“We are, all of us, utterly committed and deeply devoted to our “style”, our “way”, our “approach to life.”
We have absolutely no intention of giving it up. Not even for love. So God creates an environment where we have to. It’s called marriage.”
-John Eldredge
I officiated my first Pandemic wedding last month.
It was obviously not the original plan.
I had been given the impromptu request by family members to take my best swing at putting together a brief yet memorable Christian ceremony for them.
This couple’s original intentions had been chewed up and spit out by The Covid Monster. Rather than finding themselves crossing the finish line of a magical and hopeful wedding season this time of year, they instead were forced to pivot like so many others in recent months.
I am a supportive family member for this couple, and I am also a passionate believer in the power of marriage.
I believe in it’s potential for good not only for the individuals being wed, but also as a building block for a healthy, strong and flourishing society.
So I happily agreed to do my part in helping them downshift things into their Plan B.
However, I have a personal conviction and non-negotiable condition for agreeing to officiate any Christian wedding: The couple must have already been through or be willing to undergo some version of pre-marital counseling.
If I am to ceremoniously stand before God and formalize the union of two souls for eternity — I want to be sure they’ve been prepped for battle.
Every marriage is guaranteed to travel over landmines.
The world would have us think that marital perfection is attainable — Hollywood and Instagram and People Magazine would have us believe there exists out there somewhere for each of us the perfect fairy tale marriage.
If Cupid has shot us with the right arrow then love will conquer all.
This same pipe dream claims that in the fairy tale lands of yesteryear, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, back in Mayberry when everything was black and white — there are marriages living happily ever after.
That is all a bunch of rubbish.