Yesterday I conducted my first two weddings, not that I told them that until it was all over!
As I prepared for these last week I was struck by the privilege of being able to preside at such joyous occasions, the beauty of the language and how marriage stands as an enduring sign of faith, hope and love.
In stark contrast none of us could open our newspapers this week without having been struck by the grief of families affected by war, the spread of swine ‘flu and the latest figures on the state of our public finances.
It’s hard to know where these two realities meet and one wonders whether they can both be true at the same time? In my wedding preparations, however, I found a prayer that seemed to address this very question and which offers marriage as a sign to the world;
Almighty God, in whom we live and move and have our being,
look graciously upon the world which you have made
and for which your Son gave his life,
and especially on all whom you make to be one flesh in holy marriage.
May their lives together be a sign of your love to this broken world,
so that unity may overcome estrangement,
forgiveness heal guilt,
and joy overcome despair;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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