I will officiate at two weddings in the next five days. I like weddings. There is no day quite like a wedding day. The wedding day is preceded by months of preparation, hundreds of decisions, managing budgets, managing parents, saying YES to the dress, deciding who is invited and who is left out. There are negotiations and, finally, the invitations are mailed. Of course, there are also bridal showers and bachelor parties, laughter and tears, as well as tense and tender moments.
I like weddings. I almost always shed a tear. That never happened before I had girls of my own. Now I am emotionally vulnerable. I see a father walking that beautiful young lady down the aisle and I struggle to compose myself.
I like weddings. Before God and under the gaze of family members, who do or do not approve, two young or old people pledge their very lives to each other. This is a most beautiful and dangerous thing. I would maintain that this is, in fact, the most dangerous endeavor that anyone will ever undertake.
Going to war, climbing a mountain, getting on a plane, or even jumping out of a plane are far less dangerous than pledging your life and entrusting your heart to another person.
No single event in our lives has so much potential for joy and pain. No single event in our lives leaves us so vulnerable. You could argue that childbirth is more dangerous, but since weddings most often lead to that second irrational decision, I will hold fast to my opinion.
“You are going to do what? Commit your life to that person? You are going to promise to care for them for 60 years? You are going to be there for all of their bad moods and bad days? I know they look good now, but those hairlines and waistlines are going to change.
Let me get this straight…you are going to watch them slow down and get old? You are going to be there when they become forgetful? And then, as a bonus, you are going to stand crying at their graveside? Don’t do it. This is far more dangerous than you understand. Don’t do it.”
I like weddings. I am a Viking after all. I like living on the edge of danger. I enjoy the thrill of being close to insanity. I like weddings. There is no day quite like a wedding day.
See you in Church this Sunday! The text is John 10:10-18.
Love,
