[Note: August is a month for weddings; we married on the 7th, 60 years ago.
This selection from Talking with God was recently shared, in part, during the wedding
of our granddaughter Lucy to Ami in their home state of Washington.
I dedicate it to all 20017 wedding couples; but even after 60 years of marriage, the
prayer still blesses us. May it do so for others too.]
This selection from Talking with God was recently shared, in part, during the wedding
of our granddaughter Lucy to Ami in their home state of Washington.
I dedicate it to all 20017 wedding couples; but even after 60 years of marriage, the
prayer still blesses us. May it do so for others too.]
I don’t know how many weddings you attended, Lord. In Galilee ,
I mean.
I’d think, though, after that sensation in Cana ,
you’d be a popular wedding guest.
Fathers of the bride would vie for your services.
After all, turning water into wine would knock a big chunk
off the total wedding tab.
But we don’t read of any repeat performance.
Maybe you sent your regrets to all the invitations?
I hope you still get invited to lots of weddings.
There’s been a spate of them again this summer.
And I hope you sent regrets for none! For what’s a wedding without the presence of
the Lord of wine, but especially the Lord of Love?
Where does love come from if not from the Maker of man and woman,
whom he meant to become one flesh. And
when He gave one to the other, I can imagine that the Creator himself threw
Adam and Eve a Garden Party that’s never been equaled in extravagance of sheer
beauty and loveliness.
So when bride and groom vow to love each other, to honor and
respect each other, to serve and support each other—what would be the weight of
all those wonderful words if not said in the name of the Lord?
I hope you were the unseen Host at lots of weddings, Lord.
But when a wedding is over, marriage begins, even when
there’s a honeymoon. Two lives trying to
become one.
Not exactly like two streams coming together to form one
river. Not exactly like two lumps of
clay kneaded into one.
More like a pair of horses harnessed together to pull the
same carriage. Or two people trying to
row the same boat as a team.
That takes some learning!
That’s when those wedding vows get tested.
For Lord, you do not expect the two to cease being uniquely
themselves, but that they, as themselves, learn to be husband and wife who are
building a relationship, and a life, which reflect the Lord of Love and Life.
Remind them, Lord, that truly loving each other must be
learned anew each day, a love that will override the differences that
inevitably surface, that will not be waylaid by personal pettiness or a
fault-finder’s tongue.
We long for an ideal world where all vows are kept, Lord,
where the temperature of love is constant, even when moods swing and the
piled-up frustrations of the day are not left behind.
But Lord, you know that we seldom manage to be ideal people
for very long.
Dear Lord, keep strong the wedding vows of love pledged in
your name.
Help to ward off the invading plagues that can unravel the
fabric of a solid marriage, like jealousy, insecurity, inattention,
insensitivity, and distrust.
Help all be faithful in what they promised to each other: to
honor and respect the other, in word and deed; to serve each other with a
giving heart; to support each other when pain and burdens impose their weight.
And Lord, help those who are married to build a life
together that’s marked by concern not only for each other, but for others too:
a life of compassion for those who suffer, of fervor for seeing justice done,
of ardor for the cause of peace, of longing for shalom. T
Thus may their love flourish and their light shine!
Thus may their love flourish and their light shine!
Lord, hear our prayer.
