Antony at Coming to the Quiet has inspired me to write this post after his latest on the quote from Henri Nouwen ‘“My deepest vocation is to be a witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch.”
There is a story I wanted to share because it has made my heart burst with the goodness of God. I invited a friend to the wedding ceremony who I used to work with. Dave and I had spent quite a long time planning the ceremony, involving family members (my grandad, an anglican vicar, married us!), friends - particularly some of Dave’s colleagues and former colleagues and members of the congregation; all talented, special people who know God’s grace. We wanted the cermony to reflect the love of God which has shaped us, will help us in our marriage and is the reason we now live. James, the vicar, spoke on the 2 bible passages and the poem we had chosen; Ecclesiastes ‘ a cord of three strands is not easily broken’, Ephesians 3 v.14-21 and a beautiful translation of some stanzas from Dante’s Divine Comedy:
The love of God, unutterable and perfect, Flows into a pure soul the way that light Rushes into a transparent object. The more love that it finds, the more it gives Itself; so that, as we grow clear and open The more complete the joy of loving is. And the more souls who resonate together, The greater the intensity of their love,
For, mirror-like, each soul reflects the others.
After the service, it was so busy and we got trapped taking photos, I only managed to wave a goodbye to this friend before they left. When we returned from honeymoon, there was a letter from them through our door. They wrote about how the wedding had touched them; the welcome they received in church, the love Dave and I had for each other and the ceremony had really demonstrated to them how powerful God’s love is, how much He loves each one of us, so much so that they felt the faith that had laid dormant in them for a long while was reawakening. This friend is now beginning a journey exploring the love of God for themselves . It was one of the best wedding presents!
Thanks be to God!