Below, you see Bishop Pennel performing our ceremony, and I want to reflect a little here on his homily, as it honestly means more now than when he originally delivered it. One of the scriptures for the service (and we did take care to make it a worship service, complete with hymns and eucharist) was Joshua 24:15, "Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." We asked Bishop Pennel to preach on what it means to serve God as a household (presuming that it means something different from serving God as individuals).
He said that serving God as a household means loving one another well. That sounds lovely, but I remember thinking that was a cop-out. Shouldn't it mean working as a couple for the betterment of society? Helping one another grow as disciples?
Through the ups and downs of the first couple years of marriage, though, I've come to see that he was right. Loving one another well is a prerequisite for any other good we can do in the world. Why is that? Because unhappiness breeds self-centeredness. When the relationship is struggling and one or both parties is unhappy, we cannot get outside ourselves enough to focus on others and the service to which God calls us. That's my experience, at least. While loving those closest to us is often harder than loving complete strangers, the health of that primary relationship provides a platform from which to love and serve God and neighbor.
3 comments:
Ah, spoken like a wisened woman. You see? You might not make the world's worst pastor after all... ;o)
I love you!!!!
You're right about how true loving one another well is. We really are "one flesh" in the sense of totally intertwined lives, and when one of us suffers or is flying high, the other is the same.
Even though there have been tough times, this has been the best two years (and two days) of my life. You're the best!
Sometimes the only thing that makes me get up out of bed is knowing my wife is there waiting on me. We got married 3 years ago August and I still think she is the most beautiful woman I know.
I agree with the whole "loving one another well" and the fact that you might not indeed make the world's worst pastor. There may be someone out there who needs your attitude as much as anything else.
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