Sunday, April 22, 2007

Speak now...or forever hold your peace

I attended a wedding yesterday that was quite a joyous affair. I've not been to a wedding this happy in quite a long time - usually there's some flavor of drama going around that tinges the sweetness of the day with the tart pangs of jealousy or family secrets. Not so this time. However, a few things also struck me that I felt like sharing.

1) Something the pastor did say - One of his first comments was that Eve was taken from Adam's Rib... not his feet so she could be walked on; not his hand so she could be held down, not his back so she could follow...but under his arm, so she could be protected, from his side so she could stand as his equal, his companion. That was an interesting way to look at things I thought. Yeah yeah, you guys have heard it all before, but given the ceremony I was in and the mix of Baptist and Episcopalian, I was suprprised that made the cut.

2) Something the pastor didn't say: Nowhere in the ceremony was there any variation on "if anyone aming us knows reason this man and this woman should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace" bit. Possibly because there was no reason whatsoever for anyone to have anything against these two wonderful people, but more than likely because everyone knew coming in, were they to say a word, they'd be in TROUBLE with a capital T!

3) Something the couple did: It's the first time in years I've seen a ceremony include jumping the broom!

4) Something said in a toast: This was the one that really hit me. One of the bride's best friends (the matron of honor) said that God in His wisdom had created him for her and her for him, knowing before the hour of their births what would be the hour of their marriage. Wow! Talk about pre-destination! The Gentleman upstairs has His own agenda, that's true, but I just can't cotton any belief that our lives are SO predetermined that no matter what decisions we make, it's all going to go according to that hour-by-hour plan. To me, that means He knows not only that we will make mistakes (which we do cause we're not perfect), but which mistakes we will make, and how long it will take us to realize we're making a mistake, atone, and find the path He chose again. That just doesn't wash with me.

I bet if we could sneak a peek at His cosmic road map, there's a lot of roads doubling and tripling back on each other as we receive second and third and fourth chances to achieve the happiness we could have. Remind me not to drive that Spaghetti Junction without a GPS and Google Maps!

5 comments:

kenju said...

I think that we are meant to experience certain types of things in our lives, and that those things are ordained before birth. But within that broad spectrum, we are given free will to make our own choices, so that circumstances will change according to whatever choices we make. I don't know how anyone can say that there is an exact time preordained for anything to happen. There is too much chance in the world for that!

Flash said...

Do they make TomTom's for cosmic road maps????????/

Ultra Toast Mosha God said...

Ah, the mysterious Cosmic Road Map.

Only the wisest ever acquire a copy...

Yoda said...

Cosmic Roadmap.

I've got nothing against it per se, but it makes me uncomfortable. Its as if nothing you do really matters, since its all laid out for you in the first place. Even TomTom's need their maps updated every two/three years!

kenju said...

Thanks for the visit and the lovely comment, Claire. I appreciate your passing it on.