“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Psalm 43:5
Wow!!! What a wedding!! It is so amazing what God will do in the midst of the planned/unplanned chaos of a wedding. A marriage service of a couple is kind of like a multicolored oriental fan that opens at no particular predicted speed or measurable distance. This fan opens to reveal marriages of memories, marriages of dreams, unions of the past, amendments for the future, re-unions of personalities and faith … on and on the list could go. At times, like last night, I officiate.
My total intention, as one that is privileged to perform weddings from time to time, is to somehow marry the hearts of all the people amidst these events to the ultimate groom ... Jesus. Though the service will be short and a lot less stuffy than your typical “do it by the book” wedding, it will still funnel down to that time of “ Let me introduce to you ... for the first time on this side of Heaven ... Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Hopeful”. At this point the collision of all the ingredients breathe a sigh of relief with cries of “We made it!” and the ceremony turns to celebration. At this time my attention turns to the people around me: I pray, observe, groan, laugh, cry, and imagine the veil pulled back as eternity joins the event. Remember: This event, should be where the lives of two believers become one, and as such, this is an event that God jealously guards over, “what God hath joined together let no man put asunder.
There was a Couple that caught much of my attention throughout the night. The husband was obviously the caregiver, and his wife was fairly oblivious to the events unfolding around her. She had to be physically encouraged through all the movements of the evening to perform the basic functions like ... sitting, walking, and eating. But with every “you are beautiful” came a satisfied smile with an almost kiss like expression from her radiant face. Her lips would form words like “I love you too!”. Her daughters pampered and doted over her to let her constantly know she was loved. Her son-n-laws were the objects of her winking and blown kisses. Her husband tried hard to enjoy the moment but the weight of his burden, his bride failing, kept his heart heavy which was evident by the looks on his face.
As “His Bride failing” heard the music and watched the people on the wedding dance floor, her legs and feet began to twitch to the beat of the music. She kept smiling and leaning to her husband in this euphoric state with coaxing facial expressions and imploring eye movements ... “Let's Dance”. You could visually see his emotional distress because he knew how hard it was just to get her to walk. She had lost all bias of style and genre of music; disco, rock, country, hip-hop, techno ...she wanted it all – All she wanted to do is dance ... “Let's dance”. Her daughters seeing this desire, helped their Mother to the floor. Although it wasn't a dance that would ever be emulated on Dancing With the Stars, it was a beautiful fragile movement around the room that would fill this “bride failing” with a moment of wonderful memories that would thrill her if but for that moment.
As I watched her daughters joyfully and tearfully support their Mother in this moment of their Mother's desire to dance, I saw a glimpse of Heaven. Jesus' “Bride failing”, faltering but hearing the music of Heaven ... wanting to dance ... having no lasting strength of our own ... but He calls for a loving rescue team to help us to our feet and holds us as we dance a dance of feeble praise. Tears fall from Heaven as He hears our cries, our desires to be with Him ... “Lets Dance!” “Let's Dance!” the time has come ... “Let's Dance!”
HLFA,
Jeff