Reflections on a Wedding

I just came back from playing at a wedding. The groom is a friend of a friend. He first contacted me early last month, asking me to play at a restaurant during his proposal to his then-girlfriend. I couldn't do it at the time because of a schedule conflict. A few days later, he called again: the lady had said yes, and they were getting married.

The small wedding took place at a small church in downtown Brooklyn. There wasn't a historic and awe-inspiring chapel, adorned by lots of flowers and breathtaking sculptures. There weren't guests dressed in designer outfits, sporting all sorts of expensive jewelries. There was a young couple who love each other deeply, surrounded by people who love them and support the journey they were about to embark on together.

But the one thing that made the ceremony beautiful was the presence of God. Jesus Christ was invited, not as a special guest--as if He was welcomed today and not for the rest of the couple's living days--but as someone with utmost sovereignty. It was under God that the two individuals came together. It was by His power that they were going to become husband and wife. It was by His grace that they would love each other for the rest of their lives.

The pastor of the church, who is also the uncle of the bride, started the ceremony by reporting a grim statistical fact: 70% of the couples who got married today would not "make it" three years from now. All the warm fuzzy feelings would go down the drain of divorce, never to be restored again. "There will be times when you don't like each other very much, when you disagree--but you will never make 'falling out of love' as an excuse. You are to be witnesses to the world that marriage is much more, much stronger than emotional fluctuations."

In an age when carnal desires quickly become the definition of love, the most beautiful and powerful force known to men and women is cheapened by the day. This small, modest, but blessed wedding serves as another reminder of what marriage, as defined by God, is about. It also reminds this violinist again to never settle for anything less than what God has designed.