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Something borrowed, something blueFriday, February 8, 2008
Matthew 9:14-15
Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."
It shows in their faces the next day. Picture after picture of smiles that seem to reach clear across from ear to ear. This day after Christmas, the day they begin the joining together that carries them through the rest of their lives, is such a day of rejoicing. No fasting for them on December 26. Plenty of time later for that. Aki lives in Austin, Andi in Champaign ... their parting might be sweet, but it's also sorrow. They'll be mostly apart for awhile yet before their wedding. I remember moments when I didn't want the joy to end but I knew that end was coming. So hard to be there with the moment, with the happiness ... so hard to not give in to the dread, anticipation, the grief of ending. In the tomb the angels told Mary and Peter and John, "Jesus is not here; he is risen." The time had come for mourning, and the disciples collapsed in their grief. But then resurrection caught them off guard, and Jesus, lifted up from death, lifted them up into life. This changes everything. There is no perspective on my life that allows for despair, or even grief. The waiting is over. All my life and always, I am allowed to join with Jesus. He takes us for his bride. We will never again be apart. The triumphant verses of Romans 8 echo in my ears: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). For Andi, for Aki, for all of us, the wedding march is playing. Let all my tears finally be tears of joy, Lord. For your promises are true; you will always be with me. |
When our daughter Andi got engaged to her fiancé Aki, the roof came off her heart. Cheers and shouts of joy rose to the heavens. The four little words, "Will you marry me?" unleashed powerful, wonderful emotions in them both.