The threads of love may sometimes unravel, but our core values will mend and strengthen them
By Lee Ruggles
Scattered clusters of impatiens are sweet little bridesmaids dressed in red and green. The live oak, gnarled and bent, shelters the man and woman, dappling them with sunlight filtering through the leaves and the veils of Spanish moss.
The building is a benevolent old monastery with its arches and lovely courtyard. The world beyond this place bustles along, wheels and gears meshing and retreating, goods and services being accepted or rejected, kindness and cruelty neutralizing each other.
We are here for this joining, this union of two young people who have chosen each other as friends and lovers.
“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered together before God and these witnesses …..” Though not a member of the clergy, this woman is empowered to intone “What God has joined let no man put asunder.” To our relief and surprise the ceremony was no less meaningful and emotional for happening outside an official building on Main Street instead of within the solemn confines of a chapel.
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The threads of love that link us one to the other cannot always be relied on to hold fast and strong against the buffeting and sometimes caustic events of a lifetime. But caring and concern add support to those threads. Unraveling is mended and strengthened. Knowing that marriage is not a 50-50 proposition adds another dimension and vision to the joining.
At any given time each one’s strength may be greater than the other’s. That strength is needed to carry and support and cherish the other through times of doubt, sorrow, and despair. That strength nourishes, promoting healing and a re-affirmation of love. It is often those times of uncertainty that, paradoxically, buffer the union and weave even tighter the threads that make up the design and pattern of joined lives.
The clusters of impatiens fade and return. The old live oak grows taller and stronger and more gnarled. The two young people will, in turn, fade and return, be strong and uncertain, grow and learn from each other and the world around them. Sometimes their lives will be clouded with storms, but more often the light will filter through and cloak them with warmth and love.
Lee Ruggles is a writer and editor living in Sarasota, Florida.
Photo by Jenna Jacobs on Unsplash
