After these may years, my wife and I
agree that, on hindsight, New Year’s Eve was not the best day on which to be married. After all of these years in the ordained
ministry, however, I am not sure that there is any particularly good day on which to have a wedding. New Year’s Eve, though, is a night when many
people have other plans and are distracted by many things. We never can have a special anniversary
dinner that night. It’s tough to get a
reservation and dinner often is so
expensive. People can be noisy,
boisterous and, in some cases, overly friendly.
I’d love to think that they all are celebrating with us, but we’re not
as important as the crystal ball on Times Square. Wait—there’s another way to think about
it—it’s very important to God.
After all, God has blessed my wife and
me as we made our solemn vows. We are
not the only married people to have lived out these vows—to have and to hold,
for better for worse, for richer for poorer.
Truly, every married couple does live out these vows in married
life. Maybe after the words, “This is my
solemn vow” we need to add some words from the presidential inauguration: “So help me God.”
Today, on this anniversary, I reflect on
all that God has done with these solemn vows to make my wife and me stronger
for the journey. Like any couple, if
this marriage were up to us alone, without God’s grace and strength, marriage
could not work. It’s a major battle for
me and for any married person to live out the promise of marriage: and the two shall become one. But it’s hard for me as a human being to also
become one with Christ. Every day, every
step is a surrender of self and an embrace of Chris. Marriage is the best practice for that
spiritual discipline.
On this anniversary, and at the end of
this year, I am so ready to enter another year of promise. And I am so glad that I can share that
journey with the one whom I love with all that I am and all that I have.
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