred become compassion, fear become courage, and above all things, passion become purified love.
In short, I have watched as Nick became a man.
And then he met Christine… this wonderful lady who shook everything in his life up because she fit so well. Everyone who has met Christine can tell that she is really pretty—but Nick instantly saw that she was beautiful. Her heart so deep, her patience so abounding, and above all her sincere faith in Christ were all seen by Nick behind the veneer of physical appeal which seems to stop so many.
This morning, I saw Nick jittery with excitement at the thought of what was to happen in a few brief hours. I was alone with Nick as I have come to know him for the last time this afternoon.
We were in a room off to the side of the sanctuary.
"Hey Buddy," I said.
"Hey Buddy," he replied.
"Are you nervous?"
"Not really, no. I was so nervous all last week, but now I'm just... excited!"
"Man," I replied, "I must be nervous for both of us then." And I was: my heart was beating really fast, and my stomach was in knots.
"Do you have the rings?" he asked.
I checked my pockets, and didn't feel the box where I expected it. For a second there, my heart was just behind my eyeballs until I remembered that I had put the box in the left breast pocket.
There they were.
"Yeah, I've got the rings," I told Nick.
I looked at the clock on the wall, which told me that it was 8:40... just as it had all day long, because it was broken. Still, even though it was still 8:40, I knew that 3:30 was drawing really close.
I heard the door handle turn.
I got up to Nick, and said, “Nick, I am so proud to be your best man. I love you so much.”
"I love you too, Brian."
I hugged him, almost crushing his boutonnière, and then his pastor came in and said that it was time for me to go join the bridal procession.
“Goodbye, Nick, and good luck!” I said over my shoulder as I left the groom’s room.
And then I was walking the maid of honor down the aisle.
And then I was standing next to the same old Nick for one last time, as we both watched in awe as Christine approached.
And before I knew it, the rings were out of my coat pocket.
And then he kissed the bride.
And, in the span of a second, I was standing next to a new Nicholas R_____.
Because now, they were Nicholas and Christine R____. They suddenly shared one name, one life path, one destiny. And I couldn’t be happier for them.
God has truly brought these two together, for better or for worse. They have faced many hardships to reach this day safely, but through perseverence they have overcome every difficulty which has met them. I will guard their marriage as best as I can, all the while realizing every day that this Nick is a new Nick...
Because, with all the finality which a pair of bands on fingers can bring, Nick has joined Christine such as he has never joined someone before.
A hard realization, when I have invested so much in a single friendship for eleven years… for over half of my life. I have hitherto been the primary voice of affirmation, rebuke, praise, gratitude, sorrow, and joy.
But now, they are Nick and Christine R____. They are a new creation.
As the best man and best friend of the groom, I had the privilege of offering the first toast to Nick and Christine R____. I told him all I could while on a microphone, but it's pretty damned hard to represent the world of collected emotion and experience from eleven years in the span of two minutes.
Man, time flies far.
Godspeed, Nick and Christine. I eagerly wait to see where God takes you in this world.
[tick]
brian
posted by brian at
10:34 PM
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