A meditation on Love

(for a wedding)

In the beginning there was Love.
And this love brought forth the earth and the seas.
It breathed out sunlight and starlight.
And it created new life.
It formed the giant oak tree and the delicate rose, strong winds and sparkling rain, mighty beasts and shining fish.

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And man and woman were created.
They were filled with this divine, life-giving, star-making Love.
And all was good in the world.
There was light and laughter, music and warmth, and dancing to the beat of the heart of Love.

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Time passed and the Love that had once shone so bright became dulled.
It was drowned out by the noises of greed, of competition, of jealousy…
It was forgotten in a world where possessions are valued more than people, where vulnerability is hidden, where money and status are more important than relationships.
It was squeezed out by selfishness, complacency and fear.

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And so the first Love was reborn into the world.
As a baby. As a man.

And this was not a timid, or a limited, or a Hollywood love.
But a powerful, passionate, world-turning, life-changing Love:
It turned water into wine,
It gave freedom to the oppressed,
It brought sight to the blind.

And it was an intimate, tender, redeeming Love:
It touched untouchables,
It saw beyond failures and regrets,
It brought hope.

It was constant and faithful.
And it could not be defeated, even by death.

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Time has passed and yet this Love is still present today.
We can see it if we look carefully into the stories of our lives.
If we listen for its whisper and feel for its touch.

It is there in the kindness of a stranger or in the touch of a reassuring hand.
It is there in the delight of children, in a face bright with joy.
It is there in the wide seas or in the wonder of the night sky.
It is there in the struggle for justice, in the hope of a new dawn.
It is there in the crossing of paths….

And it is here today
In the joining of these two lives.

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(Jen Ryder)

"Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the quarry from which you were dug"

(Isaiah 51)

"Found a message in the sand,
it read 'just do the best you can'"

('Stranger' - James)

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
Even there your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast."

(from Psalm 139)

Fully Alive

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
Of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
To allow my living to open me,
To make me less afraid,
More accessible,
To loosen my heart
Until it becomes a wing,
A torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
To live so that which came to me as seed
Goes to the next as blossom
And that which came to me as blossom,
Goes on as fruit.

(Dawna Markova)