Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:12.15

In this time of war, and pandemic, and so much bitter divide, I am glad to shed the spotlight on something so essential to the future of humanity as love expressed via carefully considered commitment, deliberate faithfulness, and calibrated intention.

So this week’s Photo Friday provides a great opportunity to share these previously unpublished pictures. I took them at a quiet wedding Rebekah and I were privileged to be a part of back in the fall.

There is something about a beach wedding that pulls together the perfect set of metaphors for what a good marriage has the potential to be. Standing in that liminal space where there is no clear distinction between where the land ends and the ocean begins, where time washes up against eternity, where sunset lights the sky with a kaleidoscope of color, and where hope and promise hover in the spaces between the words the preacher breathes and the newlyweds repeat.

Just a few people, immediate family, bathed in late afternoon light in literally the only dry spell between back to back to back thunderstorms. Just a man and a woman determined that – with God’s grace – this relationship will be about, “Clothing themselves (as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved) with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

This occasion reminded me – just like the wedding in DC a couple of weeks back (The Wedding on Top of the Town) – of the beauty and the gravity of making such vows deliberately and gratefully in the presence of God.

So, Lynn and John, may God’s rich blessings define your life together; may the joy of that good day inspire and sustain you in both the challenges and the serendipities; and may you never forget that the Jesus quality of love is rooted in light, and grace, and mercy, and faithfulness, and kindness, and encouragement, and service, and care.

In love, and because of love – DEREK