Fears and Tears

Today is my 31st wedding anniversary; it seems like yesterday, and it seems like a lifetime ago, when we took our vows to love, honor, and cherish each other until death do we part.

“I still do” are the words that keep coming to me this morning. Marriage has been a great teacher for me in my life. It is a vow, a promise, to God, and to my beloved, witnessed by our family and friends, which joined us together. It changed us, and continues to. It is a vocation that calls me to love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Thank you, my God and my Lord, for bringing Paul into my life. You have never left us alone, in our sufferings, in our joys, and have called us to a deeper love. It is a public life, it is a private life, it is a good life. And – I still do. Amen.