Run Don't Hide

If like me, you eschew cable television and/or have aged out of MTV, you may have missed the first two seasons of Run's House, a reality show following the mostly ordinary lives of 1/2 of the pioneering hip-hop group Run D.M.C., his wife and five kids.

Outside of the fact that the family lives in a mansion and Run's brother, Russell Simmons stops by every now and then, the fact that the family has more than 2.5 kids makes them unusual. The fact that Run is an ordained minister and didn't buy his mansion with money from the church makes them remarkably unusual. ;)

Anyhoo, I've only seen one episode of the show so I'm not quite sure how I came across this article the other day. It may have been the headline: Death Comes to the Reverend that got my attention. And this quote that stuck with me:

I told them, ‘This is what life is about. I may be famous, I may be rich, I may have bling, but tragedy comes to my door just as it does anybody else’s, and that’s a message that cannot be pressed hard enough in today’s society where celebrities are so much on a pedestal.’

Basically, Run and his wife Justine found out mid-pregnancy that their child had omphalocele, an often fatal condition which causes the baby's organs to grow outside its body. They decided not to share the news with their kids or the MTV crew and staff. The baby was born prematurely and lived only two hours.

MTV asked if the family wanted the cameras turned off. Their answer: no. “How could I let the TV cameras in when me and my family were out bowling and laughing and not let them in when we suffering and grieving? Life does not work like that,’’ Simmons told NEWSWEEK.

Wow.

“We knew of families that had similar bad news before their babies were born and everything turned out fine,’’ says Justine. “We had our faith, and our faith told us that God could give us a miracle and this baby could be a healthy baby born with no problems. That’s the attitude we took.’’

A faith that cannot withstand sorrow, cannot stand at all. I agree wholeheartedly with their decision. There's another quote in the article about not wanting other people's negative opinions about their choice to weigh them down. I'll not engage a discussion on the morality of abortion here but I will say this: I applaud their courage and tenacity at weathering the storm and seeing it through, rather than seeking an artificial resolution.