CELEBRATION!

Today I am still smiling...smiling broadly, my heart overflowing with
joy. You see, last evening, at seven o'clock, I had the great honor,
privilege, gift, of presiding at the wedding of two wonderful friends
whose lives have been intermingled for the last eighteen years.
Greg and Tim were finally able to publicly acknowledge their union
and there were any number of moist eyes in the chapel, including
my own, as they exchanged vows and rings. There was so much
love abounding in that room that I could feel it...quite literally, feel it.
And the blessing of the God of Love and Grace was surely, truly
present, flowing over and around and from these two very special
individuals who pledged their union before that same God and
those of us privileged to be gathered as witnesses.

Now, I have never particularly enjoyed presiding at weddings. Give
me a baptism or a funeral any day. Wedding directors and, all too
frequently, mothers of the bride, can drive me up the wall, as the
emphasis seems to shift from the concept of wedding as worship
to wedding as spectacle. Not so last evening. In the small, lovely,
and intimate chapel at our church, lighted by two dozen small
votive candles and the light of the gloaming shining through colored
windows, these two dear men, in the company of a dozen people
who love them, spoke simply, voices filled with emotion, faces
shining with love and hope and promise- and amazement. Yes,
amazement that such a thing could actually be taking place- here,
now, at this very.moment in time.

Who would ever have thought that in my twenty-five years of
ministry, my favorite wedding would be this one? The joining of two
precious male friends whose love and commitment through thick
and thin, through good times and bad, has already made of their
relationship a holy union. My words and theirs were simply affirming
the reality of what already is- two lives joined on this often-rocky
path called Life, sharing willingly and lovingly all that is to come.
And looking back at the long and difficult road to get to this place
culturally and legislatively, I could not help being both amazed and
awed that this has happened in my lifetime, this affirmation of the
legitimacy of love, whatever form it takes between two people.

Blessings, my dear friends. May you always be as happy and filled
with joy as you were on Saturday, March 28, 2015. And thank you
for according me the great honor of ministering to you in this way.
I will cherish that gift always.