Last weekend I flew to Atlanta to officiate at the wedding of Lonnie and Shekema. I was one of Lonnie's youth ministry leaders when he was a teenager. In Atlanta, or East Point, Georgia to be more precise is where my journey in the ELCA began, where I first realized God's love, where I once served as the Pilot Project Coordinator of Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta (LTCA). It is where my love for God was first made manifest in the work of ministry. I coordinated projects for African American Lutherans in the Southeast Synod and developed a passion for youth ministry. But I am getting away from the point.
Over the last six months, I have had a few conversations with the couple and discovered that despite what others would see as overwhelming obstacles, they are indeed in love. I know that somehow Lonnie learned about love not only from his family, but also as he grew up in and around the church; his mother is one of my pastoral colleague. From conversations with the bride, I gathered that Kema has a clear sense of God's presence in her life. They chose Colossians 3:12-14 as the scripture reading for their day.
Such good advice resides in these few verses. Paul writes about our relationship to God and with one another. He admonishes us to remember whose we are, always to forgive each other, and to hold love as central. Of course, he is not specifically talking to a couple about to be wed, but these verses do apply.
No words that I could come up with would serve this young couple better. After all what do I know? I haven't been so successful at matrimony myself. Yet, I have seen great examples of love and faithfulness, first from God and then from those around me. Through others I have learned how possible it is to love and care for someone for a lifetime. ---- I listen as a wife tells of the over 45 years that she and her husband have had together. I witness in her face the agony of having him with her no longer. Yet, there lingers satisfaction in her weak smile as she remembers their good times together. ---- I have watched as a husband patiently encourages and cares for his wife as she struggles with insecurities and illness. ---- I have even witnessed the love between couples whose kids take up all their energy and yet, date night and stolen moments keep them.
Yes, the wedding this past weekend is an another example of loves possibilities, scripture proclaims them and life bares them out.
Where have you seen the possibilities of love?
No comments:
Post a Comment