Beating Around...What You Are Already Accomplishing (as illustrated by a wedding reflection)

My heart is bursting with gratitude as I sit to write my first blog post since I reached out to all of my “old souls” at least a year ago. Those “old souls” are probably now ancient and I am now an “old ball and chain” aka… a wife!!

Friends, I wish that you could take a tour of my heart because a simple, yet public letter of thanksgiving will not adequately describe the how freaking honored I am to you who partied on down to Nola to watch Jared and I get married.

I hear that the ceremony was beautiful and that the party was amazing. The day passed so quickly for me that I will simply have to go off my snapshot memory and your crazy stories. But amidst all of the fun, those who attended our wedding reflected something so much deeper. Yes, our guests became a tangible illustration of the unifying and creative nature of love and they didn’t even know it! Allow me to explain.

Love by its nature unites. Rest assured that if there is disunity or isolation, there is lack of love.  

For one day, our guests came from everywhere to be unified in the celebration of Jared and me committing to a permanent love. There was no discord among those who attended because the celebration was more important. I know (because I invited them) that there are major differences in the lifestyles and beliefs held by our friends and family. On the day of our wedding however, it didn’t matter; the love between Jared and I became a source of unity and the response was the union of our loved ones who would otherwise have never met. Our guests illustrated perfect unity.

Love by its nature much increase upon itself. If love will not expand, it is a counterfeit (like lust or utility).

Our guests increased our love 100% (literally, there were two of us and there were 200 of them!) They made our love so much larger by adding to it their own love through their participation. Their prayers increased our prayers as they witnessed our commitment before God. They magnified our joy by eating, drinking and dancing on our behalf and they publicized the official Mr. and Mrs. Smyth as they paraded in the streets literally announcing to the tune Mardi Gras horns, sparklers and umbrellas that Jared and I are married! Imagine Jared and I doing all of that alone. While I wouldn’t put it past us, it would have been ridiculous. Love NEEDS to have more of itself in order to be legitimate. Our guest were the multiplication of our love.

Finally, love is by its nature completely faithful. If love is not committed, it can not be love.

Our friends were completely faithful to Jared and I on the day of our wedding. Some flew (in some cases across the Atlantic), some drove, some arranged work trips to get down to Lousiana and celebrate with us. I am still floored at the many who attended even if we haven’t seen each other in a few years whether we have known each other since kindergarten or since college.  Our friends were faithful, a complete act of love.

This matters far beyond my simple wish to be thankful. As someone who is mostly trying to change the world, I continually see that we tend to focus on what is wrong with the world and what is wrong with ourselves. Every time I get on Facebook I am bombarded with naysayers. “Sinner!” They proclaim, as if a remedy for our imperfections has not already been gifted to us. If we continue in this battle under the banner of "try to fix yourself because you are doing so much wrong" how can we continue and who will join us?

You see my friendly reader you were made by the same God who made the universe and although you may be doing a lot of things wrong; YOU ARE DOING A LOT OF THINGS RIGHT!! We often think that we are the center of the universe and that is what drives our selfishness and deceit. The bad and the risqué holds an attraction to our fallen nature but that is not new information. We can not give our imperfections all of our attention or we will miss the ways that we naturally exude holiness without even trying. When we forget ourselves for the sake of something greater and nobler, we actually look remarkably like the God in whose image we were made. That is HOLINESS!! You were made for it and you sometimes already accomplish it without knowing.

 

Those attended our wedding were mirrors to the love of our Father and man would not consider themselves religious. Imagine how far you can go if you recognize the goodness in yourself for what it really is, your heart leading you to the one true God only in whom can true fulfillment and perfect goodness can be found. Capitalize on your goodness, give God your worship and you will become who you were meant to be.

To everyone who was involved with our wedding, you have taught me so much about the love of the Lord and I really am eternally grateful. Thank you