Today has been our sixth wedding anniversary. Six years ago we got married in Peterborough Cathedral then the next day (pictured above) we had a blessing on Holy Island where we had met only 11 months before. We are on our way to Holy Island for a week’s break. I’m writing this in a car park in Alnwick en route.
Life is full of points on the journey to celebrate. I love a good wedding. I’ve not had a single wedding in this appointment! Baptisms and funerals are also occasions on life’s passage we stop and celebrate the people given to us to share life with. Sadly this week I’ve had three funerals and there are two more ahead when I return. The ones this week have all been for ladies in their nineties all with strong faith and a call to serve. They were a privilege to lead.
My dear college pastoralia tutor, the late Dr David Dunn-Wilson used to tell us always preach the Gospel at a rite of passage. We remind ourselves that God likes to be at the heart of all of human experience. And remember Jesus blessed children, he enjoyed a good wedding and a decent party and he wept as his friend was placed in a tomb after he died.
So on this day as Lis and I mark our iron anniversary, and six eventful years, four house moves, various obstacles and things we would rather hadn’t happened to us, we remind ourselves that all of life is a gift and life is meant to be lived in all its fullness.
A prayer of Maya Angelou:
Father, Mother, God,
Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.
Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.
And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and our friends.
For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you to pour your love out
in waterfalls of tenderness.
For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.
For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.
For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.
Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
world that which we need most—Peace.
Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.
Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.
And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and our friends.
For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you to pour your love out
in waterfalls of tenderness.
For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.
For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.
For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.
Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
world that which we need most—Peace.
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