Monday, August 08, 2005

For a change, weddings this summer have been my beacons for worship. Normally this isn't the case (at least, not in my experience). All too often, they are cheapened down ceremonies of people's so-called "loves" finding each other with little or no accountability from family, friends, God, or the Church. Obviously, I'm not talking about people's lack of reverence for sacred spaces (because I'm not sure if that should even be a priority) but moreso I'm talking about the attitudes, motives, intentions, and thoughts found inside most of the people gathering around the wedding altar. But this is not the way it was meant to be. This is not what happens when the full spectrums of joy and pain, love and hate, cruelty and forgiveness come together under the recognized and received grace of God. What happens when we enter into this grace (or rather, receive and accept that it is already there and realize how we can do nothing without it) is how every wedding I attended this summer mirrored so beautifully.

Instead of splintered communions between strained faiths or no faiths at all, there was love. Instead of sharing a meal with a total stranger being as agonizing as getting fillings at the dentist, there was peace. And instead of self-centered receipients in attendence, there truly seemed to be the Holy Spirit dancing between the bride and groom.

It's no wonder then that at each one of these joyous occassions, I found myself soaring like a baby bird flying successfully for the first time. I found myself meeting and making new friends---not ones to be easily forgotten but to be quickly cherished. And now, I thank God for it all.

1 comment:

Chalupa said...

I would like to echo your thoughts about cool, meaningful, God-centered weddings Neville. I've been to a ton of weddings since being in college, some back at home and most for Taylor people and you can really tell a difference between them. I think that difference is God working in and through people's lives. It's so apparent yet so hard to describe accurately.