Close call

Recently I attended the wedding of my wife’s grandniece. It was a very nice ceremony, which included some deacon who gave a thought provoking sermon using a box of cereal for a prop. He said the name of the cereal was an acronym for the real meaning of marriage. He went on to point out “C” was for Commitment, “H” for Holy, “A” for affection, “R” for respect, “M” for mercy, and “S” for service. Furthermore, “lucky” had nothing to do with marriage.

Afterwards we all sojourned to a country/western dance hall for the reception. Hey! It’s Lubbock. And I, for one, was more comfortable there than at any country club. No sooner than I had finished my fajitas/beans and tortillas, all the married couples were summoned to the dance floor for a dance. Now the master of ceremonies began summarily dismissing couples in reverse order of when they had been married. As the crowd thinned I became acutely aware of the fact that I might be the last one standing. As luck may have it there was another couple that had been married for more that 40 years. So they had to explain “why?”…“why their marriage had lasted so long?” Wow! That was a close call. I could have been in their shoes trying to explain myself. I had not given that question much thought. What was the reason? I could say it was because of me, what a great guy I was …even I knew that wasn’t true. I pondered. What was it? Divorce for some reason never crossed my mind… while murder, on the other hand, was considered several times. If I had only been close enough to get my hands around her throat. So what was the real reason? I have come to believe that it was divine providence. Yes, divine providence is what got us together and kept us together. Our marriage has endured; only by the grace of God and the fact that my wife is a person of moral integrity, a person who kept her promises.

If only Deacon Leroy could have told me what marriage was really about 40 years ago perhaps I could have done a better job. But…I probably wouldn’t have listened anyway.


Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all the undeserved grace.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your infinite patience.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for sending me Mary Owen, the wife I need.

Amen.


12/30/2007