An Affair to Remember

                 This weekend I had the privilege of attending the union of two extraordinary individuals.  I am so honored to have been asked to participate in the marriage these very special friends of mine.
                The ceremony took place on their estate, “this Field”, which is located in a secluded corner of the Granite State. It was beautifully landscaped for the event, with the gardens looking their very best. There were so many flowers scattered throughout the gardens and in vases and tubs everywhere. The large white tent set up for the event had tiny lights that sparkled like icicles and turned “this Field” into a wonderland, a magical place for the young and the young at heart.  
                At 3:00 on the afternoon of the wedding, the photographer set up and began to shoot the landscape and wedding setup.  Tables were covered in white linen with centerpieces of flowers from the garden, elegant and unique.  By 4:30 “this Field” was crowded with honored guests and family that the couple wanted to have witness their special moment.
                At 5:00 the limousine delivered the bride and the bridal party.  The bride was accompanied by her father, who walked her through an arched gate and across the manicured lawn. At the arched entrance to the garden her fiancé was waiting under a sign that read: Go out and prove God!   
               Six of her closest friends, including me, each said a few words about love and marriage, and gave some advice for the newly-weds.
                When I was standing in front of them, their friends and family I wanted to say something profound about their love… so I shared a few words about love by Kahlil Gibran, which I felt captures their love in words, and a few words on marriage by George Eliot to inspire them. 

Kahlil Gibran on Love

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. 
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height
and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots  
and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you
That you may know the secrets of your heart,
And in that knowledge
Become a fragment of Life’s heart.

 

 George Eliot (19^th C British novelist) On Marriage

“What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined for life–to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?”

                In the end, I told them, “You no longer have to struggle alone.  Each of you has the other’s back. Each of you serves as the buttress for the other. Together you have the strength to conquer the world. May you have a long, blessed, and joyous union! Always remember “Love does not dominate; it cultivates.”{Johann Wolfgang von Goethe} My love goes with you. Congratulations!”

               They exchanged their vows and rings which were engraved: “I love you better” and “I love you more” (they had left which ring would say what up to the jeweler!)

                 It was a day for everyone to remember, a magical, mesmerizing day that enfolded all in the feeling of truest love. The power and magic of love had disarmed the skeptics. “Go Out to Prove God, or the Universe or for that matter…”

                My dear friend’s prayer had been answered: “Please send me the most wonderful and perfect man for me. When we meet I will know he is perfect for me and he will know that I am perfect for him.”

                This love affair did not happen overnight. Oh no! It took them 4 days after first meeting to realize how deeply they cared for each other.  At an event where I was the speaker I had watched them: their hands first touching and fingers interlocking, first gazing into each other’s eyes….

                It had taken the Universe 24 months to answer her prayers, but a lifetime to align them together. It was obvious to us that, “If they know what love is, it is because of each other.”

                They danced to “Something Good” from  The Sound of Music:

For here you are, standing there, loving me/Whether or not you should/
So somewhere in my youth or childhood/I must have done something good/
Nothing comes from nothing/Nothing ever could/So somewhere in my youth/
Or childhood/I must have done something . . ./Something good

                 Two people were in love. The breeze and the dragonflies, the mystical wild meadows and trees composed a majestic harmony of people, souls, and nature. My emotions welled up inside of me and I raised my glass: “To love …you have never let me down.  I believe in the power and the magic of love. I follow you. I am your faithful servant.”

                I left with a beautiful thank you present and a powerful message: a canvas bag with my name printed on one side and on the other side Go Out and Prove God. Inside the bag was a pillow embroidered with Follow Your Heart; It Knows the Way. 

                Indeed!