I had this good friend from seminary. After I graduated, I didn’t hear from him for a few years when out of the blue, I get this phone call. He’s engaged and he wants me to officiate. And I didn’t even know he was seeing anyone! Never having met the bride-to-be, we did all of our planning and getting to know you business over the phone. The wedding would be in July in Milwaukee and they found a beautiful rock garden to have the service in – everything was all arranged. Except that her family came from a tradition that didn’t ordain women, so heads up about that. And the rock garden was, well, a garden. So, there were no electrical outlets, therefore, no microphones or sound system available. And, surprise, surprise, there’s also a water feature – a waterfall that was – surprisingly noisy – just behind where they wanted to be wed. And I know you Oklahomans are thinking, “an outdoor wedding in July?! Well, there’s a crap shoot for scorching temps.” Except that this is Milwaukee – so far north of here! Who would worry about such things? Well, we should have because it was about 90 degrees with 73% humidity. That might not sound like much compared to Oklahoma summers, but you know Northerners are just not as well equipped to deal with the heat!
So picture us there, the day of the ceremony. Family is meeting family, the groomsmen are sweating through their long-sleeved suit jackets, the bridal party’s waterproof makeup is working overtime to keep from melting in the muggy, heavy, heat, and I swear I’m practically yelling to be heard over the waterfall: “Jane, do you take George to be your husband…” It was quite possibly the least professional-looking moment of my pastoral career to date. But if you think that this is a sad story about how my friend’s wedding was ruined, you would be totally wrong. Because they wanted to get married that day surrounded by friends and family and that’s exactly what they were doing. They wanted to be together and the joy of their love was the only thing that they could see as they gazed into one another’s eyes. And when they said their vows to one another, they didn’t shout so that everyone could hear. They spoke in normal tones. They made their vows privately, intimately even though there was a crowd all around. It was like a secret, sacred thing that belonged to no one else. And it was so beautiful.